This time last year I was geared up for 2012, my best year yet I promised myself. I wasn't in a great place and my commitment to 12 in 2012 gave me goals that I felt would be realistic and achievable...ha...that didn't quite happen! My year threw up challenges that on New Years Eve 2011 I didn't think would be possible. With my husband jetting out to visit his critically ill Mother in Finland I laid alone in a bath filled high with bubbles sipping champagne and then retiring to bed before midnight...it was wonderful. I approached the start of January refreshed and raring to go but with my mother-in-law seriously ill and my Uncle passing away by February everything seemed to be falling apart. Let's skip past everything else quickly, I became ill myself and then my Father passed away after I spent five months caring for him, ten weeks later after settling my Father's affairs my Mum was diagnosed with Cancer and then my Great Uncle became ill and I returned to caring again before he passed away suddenly at the end of November...phew what a year!
So here I am faced with another year and slightly worried about what this one will bring. But I have a new attitude towards this one, I'm making no New Year resolutions and there will be no 13 in 2013. This year is all about me, I've decided that I want to be just a little bit more selfish and do what I want to do. The other day my subscription to Essentials Magazine dropped on to the door mat and today, with a handful of chocolate in my hand I laid out on the sofa and devoured not only the chocolate but the entire magazine. By the time I had finished I felt great, positive and pleased to know that many women like me are also approaching 2013 in the same way. The Editor's letter was called "It's Time to Get Happy!" And she's absolutely right, it is! There's nothing I should feel guilty about, if I want to eat like a pig I'm going to; if I don't want to do something I'm going to say NO and I'm going to make sure I achieve that work/life balance without feeling negative about it...it's not all about money and work. My favourite page of the magazine was "101 Best Bits of Advice Ever!"
"Learn to trust your instincts...if something doesn't feel right, listen to it go with your gut. It doesn't lie." This is so true and something I can definitely say I have learnt this year. The Celebrity Words of Wisdom also helped too..."There are no regrets in life, just lessons" from Jennifer Aniston
"The important thing is to realise that no matter what people's opinions may be, they're only just that - people's opinions" Mary J Blige; and my favourite "Never eat anything bigger than your head!" - Miss Piggy. So here I am, I know 2013 won't be easy, I know there will be changes that unsettle me and days when I feel sad and stressed but I feel that this year has made me grow up and find some direction in my life and I know that by the time I reach Christmas 2013 I will be much more wiser again and hopefully achieving my goals whatever they turn out to be...I've decided I won't be setting myself any, instead I'm just going to go and discover my goals as I move through the year.
It's raining and I feel content that I'm sat here warm and cosy with a fridge full of food that's absolutely no good for me, there's plenty of alcohol and champagne to celebrate the end of a horrible year and plenty of rubbish to watch on the television. I've developed a bit of a muffin top above my jeans but I've just devoured a third of a box of chocolates...do I care? No I really don't. I'm not planning a diet, I'm not going to get up and go running in the morning in fact I'm going to put my pyjamas on, eat some more chocolate and watch the Sound of Music knowing that I can because it's my life and I can do anything that I want. I'll go running next week...once I've eaten everything...although nothing bigger than my head! Happy New Year.
Catherine xx
So here we are, we all made it with relief to Christmas and our dinner at the 3 Acres. The thought of turkey with all the trimmings in our favourite cosy restaurant was an incentive to keep us going throughout December as well as the fact that finally the five of us were going to be back together. I woke up on the morning of the 21st December with excitement bubbling in my stomach. I had just one day to work and then my Christmas holiday of not working (for the first time in over ten years) would be kick started by what I hoped would be the best night ever at my favourite restaurant.
When home time finally appeared I raced home, poured myself a glass of wine and started getting ready. At ten two seven I heard our chauffeur for the evening Alex, pull up outside and finally ready on time I ran out into the cold evening loaded with carrier bags full of gifts to treat my four friends who had been such an amazing and strong support to me during the past year.
As we settled in to our table at the 3 Acres we looked around at the restaurant, which was cosily lit with candles and a roaring fire. Twinkling lights wrapped around Christmas garlands gave it a festive glow and steaming plates of food flew past as we excitedly studied the menu...although we really didn't need to it was a unanimous decision and it seemed that we were all here for the Turkey and of course Danielle was here for her usual choice of a giant fish served with chips and mushy peas. Getting here to the 3 Acres had been my goal all year, after what I can only describe as the worst year ever I was grateful that I had made it to Christmas and now I was sat with my four favourite friends finally feeling normal again, there was only one thing to do and that was to reward myself with a glass of something sparkling and celebratory! Our Waitress was attentive (as the staff at the 3 Acres usually are) and she took our orders straight away with the most marvellous accent which we sat and debated where it could be from...Amanda disagreed with us all "No, I'm pretty sure that's fake, she sounds a bit phony to me!" We all held our breath as Amanda continued brightly unaware that the Waitress was standing right behind her listening to every word with a confused look on her face. She frowned, removed the wine list and then walked away...no doubt to work up some saliva to season Amanda's dinner with!
The 3 Acres is our favourite restaurant as you well know by now and we all know that their Turkey with trimmings and trio of Christmas puddings is the best dinner in town, so I'm not going to give you the details of how each bite tasted or how the Christmas pudding was delightfully alcoholic and delicious, all I will say is that the four of us sat with protruding bellies, content that we had rounded our year off with the best dinner ever. I had eaten well, so well that I deserved another glass of fizz to round the meal off nicely.
There was no theme, instead we chatted about Christmas and New Year, we didn't discuss 2012 and what a crap time we had had. All of us had ended up in very different places be it in our work and our personal lives but whichever way you wanted to look at it we were all a little wiser and probably a little better for everything that happened this year be it negative or positive. We avoided talking about the future of the Intellectual Dinner Club and agreed that a meeting in the New Year would determine where we go from here. Instead we filled the table with presents and sat excitedly unwrapping them and saying "oh you shouldn't have!" At the end of the evening we sat amongst the debris of discarded paper, gift bags and envelopes. It had been a perfect evening and the best way to kick start our Christmas. Next year we thought, we should really book ourselves into the suite where we had our photo shoot and make it a special treat, after all we have been through we think that we deserve it and this way we can prolong our 3 Acres Christmas experience. The evening as always had passed by far too quick but we said our goodbyes and off we went into the dark, cold Christmassy night, weaving around the winding roads back to my house, where Caroline and I (whilst our partners were getting toasted in the pub) popped open another bottle of fizz and raised our glasses to a great evening and the start of not having to work at Christmas!
Catherine xx
This time last year I was geared up for 2012, my best year yet I promised myself. I wasn't in a great place and my commitment to 12 in 2012 gave me goals that I felt would be realistic and achievable...ha...that didn't quite happen! My year threw up challenges that on New Years Eve 2011 I didn't think would be possible. With my husband jetting out to visit his critically ill Mother in Finland I laid alone in a bath filled high with bubbles sipping champagne and then retiring to bed before midnight...it was wonderful. I approached the start of January refreshed and raring to go but with my mother-in-law seriously ill and my Uncle passing away by February everything seemed to be falling apart. Let's skip past everything else quickly, I became ill myself and then my Father passed away after I spent five months caring for him, ten weeks later after settling my Father's affairs my Mum was diagnosed with Cancer and then my Great Uncle became ill and I returned to caring again before he passed away suddenly at the end of November...phew what a year! 
