Blimey, it's offical – I am definitely getting old.
Just done that oh so sensible (nooooot) thing where you suddenly go from having the Gobi Desert in your diary to a sudden flurry of back to back social whirldom.
So this week saw:
1. Wednesday: A gently boozy warmer-upper, with the lovely Jane Beaton's leaving drinks. The end of a major era for Jane – and for me – which she of course undertook with her usual style and aplomb. 18 years of Added Value has now come to a close, and a jolly good turn out there was to celebrate the years. Jane on top form as ever, abetted by a large glass of never-ending red wine, good girl!
2. Thursday: The Added Value annual Directors dinner. after a heeeeeeeel of a long day and the usual round of 'ouch, that was a bit close to the mark' inter-directorial debates, a dirty dozen or so headed off for cocktails (music to my ears) and dimsum (more like dimputty quite frankly, but hey, after 20 or so the first 18 you ate actually start to move sloth-like steadily down your throat lining..). Already feeling a bit tired by this point but still only halfway there, so raised a few glasses bravely and headed – once more with feeling – towards…
3. Friday: The Added Value Alumni (peeps wot have left) Christmas Event – which I have to say, I enjoyed far more than the current AV one. A room of 30 or so previously employed AV bods and pretty much my heyday of sociability. a top mix of fab people and awesomely memorable due to Kirstie Storrar betting me fifty quid that one of the women in the room was someone different to the person I was sure she was. Result? K mortified that she spent the evening asking said person of mistaken identity how living in Munich is (she lives in the UK), how her German husband Florian is (he's definitely not German and is called Anthony), how she should update her LinkedIn profile as some of her details are just not right (they are – she just wasn't the person K thought she was) etc etc. Peed myself laughing and I'm just so chuffed that for once it wasn't me!
4. Saturday: And thence to last night – the Aces Hockey christmas night out. Cue vast amounts of beer, far – far – too many foul sambuca shots, strange uses of vocabulary – words like 'heinous' being used to describe off-the-pitch fine-able 'crimes' – and some that were definitely made up words as well, the later on the evening ran… Evenutally had to escape when Mr Hawkes (whose presence was just about acceptable due to his umpiring role with the Aces) then made his presence highly unacceptable, with some particularly offensive bowel and wind activity. God only knows how I didn't suffocate in the night..
So today's been a pretty slow one – we've been out and bought our Christmas tree (feck me, they go up in price every year don't they? You'd think it came with all the bloody baubles already on it, in gold) and have done all the deccos. Mojo has broken 1 bauble, I've done 2 and Scrumpy is now taking over from Hawksey's rear end activity, while her master is out watching Arsenal. Poooo eee, that dog can clear a room with her silent but deadly skuldoggery.
And I am wishing that I hadn't just seen off 3 – yes the entire bloody pack of 3 – Walnut Whips. Not had one for 20 years, saw them in M&S and thought – 'oh yes, that'll be a nice little treaty throwback for Xmas Day' – and of course they are already no more…
Hey ho. Or ho ho ho. It's on a diet in January I go….
Only 2 weeks to Crimbo folks, we're almost there..
S x