Falling In Holes
The days are ticking down rapidly towards Christmas. I'm working through the holidays for the first time since having children. They are a little more grown up now, so my presence isn't required as much as it once was – but saying that, I'll be working from home, so never more than a couple of doorways away from them.
Working from home essentially means working on research projects, and keeping my phone nearby. The main office numbers have been redirected during the days I'm working – I am not expecting any calls, but you never really know. Given that I've only worked on one project all year, I can't imagine how much use I might be to other projects. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
At home, I feel like we're not ready for Christmas at all. We've half-tidied the house, half-bought presents, hardly sent any Christmas cards, and haven't done the 'big' food shop yet. I did get around to sending cards out to friends on the internet though – and know that a few of them have now reached their destinations – a few have arrived here too. There's a part of me that says 'only send cards to those you will not see' – and while that fits with the internet friends, it doesn't fit with distant family at all.
We have no car at the moment. I think I wrote about the car breaking down when we went to pick up the cat a few weeks ago? Since then we have been running around in a hire car (and setting fire to piles of money in the process) – that particular piece of idiocy came to an end earlier today, when the hire car was returned whence it came. There might be plans afoot to first borrow, and then purchase one of our neighbours cars in the new year.
What else has been going on? Oh yes – we visited the Harry Potter studios yesterday. We have been before, and I've told the story here before, so I won't go back over it again – suffice to say that the sets have been dressed appropriately – just enough to entice families back for another look. I do love visiting the studios though, and looking through all the minor props – the wigs, dresses, wands, and so on. I know most people like looking at the creature-shop, the Knight Bus, and so on, but I find just as much interest in the tiniest details. We spent a small fortune in the shop before leaving.
This evening some good friends invited us over for a curry and a drink. We haven't seen them for ages, and spent quite some time catching up with movies we haven't seen, books we haven't read, and jokes we haven't heard. During the evening I realised how much more effort I should put into friendships – particularly those right in front of my nose. I've lucked into knowing some wonderful people, and often take them for granted. I think maybe all people with busy family lives fall into the same hole though.
Why does nobody else ever fall into the same hole we are in ?