… at 8:15 in the morning, my time, by some (obviously) plastered people in a pub in Alaska. I didn’t get to the phone in time, but they were kind enough to leave me a (drunken) message… which I will be playing to the main culprit when she gets back here. And I hope it embarrasses her! (Probably not.)

It made me and Colin laugh. Lots.

Also today, I am mostly … staying in bed

… to nurse / nurture my stinking rotten snotty head-cold and the mysterious aches in my hips. I love paracetamol, although possibly not as much as I love hot lemon & honey drinks.

I have snuggled with a cat and had a hot bath and read an awful lot. And I’m about to go back to bed, to stay there the rest of the night and probably most of tomorrow. I’m due in work in Belfast tomorrow, but that will not be happening. No way. I am much too snotty and hoarse and tired and unhappy.

And also today, I am mostly … shouting at the dog

… because he ripped my giant bright blue velour Pilchard cushion in about three places, and pulled half its stuffing out. I liked that cushion. It was a Christmas present from my mum, that I had to bring back from Wales on a plane in an extra bag because it’s so big. And now it’s defunct. :(

It had Pilchard the cat from Bob the Builder on it, not a fish, in case anyone’s wondering.

… after my five-day Christmas break. It’s pretty quiet in the office today (well, it’s always fairly quiet) since a fair number of people are off for the whole Christmas & New Year period. I can’t complain too much - I had to work today and then for a half-day tomorrow, and then I’m off again till next Monday (so another five-day break).

After being pretty busy in the run-up to Christmas, it ended up as a quiet one. We don’t have that many Christmas rituals, really - my own ones include getting up hours before Colin does and staring at the presents, plus phoning my Gran and parents - but the ones we do have, such as opening one present each just after midnight on Christmas Eve, happened as normal. And there was the usual eating and drinking, of course. We had Christmas dinner itself at Colin’s mum’s - just the three of us - with lamb, not turkey. I have to curry up the last of it tonight.

We did give the lamb leg bone to the dog we’re looking after for a month, but he got mugged by one of the neighbourhood dogs about an hour later, and was left with just a few bits. Poor pooch. He’s settled in alright to our household in the 10 days we’ve had him, anyway. He doesn’t much like being tied outside, even with a nice kennel to sleep in, but since our garden isn’t fully fenced and we don’t have a run for him, there’s not much alternative. He gets to spend plenty of time sleeping in the house and gets at least one walk every day. And he’s very good with cats, which means that three-quarters of ours have relaxed around him (the other one’s still pretty skittish).

All in all, it’s been a lazy few days since I finished up work last Tuesday. I’ve eaten too many sweets, drunk too much wine, watched a lot of films (including, finally, Casino Royale, Wall-E and Howl’s Moving Castle), had some long relaxing baths, and slept late every day… I’ve also been for a walk pretty much every day, tidied the house, and cooked some good meals. And Colin took me out for dinner last night, just up to the Fir Trees, which was enjoyable and much appreciated.

I have no significant plans though either for New Year’s Eve or for next year. I’m sure I’ll end up making a handful of resolutions by Thursday morning, but who knows how many I’ll keep? (On usual form, the answer is none.) I’m just happy to keep muddling through for now while watching my finances and my weight/health - which really are the important things at the moment.