My Top Nine for 2023.
Just the best memories of family, friends and travel. Here’s to more adventures in 2024. Wishing you all a very happy and healthy New Year and all the very best for 2024.
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This year’s Christmas centrepiece, created by my other half.
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Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating!
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Waking up to find that Ocado aren’t actually going to deliver the turkey we ordered is not the best start to Christmas Eve.
So, instead of leisurely relaxing with a mimosa and a mince pie, I have to walk to M&S and fight off all the other panicked shoppers to get a turkey. And thyme for the stuffing. And vegan mince pies. And an orange.
It’s a long story.
Seems like no matter how much I prepare for Christmas, there’s always something… Anyway, I’m sure the rest of the holiday will go according to plan. And if it doesn’t, there’s always champagne.
Cheers!
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My Defaults
Inspired by the ‘Defaults’ post by Robb Knight, here are my default apps for a whole host of things:
Mail client: Mail.app for personal, Spark for work
Calendar: Fantastical
Cloud file storage: iCloud for personal, Google Drive for work
Contact management: Contacts.app
Browser: Safari
Chat: Messages.app, WhatsApp
Notes: Notes.app for personal, NotePlan for work
To-do: Things 3
Photography: Camera.app
Photo management: Photos.app
Spreadsheets: Google Sheets
Word processing: Google Docs
Presentations: Keynote
Shopping lists: Reminders.app
Budgeting and finance: MoneyHub
News: Apple News, The Guardian
Music: Apple Music
Podcasts: Pocket Casts
Mastodon: Web on Desktop
Weather: Apple Weather app
Backups: Time Machine
Screenshots: CleanShot
Search: GoogleThese are accurate as of today, but I reserve the right to jump on the next task management and note-taking bandwagons.
This year, I weaned myself off Dropbox and MS Office. I started using NotePlan for my work projects and absolutely love it. And rather than pay two subscriptions, I cancelled Spotify and now rely on Apple Music for my music.
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Easy does it
I gingerly rolled out the yoga mat this morning and did a light routine.
My first in… quite some time. It felt great to do it again, but I could also tell it’s going to take me a while to get back to my former levels of flexibility and strength.
But we all have to (re)start somewhere.
Right?
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Thanks for nothing, brain
Despite being on holiday today, my brain woke me up bright and early at 0645 this morning. There’s just no need for that.
Old habits die hard, I guess.
I stayed in bed with a coffee and did some Japanese practice on Duolingo, caught up on the news on Threads and watched some YouTube videos about NotePlan, my newest favourite app.
Since showering and getting dressed, I’ve actually been 100% relaxing!
There are no remaining Christmas errands - which is quite the surprise. I’m normally frantic at this point, but everything has been bought, gifts wrapped and food organised. So I’m going to have an early lunch, then catch up with a local friend and have a couple of leisurely pints.
I’ve also scheduled beers with another friend this evening - but it’s at the local Brewdog, where there will be burgers to soak up some of that beer. I’ve got parties on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve to enjoy, so I don’t want to peak too soon this Christmas season.
And then we enter January - or as I’m terming it, The Month of Deprivation. Based on recent feedback and gentle nudging from my GP, it’s time to up the exercise, down the pint glass, and lose some of the weight I accumulated since the summer. He’s going to check in on my weight and cholesterol in March, so I have a couple of months to make a dent in it all.
But before then, there’s a full fridge and far too much rich food to ignore. Weight loss is next year’s problem.
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Nearly there.
As soon as I end this upcoming work call, I’m unplugging everything on my desk, putting it in a packing box and then locking up my office until Jan 3rd. I’m looking forward to zero work for almost two weeks.
Instead?
Instead, I’ll be eating my body weight in turkey, mince pies, various kinds of potato dishes, chocolate, champagne and beer. We’re spending Christmas together in London, then visiting my family in Scotland for a few days, then back in time to bring in the New Year with ‘The Council of the Gays™️’.
And then?
Whatever 2024 has to throw at me!
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A beautiful sunny morning here in London.
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Just two more scheduled work calls (one today, one tomorrow) then I’m done for this year.
In terms of client work, anyway. I estimate I have about two hours' worth of office packing to finish tomorrow and then it’s holiday time until my office move on January 3rd.
And then the un-packing. But I don’t want to think about that just yet…
Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt.
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Husband is looking cute this evening. We’re in the Netherlands, visiting his family. And it is so cold…
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Just ordered all the packing materials for my office move.
I went back to this time last year in my Amazon ordering history and just bough the same stuff. Simples.
And given the upcoming holidays, I’ve worked out that everything will need to be packed up by Friday next week so I can move on the 3rd of January.
Thankfully, I have no client-facing work booked in, so I can spend my time huffing and puffing, getting dirty and sweating, while all the time cursing myself for accumulating so many books and pieces of technology.
But it’s all in a good cause and I’m looking forward to settling in to my new ‘home’. I’ll share some before and after pics in due course.
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I just spoke to camera fluently, on topic and to time for 15 minutes this evening.
Sitting back, feeling very satisfied, I noticed that I hadn’t pressed record.
A less than optimal situation.
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Right. I put my money where my mouth is and put down a deposit on that new office.
Looks like I’ll be moving in the first week of January.
All I need to do between now and then is pack up the entire office into boxes and have a small nervous breakdown about where everything is going to go. Plus find a moving company. And do the whole ‘change of address’ thing.
In more positive news, the new building has a most excellent roof garden. Irrelevant now, but perfect for Spring and Summer.
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Change is in the air
I’m just back from viewing a potential new home for my business.
The office looks like it ticks all the right boxes for what I need. Plus it’ll work out cheaper than the office I have at the moment. It’s also closer to home.
So I’m going to put down a holding deposit while I work out if it’s feasible to move in before Christmas. That will all depend on the availability of a moving company to help me out.
Feeling a mixture of excitement at the fresh start, and dread at the thought of packing everything up and moving it all. Again.
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I’ve spent the day so far in the ‘recovery position’, owing to last night’s festivities.
On the sofa, under a blanket, watching The Simpsons and snoozing. My 47 year old body just can’t handle it anymore. Time to avoid prosecco for a while…
On a much more positive note, everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves and we have some delicious leftovers for dinner this evening. As predicted, I failed to take any photos, but I do have some lovely memories of the evening.
The prosecco didn’t erase them all…
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The council of the gays
We have convened the Council of the Gays™️!
Our pre-Christmas open house starts at 4pm and will go on until the last person leaves (or falls asleep). I’ve been awake since before 6am due to the wind and rain battering our apartment building. So it’s going to be a toss-up as to whether I’ll make it to midnight.
I also have a ton of tasks that overspilled from yesterday due to intensely annoying work events. So I’m scrambling to get organised before the first of our friends arrives later. And if I’m honest, I’m going to need a power nap before 4pm, and then just one or two Diet Cokes to keep some kind of focus.
Anyway.
Based on previous years, it’s going to be a really fun night. I just need to remember to take more photos. I always seem to forget and then have to rely on a substantially degraded memory of the evening.
First up: have a shower. And then another coffee… ☕️
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When the day can’t end soon enough.
It started so well and then ended up with massive hassle and lots of additional work. None of which was my fault, but I had to do it. Feeling a confusing mix of anger, disappointment, embarrassment and resignation.
Google ‘frustration’ and you’ll see my face.
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I’m starting my Tuesday on a very positive note!
I’ve just recorded the 150th episode of my podcast, something I didn’t dream of when the first episode went live back in Oct 2017.
I’m really looking forward to what the next 150 episodes bring.
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It’s that time of year again.
Our front door is firmly in the Christmas spirit! If I had my way, I’d leave this up all year. It adds some much-needed colour to the otherwise boring and identical front doors in our building.
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Today’s plan:
A ton of life admin and Christmas planning. We need to visit a furniture store to pick out a new armchair for the apartment, agree our Christmas dinner menu, sort out Christmas cards and. place some online grocery orders.
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This made me smile this morning:
Plato, pilates and pubs: has an Irish town found the secret to the good life?
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The Christmas tree is up!
This year’s is small, yet perfectly formed. I just hope it survives next weekend’s party!
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I’m not sure how it’s possible, but I feel even worse this morning than I did yesterday.
I have some non-negotiable deadlines this week, so I’m working from bed this morning to avoid a car crash later in the week. Light admin for now.
Today will be brought to you by caffeine and Sudafed tablets.
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Awake with a coffee after a pretty rough night.
Lots of coughing and sneezing. My heat feels like it’s throbbing and twice its usual size. And yet… I still feel much better than the last (and first) time I had Covid. So I’m grateful for that.
Obviously, I’m going to stay indoors again today and rest. No need to leave the apartment tomorrow either - though I wish I could go to my Japanese class. More importantly, I need to be able to fly to Dublin on Wednesday night for work, so my main focus is on getting better by then.
In more positive news, my partner returned from dinner at a friend’s last night with a care package for me. Tupperware full of turkey, mashed potato and other treats. And as Covid hasn’t put a dent in my appetite this time, I’ll be tucking into that later today.