Dance One Year In, Kiss One Goodbye

The view from my room a few Christmasses ago

Well, that's exactly what I'd been hoping to do this year on New Year's Eve: dancing. Unfortunately, I was painting buckets (or "chundering" as Simon calls it) the new year in at an unprecedented pace. And no, it wasn't from drinking (I don't drink) or stuffing myself with delicious nothings (I'm not an over-eater). My digestive system has always been rather dodgy, so whenever a little germ comes along that seems to think I would make a nice host, I can be assured of a few bucket painting exercises.

It's certainly not the best way to ring in the new year, and I've definitely had better New Year's Eves, but at least I made it into the new year in one piece. This all happened while the parents and I were visit my sister and her in-laws in the lovely little seaside town of Struisbaai next to L'Aghulhas. I really like it there and I think the lighthouse is beautiful; I have a thing for lighthouses. But we stayed too weeks, which was just a little too long for my taste this year. With my eldest sister living the high life in Belgium and spending her Christmas in Corsica - us mere mortal remaining content with the 3hr drive from Cape Town - Christmas seemed less Christmassy this year, even with a new addition to the family in the form of my niece, the main reason we were all drawn together to celebrate in one spot.

If I'm away on holiday I usually start missing my friends right after Christmas and usually prefer to spend NYE with them (no offense to my lovely family, of course). The plethora of viruses that seemed to have struck us down the last month hasn't helped. But now it's over, a new year has begun and I'm finally back home... bucket painting and a near hospital scare not withstanding.

"another chance, another start
so many dreams to tease the heart"
- Sunset Boulevard