[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Made it! But what’s that sound? Ah yes, it’ll be a national sigh following the festivities. Of course, it could be relief, joy, satisfaction; perhaps a combination of all three. For my part, it’s mostly joy. Everybody was in the right place at the right time, there were no menu disasters and the giving of gifts is obviously always a pleasure. I had three added birthday celebrations – one granddaughter, one step-granddaughter and one step great-granddaughter. We had our share of ‘flu type viruses but then so did the rest of the country it seems. Hopefully, they are all on the wane and we can think about the New Year and see how much fun we can have. On another positive note, we have now had the shortest day – 21 December – so it can’t be too long before we notice a change to a bit more daylight each day. I have had some glorious pink and turquoise sunrises and sunsets where I live. I hope you have enjoyed the pleasure of these free spectacular shows. At the risk of boring everyone, I wondered why snow has become so important to the festive season apart from the fact that the weather is right for such. I did some internet research and it appears to have come from a tradition started in the Victorian era. Along with some seriously cold winters during the 1800’s, Charles Dickens’ book ‘A Christmas Carol, seems to have created the traditional Christmas setting which we now wish for. Odd, isn’t it? Snow makes life challenging except when it falls on Christmas Day. Look at what happened in France – even skiing holidays were disrupted by the snow! On the subject of daylight etc. I have changed my tap-dancing class from Thursday evenings to Tuesday mornings. A pleasant bonus has been discovering that I am more able to quickly pick up and remember the new routines. My teacher is an ex-professional dancer and it must also be a pleasure for her not to have to go over the combinations time and time again. The reason for this was a bit of a mystery and then a friend pointed out that I had just proved the theory that we all function better earlier rather than later in the day. I was astonished at just how true this is so filling in forms, letter writing etc. etc. is now shifted to mornings when I can. I don’t think this is particularly age-related but obviously it must play a part in everything we do. It certainly shows itself at the primary school where I volunteer. It’s quite clear that the children function much better before lunch than afterwards. Looking to January and a special date to put in my calendar, I have chosen Cervical Cancer Awareness Week which is 25-31st. Survival rates are increasing but even so, sufferers endure so much, it’s impossible not to be aware of their brave struggles. Perhaps 2015 will see a final solution to this disease. Don’t know about you, but I never make any New Year’s resolutions. They would be the same every year so mine are always ‘Work in Progress’. I just try to tailor my resolve to fit each situation that life has a habit of presenting. In retrospect, could I have made a better job of this or that? Usually, the answer is ‘Yes’ so back to the drawing board for the next challenge. With so much misery and tragedy in the world, perhaps 2014 will proved to have been some kind of catalyst for the future. I hope that 2015 brings you health and happiness – if you have both you have everything.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][mk_icon_box icon=”mk-moon-book” title=”Read more of Ann’s monthly natter” text_size=”16″ font_weight=”inherit” read_more_url=”https://www.moveitorloseit.co.uk/anns-blog-archive/” style=”simple_minimal” icon_size=”small” rounded_circle=”false” icon_location=”left” circled=”false” icon_color=”#005cb9″ icon_circle_color=”#005cb9″ box_blur=”false” margin=”30″][/vc_column][/vc_row]