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2019 – A year of music and travel

Pic of the week 29/12/19

And so Christmas (pictured above – the the four of us at home, a lovely day) marks the beginning of the end of another year.

Thinking back across the last twelve months, and reading my blog posts for the year, I think 2019 can be best characterised as a year of music, and perhaps the start of a new decade (OK, so a little early) of travel.

We’ve been to see a fair few musical acts this year, listed in chronological order:

  • The Specials
  • James Taylor Quartet
  • Take That (with Rick Astley supporting)
  • Paul Young
  • Scouting for Girls
  • New Order
  • Lisa Stansfield
  • OMD
  • Scouting for Girls (for a second time)

and each one, brilliant.

I have several times tried to rank them in order of preference, but have failed.  I think I can just about come up with a top three of JTQ, New Order & OMD, but not necessary in that order, and it can change with the weather.

Travel: we had a wonderful family holiday in Soller, Mallorca in July. The villa was great, the town wonderful, the time fantastic. And then in October, Becky and I headed of to Girona. I think those few days were the highlight of my year.

The city is great, the coast an achievable hour or so away by bus – swimming in the sea in late October is a real treat. Just to be in a different land, enjoying a different culture, language and – yes – climate was something special. I think an appetite for travel has been whetted.

Other notable events of the year – I turned 50, and had a fantastic day. I was made to feel truly special and loved. I’ve begun to learn Spanish – it started with me downloading the Duolingo app to see what it was like and maybe pick up the odd word before we headed to Mallorca, but I’ve really enjoyed it and am continuing to teach myself.

This term (ie September onwards) work has been dominated by my role as Common Room Chair and the consultation to withdraw from TPS.  At least the outcome from that should come within the first month or two of the new year.  Politically, its not been a good year – following a disastrous general election earlier this month, Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party ( a more right wing incarnation than either May’s or Cameron’s) gained a significant majority. It looks like Brexit will happen, and lying, misogynistic racism has been vindicated.

But on a positive front – I have been relatively injury free this year. I finish the year at a frightening post Christmas weight of 13 stone 4 pounds, but I’m putting that down to Xmas excess. For the rest of the year I’ve been sub 13 stone – oscillating around 12. 9 and 12.11 – and I’m quietly confident I’ll soon be back under the 13 stone mark.

2019 has been a good year – I’ve loved the music and travel, but its not been a stellar year, so I shan’t cling on to it, happy to wave it good bye and look forward to what 2020 has to offer.

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18th December

Pic of the week 22/12/19

It was a fateful night, the 18th December 1992, the night I won at the lottery of life.

27 years ago this week, I met Becky at Joe Bananas night club in Bath, and my life has been complete ever since. (And, on the evidence of the photo above, I don’t think we’ve aged badly, either!)

This week has seen the rain continue to fall – sometimes in biblical proportions. On Wednesday we went to Cornwall for the day to visit Becky’s M&D and her Granny. The rain began as we entered Cornwall, but rose to a crescendo for our drive home – it was horrendous. Sam drove the first hour, in preparation for his test the next day, and then I took over as darkness fell before we reached the motorway. Conditions were horrific.

Sadly, Sam failed his test the next day (again, driving in torrential rain) – he did well, but failed to check over his shoulder as he merged into the third lane at the “Asda” roundabout in Yeovil.

Saw Dad, Rog & his bambinos yesterday – was good to see him. We ate at the Fosso lounge in Wells and chewed the cud as well as a rather tasty chilly beef dish.

I’ve been running a few times this week – did a 10K today, my first since August and I was pleased to get round the distance in respectable 47 min 46 seconds. As I’ve been referee-ing on most Sundays, I haven’t run much since the summer. I think I’ve retained my fitness, but once again, it is surprising how the fitness is so “task” specific – some of my splits have been slow, and whilst I could cruise round 10K without thinking about it in the summer, I’ve had to work up to the distance I completed today.

I’ve also been using quite a bit of my holiday time to continue with my Spanish, and I do think I am beginning to make inroads.

Feliz Navidad y prespero ano.

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A busy week

Pic of the week 15/12/19

Its been a busy week.

On Tuesday, Becky & I ventured out to Bristol to see Scouting for Girls. As ever, they were excellent.

On Thursday I  had a dental check up – all good.

Friday morning I ran my 400th Km of the year (have just looked back at last year – ran 424 Km in the year, so will hit a similar amount this year.

Also on Friday we went to Reading to collect Sophie. She had an exam in the afternoon, so Becky & went shopping before meeting Sophie “for tea” in “The Real Greek” (v. nice food) and then heading home through the dark and rain. Always nice to have the whole family back under one roof for Christmas.

On Saturday I refereed my last game of the (calendar) year – Wells City U16 v Saints South West. Cold & windy, but stayed dry. Was due to ref today (Sunday) but game was off due to a wet pitch. With the Y&DL and Bridgwater Sunday league both now on their Christmas breaks, I think I can now rest my whistle until January.

Oh, and Thursday was General Election day. The Tory’s romped home with a massive majority. Looks like we’ll be out of Europe by the end of January. Whilst a Conservative victory was expected, no-one expected it to be by so much.

I crunched some data and wrote a blog post on my maths teacher writes site but here’s a chart that shows the seats won.

 

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All wrapped up

Pic of the week

Its only the second year its happened, but I can see it becoming a tradition.

On Thursday, whilst on the bus to school, Sam excitedly messaged the family about his listening history for the year – Spotify had released there 2019 – Wrapped, whereby they share with your what you’ve listened to over the year.

It does make interesting reading.

Deacon Blue were my most listened to artist – we went to see them in Nov 18 and I then spent much of the first couple of months of the new year listening to them.

… and in positions 2, 3, & 4 were The Specials, OMD & New Order, all of whom I saw this year.  Aztec Camera were a slightly surprising entry as my 5th most listened to artist, but I have, on more than one occasion, listened to their “Love” album in its entirety.

I was a little surprised to see “Big Country” was my most listened to song, but then I realised most (all?) of my most listened to songs are on my running playlist, so get a disproportionate amount of plays. Perhaps its time to come up with a new running playlist for 2020?

One of the things I like about Spotify is the way it reminds you of long forgotten songs and artists. As a result of the above, I did listen to the whole of the Cocteau Twins “Treasure” album today – beautiful, powerful, fragile all at the same time, I suspect I will listen to them a lot in the months to come.

And, although it didn’t feature in my 2019 – Wrapped, Spotify was responsible for my best musical discovery of the year (first released in 1981, so I’m a little behind the times!): The Church – The Unguarded Moment.

 


 

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A tough week

Pic of the week 1/12/19

Its been a tough week.

I didn’t get the Head of Department post – that’s not what has grated, but the way in which the process was done. Having each been through a lesson obs, 3 interviews, and a presentation, none of the four candidates was offered the job. Instead CCF – the former HoD, but now Assistant Head, Teaching and Learning – decided she want to do the job again. She was part of the “process” – in fact, in my feedback from the Head, the only negative was about my lesson (lacked pace, and an error/confusion towards the end – I had got a minus sign in the wrong place) could only have come from her. Who then got the job.

And there’s more. She’s going to make the department nationally and internationally known – the central plank of my presentation. I can’t help but feel as though I’ve been mugged.

There has been quite a bit of back-peddling – “Oh, you are an excellent teacher, who does so much. We must find a roll for you etc.”  But a lot of damage has been done and it will take time to rebuild my trust in the school. I shall be interested to observe how my numerous leaders lead me over the next weeks and months.

Anyway, December has dawned. The pic above is Becky’s montage of November. A few more days to limp through, and then its hols.

And I say limp both metaphorically and literally.

On Friday morning I woke with a sore toe, the soreness disappointing fairly quickly, but I awoke on Saturday with it much worse. Dr Google diagnosed gout – all the symptoms are there, but I don’t think I’d be in the at risk group: I don’t (rarely) drink, don’t eat much red meat, am fit, not overweight …  But I have been stressed this week, and Wednesday evening I refereed a game 7.30 – 9.15pm and Thursday evening did my spinning – I probably did get a bit dehydrated over those two days, so this is probably the cause. It hurt a bit this morning – both yesterday & today I took ibuprofen which has helped. Let’s hope it cures itself with rest,  plenty of fluids and a calmer week to come.