Bright and sunny. Drove home from my mum's in Plymouth - a long journey, six hours. Opened the first window of my beauty Advent calendar. A big window indicating a big gift, a Morphe eyeshadow palette in neutral shades.
Mon Dec 2
V tired after weekend and long drive but went to office. Expecting to be in a different office but we haven't moved.
Tues 3
Posted vote for the General Election - I'll be on the way home from America when it happens. Gym.
Weds 4
Up extra early to prepare salads for lunch and get my link up email out. Office. On my drive saw deer and a spectacular sunrise and sunset. Set up my new nativity stable.
Thrilled that Advent calendar gift today was an Elemis day cream. Needed a new moisturiser. At work we exchanged our Secret Santa presents. My mystery benefactor gave me a candle and some Lindor chocs.
At home. Raining. Dreamed I was trying to swim across the Hoover Dam. Was struggling against the turbines.
Sat 7
Woke to devastating news, the husband of John's sister Kate had died in India. He was 58. Kate was already on her way from London, having been told he was deteriorating in hospital. He was very quiet but made a big impact on the world, particularly with the children's school he founded and funded in India.
I had a lot to do with my business trip to the US tomorrow. Gym, shopping, ironing. Put the Christmas tree up. Packed case and gave myself a manicure. Wrote day by day menus for J.
Got to airport mega early. 10 hour flight, bought a virtuous salad but didn't eat it as the curry smelt so good. Watched films Animal (entertaining), Happy New Year Colin Burstead (improvised drama about a dysfunctional family) and Ad Astra (overly long and ponderous). Got to hotel in downtown San Jose at 5.30pm. Watched 2nd Mamma Mia film in room. Music from bar in the courtyard seems very loud although I'm on 6th floor.
Mon 9 Decermber
In a big planning meeting until 3.30. Then we split into teams for a light hearted scavenger hunt. San Jose has lots of Christmas trees. Nice to get outdoors. Drinks. Then early night for me.
Went to our San Jose office for meets with colleagues. Went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. The Brits all got a bit crazy in the afternoon - we couldn't figure out how to get water out of the tap, and found a human organ for transplant in the fridge! (It wasn't really an organ but a very realistic bag.....).
Weds 11 Dec
Up at 4am. I don't mind this, I spend a couple of hours reading and doing emails. Then had a full day's meeting with the marketing team. Part of it involved taking a partially written script, breaking into teams and dramatizing the rest of the story in video, podcast or "live" play format. Day ended with a team dinner in hotel.
Thurs 12 Dec
Awake at 3am. Today we had a smaller meeting of the campaign team. I had to leave before the team building activity for the airport, but as it was something I've done before ("escape room") I wasn't bothered. The flight was delayed by a couple of hours. A technician had to drive from San Francisco to repair something. Saw the election exit poll before we boarded the plane, predicting a landslide win for the Conservatives (which is what happened).
Finally back home. Didn't sleep much. John went to a charity pub quiz, I was too tired.
Sat 14
Slept for 10 hours! Did food shopping, wrapped presents. Watched the final of Strictly Come Dancing.
Sun 15
Have a bad cough and sore throat, legacy of US trip. Didn't go to gym. Roast beef.
Mon 16
Hooray, reached target weight 9st 7, 1st time since 25 Aug 2016. Worked from home to avoid spreading cold germs around. Boiler not working! Arranged for British Gas to come tomorrow to fix it.
Tues 17 Dec
Worked from home. Boiler sorted. Went to gym. Devastated to hear that one of the founders, Tracy, has died in her early 50s. Terrible news.
Weds 18
We finally moved into a different, larger, office in the same corridor. Much bigger and tidier. Finally found pair hot pink boots - in the US - and ordered them.
Thurs 19
Still not sleeping well and feel very congested, so worked from home. Work is stressful, too much to do. Have neglected blog and not sure if I want to go back to it.
Fri 20
Worked nonstop. So much to do. So stressed I was weepy. John was nonplussed.
Sat 21
Quiet day of shopping and housework.
Sun 22
Had roast beef for lunch. Depriving us of poultry until Xmas Day so we appreciate it more.
Mon 23
Finally I'm on holiday. Went with John's daughter and her husband to one of the carol concerts at the the Royal Albert Hall, with dinner first. Very festive and jolly.
Tues 24
Broke with tradition- usually have sausage rolls and baked beans on Christmas Eve. Had falafals and salad. Determined not to regain any weight this Christmas.
Christmas Day
Woke up early and saw a lovely sunrise. Was spoilt with lots of presents. Chatted to mum. on the phone, she was spending the day with my brother's family. Our roast turkey crown wasn't dry (shocker!) although I did have one disaster where a tray of parsnips, carrots and squash got irredeemably burned. The crackers were a bit of a let down! Tiny metal cooking implements (at least they weren't plastic).
Boxing Day
Fun day with several family members round, including our baby granddaughter. More presents and games. Cooked a ham for lunch along with cold turkey, jacket potatoes, coleslaw and salads. Desserts were Heston's Golden Delicious Christmas pudding, cracking chocolate tart or sticky toffee pudding.
Fri 27
Mild with a blue sky. Went for a bracing walk and pub lunch. Very enjoyable
Went to the gym and shopping. Went to Rachel and Sean's for an hour. First time I've 'met' their new cat Eric.
Sun 29
Was planning a big photography shoot for the blog but only took a couple of pictures in the end - enough for a blog post, the first for three weeks. Roast chicken.
Mon 30
Sunny. Went to the gym. Went in town (London) to return something to what I call "the Mothership" (John Lewis). It was strangely relaxing in the Haberdashery dept even though I don't knit or sew. Watched last episode of The Witcher.
Tues 31 Dec: New Year's Eve
Did some photography and wrote a blog post for tomorrow. Watched In Search of The Wilderpeople, a quirky film from New Zealand. Asleep by 9.30, woke up at midnight with all the racket (fireworks etc). Happy New Year!
Join me tomorrow, Wednesday, for #WowOnWednesday.
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