As far as I am concerned, 2004 effective starts tomorrow.
I plan to begin my year with a bloody good sort out, a clearing of the decks to free up some space, both physical, and mental. That means an early(ish) night tonight so I can get up at a reasonable time and get on with it.
Wish me luck….
home
Finally got home from Wales at about 8:30 this evening, only been away a week but it seemed strangely longer.
Is nice to be home at my own PC again, but I’m missing my mates already, a lot. Still, can’t complain was a bloody top new years.. Jeff got home from Baa-bados yesterday afternoon and after an emergency curry down the Taj we spent a nice chilled evening just sat around with some tunes/games etc. Nice.
One thing I will miss is proper grub…! Between the girls most excellent cooking and Giles rather wonderful creations I have probably eaten better this past week than I usually do in a month! I was bloody amazed by Giles ability to poke his head in the fridge (filled for the first time in years thanks to Gaz & Jo taking charge of the shopping) and 20 minutes later to come up with something rather lovely. Watching a proper chef (Giles was a chef for 9 years) in action is amazing. They make it look so easy…
I know one thing, when we go out to visit Giles in Italy I’m going to make sure all my trousers have elastic waistbands…. 
Last night in Wales tonight… 
Still it’s been bloody nice to get away for a few days. I’m heading home at some point tomorrow, start teaching again on Monday. It’s weird actually, seems like ages since our xmas party, be nice to get back to it
As I want to start the new year on the right track I’m going to have a blast for a couple of weeks and try to ‘clear the decks’ a bit. I need a major sort out in my office for one thing, and I seem to have collected loads of little bitty things that need doing so I really want to nail them as soon as possible. It’s more a case of clearing some mental space than anything.
I need to work out a few more ’systems’ for the school, the idea being to lay down some set procedures for all the key admin jobs that I *love* so much so that (a) anyone could do them, or (b) I can do them as efficiently as possible without having to get bogged down in it. That’s the problem with being a professional Martial Arts instructor.. to be a professional means (obviously) that you have to run the school as a business, which means advertising, recruiting, enroling and retaining students. All of which is a pain the the arse when all you want to do is train and teach the Martial Arts…
Still, beats a 9-5 any day…
Sums it up really.
What a thoroughly pleasant way to spend a new year.
Had a fucking blinding new year with some great mates @ casa Yak, was really sad to see them leave this afternoon but I was left with a real glow thinking about the quality of the friendships that have developed over the past year. These are some *special* people. Sure there have been some ups and downs along the way, but when you sit back and take stock, some very good things have some to pass..
Yak is back from baa-bados sometime tomorrow which will be nice, was weird having our new years party in his place, but the fact that we were able to do so sums up the whole spirit of the relationship we all have.
Jeff, you are a fucking star mate… this is all down to you, and I know I speak for all of us when I say that you have been the catalyst for something truly, truly wonderful.
Thank you *so* much.
Peace, Love, Unity.
I have a feeling that 2k4 could be a very good year indeed.
Had a rather lovely few days chilling with some of the nicest people I know. To those who couldn’t be here, big love, would have been all the more wonderful if you had been here, but I understand why that was not possible and you were here in spirit.
To those of you who were, what can I say…
Big love to all of you (especially Kel xx)
Lets do it all again next year (only this time sort yer dates out eh Jeff.. ;))
Namaste