And tho'

We are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Alfred Tennyson, Ulysses

Thought I'd begin with my favourite poem .. one of!!

So many roads have gotten each of us to where we are to today

Millions of choices, chances, and decisions..

'New year's eve, an end to the old year, and a link to the hope of the new year to come'

So many people find today the day to re access their lives... 

Funny how one day, date, can make such a huge impact on people.. 

When over millennium, this date wasn't a date at all!

Compass by Lady Antebellum 

Great song 

M.

To take the Christmas decs down before 12th night or after??

A predicament I was thinking wasn't one.

I've always taken them down anywhere from the 26th until the 5th.. 

Conversation on Christmas day made me research my reasons, the reason for keeping up until the 12th night is the superstition surrounding the arrival of the Magi, and them taking twelve days to get to baby Jesus with their gifts... Therefore a deep rooted Christian reason.

And the superstition I go by is the bad luck surrounding leaving the tree up after the 5th January.. 

Where if you do, you should leave it up! Or bad luck ... 

And this comes from the tree elves that cause havoc if the tree is left up after the 5th! An ancient pagan and Celt belief... 

Oh dear, the older I get the more superstitions I collect!

So I have taken down everything, bar the tree! Which will come down on the evening of the 5th, so it's down before the thirteenth day!

Flipping heck! 

And talking of elves.. the elf on the shelf ... There's a link here, a link for info and a pagan link! 

M.

Cake! From my local panadería!

Need to catch up with myself as usual, I'm so spasmodic in my writing!

Let me begin with Christmas Eve working all day, but dressed as Mrs Santa Clause!!

Was good fun, the customers loved it! And I enjoyed it too! That's it now for dressing up until Halloween comes around again! 

My feet hurt, wearing inappropriate Boot-Ware!

Reminds me afterwards how I don't even notice my feet during work! Thank you Sketchers!

I stayed up to do the Harry Potter challenge! Had to start watching Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone at 22:33, so that Ronald Weasley would say 'Happy Christmas' at exactly 00:00 in the movie and for real!

My playback wouldn't work and Christmas Eve came four minutes late in the movie! Can't believe I'd managed to stay awake! And miss it! 

I had a couple of gifts under my tree which I opened and went to bed! Was about one before I switched everything off though...

Christmas day I got up when I was ready, and headed down to the coast and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon and evening with a family who adopted me for Christmas! Was so lovely, I am so lucky, dinner was amazing, absolutely fantastic..  thank you thank you thank you!

Back to work yesterday, the 27th and in today..

Yesterday driving home, I dropped off two colleagues and came up the usual mountain road home, there's a right hand turn once around our side of Sierra de Mijas, the road changes back to one lane, and there was a two car accident.. the line of traffic going back towards home went down into the dip, ours, luckily, not so bad .. 

It's always tricky when two lanes become one here... It seems to be a race for some drivers to beat the car in the inside lane, it's not a race, and of course... No one wins...

I drove up the dip from there, and was on the wriggly bit of the road before Casa las Flores on the left, and the window down, hadn't turned back on the radio since the accident, it was dark, and no one close in front, no one behind, and a light caught my eye, up high in the sky, a bolt of fire like a meteor then zap, out and gone! No noise, no firework type of explosion! 

Very, very strange!

Driving down as usual this morning to work, such beautiful amazing views, sunrise over the Med... And looking towards the area behind La Cala de Mijas, and onwards towards Rivera and Calahonda, what used to be undefined can now be mapped out by yellow street lights... 

Used to just be green and gray rock .. now, civilization is creeping inwards.. 

I wonder if one day it will just be mass all the way to Alhaurín El Grande.. and I hope I do not get to see it!

Mmm interesting thing I just noticed, I meant mass as in larger/large, and of course, Spanish word 'mas' means 'more' muy interesante!

M.

Still plenty of after effects from March 2022 Sahara drop!

Well, I think my body is having enough of stuff just now!

Stuff that's stayed dormant or at least I've lived with and tried to ignore.. 

Feels like a trapped nerve in my left hip, but I think it's where various, numerous problems are have just said enough is enough! 

And, at last I now know why I have had stomachache for .. I keep saying eighteen months, but it's been so long saying that that I think it could be two years now.. 

Anyways, had the endoscopy down my throat, I was given anesthesia, thought I'd just not feel anything, but was completely out!

So I have ten fundic polyps in my tummy...

They've taken two biopsies, one from a large one, and one from a smaller.

Could be Atrophic gastritis or celiac disease.. being tested for both in the biopsy...

Appointment for February for results.

Day off today and going down to the coast for lunch.. 

Working next three days then in on Sunday for Christmas Eve! 

Feel like I'm missing something out!

Oh!!! At work the other day, track came on the radio, we started singing and dancing to it! As we do!!! 

I couldn't remember the band, from the 70's... I said "is it easy jet?" Randomly!! "Black box?" My colleague said back to me...

I googled it! Pilot! 

Of course!

My microwave has broken and my kitchen gas lighter! 

I went down to Miramar parque to look for a new one in Mediamarkt way too many people in there! 

So I went next door to Kiabi! Where I bought a whole new outfit! 

Won't help with heating food, but... Well, felt good! 

M.