Gloom Buster

What a fab post granny23. This year has seen my fabulously handsome and wonderful 2nd son get engaged to a lovely girl and finally settle down and act all grown up. My best friend got remarried to a wonderful man and has a lovely future planned together.
My DD made major changes in her life and took up a position with a Charity helping mums cope with cooking from scratch and she is certainly blossoming doing that so she is happy and her clients are happy.
DGS5 started football school and took to it like a duck to water,the only one of 5 brothers to enjoy football (and us Liverpool supporters)he is doing well and has earned 3 medals up to now.
September saw the start of me doing outside catering and it being a huge success much to my surprise.
Highlight of year was DGS2 making his peace with his mum on xmas day making it a year to be celebrated.
I look forward to meet ups next year but can't arrange dates as yet but really looking forward to the time when I can put names and faces together.

Granny23 - what a brilliant idea! And what a lovely way to describe our meet-ups! It really IS like that, isn't it, and I can't wait for the next one - ear to lug!
Where did you stay when you went to Barra? We've been a couple of times and stayed on the outskirts of Castlebay....magical place!
Isn't this terrible - I can't think of anything funny that's happened - though I know I must have laughed quite a bit throughout the year.....well, there was the time I stood on DH's false tooth in the bathroom - but that ended up with him having a new plate which cost an arm and a leg (not really funny )
The Messiah concert at local theatre the other week - outstanding and attended with Lurkio.
2 lovely holidays, one in Germany and one in Shropshire. My grand-daughter's 21st birthday when we all went out for lunch and her wee boy (my great-grandson) had pride of place at the end of the table in his high chair.....oh my goodness, now I've started I can't stop! I'm grinning just thinking about it all

Highlights of 2012

- conducting a choir of over 300 adults and children in a Three Choirs festival concert.
- spending 2 weeks in France with all children/grandchildren/friends.

Granny23

Granddaughter leaving Uni' with a first in law. After which, getting her first job with a law firm in Portsmouth and meeting a very suitable young man who cherishes her.

Another granddaughter doing very well at Uni' and enjoying working with severely disabled people, as part of her course.

The best treat...being with all the family as we gathered in Oakham. Hearing our Wee Man laugh as he played with his cousins.

Having a feral, black cat move out of his apartment, into our home. Watching him settle down on "his chair" on "his cushion".

Being lucky enough to be given a brand new hip, thanks to a super surgeon. Being visited in hospital by dear Bags.

Meeting some lovely Gransnetters and sharing the pleasure of blossoming friendships. How special is that!

Well it was quite a year but some things not to be mentioned on this up-beat thread. However the birth of Hamish in April and Harriet in July cheered me up no end as did our GN meeting chez moi in October and again in Glasgow at the end of November. As Granny23 and Marelli say - here's to the next ear to lug occasion and for some of us, let's hope 2013 produces many more happier occasions than sad ones

Gally (((hugs)))

Midlands Meet-up was fun (can we do another soon, please?)
Littlest DD's wedding was loooooooooooooovely
Christmas with little boys was also loooooooooovely
Enjoyed watching Olympics (on TV)
Enjoyed trip out to see Olympic Stadium just before it opened
Enjoyed middle DD's production of "King John" at Stratford and that feeling which I can never get used to - surprise at my "little girl" doing something so grown up!
So after a pretty c**p start to the year, with DH in hospital from Jan until April, I do think there were highlights!

Marelli We stayed in Cluny Cottage (Castle Bay) in 2012 and at Silversands (opposite the airport) in 2011. There are only 3 properties that would accomodate us all on Barra so I have already booked Cluny for 2013. Gave DDs a Barra postcard each at Christmas with the message 'Wish you were here? - You will be in July!'

PS Thank you granny23 for starting an upbeat thread like this

Three holidays: with sister in SW France and very wet Paris; week in hot,sunny Suffolk with DS1 and family; a week with Greatnan in the French Alps - excellent company and fantastic scenery. Don Giovanni at the Lowry; Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty also at the Lowry. Visits to family throughout the year. Meeting other G'netters - Alie in Didcot; Bags in Marple and the NW group in Manchester - the second time, with Greatnan. It's just amazing how well we have all 'clicked'.
And little by little I have reduced my dosage of steroids and can now hope to be rid of them - and polymyalgia - within a few months.

Good idea for a thread....It's been a funny old year but the highlights have been:

Spending a lovely long weekend with DS, DIL and GCs. We haven't been able to visit for ages as before DH had two hip replacements he found it difficult to cope with their very steep stairs to get to the bathroom.

Two successful hatches of pure breed chickens.

DGS1 gaining excellent GCSE results.

Mum recovering from a TIA although it has left her very frail.

And finally getting my long awaited inheritance (almost three years). It was more than I expected and I still feel very emotional wondering how to thank a man I didn't know existed and the route by which I was entitled to inherit -my lovely nan and her only son, my much loved and deeply missed dad. XX

The highlight of my year has to be spending my 58th birthday on the back of a huge mule heading down to the base of the Grand Canyon - coming back up the same way the next day.

This link shows what a brave granny I am!

grand-canyon-vacation-information.com/mule-ride-in-the-grand-canyon.html

I still can't believe that I did it

I wake up and know I am married to a good, good man. My children and grandchildren are well. The surrounding countryside is gentle and beautiful, and I have good, dear friends from many lands.

Nice thread! I have been so bored (rainy weather) that I was starting to fantasise about jigsaw puzzles! This thread got me counting my blessings of this year: DS got engaged to a lovely, lovely woman. DD has enrolled for further studies. DH is mellowing as the years go by and seems to genuinely love me very much. We are all healthy. My house is warm and cosy. I've booked an apartment in Southern Spain for the whole of February! Only 4 weeks to go till some

Good thread!
moving back into our new house in January after building works was good.. getting the place to feel like home and planning and planting the garden
Birth of DGC4 Stanley in May was a joy
A sunny week in Croyde with DDs and DGCs in July
Exciting trip to Istanbul in October
Lovely family Christmas
So many positive things ..thanks for making me think of them as like others was feeling a bit gloomy, though we have sunshine today!!

riverwalk what an incredible experience that must be! I just checked out the website.

Great thread!!

This year we have acquired a very cheeky, but adorable, DG2, who will be one in 3 weeks, and 2 SiL.

DS1 has made huge strides forward - getting his book published, which resulted in him giving a talk at the Headway National Conference and being asked to speak to an audience of medics ect who treat young stroke survivors. He has also moved into his own, adapted, flat and rediscovered his love of cooking. Next thing - growing things to cook!

DH and I have the house to ourselves for the first time in 41 years and still quite like each other.

The team that DS2 runs won their league and the under 9's cup!!

DD1 has been promoted and loves her job. DD2, despite expectations, loves being a stay at home mum and DD3 is expecting another baby in March.

We've made a few improvements to our house and garden. We love our house and hope never to have to move.

Now that's what I call a good year, kittylester.

This is like the dreaded round robins!!!!

I quite like round robins - good for a laugh and you DON'T HAVE TO READ THEM IF YOU DON'T WANT TO [sticky out tongue emoticon]

Thank you and well done garnny23 for trying to cher us all up..

My funny story, well it was something I saw on the telly hope thats ok, it is funny

A celebrety chef called Gino De Campo was reading an auto cue, his english is quite bad, he couldnt believe that it said knicerbockerglory, he had never heard of it before and he refused to say the whole word because he thought someone was winding him up!!

A rather horrid year really but it's good to look back on the good bits. Has to be The Olympics for me; two weeks of sheer unadulterated joy. However the high was so high it left the rest of the year feeling like an anti climax. The meet up in Brum was lovely, mainly because it gave me something to look forward to when I was feeling very low [yes please to another one soon and huge thanks to gracesmum for organising it]. And seeing my son happy again after his miserable 2011, Whatever happens seeing my children and grandchildren happy and healthy is all that matters. But a huge thank you to gransnet [and gransnetters] for being there to pick us all up and dust us all down when we need it .

Midlands meet-up, NW meetup
Tallis scholars concert
Gransnet for always being there
And above all of course my cruise with jeni in Sep !!!

Finally got ourselves to our lovely new home in Devon, near my beautiful DD. Thank you all for listening to my whinges and supporting me as we went through all the selling/ not selling etc. It is the very best thing we could have done.

Wonderful medical services nearby mean that Theseus will soon have a new hip (Thank heavens!)

Two dear little grandsons joined us. Such a blessing for all.

At the moment, my cup runneth over.