The New Year

bateleur and I had decided to celebrate the New Year quietly with a meal in, our favourite bottle of red wine and an evening to ourselves (the duo were still in Cambridge). We talked about 2007 and vague (and not so vague) plans for 2008 and generally enjoyed a peaceful evening.

The following day, my parents brought the duo back; both having had an excellent extended holiday in Cambridge and Royston. However, soon after they arrived, my dad noticed that Emily was limping around the house; not badly, but noticeably. One visit to the vet's later and the Ems has some painkillers to take; the actual injury is a pulled ligament and should go away in time, although it will mean she's more vulnerable to injury (and possibly arthritis) after this being a cat in her senior years.

I've mostly enjoyed the last few days since New Year; I managed to take two weeks off work in total and I feel comfortable about going back now, as though I've had a decent rest. I have been pottering around, doing little jobs (such as tidying up my desk), doing bits of writing and playing computers games. I've also heard both twins read most days and yesterday was the regular Cooking with Bea event (orange cheesecake - which I didn't enjoy making because it looked too runny for far too long). However, I haven't made any progress on my roleplaying campaign, despite vague plans to the contrary. I guess there's no burning hurry to get it started, though, given that the Final Fantasy Tribute Game is coming back and the next Infinity arc is also about to start.

It does feel a little odd to be going back to work tomorrow. I guess in part because it's the first long break I have taken from that job and in part because I'm expecting it to be a complete change from my mellow Xmas as we're still in busy period. Also, I'll be opening my OU box of new course material tomorrow. It arrived before Xmas, but I decided from the moment it appeared that I wouldn't open it until after I got back to work so that I wasn't tempted to start up studying until I'd had a holiday. The actual course starts with February, but I'll be beginning before then, as it'll delay the point at which I start slipping behind.