Scenes from Gare de Lyon

We wait for the lift. We've been waiting a few minutes. It's quite bleak in the vestibule and a French couple are waiting behind us. 

The doors open: a family with a buggy and luggage, a man at the back. Nobody moves. The man at the back tries to exit but the man in front of him is not interested in moving. He says, in English, 'Well I can't get out, you'll have to wait.' The man behind him gently protests, in French-accented English, to no avail. A few seconds of muttering ensue. 

The doors close on this unfortunate tableau.

Moments later, they reopen. Frustrated Frenchman tries again to leave, Rude Englishman tells him he 'should have taken the fucking escalator'. Something in me goes ping. 

Me: oh do you need help! Please, let me help! *rushes forward and grabs suitcase and huge bag of pampers from Rude Man before he can react*

Rude Man: I don't want to get out

Me: I know you don't, but he does

Rude Man: Well he could have taken the fucking escalator

Me: And you could be less rude

Surprisingly, this cows Rude Man, who retrieves his belongings and gets back in the lift. In the brief interim, Frenchman has exited, so all seems well. The doors close on him and his stoic wife and children. 

Moments later, the doors open again. Rude Man's humiliation deepens and he repeatedly and helplessly jabs the button for the floor he is on. 'There are only two levels,' I say, 'the one you came from and this one'. 'But there are three buttons!' he replies. He's not wrong, but it is quite clear that this is the floor they are meant to be on. They exit the lift. He stalks away, muttering 'Go fuck yourself' at me, but quietly, and from a distance. His wife and children follow.

'Have a great day!' I call after him. We laugh. The French couple laugh. We all board the lift and get on with our days. 

The only trouble with exchanges like this is, I fear he will be utterly horrible to his wife and children for the rest of the day.

Also, one day I'm going to get punched.

2026 Week 7

A little late but I am on holiday, let me off. 

The last week of term flew by in a predictably swift way. I managed to power through quite a lot of marking, peaking on Wednesday, when I finished marking my Y13 mocks in time to give them back before the end of term. This was an utter triumph but marked the end of my productivity on this front, which is why I was marking GCSE mocks on the train from Paris to Oulx on Sunday. On Thursday, I allowed myself a swift stomp down to Farro as I was just staring at the wall, intellectually paralysed; happily, their blood orange and chocolate Danish, combined with the walk, managed to kick me into some sort of working mood so I did get some things planned. I'd be happier if I'd got more done but, then, wouldn't that just mean I would have thought of other things that needed doing?

Not much happened by way of leisure. I went to the gym, to yoga and to see my PT, but I skipped the sauna as I was meant to be giving blood, which in the end I had to postpone, on account of having had a bit of a cold the previous week. Annoying. 

I ordered a new ski boot bag and spent two evenings lovingly rearranging things within it. Packing for skiing was harder than usual, I was just very unsure about what I would need, and being on the train meant I didn't have to limit myself, so naturally I overpacked. 

I was verily glued to the Winter Olympics on the TV, enjoying a lot of things but particularly the snowboard cross and the figure skating. I might be the only person in the world who doesn't like Ilia Mallinin. Reading-wise, I pulled out two teen novels that are such easy reads - The Fortunate Few by Tim Kennemore and Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce, reading both in the space of a week because I know them both extremely well. It's comforting to go back to old favourites. It must nearly be time for the The Dark Is Rising reread. 

On Saturday, Rachael and I started our journey to skiing. We spent Saturday afternoon wandering around Paris and had a nice dinner that involved French onion soup (a must for me). On Sunday, we hung out at Gare de Lyon most of the day as their left luggage was taking only cash and, even then, only coins...who has 25 euros in coins, I had to wonder. There was an incident with a rude man but I will write separately about that as I wrote the story down on my phone immediately afterwards, for blogging purposes. 

Our onward journey to Oulx was slightly marred by the fact that our seats had been taken by some schoolchildren and we were escorted to what seemed, to me, to be very inferior seats; but then, it was probably better than being in the middle of a carriage of schoolchildren. That carriage smelled pretty awful when we went to retrieve our luggage, 5 hours later. 

We were also delayed and missed the last bus to our accommodation and, it turned out, Italy doesn't really do taxis in its ski resorts on a Sunday night. After half an hour of ringing every number I could find, one of the pre-booked drivers took pity on us and ran us up the mountain, thankfully. Just as we arrived, it started to snow, and it hasn't really stopped until this afternoon. Dreamy. 

More ski news in next week's update. 

Early Spring Goals

Full goblin mode this term. It was all self-care, like mulching in my chrysalis for six weeks, so I can emerge this weekend onto the ski slopes as a rejuvenated butterfly. 

The fails first: no way was I going to be able to use up the Lush, when I counted I had about two dozen baths in the box and that was without the stash deep dive (found some bath bombs that are at least 15 years old, for example). But I did have more baths. The hair and face masks - hair, yes; face, turns out I didn't actually have many face masks in my stash. I must have been remembering a bygone glut. So I used up the ones I had but, quite quickly. The secret husband day out...well, it was planned and we were all ready to go with the tickets, but unfortunately Mr Z has had a very bad foot for over a week now and so we had to cancel. No complaints from me as I was able to stay home and watch the women's downhill, but a shame, as I'm sure he would have enjoyed it. 

But the successes! Cannot believe I managed 15 gym visits. Adding the hot yoga, six regular yogas and six PT sessions, I've exercised on 29 days out of the first 43. Not too shabby. The last gym visit was a monumental slog, but I am as fit as I can be for skiing. I learned the skillup machine (cross country ski machine, you might call it) and am working it into my regular routine. 

I deleted Facebook off my phone and I haven't actually missed it. I read it every evening on my computer until I see something racist or bigoted in some other way, and then I close it. Sometimes that happens depressingly quickly.  

I've built up to one minute in the five degree cold plunge at the sauna. I have discovered I really like going there in the rain. I went for a pedicure with my old beautician who's set out on her own, which was a lovely catch up and great to support a small business. And I did some cleaning jobs, but mainly I am pleased about my new routine of a Friday night reset, putting away all the clothes and cleaning the kitchen. That will be one to bring into the Late Spring goals list. 

I feel very accomplished. No idea what else to put on for the next round, though. 

Tuesday Ten

Ten pictures from Sauze d'Oulx

On Saturday, Rachael and I are off skiing to Sauze d'Oulx. It will be my sixth visit there but my first this early in the season and my first without a coachload of teenagers. Sauze holds a very special place in my heart because it was the first place I went skiing as an adult, back in 2006. Here's my 2006 blog rundown of that trip, which pre-dates this iteration -

Skiing was amazing, though. It came back to me surprisingly quickly - the whole kick-your-heels-up-the-mountain thing to stop, snow ploughing, falling over…easy peasy. The first day was pretty bleak; it snowed all day and by the end we were all soaked through (wet April snow) and freezing and very miserable. On top of that, the basic run took us 90 minutes to complete and nobody could see more than a few feet ahead of them. One girl was so blinded by the snow she skied straight off the path and down a snow drift. We all looked on complacently as the ski instructor pulled her out. The next day, when visibility was clear, we realized exactly what she'd nearly fallen down, and a whole new page to my risk assessment for next year was born.

Anyway, by the end of Monday I was deeply regretting booking a trip. I was very fed up, and not finding the other staff overly friendly (well duh…they'd only met me the day before, and we'd been up all night on the coach together), and feeling pretty sorry for myself. So I drowned my sorrows in a vat of red wine, and had to ski the next day with the dehydration that represents the worst hangover symptom I ever suffer from. This was more of a problem than it sounds - I didn't want to drink too much water and risk having to wee in a ceramic hole halfway up a mountain whilst clutching my jumpers, t-shirt and jacket to me in a vain attempt to keep them from soaking up the waste products of previous weak-bladdered skiers; but on the other hand I had the whole dry-mouth, whirly-world thing going on. Thankfully (!) by this point the bus had completely broken down, so we had to walk to the ski lift - 20 minutes uphill - by which point I was feeling more human. From Tuesday on we had the most glorious sunny weather, and it didn't break until Saturday when we had a little more light snow.

Honestly, I could wax lyrical about my trip for pages. I could tell you about the competitive kids who were always cutting me up. I could tell you about the instructor ("My very compliments to you Sally…Sally ees very nice person, yes, you kids agree with me, yes?"). I could tell you about skiing in the slalom race and coming 3rd in my group and winning the bronze medal. I could tell you about the copious amounts of red wine we quaffed every night. I could mention the night at the pizza place, the morning in Bardonecchia watching boarders attempt the Olympic half-pipe (and one very athletic skier). I could even, if you really wanted, give you a blow-by-blow account of the 12 hour coach journey back, and how we missed our ferry because the girls were too squeamish to use the hole-in-the-ground toilets at the service stations and insisted on queueing up for the disabled loo. But I'm not going to. I'll save it all for next year's trip.

Fell down a diario hole reading through my 2006 blog. I was very funny, obviously, but also, wow, life as a teacher was wildly different. Also, that 90 minute run, I can now complete in well under 5 minutes. I might time myself next week, just for comparison. 

After the 2006 inspection visit with another school, I didn't come back until 2009, when I brought my school two Easters in a row. Then I brought my new school in 2018, when I took control of the ski trip, and then the infamous 2023 trip that involved the 58 hour coach journey. I'm delighted to find we're going to be staying opposite the hotel we went to for the last two trips, it's very near to a lift. I'm excited about being able to ski to town level and do actual apres. I'm hoping there will be some sort of seasonal ski show. I'm desperate to ski all the way to France and back in a day. And, of course, I can visit my favourite cake shop down the mountain. 

Here are the pictures. It took some digging. 

1. 2006. Ski clothes loaned to me by the tour operator. Recognise the t-shirt?

2. Someone from the forum knitted me this hat. No helmet because why would you. No goggles. Gloves not mittens (ugh, sacrilege). That magic little super speedy two man chair that left bruises on the back of your legs. 

3. 2009. With my own school. There's a second version of this picture where we've all collapsed into each other. The absolute best ski trip buddies of all time: this was the first of (I cannot believe it was only) four trips together. 

4. This cafe though. 

5. 2010. Same two-man chair. Helmet now because I tried to buy boots on the first day and they couldn't find any to fit me, so I bought the helmet instead. Then got boots the next day. 

6. There's a great picture of me skiing by with my poles on my head, wind whipping up my helmetless hair, but I had to put in a deckchair one, obvs. 

7. 2018. Helmet (second one: 2014 purchase) and goggles because I was so heavily influenced by my ski trip buddy Tom and now I can't ski any other way. I had to put in a snowy one, obvs. This was my first trip with the new school and I wanted to go somewhere where I felt confident. 

8. New ski trip buddies. Alex's first time skiing. This was costume day and I am meant to be Wonderwoman. I had an argument with piste patrol about the correct treatment for one of my students, and won it. I was only wearing sunglasses because it was lunchtime, honest. 

You have to pretend this one isn't here because it brings my count to 11, but I had to squeeze in the deckchairs. 

9. 2023. First one back post-covid. So joyful, even with the journey from hell. Bloody Brexit. 

10. Same deckchairs. Noticably less snow. 

2026 Week 6

I emerged from goblin mode this week and had quite a pleasant one, all things considered. Work feels manageable; I said to Becky at the start of the week that I thought I might be able to finish my to-do list this week and it very nearly happened. I was able to advance some work projects that were irking me, too, so they're not done but at least they're in progress. I worked away on my new exam board job for probably far more hours than would be covered by the fee (note to self: set a timer next time) and managed to submit a little early. No dissertation work happened but I had a good conversation with other teacher friends today about it and it has made me feel more positive and eager to move forward with it. 

I was sharing a car with said teacher friends on a return trip to London for a history conference on Saturday. I've not been to this one before because, really, it's not so useful for me to go to history conferences these days, due to my changed job role. But I have been to so many over the years that, when I don't go, I realise I miss out on the social aspect of being embedded in my subject community. It really felt like I knew half of the people there today, many of whom I had not seen for a number of years, and I was able to make some introductions that I hope will be helpful for a friend trying to get a job in a new area. Plus they had a great historian to speak and I enjoyed that a lot. Only one bad workshop. Another from one of the people who interviewed me when I went for that job at the big O in 2020, that was quite good. Interesting to see the inside of another school. The post-conference pub visit and the road trip might have been the best bit though.

I continued with all the usual self-care things - three gym trips, yoga, PT session, sauna. I listlessly knitted on the watermelon cowl, I'm not really into it for some reason. I didn't really read as I was up too late doing my new exam job to do much reading afterwards. I've been watching a lot of winter Olympics lead up stuff on the new winter sports channel that has appeared. Love the winter Olympics. I can't decide how I feel about Lindsey Vonn doing her ACL but skiing in the downhill anyway, though. I really want to be supportive and think she is a hero...well, she is a hero...but I am nervous for her. It's not just about never skiing again, supposing she can't walk again? I don't know. But I have been doing her ski workouts that I nick from the gram and they are good, I know she is in peak physical condition. 

Writing this on Saturday night for posting on Sunday and it's occurred to me that, by this time tomorrow, she will have competed so I can come back with my verdict. 

....well. That did not end well. Never good when you can hear the screaming from the drone footage. 

Throwaway Thursday - the golden glitter

An occasional series that I might also title, 'Things in my house that are basically rubbish but I am a borderline hoarder and cannot bring myself to throw them out'. The idea is to memorialise such things here and then bin them for good. 

Boy, do I have a treat for you. I present - some golden craft glitter that I bought in the 90s. 

As you can see, there is not much left and it has lost its lid. Why do I still give it house room? Well, for one thing, these are the OG microplastics and how one safely disposes of these things now is anybody's guess. For another, I have some fond memories of it. 

I used to use this as a glitter eyeliner, which makes me want to cry now, and not just as a contact lens wearer. How did I not go blind? I also used to rub cocoa butter on my limbs and then sprinkle it liberally over myself before going out clubbing - I have a vivid memory of doing this before going to some 70s club round the back of Oxford Street, when I wore my PVC dress and we took many pictures which Justine never had developed. The next day, the guy from work I'd sort of been seeing picked me up from work and took me on the infamous worst date of my life (I am bound to have written about it on here before) which involved driving from Brent Cross to the Dartford Bridge and back, and that was it; I had managed about two hours of sleep and was still covered in glitter, because my house didn't have a shower and I hadn't had time for a bath. It was our last date, obviously. I like to think some of that glitter stayed on his passenger seat for the rest of the time he owned the car, it would be some small restitution. 

The last time I can remember using the glitter like this was on this night in Ibiza in 2002, when we went to see Dave Pearce at Eden -

Shortly after this picture was taken, the front barman picked me up for another photo, which sadly I can't find (I think it involved some unflattering leg angles though, honestly, at my current age and weight, I cannot believe I could find any picture of me from 2002 unflattering); when he put me down again he was mystified as to what had happened to his arms, which were covered in a mixture of this glitter and Lush's King of Skin. Good luck getting that off, mate. 

That creepy barman on the right (the one I am leaning away from) grabbed me and tried to kiss me when I was the last person in the bar one night, so grim: an experience that lightly taints the pictures from this trip. 

Anyway. I won't use this as a cosmetic anymore, now that I respect my skin and eyes; I did use some of it for making photo frames, back when I used to do that; half of it spilled in the top drawer of the filing cabinet; what possible use could I have for what is left? 

It is pretty, though. 

Tuesday Ten - 2025 part 4

31. What did you do on your birthday?
I got my nails done, then drove into Bristol and got softserve and a babka from a favourite bakery. Mr Z made curry and flatbreads for tea. Other than that, I packed for my holiday, worked on my metanalysis and was quiet at home. I don't often have birthdays at home so that made a change but it was also quite muted because we were into Mother Z's final fortnight, though we didn't know it, so Mr Z spent much of the day round there. 

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

I really can't think of anything. It was quite a satisfying year. As I think I've mentioned before, I would have liked more down time, but I'm not sure that really fits the word satisfying. 

33. How would you describe your personal fashion this year?
Dopamine dressing. Colour. How a primary school child might dress for an office job. 

I have reintroduced trousers into my wardrobe this year, now that there is less belly. I had my Vietnam-crafted suit trousers taken in at a local mender's and bought some pink herringbone tweed trousers from Boden (with the jacket - the suit feels a bit much worn all together but I do get compliments). I hadn't really worn trousers to work for about 10 years, apart from loose palazzo-style under short dresses, so that was new. 

My favourite new shop discovery was Aligne. I have spent so long shopping in just one or two places, resigned to the fact nobody stocks bigger sizes, that I stopped looking elsewhere, so it was pleasant to discover that many brands have moved on a bit now and do stock an extended size range. My only issue with Aligne is that their dresses are so short, especially for those of us who are long of body and fat of thigh - what should be a clean and slightly angular look becomes positively salacious on me. I am also quite picky in that I don't like midi or maxi length, really: I want something between mid-thigh and knee. It's not really a bad thing that there are not loads of items in the range I want to buy, though. I do probably have enough clothes to last me for the rest of my life. 

I also bought more pearls. I got a long string at Wonderwool and then a double row with a big crystal flower clasp from an antiques stall at a little market in Oxford. Then Mr Z gifted me pearl earrings for Christmas. I believe this is me leaning into middle-age jewellery, as if my burgeoning collection of brooches didn't already indicate this clearly enough. 

34. What kept you sane?

Mr Z. The cats. Getting more sleep. Doing hot and cold things - swimming, sauna. The gym. Actually love the gym now, what a weirdo. 

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you admire the most?

OK, hear me out - I have to choose Charli XCX. I just very much enjoy watching her live her projection of her best life whilst at the same time she is grinding and has been very upfront about the fact that pretty much everyone in her life is someone she wants to work with. I appreciate a woman who loves her work to the point of being unable to ever put it down (one of my tribe). I appreciate the smoking, I miss smoking. I loved the wedding, both of them. I'm really very anti Class A drugs but, meh. 

I'm sure there are lots of people who are more worthy due to their political activism but, honestly, I've probably consumed more content about Charli XCX than anyone else. This feels vaguely pathetic as someone almost old enough to have birthed her but, I must own my truth. 

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Immigration. I am appalled at how anti-immigration rhetoric is now just acceptable mainstream opinion. I hate the fact so many people seem to think people shouldn't be able to claim asylum, the way that it is brutal and deep-seated racism dressed up as something more socially acceptable, that the lies attached to it are repeated and believed by so many seemingly normal people, that it's used as a scapegoat for social issues caused by nearly two decades of reduced public spending because a bunch of super-rich bankers decided to crash the world's economy so they could enrich themselves. I could go on and on and on about how damaging, hateful and, frankly, embarrassing it is. Mostly I just don't talk about it. Nobody will ever change my mind so I don't see much point in trying to change anybody else's.

37. Who did you miss?

I missed my dad far more than I ever expected to. I suppose it's because, though we didn't speak much, we did speak at least once a year. It has now been two years since he died. I don't think there's much I'd have to tell him but I'd be interested in his take on the current political situation, though it has to be said that living in the US had turned some of his views a bit white supremacist - not right-wing, but definitely more than a little bit racist. Or maybe he was always that way but we just never really talked about it. 

38. Who was the best new person you met?

I'm sure I must have met some new people last year but I actually can't remember any of them. 

39. What valuable life lesson did you learn this year?

Actively plan things for downtime. Don't leave it until you get the break, when your decision fatigue, executive dysfunction, whatever you want to call it, will result in all of that relaxation time being whiled away in a combination of scrolling, listlessness, guilt and regret. And you know, it might be easy to say that doing nothing is necessary and is relaxing in itself, and I can agree to a point, but what's MORE relaxing is nourishing mind, body and soul with a carefully-curated selection of your favourite activities and actually having them ready and planned so you don't have to make any choices but can just relax into enjoying them. 

Pretty long life lesson. 

40. What is a quote that sums up your year?

'You can't pour from an empty jug'. 

2026 Week 5

Quite a goblin week this week. I didn't really watch much, knit much or read much. I even cried off knitting yesterday morning. 

I spent much of the week being really annoyed but I wasn't really sure why. I feel like I have too many things to do and I feel creeping dread about getting my dissertation done, it feels as though I have very little time left to do it. I don't really know why; the deadline is not that close. I can't progress my project until I get the go-ahead from work, though, so maybe that's it. So I keep thinking I should change back to my original topic which won't really require any permission. 

Yeah, it's making a bit more sense why I've been in a poor mood for most of the week. 

I did all the self-care things. Monday, gym; Tuesday, sauna; Wednesday, yoga; Thursday, PT; Friday, hot yoga. Baths and early nights. Nice pyjamas. I tried exceptionally hard to eat sensibly. I only had one coffee all week. I kept reminding myself that it is almost thinking about getting light when I leave for work in the mornings now. But, to no avail. Sometimes I think you just have to accept the slump. On Thursday night, I decided I would not sit at my computer, messing around online while feeling bad about not doing the stack of marking I brought home, but would instead sit at my computer and fight my work inbox for an hour. This was very successful. It resulted in a much happier Friday and a much calmer weekend, mainly because I know there aren't a dozen things lurking that I haven't quite done. Maybe that was also the creeping dread. 

I spent a big chunk of Saturday working on my new exam board job. It took me most of the day to get started, predictably, because I wasn't totally sure what to do, but once I got started - yes. This is the exam board job for me. Spotting typos. Grammar pedantry. Considering whether a specific word really insinuates what we want it to. I looked up and it was 11.30pm. 

The only other thing of note this week was that I met a politician at school. He is quite famous. I'm not writing the name because he's also quite divisive. He was a local MP until 2024 and has a reputation for being Victorian and lying on benches. One of our pol teachers wrote to lots of local politicians, inviting them in, and he was the only one who replied, so then we had to have him in, even though our students (and staff) made a half-hearted protest against it. As I imagined he would be, he was scrupulously polite, extremely measured and put across his point of view very well. It was interesting to watch him blow our students' minds a little every time he said something they agreed with. There were some really quite significant holes in his arguments, and I was left a little sad that our lot aren't quite up to pushing back on some of these, but tbf, we did tell them to stay respectful and not bring the school into disrepute, so that might be partly our fault. 

He said at the beginning that, if you want to test if you believe in free speech, you have to listen to people you don't agree with, and I think we can all say we did that. I'm mainly relieved that he didn't use the visit to announce he was moving even further right and joining that other party. I would have thought he would have been above it, as they don't really seem to have any ideology other than, 'Go away', but apparently he is considering it. 

Throwaway Thursday - the Banana Republic tee

The first in an occasional series that I might also title, 'Things in my house that are basically rubbish but I am a borderline hoarder and cannot bring myself to throw them out'. The idea (and I think I've done this before) is to memorialise such things here and then bin them for good. 

Up first: the Banana Republic tee. 

I have had one of these t-shirts in my wardrobe since 1992. Father Hand bought me a light grey marl version with a dark green logo when I visited him in Florida over Christmas that year. I wore it throughout my teen years. 

School trip to Venice, 1993.

(In 2004 I was coming to the end of a phase of trying to get my picture taken with as many policemen as possible. I don't remember why I got into this phase, but I do have a lot of pictures of me with policemen.) 

When I returned to live with Father Hand in 2000, I came back with (I think) three such t-shirts, having worn the original into rags. I had them in dark blue, dark red and dark grey. The dark blue and dark red are both long gone but this grey one remained. 

It has reached the end of its life as a t-shirt. It was worn to holes around the neck, hem and underarm stitching. I put it on at the gym last week and almost had second thoughts about wearing it, partly because who goes to the gym in rags and because one catch on a handlebar or weight and I feared the whole thing would rip away from me and I would then have to stop going to that gym. So, I washed it one last time and then chopped it neatly into squares to use as mini whiteboard rubbers at school. In fact, I did that before I remembered to take a picture. But I'm keeping the logo. 

Happily, due to the world we live in now, I found another one online second-hand for under a tenner, so that's basically an unbroken ownership streak of 34 years for this t-shirt style. 

(Update on this: said t-shirt was apparently shop-lifted out of the shop the day before I bought it, so my streak is broken. If anybody sees one for sale...)

Pigeon attack, Venice, 1993. 

Tuesday Ten - 2025 part 3

21. How are you spending the holidays? 

I spent them in the usual way - lots of rest, lots of cold turkey, a visit from Mother Hand, a lot of Super Mario.

If we're talking about more than just Christmas (which we are because this isn't America), I spent most of my holiday time in Oxford or in one of the places listed in the first of these posts. The summer holiday flew by depressingly quickly because I had so much to do. I am determined to not have a repeat of that this year: I will get my dissertation as finished as it can be before the first deadline in July, so I don't have to give up most of a second summer holiday. 

22. Did you fall in love this year?

Not with anybody or anything new. 

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No, I don't really hate people. I find some people intensely irritating and that list hasn't really changed since last year. I'm sure other people find the same thing, that you spend ages waiting for someone you don't like at work to leave, and then they go, only to find there was someone else equally unlikeable just waiting in the wings for the opportunity to be irritating. 

Nobody annoying has left work in the past year but I am resigned to just allowing the flies in my ointment, mainly because they make me appreciate their absence so much. 

I don't think there's anybody intensely irritating in my personal life that I have to see often, because I have control over that and I tend to just, not see those people. 

24. What was your favourite show?
Mostly 2025 was a year of rewatches - The Good Wife, The Wire and The Sopranos. I loved them all and technically The Wire was not a rewatch because I never finished it first time round. 

Of new series, probably The Last of Us had the biggest impact. I'm still not at peace with the ending. I also enjoyed Celebrity Traitors which I binged over Christmas, unable to put up with the pressure from my Y13s any longer. 

I do spend a lot of time being advised to watch things that I never have time to sit down to. 

25. What was the best book you read?

I think my favourite from last year was Lessons in Chemistry, it made me laugh so much.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery of the year?
This wasn't really a year to discover new music. I've stopped listening to the radio so how would I know what's new? But probably Chappell Roan, she has managed to break through. 

27. What was your favourite film?
Did I see any new films in 2025? I must have done. I saw Wicked 2 but it was only OK, I am not really supportive of it being made in two parts, I don't love it that much. Maybe The Phoenician Scheme? That was better but still not amazing. 

28. What was your favourite meal?
I love eating. This is a really hard choice. But probably the tasting menu we had at Smalhans in Oslo. Everything tasted super fresh and delicious and there was lots of fish, which I love. My favourite was probably the cabbage wedge that accompanied the beef, probably because it was doused in melted butter. 

Plus we did the accompanying wine flight. And the company was excellent: Rachael found us the restaurant and did the booking, and it's particularly fun going to eat with Alex because he loves eating as much as I do and will try pretty much anything - this is key for a tasting menu, in my opinion. Rachael was very brave and ate everything except the strawberries. Love that she drew the line at this. 

Clean plate. Absolutely necessary napkin placement. 

Honourable mentions: 

Street eating in Bari, with Campari Spritz, live singing from someone who I'm going to say was the son of the owner's sister, going by the dynamic we witnessed between these people, and very delicious cime di rapa orecchiette. 

Dinner at the castle in Albania. Albanian tasting menu. 

The Turkish breakfast at my local cafe. No pictures of this but it is top notch. It is what I eat when Mr Z has the full English at Saturday brunch. Fresh veggies, cheese, honey, eggs with a little sausage, flatbreads and some kind of crispy fried pastry with a little cheese and spinach inside. Actually quite similar to Albanian fare, not surprisingly I guess. 

Mr Z's Keralan beef and flatbreads. My choice of birthday meal this year. Very good with my home-made mango chutney and a little yogurt.

29. What did you want and get?

Um. A tricky question. Like, materially? - because I don't really want for anything. I'm very fortunate. 

I guess I wanted a bit more designer jewellery because this has become a spendy treat attached to my exam money every year (I sort of consider it an investment, as this stuff does seem to hold value, though probably not when you wear it as joyfully and often as I do), so I got a little hoop stack from Loewe, that you can see in the picture of me drinking, above. 

More generally, I got a reader card for All Souls library which was a really convoluted process on which I refused to give up; I got merits in three of my MSc assignments, after I talked myself into being happy with any passing mark; and I got another exam board job for another exam board (actually two but I turned one down when I worked out it seemed to pay roughly minimum wage - not really OK for a skilled role and I am privileged enough to be able to say no to such things) which - did I want it? - want is a strong word, but it is another aspect of the role that I haven't done before so, learning. And if I ever manage to leave teaching, it will be a few more pounds in the bank each year. 

30. What did you want and not get?

I'm quite keen on the idea of an MP3 player but I haven't advanced that thought yet. At the moment I use my old phone (purchased circa 2017) as my music player and I am particularly fond of the fact that I never have to connect it to the internet. The internet is not what it used to be. I keep thinking about replacing it because part of the reason the old phone is my old phone is because the battery is not reliable; but now that battery packs are a thing I worry about that less. 

Less materially, I wanted to work less hard and this did not happen. In fact, it so emphatically didn't happen that it has pushed me further down the road out of teaching than any year previously. 

I also wanted a pretty gardenful of flowers, such as I managed in 2024, but there was no chance of that. March was unbelievable, there was no time for planting anything. Maybe this year. 

Oh yes, and I would have liked to lose some more weight, but did not. I am trying very hard not to be sad about it. I am the fittest I have ever been and I got rid of the diabetes, for now. That made it much harder to lose weight, because where is the incentive...but I will keep trying. 

2026 Week 4

It was the busy timetable week at work this week, so I have been fighting a to do list that grows at least two items longer for every one I tick off, grim. Not winning. I did at least get Friday in Birmingham for a trust meeting, though that ended up being quite frustrating and a reminder, once again, that when I leave teaching it will probably be because of the trust. I just cannot with this 'You need to do joined up thinking' when there is embarrassingly little joined up thinking at the top, and I cannot keep saying this to them, because I am at risk of becoming the biggest whinger and nobody likes the biggest whinger. 

Thankfully there's been mercifully little work to do not related to my actual job this week. 

In the spirit of just doing things rather than thinking about them for so long that I miss the opportunity, I booked a 6am swim at Jubilee pool in Knowle, to swim under Luke Jerram's Helios, on Wednesday. I didn't have to get up too much earlier than normal and it was such a good way to start the day - other-worldly to swim under this light and I only had to share it with about a dozen other people, so it was a great time to go. 

The sun swayed a little from the heat/movement in the pool and the light inside swirls and moves very gently as well, so the whole thing gives the impression of being in motion, but that sort of 'Did that just move?' corner of your eye motion. 

Man, was I tired by the end of the day, though. I fell asleep at yoga twice; the first time, I woke myself up snoring (awkward) but the second time, I was woken up by the man next to me snoring, so that was OK. 

I have managed to finish John Boyne's The Elements, it's very compelling to read and I have found that the notion of shorter, 120ish-page books has helped me race through. I'm always on the lookout for another connection between the stories. I think this might be the first time in my adult life that I've finished a library book without having to renew it at least once. 

I've been continuing to knit a squishy brioche cowl in the watermelon gradient I mentioned last week, mostly whilst watching Runaway on Netflix, which had some cracking actors in it but ... I just don't think Harlen Coben series are for me. I didn't like the last one I watched much, either. I got through it super quick, though. Now I can't find much on that I want to watch. I did finally get around to watching Saltburn last night though. Only several years later.  

I'm trying to develop a new habit of a Friday night reset, spruce up, whatever the young people are calling it these days - my own version of Cosy Friday. I put away all my clothes from the week and last weekend's washing, which is inevitably still on the airer/radiators or in a pile somewhere, because it's nice waking up on a Saturday with no floordrobe. I also wash up and spray down all the kitchen surfaces. This week I even went to the gym after getting back from Birmingham, so I felt extra smug and wow, did I sleep well. 

The gym was surprisingly busy. I hoped it would be dead so I could try out the ski erg without risk of humiliation but it was even busier than normal, but lots of wholesome things going on, like a dad/daughter KB session (very much hope they were dad/daughter or otherwise, urgh) and some women spotting each other on a little circuit in the weights area. Weird Gym Man was also there, chatting to lots of people and helping out a woman with adjusting her bench, although she did not seem like she needed help. She was quite muscly. She was also in full make up and wearing a halter top. I hate myself a bit for judging what people wear to the gym and especially women, but I really don't understand the concept of a gym halter top if you have anything more than A cup breasts. Maybe even AA. Yes, your back looks fire and your shoulder definition is proudly displayed but, ow, and also, don't make any sudden movements. 

Should also point out I was in basically full make up, having come directly from a trust meeting. I was terrified to touch my face, for fear of it smearing everywhere. Not the vibe I'm looking for in the gym. Clearly being glam at the gym takes a lot of forbearance. 

Tuesday Ten - 2025 part 2

11. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Not really. Some annoying sore things that pop up on my aging body from time to time - I think I aggravated my coccyx on the leg press at the gym so that hurt for a long time; the shoulder I hurt on the ski trip in 2022 is still a bit stiff at times; one of my ankles swelled up and became extremely painful, and though it doesn't hurt now, it's still a bit swollen. 

Age, what a thing. 

I will say that my left knee, which has been sore since 2020, is no longer troubling me. I am claiming gym consistency as the remedy for that one. 

12. What was the best thing you bought?
I was actually thinking this could be a post all of its own. I bought a lot of things that I really loved. But I'm going to say the UV reactive yarn that I used to knit jumpers for my niblings. 

13. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Um. I assume this is meant to be someone famous because I'm not sure you, reader, will feel the same level of joy about my niece sharing her toys with her brother that I did. So, tricky. The only one I can think of to say is Ed Miliband on Instagram. Surprisingly entertaining and with good political messaging. I like this sort of, 'I have already done the party leader thing so I am in that post-important grandad-type role but I am still an MP' vibe. 

14. Whose behaviour made you appalled?

I was quite appalled reading about some of the potential nominees for the Papacy. 

I mean, politics in general is pretty appalling, isn't it? I try very hard to remind myself that differing political opinions are not wrong but it's actually getting harder and harder to be measured when certain political opinions lead to persecution and death. I had to unfollow a yoga instructor I've enjoyed following for a long time last week because she obliquely posted about the Minnesota shooting by saying something like, 'Remember that thing a few years ago where 50% of people swore the dress was white and gold and the rest swore it was blue and black?' 

Yes I do remember that but it didn't involve someone being shot dead and a someone else's life being wrecked because he shot a woman dead. What a crass comparison to make, particularly in light of the outpouring of grief from the same person when Charlie Kirk was shot (another heinous act, his children were there FFS). Are we really here now? Surely the only reasonable reaction to anybody being killed is one of grief and shock? I don't care if you think they deserved it. Someone is dead. 

George Clooney said at the Golden Globes something about us living in an age of cruelty and I really felt that. But, then, I also think often that life has never been as sacred as it is in the age we are living in, which is ironic, given how many of us there are now. Maybe this is us slipping down the peak, back towards a place where life is less sacred. 

15. Where did most of your money go?

I'm very boring - savings, uni fees and holidays, in that order. Also SpaceNK. 

16. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

A tricky one. Do I ever feel that level of excitement anymore?

I did get very feverishly excited about going to a conference in Liverpool in May, unusually so. I think it was a combo of seeing some people I love but don't get to see very often and the fact that it marked the beginning of three weeks of no teaching, as it was at the start of a fortnight in Oxford, followed by half term. 

I also had an interesting sort of reverse excitement about the ski trip. I wasn't hugely anticipating 2025 because 2024 was not much fun and my ski trip bestie Rachael couldn't come, but it turned out to be a really fantastic trip and then I got really excited planning for 2026. But we're not going this year because not enough students were excited enough for it to be viable. Deflating. However, I guess it doesn't detract from the excitement I felt at the time. 

This was such a good day. Couldn't love my ski overalls more. 

17. What song will always remind you of this year?

I can't choose between three. They are from different bits of 2025 so maybe that makes it OK. Chappell Roan - The Giver; Olivia Dean - Man I need; RAYE - Where is my husband? 

18. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder? Richer or poorer? Healthier or unhealthier?
Richer. Healthier. Happiness-wise, probably about the same. Definitely not sadder. 

19. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Always more skiing (I could have wedged in a trip in Feb half term, I'm sure of it); more knitting; more reading. Basically more hobbies. I'd have liked to have got my kayak out at least once in 2025. 

I wish I'd discovered the localish sauna sooner. 

20. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Work. Why didn't I give up work to do the Masters? Why? True regret. 

2026 Week 3

My office-mate Becky* told me on Friday about a thing called Cosy Friday, which is a poor translation of a Scandinavian word for going home on a Friday and not worrying about going out or doing anything, but just staying in and being cosy. I am much enamoured of this concept and feel like my whole January is turning into Cosy Friday and I am pleased about it. 

I have done a couple of cosy things - I went to the sauna after work on Friday and to hot yoga on Thursday, after parents' evening, even though I could not think of anything I felt less like doing by that point. It was reinvigorating in a way that hot yoga always is, in that genuine type 2 fun way that I did not much enjoy it at the time. I go to one in a tent and it feels faintly unhealthy. I picked a space between a wall and a pillar, correctly predicting that the space next to me would be the very last one anyone else would pick, only to find that everybody showed up to class so I was uncomfortably close to a much younger man and a little bit concerned about sweating on him, especially as he kept moving backwards and forwards on his mat to prevent any accidental touching. This may well have been because he was worried about sweating on me but it did not make me feel great. Also I found the instructor annoying. So it wasn't the best thing in the world but, by the time I got home, I felt faintly euphoric, which is pretty good for the end of a parents' evening towards the end of a week. 

I've watched the rest of Tinker Tailor and I've read the whole 'Water' section of John Boyne's The Elements, thanks to a return train journey to Birmingham. I've got another of those on Friday so hopefully I'll be able to bash out another section. I cleared out my chest of knitting yarn and sorted out lots to donate, and then donated some, to Emma, at knitting group. I looked through some more of the stash yesterday and found two boxes that are just leftovers from other projects so I think I should ditch those as well...what does one do with project leftovers? I feel that, in a 'make do and mend' mentality, I should save my scraps for knitting Barbara Goode style jumpers, but I don't even have time to knit up all my matching yarn so that feels a bit silly. 

I spent yesterday knitting a swatch for a new jumper I've been planning to knit for about two decades, proving my point above even more strongly. Then, whilst watching Nuremberg last night (would recommend, it was better than I thought it would be) I wound a set of minis I bought at Wonderwool in (and here I was going to say 2022ish but am horrified to discover it was actually) 2017 and started knitting an Obfuscation cowl that is nearly 20% finished already. Just need to get on with doing things, clearly. 

Work has been a bit grim but I'm just trying to go with it. It's only work and it doesn't count either for or against Cosy Fri-anuary. I had to text Mr Z on Friday to tell him I was being really aresholey but, when I got home and told him all of it, he said I wasn't arseholing, I was just refusing to put up with things. 

I got ethical approval for my dissertation, so that's good. Except now I have to do the thing. 

* I've known Becky for a long time and was reflecting on whether I should use the word friend. She is definitely a friend, but we don't see each other socially and I think that, when we no longer work together, we won't see each other anymore. Much like our language missing a word for Cosy Friday, I feel like it is missing a word for this sort of relationship. 

Tuesday Ten

I came across these 40 questions to ask yourself every year through another blog that I read regularly, that I won't link because it's a bit worky and I'd rather try to keep that a bit separate. They reminded me of the sorts of surveys we'd love to take as teens and I thought they'd make a great Tuesday Ten prompt, split up over four weeks, since I like the rhythm of Tuesday Ten posts but struggle a lot to think of topics for them. 

So here are the first ten, and I will follow up over the coming weeks with more, reviewing my 2025. 

1. What did you do this year that you’d never done before?

I can't think of anything significant. Visited a couple of new countries. Swam in a few new places Hit a new top speed while skiing. Lifted a heavier deadlift than ever before. 

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions?

Yes. I only made one silly one and it was fun and easy to keep - that I would pose outrageously for any picture I was forced to take for work. 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No. I seem to be in that middle age bit where my friends have all finished birthing their babies but their babies aren't old enough to be birthing their own yet. 

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yes. Mother Z passed away in the summer.

5. What cities/states/countries did you visit?

I began the year in Kazakhstan. 

I spent four weeks and some odd days here and there in Oxford. 

I went on school trips to South Tirol, for skiing, and Greenwich. 

I went to the Brecons for the usual Wonderwool weekend.

I went to Liverpool for a conference weekend and spent many days in Birmingham for work things. 

I summer-holidayed to Norway, Italy and Albania. 

I spent a bit of time in Portsmouth in the summer. 

I had my (perhaps now annual) pre-Christmas solo trip to London and visited with the smalls a couple of other times. 

6. What would you like to have next year that you lacked this year?

Some time off. 

7. What date(s) from this year will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

I can't think of any, specifically. This was a really good day, though. 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting into remission from diabetes. 

I got merits on all three MSc assignments I submitted this year. Very pleasing. 

I also felt that I had more follow-through this year. I planned to do things and then actually did them, which has led to me feeling generally more accomplished. The termly goal lists have helped with that, as has just doing things or booking things as soon as I think of them, instead of giving myself thinking time. 

9. What was your biggest failure?

I consistently fail to accurately predict how long things will take. I'd love it if I could get better at this. 

10. What other hardships did you face?

I'm a very fortunate person. I don't really face hardships. I found one of my uni assignments incredibly hard and working almost every single day from the start of June to the middle of October was horrible. But are these really hardships? 'Oh no, my expensive degree is difficult and I am inundated with paying work' blah blah. 

2026 Week 2

I'm not sure which Monday it is in January that is meant to be the most depressing, but I hope it's not as depressing as this week has been. What a grind! It was cold all the time and we didn't even get any snow out of it, even though I lay in bed on Friday morning willing it to be blanketed outside. 

Oh well. One week down, five to go, and then it's half term and ski time. 

I have done the self-care things this week. I've been to the sauna twice, to the gym twice, to yoga and to see the PT. I haven't really been eating very well but it's all relative, I'm not longer existing on cheese and gin, so that is good. I've been going to bed as early as I can (and I'm bashing this out quickly now so I can head there asap). Mr Z and I went for a brunch yesterday and I allowed myself an afternoon nap. I sorted out some clothes for charity and hangered up a week's worth of outfits. I ordered a blue leather skirt I don't need but couldn't stop thinking about. 

I finally finished Beloved by Toni Morrison. It was pretty horrible but not as ghastly as people had made it out to be; maybe that's because I'm not a mother, I can see that being haunted by your own baby (this is not a spoiler, it's on the first page) might be more horrifying if you had ever had a baby. Or maybe I've just read too many gruesome stories of slavery. 

I've started a Karen Maitland medieval horror but I've also just got a library book in, Elements by John Boyne, which jumped out at me from somebody's 2025 reading list. Also I got a guide to Slovakia so I am spoilt for reading choice. 

We finished watching the Sopranos and I started watching the OG Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, from the 70s. I think having seen the film a few times helps with linking the bits of the story together, though I still find it difficult to mesh all the threads into something other than one big tangle. It's on iPlayer if you fancy it. A lovely bit of 70s nostalgia. 

No knitting has happened. Since ripping the mitten back to its picot cuff, I haven't restarted, mainly because I can't decide whether to go up one needle size or two. Well, that's not strictly true. I think I have decided I need to go up two, but I have been too lazy to get the needle case out of the blanket box to retrieve them. That just about sums up how little energy there's been for the week, to be honest. 

Tuesday Ten

Ten trips I'm looking forward to this year

1. Skiing in Sauze d'Oulx. I've been there five times but only ever at Easter and only with a coachload of teenagers. So excited to ski to France and back! Plus we're going by train so we have a stop in Paris each way. 

2. Edinburgh for Steps the Musical. Fetch my sequins and 90s make up. 

3. Mallorca with the fam, Easter weekend. Sib has rented an AirBnB with a heated pool. I've never been there before and it will be a good short break. 

4. Sheffield, for a geography conference. This might not sound too exciting but I have never spoken at a geography conference before (obviously) and my friend/colleague and I will be co-presenting. 

5. School trip to Iceland. I feel a bit guilty about staffing this one as I have already been to Iceland on a school trip, back in 2011 I think, but that was a Feb trip and it will be fun to go later in the year. 

6. Wonderwool. Obvs. 

7. Newcastle for another conference. I'm giving the same talk as in Sheffield, should make for a much less stressful prep. Plus I am flying there - the cost of a return flight was too good to pass up. 

8. The summer tour with Zoe. We are going to Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. We booked it all in about two days over Christmas, clearly we are both living several months into the future already. 

9. Hythe, Kent, for another family trip. Mother Hand grew up in Hythe and wants to go back so the grandchildren can see it. We've rented a place opposite the beach, so exciting! I remember those beaches so well from my own childhood. Haven't been back in years. 

10. I'm leaving 10 open for now. I've got a couple of trips to Oxford booked in and Sib bought me a very generous gift voucher for a local spa that I might manage to get Mr Z to go to with me, we'll see. There will be some kind of London visit at some point. I might head to Leeds for another conference. The world is my oyster, clearly. 

Late Autumn Goals

Honestly very much enjoying this list thing. It definitely helped me to do some things I would have avoided otherwise. 

I can't really be blamed for that fact that SLT did not go out for a festive evening. I tried, several times, but have started to suspect it's not to everyone's tastes. Unfortunately I did not make it to the faculty team night out, which clashed with an exam board meeting day...I could have gone afterwards. I should have done. But it was belting down with rain and I went and had dinner with my exam board boss instead. 

All the other usual seasonal treats made an appearance. Strictly and Chinese with Kaff, an old colleague I have managed to maintain a friendship with. The opening night of Bath Christmas markets with other ex-colleagues now friends. The Gurt Lush Christmas choir concert and the December haircut, along with other festive treats and another catch up. 

I really went wild on the Advent book and baked a lot of recipes from it. I went even further down the rabbit hole, buying some gingerbread moulds to use for Springerle (aniseed biscuits that are moulded and then dried out a little before baking, so when you cook them they have a little foot, like macarons) and even buying a biscuit press, only naturally I had to have the good one so I ordered it from a German company who shipped it directly from Italy. It took so long to arrive we'd broken up from school and I didn't have anybody to bake for, so I only managed one batch. It is like magic though and enabled an entire batch of cookies to be whipped up in 10 minutes. Rolling and cutting is so last year. 

Anyway. I have convinced at least three more people to buy this book now so I feel very virtuous. 

The five house clean jobs would definitely not have been done without the list, but they were all deeply satisfying. I've tried to be a bit more specific with my Spring list, though, as I was getting a bit of decision fatigue. 

And the gym! I was going to be content with 12 visits but then I decided it was OK to extend the list completion to NYE and managed to squeeze in an extra few and, very pleasingly, this made a total of 52 visits for 2025, which just about warrants the subscription fee. To this we can add five PT sessions, five yoga sessions and one hot yoga session - yes, I finally went back. I am in the best shape of my life.

Weird gym man has been haunting. He might get his own post this week. 

Here's my list for the coming half term:

• 15 gym visits (six weeks until skiing)
• Try the ski machine thing in the gym (terrifying, nobody ever uses it)
• 6 sauna visits
• 2 hot yoga visits (bought a multi-class pass, didn't I, sigh)
• Get a pedicure
• Use up all the Lush bath products I have accumulated
• Weekly skin/hair treatment
• Take Mr Z to the secret surprise thing
• Clear out all the little drawers in the living room
• No Facebook on the phone. I've actually put 'Facebook only at weekends' but I think this might be too challenging. Instead, I've deleted the app off my phone. I hovered over Insta as well but, well, I can't quite everything all at once. 

2026 Week 1

I barely made it to midnight on NYE this week. I was prone on the sofa at 10.30, almost unable to keep my eyes open. I am not one for big NY festivities for the sake of it, but I draw the line at missing midnight. The last time I can remember missing a NY midnight was in 1999, a truly depressing NYE that began with Mother Hand coming in to tell me she and her mother had decided it was cold enough for thermal vests and I should wear mine also. A horrifying foreshadowing of a future I had absolutely no interest in pursuing. 

Anyway. Happily, this week, I rallied and managed to stay awake until the end of the London fireworks. I still get a little kick out of shots of the London Eye, remembering seeing in the millennium from underneath it, after enterprising revellers including myself collapsed the barriers to get to the river's edge. I saw on TikTok that it now costs £45 to stand there, you have to be in by 10.30 and then you're not allowed to leave for two hours. Ghastly. Push the barriers over, guys. 

(Just went back and re-read the blog post about the millennium night and it seems I crawled under one barrier and pushed over another. I was a regular little hooligan in my youth.)

There hasn't been much else to this week, really. Lots of sleep, lots of lounging. Many episodes of the Sopranos and a catch-up of the entire series of Celebrity Traitors (Alan Carr, what a legend). We completed Super Mario in record time and have basically finished the Luigi version as well, unprecedented. Turkey melts. Cheese boards. Gym visits. Sauna visits - I managed to get to the newish local community sauna twice. Some bits and pieces of work, in a very relaxed fashion. I knitted half a mitten and then ripped it back after trying it on with the thumb opening because the gauge was too tight - very mandala. I worked on my 'Spring 1' list of nice things to do and it turns out to be a very worthy and nourishing sort of list, which I suppose is OK. Probably right for the time of year. 

This time last year I was preparing to fly home from Kazakhstan. That was a great holiday but I don't think I appreciated how much I need a quiet Christmas break. It has been a really long time since I did nothing much at all for several days in a row and I have found it very rejuvenating.