Looking through rose coloured glasses

This is one of my favourite times of the year.



And the food may have something to do with it all 

You know, the lazy summer days between Christmas and New Year when you are still on holiday, still in the festive mood and still refusing to wear anything other than clothes made of the stretchiest of fabrics.

Of course we all know that the fun and games will end in tears. Like on that first day back to work when none of your clothes will zip up but hey, we are living for today not tomorrow, right?

Christmas was great. Great weather, great company, great food and Santa was kind.

Christmas Eve, on the other hand, was rubbish with a capital R.

On the way to my daughter's place for Christmas I stopped off at a hardware store to pick up some garden items. While there, and after walking the length and breadth of the store several times, I popped into the café for a quick lunch. As I heartily bit into a Cajun chicken wrap I heard a loud crunch......... mmmm, that would have been one of my teeth. Oh @#%$!!!

Alright, I can hear you shouting from over there, "Who goes to a hardware store for lunch?" "What kind of hardware do they put in their wraps?"

I know, I hear you, but I was really, really hungry.

I quickly phoned my daughter and thankfully she was able to book an emergency appointment with her dentist for later that afternoon. When I arrived at her home, I took off my shoes and lay on the lounge consumed with self pity.   Ten minutes later I sat bolt upright when I heard my daughter's screams. Stella, her eight month old puppy, had taken my sandal outside and was enthusiastically chewing on it as if it was her favourite bone. We managed to save the shoe before it was totally ruined.



She may have eaten my shoe in retaliation for being dressed like a reindeer so I guess I can't be too mad

Which, was just as well given I was due at the dentist in less than an hour. I now had one and a half  shoes and no others to wear. My daughter couldn't help because not only was she laughing hysterically but her feet are two sizes smaller than mine. Talk about the ugly step sister trying to fit into Cinderella's shoes. It was just not going to happen.

So, when I arrived at the dentist I had to explain not only why I had a broken tooth but also why I had a broken shoe. He must have been high on laughing gas based on his reaction. Thank goodness I am not easily humiliated.

I just choose to ignore the obvious sometimes and put on my rose coloured glasses.

There are always unexpected challenges and life is very good at throwing us curveballs, large and small, to stop us in our tracks. Who knows what 2015 will bring.  2014 was a happy year for me. I tried very hard to live in the present, not the future or that dreaded past which has consumed my life for too many years. I am getting good at accepting whatever comes  - the good, the bad, the indifferent. It is what it is. We do what we have to do and keep walking even if we have to crawl sometimes.

Noooooo, I have not started drinking for New Years yet.....I am serious.  Acceptance is a beautiful thing.

Of course, the world around us continues to implode and leaves us all shaking our heads. It makes me more thankful for what I have and much less inclined to travel though. Yet still, the world comes to me through Airbnb. Over three months, I have had guests from Beijing, Shanghai, Paris, New York, Singapore, London, Cornwall and many more places. I have learnt so much from them and  best of all it has reinforced what I have known through blogging for years.

And that is that the majority of human beings are essentially the same no matter where we live, what our religion may happen to be or what our politics are. People are just good and decent.

So my friends, I wish each and everyone of you a very Happy New Year and I sincerely wish that 2015 will be wonderful for you and yours. I expect one of my resolutions for the coming year will be to write more posts and read more blogs. Who knows how that will go.

Now, I am off to the online Sales to buy some new shoes......sip champagne and bring in the New Year in style. Of course I am keeping my rose coloured glasses on in 2015. They are magic!