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So. That was 2013 then! A year I will reflect on and decide: it was one of transition. I could write reams on what it all meant and am conscious that as the year closed out I was in such a contemplative mood that I had to remind myself that I am not my thoughts. Stop thinking! I am an over-thinker...

via patterson maker

We welcomed in the new year at home, slumbering after a long haul flight from Dubai where we had spent Christmas with family. A brief week of sun was wonderful; Christmas Eve spent in a bikini at the beach. We ate outside on Christmas Day - a traditional meal with all the trimmings. The weather was flawless and there is no doubt that for me, the dose of vitamin D will see me through the next phase of this British winter. Sadly as soon as Boxing Day was done, both children came down with strep throat and so were horribly unwell and miserable. Not what you want when on holiday at Christmas, far from home. But actually it passed and we were able to regroup for our final day before flying home to the wind and rain! Some friends had been without power for six days over Christmas so we decided that even with our bout of illness, we hardly had a difficult time.

Dubai was, as before when we went, an eye-opener. I have rarely been to a place of such contrasts; a dichotomy of Westernised ways in an Arabian setting. Most of all, seeing my sister in law and her husband settled there, I was struck just how many choices there are for how to live one's life. How many places and people. Sometimes when you live in the town where you grew up, it's easy to feel that the boundaries of life are narrow. But not so...

I know I need to write when I wake up in the morning thinking about discussion points I want to share here. As ever the new year heralds thoughts of 'what am I doing with my life?!' Plans turn to the home and the family and to me: what will 2014 hold? More peace and good vibes. Health and contentment. Maybe this year I will work it all out? ;-) But for now,  I have a few domestics to attend to (a notable laundry mountain) and we are still in the middle of the school holidays. I will be back with more, just wanted to say that I am back, all is good and happy new year.

via crush cul de sac