h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As years go, 2012 was pretty good. A couple of ups and downs, but overall, a good one.

The big news was C's purchase of a new house. It happened quite quickly once she set her mind to it. It's a smashing place - the house of her dreams. It's out in the country with a view to die for. We are only 1 mile away from the sea, looking out over Ballycotton Island. It's still amazing to me the variance in sea-scapes. Each morning, day and evening seems different. The house was in top condition, and within days it looked as if it had been our home for years. C soon got some pet rabbits and 4 cats - all rescues - including one cat who is 16 years old and has one eye. C is incredibly sensitive and perceptive when it comes to these animals.

We had a lot of problems in the old place, with the previous landlords. Always a lot of tension when they were around, and a good deal of spite and nastiness after we had moved out. I still feel angry about it. I'm glad we've moved on.

C lives in Cork, but works in Dublin. The year has been very tiring for her, but lecturing arrangements last semester meant that she only spent one night in Dublin each week. This is nearly as good as you could get in the present situation. Jobs in Cork are few and far between.

A couple of big "coming of age" occasions with the boys: Communion and Confirmation. Even though I don't really go along with it, it's a rite of passage for them, and there's nice food involved in it. In some ways it was a difficult time, given that I am in a different relationship, but with so many connections to my previous life. I could write a book about such things, although I doubt if many would find reading it worthwhile...

My kids did extremely well on the sports fields this year. The boys are natural athletes, picking up copious medals from a number events over the summer. My eldest won an All-Ireland relay medal, with the twins narrowly missing out on a medal in the relay event. They are all super-fast. I've stopped counting the occasions I felt proud and happy for them over the last year. This coming year may be the best year for them yet.

My eldest also moved into secondary school. He's thirteen years old, and nearly 6 foot tall. When I joined H2G2 he was not yet born. Those years go fast. Don't anyone tell you different. The job of finding a secondary school for my daughter now starts.

My daughter is very creative - she spends most of her time in her room, reading or drawing. She's outgoing and friendly, yet introverted, and blessed with a raw intelligence. I see a lot of myself at that age in her. Her high point last year was getting a book review published in a local newspaper. I need to keep those creative sparks going in her!

No big trips this year, in fact I hardly took any holidays at all, just a few long weekends. We did the charity cliff walk, went back to the Saltee Islands, trekked the Gap of Dunloe and took a weekend away in Cavan. I also brought the twins to London. Since our summer was so wet, hill walks were few and far between. A walk with the twins to Cruachan in Kerry was very memorable though. It was like walking through Narnia, at times.

Work was busy, with me changing roles during the middle of the year: concentrating more on training and employee development. I'm happy in this role as it gives me a chance to meet new people and give people useful knowledge when they join. I also got a major surprise during the year - a windfall, if you like - which has greatly helped to ease some longer-term worries that I had. It won't transform my life, or anything like it, but it has gone a small distance to help me fund my kids education. The years ahead promise to be costly ones...

I had some chronic sleeping problems this year, so I took it upon myself to lose some weight. In the course of 3 months, I lost a stone. The following 3 months have proven to be much more challenging. I'll give it another shot in the new year.

My skeptics' club is still going strong. A couple of interesting speakers this year and a lot of new friends. We had Steve and Ben over, with a great talk on alt-med. Later on in the year, I did a 15 minute talk on critical thinking for culture night. It's all been great fun, but I have had much less time to dedicate to it due to work commitments. During the year, I also finished my terms as president of two Toastmasters clubs.

I went to QEDCon in Manchester last year, managing at one stage to get locked in a stairwell. Overall it was a lot of fun. I'm hoping to return to Manchester for the third QED this April.

That's about it for the year. A lot of laughs, a lot of living, everyone in good health, no deaths. In my book, as good a year as you can get.

Next year, I have to concentrate on closing a chapter of my live that has been overdue for a long time now. I'm also planning a road trip to Germany later in the year, and hopefully a few interesting walks in the locality. After that, not a clue how it will turn out.

Wishing you all a happy new year, full of life and rude health.

Hi Woodpigeon,

Happy New Year, it is good to hear from you. I will have a read of your update tomorrow as my son is here overnight and I want to spend time with him.

Glad all is well with you and yours.



Websailor

Keep tipping away, as they say in Clare.