My lovely film peoples & loving normal peoples of the internet, how is everyone doing? I know its a bit ahhh still but its that time of year again when its time to take stock of what we’ve done in the last 12 months.

2021 has been stop start i know, but despite that when things have been going it really has gone very quickly. Apart from January that was bloody depressing wasnt it. urgh lets never talk of January 2021 again. But Vaccines have been rolled out so quickly. We actually last christmas put in a diary as to when we thought my dad might actually get his first vaccine, turns out we were all incredibly wrong & it was nearer to his second & my first that his first. Hes now even had the top up too. So thank you to everyone who worked on the vaccine & volunteered & vaccinated. Without you guys we’d still be properly locked in for a long long time.

So last year i mentioned in my news letter that i didnt want to tempt fate as something big would hopefully happen in my life in 2021, & it did. At the end of February 2021 i purchased my first property & have moved out. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Yes i finally did it, years of saving finally paid off & i now own my own little bile of bricks a front door & Mr Squirrel who runs along my fence when i have breakfast in the morning. Its all been done up in the last year too & im loving every second of it. Okay yes it took a while but its all mine & i love it so much.

I do still spend a lot of time at my parents, they have sky sports for football & f1 so i think its a fair trade that they can have some of my streaming logins, if i can come around & watch Mo Salah & Daniel Ricciardo dont you? But they are also on the move (crosses everything). Yep after me moving out & then decorating there house completely through all the lockdowns, they then unexpectedly came into some money, so have decided to not downsize but flatten & buy a bungalow around the corner from where they live now. They both now have time to do it up, as both have now retired properly (pops was about to when i last wrote to you as me & mama, when lockdown 3 happened, went nope no more im off). Mama also celebrated a birthday with a 0 on this year. We celebrated in style, & will continue to do so next year when we take her up to liverpool for a Beatles weekend.

Work is still going well. I worked from home for the January to March lockdown & then went back to the office. With only having a few members of staff & all sitting miles apart anyhow, plus visiting clients, we are perfectly safe. Its just always nice to know that your boss appreciates you & when you do go the extra mile you are thanked. So glad i have this job. Its also only a 30minute walk from my flat so ive had some lovely walks home from work (getting to work is more of a power walk tho).

For the year of my life, since i was about 6 i didnt go to any football this year. Lockdowns meant that you couldn’t go & when tickets did become available they were in a ballot form. My mama & i also did decided the season before, on what would end up being our last game, that we would stop after the 2020/21 season & get occasional tickets for some games. With the lockdown & not being at the games, it didnt hurt as much as i though it would at the start of the current season, still does feel weird tho.

No sunny summer holiday this year, nope that didnt happen. My friends went camping, which is so not my thing, but i went to go see them there one day for some beach fun. We also had a mini break in Hasting to go to a 90s concert, with the lives ok 5ive, Liberty X, A1, Attomic Kitten & 2 members of Sclub7. That was fun. We all got cold (which wasnt covid) after that but it was an epic weekend away. We have Coldplay tickets for next year too, so thats another fun thing planned with them. Its nice to actually not be on Zoom anymore & randomly (ish) meet people out & about & do thing with maybe a weeks notice now. I do think we stopped the Zoom because they hated my quizes. We had a eurovision Party too (oh the hangover was bad or was that just the effects of my first vaccine, that i had on the same day).

I did also have a day up in London in November & was a complete nerd at the Harry Potter exhibition & then tried to find other potter & film related things in London too. Yea that was a very very good day.

Got my final (unless Liverpool win another champions league) tattoo this year as well. I now have Coldplay lyrics up my left arm along with the Mylo Xyloto butterfly (which was the most painful of all of tattoo ive had so far). When that song comes on when i see Coldplay again next year, that arms going to be going crazy in the air.

Wedding season was in full swing this summer & the 2 i was invited to fell on the same day (congrats Phil & Lousie, Steph & Chris). My cousin also got married but there wont be a party or celebration until next year (its too long & complicated to put what happened on here) but yea for Annie & Dima.

My sister & her husband are still good. Shes now head of department at her school & things are slowly getting back to normal for her. Her Husband is still working from home, hes not off jet setting around the world yet, but it will come soon. But yea they are all good & she is slowly teaching me how to cook vegan food. They will finally go on their honeymoon next year which covid keeps delaying. Altho i think their day at McLaren was pretty special earlier this year.

Grandma is doing good, shes 89 now. Good on her. There were a few scary moment this year, especially when she broke her wrist & when she didnt feel good in January. We do have to keep reminding her that shes 89 & to slow down a little but she just keeps on going. What a legend.

In theory im at my parents(where ever that may be) this Christmas with at least my grandma, ive offered to host christmas eve with duck & pancakes & what ever the vegan equivalent is of that.

& theres lots in the diary for 2021 already. Ive got the last part of my 30th birthday to celebrate (even tho im now 32) with a spa day with my sister at the start of the year. As well as the trip to Liverpool, i have also been told that i going to get a day at Goodwood for the festival of speed in the summer. Coldplay, Will Young, Blue & Joe Lycett tickets are also all waiting for us to go & see more live events. & hopefully the return of beach cinema permanently in the summer (& not just a one off like this year).

So the real reason for this post is to tell you that again this year, i’m not sending out Christmas cards. I haven’t sent Christmas Cards for about the last 15 years now, mainly because its quite expensive, especially with postage, we’re all online & i try to see most people to wish them a Merry Christmas as well & if i cant i usually text or call them.(disclaimer yes this has been entirely copied & pasted this next paragraph from last year except for the year, so well done for noticing yay next paragraph isn’t though{& i always love the fact i can get away with that}) .
I kind of have to keep that paragraph the same every year, youd all miss it otherwise. I will do my best to see you all this year too after last year not seeing anyone at all. Also just realised i need people email addresses to pass this on now i live on my own ahhhhh.

So this year the money that would have been spent on your christmas cards is going to the Adur Special Needs Project. Its a local scheme which helps kids from the age of 5 to 15. Its actually very important to me, as one of my close friends works there & gives up her time to help them, even when she is not working. We went to one of their fund raising events just before Covid & they are all a brilliant group of people. If you want to see the incredible work they do then click here

& that is 2021 done. Thank you all for not watching Squid Game, & for giving up 15 mins of your life to have a read through what happened, for a year with lockdowns, a lot still happened, & ive not even mentioned the cinema (but we will get to that in my end of year awards soon) & if you are here for film content, theres plenty of it from 2021.

Have the most amazing Christmas people. I love you all & i hope you & your family really can celebrate it all in style. I mean the reason im writing & drafting this blog now on November 15 is because ive just purchased my first big christmas tree & im feeling festive & i though yea i can do that now. But seriously do whatever you want this christmas (within reason) but have an epic time. Give everyone whos vaccinated a hug & just dont let go. There was not feeling in the world quite like hugging my sister for the first time, once shed had her Jab in June. It was magical.

I’m gonna leave you with this moment from a film. Its from Monsters University. At the end of the film when Mike & Sully are leaving College, mike realises hes never going to be a scarer & his dreams are over & he stands on the bus & looks at Sully & goes you know what its okay. I am who i am & if thats good enough for me, that it will just have to be good enough for everyone else. Whoever you are reading this, you have done an amazing job for the last two years, you really have. Its okay to have a cry, have a bad day, feel like the world is against you because guess what, it bloody well has been for all of us. But that is what makes us who we are. You have nailed it since we first heard the word Covid & you have come out of it the other side, & it has made you, even if you dont think it, a better person & i love you for that & i love you all for your support in whichever way its been in the last 2 years. I couldnt have done this without you all. Remember its okay not to be okay.

Right thats the life message done. Happy Christmas you lovely lot. All the best for 2022. Love to you & all your families & friends. Now grab that mince pie & put on the Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special you deserve it

Love & Hugs as always
Laters People
E
xxxxxx
YNWA