End Of 2016 Survey in Scottish Meanderings

What things did you do in 2016 that you'd never done before?
Went to University.

Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year?
I stopped making New Years' resolutions a while back although I do generally have a sort of overall one depending on whatever the burning issue is at the time. Last year's was all about getting through the ACIS counselling course as I was just about to start it in January.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes - my niece, Marina, who gave birth in January to Jessie who appears to have literally not stopped smiling since she came out of the womb :)


Did anyone close to you die?
No but I had just lost Mum in November 2015 so I was okay with that thankyouverymuch.

What countries did you visit?
None. Ian & Margaret (brother & sister-in-law) asked me to go to Tenerife with them again (I went in 2015) but I couldn't because of the course which was just as well because when Ian went to book their apartment he couldn't get anything apart from studio ones. As Ian is a (very loud) snorer THAT WOULD NOT HAVE WORKED O_O

What would you like to have in 2017 that you lacked in 2016?
Better health and more energy.

What dates from 2016 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
21st July when I got my first counselling client; 27th July when I got accepted onto the University course; the second week in October when I went a whole week without having to go back to bed after I first got up for the first time in 18 months (if that makes sense!!); November 9th when I felt like we were back in 1933 all over again and November 17th when I was reminded of the most amazing car journey exactly a year previously hurtling up to the hospice in Invergordon in my little Noddy car (Nissan Micra) in 3 and a half hours praying Mam would hang on until I got there and then being gobsmacked that she did because literally 10 minutes later she gave up her fight for life and was reunited with Dad after 39 long years.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Completing the ACIS Counselling course and getting back into the counselling world again. Also managing to halve my dose of Subutex and coming off Propanalol altogether.

What was your biggest failure?
Not managing to get completely off Subutex.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
I struggled - and still do - with the symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

What was the best thing you bought?
I think it was possibly the cover I bought for my phone. It kept slipping out of my hand which I think was due to arthritis in my right hand becoming worse so my grip wasn't so tight, especially first thing in the morning and eventually I was facing this:


which cost me £119 to repair (apparently smashed screens aren't covered under guarantee). The same week I bought this:


(the label's mine and a bit naff so I might ditch it) for all of £3.99 and it's been brilliant - the phone hasn't (inadvertently) left my hand once since. It also serves as a stand which is handy.


And my other great buy was this:


which I bought in January and which is still using the same cartridge it came with. Laser printers are expensive for sure but this one only cost me £23 because I bought an hp deskjet which was supposed to be exactly like a laser jet and clearly wasn't so I took it back. Got a full refund but it also came with a £65 cashback from hp which I received before I returned it! Nikki had also given me a £40 Amazon gift card and the printer was on special offer from Amazon at £128 so I scored there. If that had been a normal deskjet I would have had to replace the cartridges about 3 times by now.

Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Nikki - who conquered a few of her anxieties this year. She finally got more of a handle on her finances and also set up a new playgroup in the village she lives in while becoming the manager of the baby part of it.


It took a good bit of courage to do all that. She also managed to get a temporary filling at the dentist by herself and is confident of going back to get the permanent one. When I tell you every dentist visit up to now (apart from check ups) has had to be done under sedation that might give you an idea how scared she's been. Having to be brave in front of the girls has helped that tremendously. I'm also proud of the way she's bringing up Lily and Lilah - despite the fact she deliberately chose that pathway in life it's still hard going doing it on your own and she's done a really good job.

Whose behaviour most appalled you?
Leaving aside Trump, a guy on my University course who, after thinking about it for THREE weeks, decided to address the amount of make-up one of the girls on the course wears. He did it by singling her out in front of the whole group (28 people) and telling her how much she excited him when he first saw her (she's in her twenties and he must be in his late fifties/early sixties!) and was quite disappointed when he discovered she was married. (He is also married). He wanted to tell her this in case it would be 'helpful' or 'useful' to her ........ Not surprisingly that took another 2 weeks to sort out and unbelievably he's still quite baffled at the reaction he got.

Where did most of your money go?
On staying alive and keeping my own particular roof over my head.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I didn't get really, really, really excited about anything unfortunately but I did get quite excited about starting the course.

What song(s) will always remind you of 2016?
I suppose Leonard Cohen's 'Suzanne' because I played it after he died and I hadn't heard it for so many years. It was really lovely hearing it again. Music is so evocative.

Compared to this time last year (2015), are you:
( i) Happier or sadder? Happier.
( ii) Thinner or fatter? Exactly a stone fatter!!
(iii) I suppose richer because I received £36,000 from the proceeds of Mam's flat but £7,000 of that went straight to my brother, Mike, who had lent me the fees for the course just in case anything untoward happened in the sale. The remainder has to last me another 8 years before I can pick up my pension because the worst case scenario is that I never work again so if you look at it like that I become poor again! And I realise it might sound ridiculous considering buying a Mac Mini with those odds but I have some share dividends which net me £1000 a year - that money I keep for emergencies or holidays - if I don't have a holiday I try to treat myself to something specific so that I feel I've done something for myself or sort of treated myself.

What do you wish you’d done more of?
Been able to look after Lily and Lilah and had Lily in for overnight stays. I think I managed one or two at the most the whole year although the 3 of them stayed overnight a few times.

What do you wish you’d done less of?
Sleeping.

How did you spend Christmas?
I was supposed to go out to Nikki's at 1 for the meal which she was cooking but when I arrived, she was lying exhausted on the settee, Lilah asleep on top of her, Lily playing with one of her presents in her bedroom, chaos and mayhem in the sitting room so, as they were all coming in to spend a couple of nights with me anyway, I suggested gathering up all the food and taking it into mine and then I could cook it and she could have a rest. Which worked out really well because by the time we did, she was feeling a bit better so did most of the cooking while I organised the table etc. I then babysat while she chased after a guy she'd been seeing who let her down badly but that's a whole other entry!!

What did you get for Christmas this year?
Some really good stuff - Billy Connolly's new DVD; a notebook; socks; photo frames; earrings; books; sweets and this from Nikki:


which I'm still getting used to. It's supposed to depict me with the girls and the cats and Trooper in the background but the cutting out isn't too brilliant and I think it might look better with an actual photo in it. The concept is quite good though. Unfortunately the song isn't quite right - it was a song Mum used to sing to Nikki when she was little but I can see why Nikki's chosen it as it was the only song which would stop Lilah crying when she was a baby so we spent large parts of car journeys belting it out!!

What was the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in 2016?
I can't actually think of anything.

Did you fall in love in 2016?
Unfortunately not.

How many one night stands?
Given that I could hardly drag my sorry carcass out of bed and keep it upright for most of the year I would have been pretty impressed if I'd managed even one one night stand!!

What was your favourite TV programme?
I watched some pretty good stuff this year. I think Happy Valley was probably the best - I only discovered the series in the middle of the year so binge watched it on the iPad and loved the grittiness and realism of it. Also liked Line of Duty.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2016?
Pretty much jeans, jumpers and boots. I always try to look fairly smart if I can.

What kept you sane?
Prosebox, books and writing.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Not as far as I'm aware.

What was the best book you read in 2016?
I think possibly The Fall: A Father's Memoir in 424 Steps by Diogo Mainardi. The way he laid it out was amazing and for folk with small attention spans - even better!

What was your greatest musical discovery?
I'm going to go with hearing Suzanne again. I was having a particularly stressful day, feeling exhausted and crappy and trying to get the Christmas decorations up, knowing if I didn't do them soon there'd be little point in doing them at all. I decided to try Spotify on my phone to see if listening to music would help and Leonard Cohen came up. When Suzanne came on I felt all my stresses evaporate.

What were your favourite films of this year?
Oooo I saw loads of good ones. Suspiria remains with me - not so much for the plot but visually it was stunning and the music haunting. Also Prisoners and Oldboy were good psychological thrillers.

What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I went out for a meal with my 3 girls to Bella Italia and I was 58 (although if you ask Lily I'm 4 apparently).

What three things would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
To have been in better health with more energy;
To have found something which would get me through an afternoon when I'm dropping with exhaustion and can literally hardly keep my eyes open;
To have been able to completely come off Subutex.

What political issue stirred you the most?
The ones which were thrown up from the presidential election.

Who did you miss?
Mum. And actually Dad still. Considering he died 40 odd years ago that's no mean feat.


Which ProseBoxers did you meet for the first time?
None.

What is a valuable life lesson you learned in 2016?
That if I could just learn to accept myself and believe in myself more, I would probably be a lot happier.

Happy New Year everyone! Here's to many interesting entries in 2017 :)

I really liked the pic I had on my last entry of last year so am repeating it -