Christmas Greetings

It’s been a while since I last posted something here. So I thought I would take the opportunity of waiting for the shops to open on Christmas Eve, to create a post.

 

Each year I receive a number of Christmas cards that contain a printed letter that the sender has obviously included with all their cards. When I first started to receive them I thought that they were a bit of a cop out; I mean the sender obviously couldn’t be bothered to send a different note to me than to everyone else they were sending a card to. However, on thinking about it I realised that the idea is not dissimilar to a blog; I could send a personalised email to all my friends telling them what I have been up to, or I could write a blog and let them read it if they want to. (An aside that occurs to me; wouldn’t it be great if I could target my blogs to people with specific interests, or groups like family, friends, reenactors etc? Well I suppose I can to a degree by using the blog category. Or I could use something like SharePoint – of which more later). So I am now much happier with receiving letters from friends that tell me what that person has been up to for the last year.

 

So, having said all of that, here is my Christmas message to anyone that might be interested.

 

I am still living in Oxford with Denise – we’ve been together ten years now! Shortly after we first met we talked about walking the Ridgeway. However, I was diagnosed with diabetes and so the idea was put on hold. This year a shortage of funds and a change in job meant that we couldn’t take a normal holiday, so we decided to walk the Ridgeway. We set off from Ivinghoe beacon on Sat 21st June and 5 days, 87 miles and some very sore feet later we arrived at Avebury (full details are here and all the photos are here).

 

It looks like we have rediscovered the walking bug and are planning several more expeditions for the future.

 

As I mentioned above, I have changed jobs this year. I decided the time had come to move on from European Electronique and I now work as a Training Consultant for Corporate Project Solutions. I deliver training on Microsoft office (2003 and 2007), Microsoft project professional and project web access, and Microsoft office SharePoint server 2007. Although delivering actual training has got off to a slow start there has been a lot of learning to do, which has been backed up by a shed load of certifications. The future is looking busy, challenging but exciting.

 

Re-enactment still occupies a large chunk of our lives. I am still chairman of the early medieval alliance (EMA), although the AGM is due early next year so if anyone else wants the role then they are welcome to it. The EMA traditionally organises one event each year (although its purpose is not an events organiser) at Caldicot castle in south Wales. This year we had to cancel the event due to bad weather (the camp site was under water). I am already in discussion with the authorities and hope the 2009 event will be the best ever.

 

Closer to home I am the treasurer, training officer and events coordinator of our group – the Companions of The Crow. It has been a varied and busy year. We did our last event at the beginning of December!

 

Well, that is probably longer than it should have been. Well done and thank you if you have read this far. Best wishes for the holiday season and for 2009.