2013: The Lost Months

So those of you that kindly read my previous blog post will know that I have challenged myself with my first #RandomTask of the year...

#1 Post and/or delete all of the small blog posts that I have been creating over the past 5 months on here to de-clutter the mind and help start 2014 anew

Well after sifting through lots of semi-started posts, notes on my phone and meaningless scribbles and with time ticking down to my self set time limit, I came up with a solution to this task (seeing as time is ticking on to my 6pm Sunday 12th January deadline that I set myself) that will limit the nonsense that you have to read through and most importantly complete my aim of decluttering my head of all things 2013...after all that is sooooo last year! (Sorry, even I'm uncomfortable writing that last part and reading it back, so I can only imagine how it comes across to you...however, it was a gag just waiting to be snapped up and my OCD couldn't let it get away with it!)

My solution is to provide you with the topics intended for blog posts encompassed within a small (the intentions are there but no doubt this will turn in to another essay) yet perfectly formed narrative of what happened in my life from August to December 2013...an area I eluded to in my first blog of 2014 but otherwise known on this blog as "The Lost Months"!

So for those of you still with me, grab yourself those final leftover Christmas snacks and settle in for the ups and downs, thrills and spills, twists and turns...I've gone too far now haven't I?...anyway, here it is...

As I eluded to in my first blog post of this year, since August I joined a local gym. Attended at least twice a week for the first 6 weeks and then Riga changed everything...but the least said about that the better...but luckily I was (somewhat) back to normal in time to help set up and then see 2 of my closest friends tie the knot!

And once all of the partying and hangovers were over and the gym membership was rescinded, the attention turned to moving in with my girlfriend in to our lovely brand new barn conversion!

But the excitement and events didn't stop there...
For from the 1st of December I would begin my new role at work as Digital Marketing Executive...
However, the 2 weeks prior to that saw my week days broken up by the need to travel across borders and sea, still all in the name of work.
Now for those of you reading this, sick of being stuck in one office, workplace or surrounding week in, week out, that have had that sudden thought of "why are you complaining, you get to lead the glamorous life of travelling"?! I assure you, travelling with work can be both a gift and a curse.

Yes I was able to fly to Frankfurt for a 2 day conference in Kaiserslautern and then return home for a few days before heading north to Glasgow for the day and back down to Liverpool that same night for a meeting with a design agency the next day but all this equals is long days and no set working hours!
And I guess my latter journey, which began at 4:50am on the Tuesday as my alarm went off to allow me to catch the 5:44 train to Crewe to connect to Glasgow and arrive there at 10:50, can only be summed up in one word...

...Long!

And with all this excitement it was suddenly that time of year again. You know, the one that swings in and overtakes everything and everyone in it's path as though it never left...

Christmas!

Whether the first sitings are in late September, mid October or early November, no amount of saying "It's too early" or "I can't believe (insert  your own shop name here) have got their Christmas stuff out already", can deny that there is no escaping it once it takes hold.

It's safe to say that over the past 10 years, our society has accepted that Christmas would soon be upon us as soon as the Coca Cola "Holidays are coming" adverts are seen on TV...well combine that with the power and spectacle of a brand new John Lewis advert with an equally heart warming accompanying soundtrack that will be in our conscious over the festive period right up until Santa drops down the chimney and it appears that Christmas can now "officially" start to be mentioned above muttered breathe once the most expensive ads on TV are first aired...which can usually be defined as the "8pm Saturday night X Factor Ad Break" time.

Now this is by no means a "bah humbug" rant about Christmas. On the contrary, I am well and truly sucked in by the "magic of Christmas" once the nights draw in and the Christmas jingles can be heard wherever you go.
Instead this is merely me trying to rationalise out loud the world we now live in and say "it's not fair" that losing naivety the older you get is a part of life.

Realising that our parents and those that cared for us when we were younger, are simply human too and went through all the same things that we are is never more clearer than when you find yourself uttering phrases that you passed off as rubbish years ago.
Phrases such as "the older you get, the quicker the years fly by" or "I can't believe it's (insert your own month here) already" were just annoying words in years gone by but seem to resonate with me the older I get.

Anyway, enough of my whining, back to the missing time frame...

As always Christmas arrived and went...lots of food was consumed and presents exchanged and then the new year arrives with all of the new ethos of motivation that any new year can bring! Oh and somewhere within that was also a case of mild concussion brought on by banging my head at work but I'm hoping I've left that kind of bad luck in 2013...something you'll soon see within my blog posts!

And that brings us bang up to date!
So, I hope you enjoyed that little tale I like to call my life...but 2014 is already off to a great start...mainly because by writing and posting this I have already completed the first of my #RandomTasks.

The second of my #RandomTasks is well underway but I will keep you posted with that another time!

So for now, thanks as always for reading...keep checking back...I seem to be on a roll!

Andy

P.S. I've decided to keep a tally at the bottom of each #RandomTask blog post, just so I can keep track as well as to hopefully motivate me...

#RandomTasks Set = 2         Completed = 1        Pending = 1