21st December 2004
Dear all,
Sharon has given me clear and specific instructions that this year's letter has to be more fun and upbeat than last year's, I am not to moan about how many pairs of shoes the children have had, how much they are costing me or time slipping away and finally, it can't be boring.
As that basically sums up life in the Tyler household, then this letter is going to be fairly short unless I lie….
The year has been a bundle of fun, it is the start of my 13th year in Bangor and as I look forward to the year ahead I think about the pact I made with the Prince of Insufficient Light and wonder if I could have negotiated harder.
I have been doing day release again since May when I left the cocooned boredom of Unilever after an Angel came and spake to me saying, "and lo you shall be undervalued and your blood pressure shall rise until your ears pop". Taking this as a big hint I went back into the real world of contracting and have been working with Manpower down in London for the last 7 months. I'm starting somewhere else in January - however, Roger my other personality who does the interviews hasn?t told me where it is yet so it will be an interesting surprise to find out.
On the family front, my 2 little cherubs continue to amaze me with their prowess and intelligence. For instance, in May, Harriet, whilst only just having turned four, had 2 pictures exhibited. The jury accepted that these examples of her work matched the graffiti at the school and the judge gave her the prize of a 3 month suspended sentence. James has also been proving a chip off the old block and has entered the Guinness book of records as the youngest boy ever to have won an ASBO. This prevents him from demanding dummies with menaces anywhere in the North Wales region. Oh I love my children dearly and they bring such joy to my life that would otherwise be dull and wizened.
Sharon reached maturity in October and we had a surprise party to celebrate. All her friends attended - that was the surprise - that no matter how little we stay in touch with people we still have friends. If you weren't invited don't worry - I'm sure you can imagine the fun that was had by all and being overlooked was not a social comment - rather bad planning on my side.
Recapping further and onto holidays this year, we went to Greece this summer to the only place in the Greek world without historical monuments. The island of Zakinthos - earthquakes destroy all buildings on the island every 60 years. It's so reassuring to know that in 10 years time they?ll have the opportunity to rethink all the strip developments they've allowed to go up in the last 20.
With that I will leave you to your Christmas. Enjoy it and raise a glass of something strong in our direction if you remember.
Love RAT and family
