Health
1. To quit smoking.
2. To test my blood sugars twice a day.

Well I haven’t quit smoking this year. But I know I need too. So it will probably go on new years goal list.

After recently being ill I have started to test my blood sugars more than twice a day, but it still needs to be on next years goals as I’ve only recently started regularly testing my blood sugars.

Education
3. To complete my Dissertation and Change for Children modules, therefore completing my degree.
4. To complete Complementary Therapies (Teach Yourself Your Evening Class) with Ian (my boyfriend).

As I wrote about in the The Annual Christmas Card Letter because of Alex’s death I didn’t manage to complete the Change for Children module meaning it will be a goal for the year ahead.

Ian and I split up, but I was still determined to at least start Complementary Therapies (Teach Yourself Your Evening Class). That was until I realised the cost of essential oils and the other equipment I’d need. So the course has popped in the cupboard of no return.

Creativity
5. To use my creativity more in my everyday life.
6. To write a short story per quarter of the year with themes. The themes and deadlines:

Theme	Deadline
Heroes and Villains	31st March 2010
Love	30th June 2010
Life & Death/Light & Dark/Good & Bad	30th September 2010
In search of an “object”/Holy grail	31st December 2010

7. To read 10 fiction or autobiographical books and review on the blog.
8. To read 5 pagan books and review on the blog.

I feel that I do use creativity more in my everyday life, especially with this new job.

I haven’t done any creative writing this year, despite setting myself deadlines. I do have some good ideas and hope to write in the year ahead. I want to be Writing Something Worthwhile. I’ve read twelve fiction or autobiographical books, but not managed to review them all on the blog. I hope to catch up with the reviews in the new year. I haven’t managed to read 5 pagan books this year.

Paganism & Spirituality
9. To continue to work on invokation of Apollo.
10. To read Astral Projection for Beginners by Edain McCoy and regularly practice my astral projection.
11. To buy a book on runes, learn runes and practice.
12. Host a psychic party.

My pagan and spiritual development has been somewhat arrested this year. I bought Astral Projection for Beginners by Edain McCoy but then borrowed it out so haven’t read it yet. But I have done some Astral Projection. I also bought runes and a book about it, but runes didn’t connect with me as a method of definition.

Financial
13. Pay off credit cards.
14. To not increase my debts.
15. To live more frugally.

My credit card debts have stayed at roughly the same owed. So I’ve managed to not increase my debts which was a goal for this year. But in the year ahead I really need to focus on reducing the debts and the interest that I pay on them. I need to renegotiate my out goings and save regularly for that “rainy day.”

Family and Friends
16. To support them to achieve a state of increased happiness.
17. To see my friend Simon at least once a month.

I hope that I have supported my family and friends to achieve a state of increased happiness. I have given advice, supported them through difficult times and most importantly been their to listen. I’ve definitely achieved the goal to see Simon at least once a month, in fact I’ve exceeded it!

Travel
18. Save up to visit the Egyptian Pyramids.

I haven’t managed to save up to visit the Egyptian Pyramids, but it is a place I’d still like to visit.

Coming soon – My Goals for 2012.

Write soon,

Antony

Get in touch, contact me

Monday 21st November 2011

Dear Reader,

How fast this year has flown! I hope you find that yours has been a positive one, that’s been filled with joy. My year has been a tough one, more so than I could have ever expected. In January Alex my younger brother (18 year old) suddenly and unexpectedly died (see My Darling Baby Brother & Grief). I lost my enthusiasm for life, and still have times when I am incredibly sad. (Right: photo of Alex.) It was around this time that I also got a letter from work stating that I was ‘at risk’ of redundancy due to the government budget cuts. In February I continued to work on my final two university modules to complete my Nursing Degree (elearning). However due to the strict fortnightly deadlines on one module and the emotional trauma I was experiencing at the time, I was forced to put the module back. This means that instead of graduating with honours this year it will be next year.

My Darling Baby Brother

25th Birthday Blackpool

In May family and friends joined me to celebrate my 25th Birthday in Blackpool (Left: a photo of family and friends, see My Blackpool Birthday). A good time was had by all and I feel very fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family. Simon and I also visited Anglesey to see some of the ancient pagan monuments. (Right: a stone circle, see Visiting: Ancient Angelsey.)

Pagan Stone Circle in Anglesey

Dylan & Russell

June brought the arrival of new additions to my immediate family, two gorgeous Bengal kittens named Dylan and Russell. I have had hours of laughter from them, lots of cuddles and intermittent mischievous behaviour (Left: Dylan and Rus saying hello to the camera, see Kittens at home and spending time with Family and Friends.) In July I had the privilege to attend Shaun (my long lost brother) and Sarah’s (his now-wife) Wedding. It was a very emotional and touching ceremony, followed by a big reception and evening party (see The Wedding of the Year).

Shaun & Sarah's Wedding

September brought new career prospects as I got interviewed for and offered a new job. I accepted and started a three year post. I am enjoying the challenge and making the most of the opportunity to learn.

John Barrowman LIVE

In October I finally got to see John Barrowman Live. I have wanted to see him perform for the last four years. The first two years I couldn’t manage to get tickets (as he only plays at more intimate venues), last year I got tickets but was too ill to go, so I was pleased to finally make it. I went with Simon and we had a fantastic time. (Left: John Barrowman before the curtain dropped, see An evening see John Barrowman LIVE.)

Now as the winter starts to signal the years end I find myself in a reflective mood. My love life this year has been barren, but I haven’t minded as I haven’t been at my best. Most of my goals for this year have not been met, and my spiritual beliefs have been challenged. Still despite all that has happened this year, there have been moments of joy and positivity.

Antony xxx

I went with my good friend Simon. Here’s some photos (click on any for full size):

(Above: Me getting ready to meet my husband to be…John Barrowman)

(Above: Simon and me posing.)

(Above: Simon and me – I looked up instead of looking forward after I’d pressed the camera button.)	(Above: Simon and me possing.)

We decided to make a night out of it and headed in to Manchester City Centre for food, here we are well fed:

Then we headed down to The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester for the gig. On our arrival immediately we saw that we where in the right place. We saw a guy wearing a Torchwood trench coat (ironically wearing jeans and a t-shirt underneath with trainers as footwear) and several people proudly showing-off their 2011 tour t-shirts. The crowd were mostly OAP’s, grannies with curled white hair and granddads with either no hair or comb-overs. In the crowd were also stocky balled men taking their relatively tiny mothers and the occasional middle age short tubby gay couples (often with one hair so neat that it must have been a wig). The rest of the crowd were made up of stereotypical-looking housewives. It did wonders for my self-esteem as I think I was the youngest one there.

As we took our seats in the auditorium (which had a good acoustics) we saw a young cool-looking gay couple in the row in front of us. It was nice to see a happy looking gay couple among the crowd and they made me laugh we they bopped their heads trying to look cool when John sang. The show started with a bang:

(Above: John behind the curtain, before the curtain dropped.)	(Above: John singing.)

Then the J4′s (John’s four dancers and backing singers) got to do a song :

(Above: J4′s doing their stuff.)

Then it was time for Jody Prenger to sing. After her first song she had a chat with the audience. I couldn’t believe that someone which such broad northern accent could produce such fantastic vocals.

(Above: Jody Prenger singing.)

Throughout the show John told stories about himself, his family and his partner (Scott) inbetween tracks. John also used the opportunity to shamelessly promote other buisness ventures including his skin care range HIM, his music (The Very Best of John Barrowman (CD), Music Music Music, Another Side), his books (Anything Goes & I am What I am) and his DVD’s (John Barrowman Collectors Edition [DVD], John Barrowman Live At The Royal Albert Hall [DVD], An Evening With John Barrowman [DVD]). But we (the audience) didn’t mind as he’d won us over as soon as he’d come stage being his camp and lovely self. Plus he wiggled his arse rather expertly at the audience pretty early on!

Simon and I agreed that John’s vocals had vastly improved from previous years. My opinion came from his previous DVD’s I had seen and Simon’s opinion came from his experience watching him last year. Well done John! I did notice at points that he appeared out of breath with the dancing and singing, but as an all round entertainer he delivered an excellent performance. I didn’t realise that he’s forty-five years old this year, he looks really good for his age.

(Above: John performing.)

It was time for the interval and after a quick leg stretch Simon and I returned to our seats. The screen at the back of the stage was showing photos and I caught this one while playing with my iPhone 4 camera:

(Above: John on a beach in small swimwear definitely a must click for full size photo.)

The second part of the show began with John doing a few tracks before introducing his parents. His father dressed as a construction worker and his mother dressed as a police woman to which they did YMCA! Photo’s below:

(Above: John singing.)	(Above: John and his parents.)	(Above: John and his parents.)
(Above: John and his parents.)	(Above: John and his parents.)

Then John and Jody did a duet entitled So Close:

(Above: John and Jody singing.)	(Above: John and Jody singing.)

Then John did a holiday songs remix with the J4′s. The two scrumptious male dancers ended up wearing practically nothing apart from some blue swimwear which was fantastic. After the song the male J4′s bent down to pick up some props from the back of the stage showing their perk arses to the audience. John jokingly told them off for “milking” it but we (the audience) didn’t mind:

Then John performed a few slow songs before changing into a fab sparkly suit for his finale I am what I am:

Throughout the show John made good eye contact with the auidence and pointed at certain people in the auidence to make them feel special – an old entertainer trick that works. At one point in the first half John asked if there were any gay people in the audience and Simon and I whooped! John made eye contact, smiled and waved. Alas he didn’t see me, fall in love, take me on stage and get down on one knee – but hey you can’t have everything.

I throughly enjoyed the show, so thank you John Barrowman.

Write soon,

Antony

First we visited an ancient burial chamber:


It was amazing to see what the ancient pagan’s had built, especially with the tools they had at the time. It had a odd feeling of death, but in a positive way.

Next we visited an ancient village with a stone circle:

Despite thousands of years of disuse, the stone circle vibrated energy and had a feeling that it wanted to be used. It made me consider the power pagans use today – more than likely we practice a much weaker version of paganism than in ancient days. This could possibly be attributed to Druids passing information down verbally, prior to the Romans invading. This possibly leading to a lot of knowledge being lost. Simon and I had a good time speculating here: what the rooms may have been used for, how the people lived and what it would have been like when the Romans arrived. We visited a little Christian Chapel before heading on to Beaumaris Castle.

Beaumaris Castle was really interesting. An in-built dock, several turrents and both an outer and an inner wall. Although it was never finished by Edward I you could see how people lived. I was amazed by the amount of toilets ha ha, they must have had weaker bladders in them days. It was great to see, but if they’d put some of the wooden floors back in it would have enhanced the experience and made it feel even more real. There was a small exhibition giving the history of the castle which was fascinating and a gift shop too. Photos:

If you’ve never been, like history and beautiful countryside then go and visit. It’s lovely. The weather was changeable while we were there going from sunny to raining. However we had good enough weather to visit what we wanted. Simon tells me there is a lot more to see on Anglesey, so I guess I’ll be going back at some point.

Write soon,

Antony

Friday I saw my friend Simon, had a brew and a long overdue catch up.

Saturday some new tables arrived. I’d bought some gorgeous small tempered black glass ones to replace the chunky wooden ones I had. This made room for the kitten climbing centres I bought. Shaun (my long lost brother, blog post coming soon to explain, promise) came round and helped me build them. Bless him, he had only come round for a brew. We had a good day, just talking and building the tables. It was ace to spend some brotherly bonding time together.

Sunday I went seeing the kittens. Oh how big they’ve gotten in three weeks! And they’ve now got names! Of course, I’ve got photos for you:

(Dylan saying hello)
(Russell chilling)
(The boys playing together)
(Me bonding with Dylan, letting him smell me)
(A kittens work is never done! Dylan found some news paper to shred!)

Today (Monday) I went out for a drive with my good friend JB. We went to a nice country pub for lunch in his flashy Honda S2000 Yellow Convertible. Then we headed to one of my favourite places for ice cream:

Hope you had an equally fantastic bank holiday, roll on the next one!

Take care,

Antony