plan – Pete's Blog

I am writing this on Christmas Eve. I am looking forward to the big day tomorrow. Christmas has always been my favourite time of year. I have such happy memories of when the boys were growing up. I would plan the day practically to the second. I would go to the midnight service at our local church and then come back to help Santa fill the stockings and eat the mince pie and carrot. At 0630 the boys could come into our room and open their stockings. Then breakfast at 0730, family presents at 0830 and a walk before lunch at 1300. The rest of the presents were at 1430 and then the Queen’s broadcast at 1500, followed by charades and a little more TV.

As the family grew up I have had to learn to be more relaxed about the plan. This year our youngest Martin and his girlfriend Cheryl are joining us. They have been under a lot of stress lately and they have asked for a lie in tomorrow, before a brunch and a late lunch. I have tried hard to accommodate this chilled approach to Christmas Day, but as it has got closer the lack of a plan has begun to get to me. So I have made a plan on a spreadsheet for our relaxed Christmas Day.

Just having this plan has made me feel better about the day. Mandy, Cheryl and Martin can stay in bed, while I complete the prep and then they can join me.

I know what you are thinking. What if others do not follow my plan? For instance what happens if they are not up for the 10am brunch? Well that is OK too. I know that if I complete everything on the plan in the right order, it will all come together. I can flex the times if I have too. Even better, because it is on a spreadsheet, I can adjust everything.

A happy Christmas for Pete is a well organised Christmas. A happy Christmas for others is an unstressed relaxed Christmas. All I need to achieve both – is a plan.

I hope you had a wonderful day and are enjoying the festive season. A very merry Christmas to you all.

Narrowboat Thuis is back at the marina in Stone for the winter and we are back in our house in Lancashire. As always, we are a little sad at the end of this year’s adventure, but we will be back on “the cut” next year, and can look forward to the next few months of bricks & mortar life.

And I can engage in my favourite pastime of making plans. I get bored very easily and the idea of a quiet retirement fills me with dread. So we will have a couple of weeks at home, seeing family and friends and doing jobs around the house, and then we will be off to North Uist for six weeks.

North Uist is a small island in the Outer Hebrides. We have stayed there before and it will be very peaceful at this time of year. The tourists will have left and restaurants & attractions will have closed. But what will be left for the locals is simply stunning scenery and amazing nature. The weather will either be sideways rain, in which case our cottage with the open fire will be very welcome, or it will be clear and sunny with the best light in the UK. My brother in law is joining us for the first week and he is unconvinced. I can’t wait to take him to see some of the beaches and see what he says.

After the Hebridean trip it will be Christmas and maybe skiing in January. And then, all too soon, it will be February and we will be back on the boat. Come the end of this year I will have been retired for five years. Is it time to go back to a job? Not yet!

I am often accused of over planning. Be more spontaneous I am told. Let life decide. Relax and enjoy.

But we went to a completely perfect wedding this week – our niece Lucy and her new husband Dan. And Lucy had planned it to within an inch of its life. I genuinely do not think it could have been any better.

The ceremony itself was just the right side of emotional, with few cheeks left unblemished by a tear. Then a wonderful confetti procession, a delicious meal, waiters who unexpectedly turned into singers and dancers, a saxophonist, a late night pizza van, and dancing into the night. Add in a couple of inevitable family dramas, and it’s was perfection.

Most importantly of course, Lucy and Dan had the day that they had wanted and that had been in planning for so long. And I think that everyone enjoyed themselves, from the young kids, to the oldies. Thanks Lucy & Dan and congratulations.

Of course I understand there is a place for spontaneity, and some of my best moments are unplanned. Perhaps emerging from a tunnel in the boat, when we discover a new view over amazing countryside. Perhaps when we bump into old friends unexpectedly. Perhaps when we decide on a whim to have an adventure.

But to quote the A-Team (showing my age I know) “I love it when a plan comes together”.

What about you? Are you a planner or a discoverer?

Tag: plan

Who needs a plan for Christmas?

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