Looking Back, 2007 Reviewed

January – we had floods in York – nothing new there then. I went ‘Off to Oz’ and also off to Cardiff in dreadful weather (not) to see John Barrowman in Panto. I also got very excited by the Doctor Who exhibition there.

February – I started my OU Literature course – well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I went to the theatre quite a bit, and perhaps even more significantly we ‘mind-mapped’, setting out our goals and targets for the year, which led to the start of the ‘handbag walks’, and of my diet.

March – I went to the investiture of the Archbish as Chancellor of the new York St John University, saw Griffin play at the Roman Bath and the Vicky Vaults, and took to the stage myself for the first time in ages. Despite the low key nature of the piece, acting remains as scary and as exhilarating as I remember. I love it.

April – My birthday – rather unsurprisingly I went to the theatre. Also the month in which I saw ‘Nine Hills One Valley’ at the Barbican, a show against which future theatrical ‘lows’ will, I think, be judged for a long time. More surprisingly, I bought walking shoes! I went on a ‘booze cruise on the Ouse’ with Rick Witter, and went to Florence, which was one of the major highlights of the year. It was simply fabulous.

May – The handbag walkers were now regularly doing over 5 miles. We had our annual Eurovision party, and I helped Cat decorate, without becoming too scary in the process. We also schmoozed with actors, which we did far too little of last year (mainly due to very few of our ‘boys’ actually having work!)

June – I got sucked in by the reality TV of ‘Any Dream Will Do’, voting madly for Lee in the final, and began to get accustomed to my favourite actually winning. We had a fabulous ‘Brideshead’ picnic despite the weather, which was also notable for cricket and Dean’s trouser malfunction!

July – It rained, a lot. We went to fabulous Kilworth Hall in not so fabulous weather and did a bit more schmoozing. I succumbed to the lure of Facebook. The final Harry Potter book was published. I read it in less than a day, and cried so much at one point I had to put the book down.

August – A very ‘theatrical’ month. I went to the Edinburgh fringe, and to the Globe, and we finally had some decent weather, well, at least for one weekend.

September – A lot of people got very excited at the news that David Tennant will be playing Hamlet at Stratford this year, and I realised the power of Facebook when I started to get messaged about it by people who’d read my status. Work got very pressured, and I began to worry that I couldn’t cope with the work, the travelling and the studying, Cat and I made a lightening visit to Amsterdam over a rather rough North Sea.

October – I took my OU exam, and was able to put that behind me. The critical work deadline passed and I survived. More significantly, ‘Strictly’ started, and later that month I noted ‘Gethin is highest in the cuteness stakes…his dancing needs a lot of work though’. I never saw it coming, but then you never do!

November – I saw my ‘theatre production of the year’ in the RSC’s touring ‘Comedy of Errors’. I fell for ‘the dress’ in Laura’s, I ate sushi for the first time. And I started voting on ‘Strictly’.

December – I learned that I had passed my OU exam with distinction. There were work ‘do’s’ and social ‘do’s’. Gethin got knocked out of ‘Strictly’ on a night when I was at the theatre in Scarborough, and I cried. I bought ‘the dress’ and also another one for good measure in the sales, and had a quiet Christmas. Oh, and the river rose in York, bringing the year full circle.

So, is that an accurate reflection of the year? In part, I guess. I don’t really talk about work on here, which at times has been all consuming. I do far too much travelling, and that’s something I want to cut down on this year. I’m definitely fitter than I was this time last year, and have lost 2 stone of the 3 that I want to lose. I've seen 40 theatre productions which even I admit is pretty good going, and enjoyed most of them, though very few were outstanding, and one or two (see above and *cough* Cardiff) were pretty duff. I've only been to 4 gigs though, but that balance is probably much more reflective of me than previous years.

Now I need to move on to looking forward.