Christmas Day is special every year, but this year it took on an even greater significance in the house of DDWT as it was our baby daughter’s very first Christmas.
Despite being only 6 months old, she was a dab hand at taking with Christmas wrapping off her presents from Santa – with the help of DDWT Junior of course! Needless to say they both had a great day and were well pleased with what they received.
It was also pleasing that despite being awoken at 06:30 – to shouts of “Has Santa been yet?” – that my turkey dinner went down a treat with everyone. So much so that I’m considering changing career and becoming a cook/chef rather than a web developer. Only kidding!
But as happy as the occasion was, it was also tinged with sadness as it was also the first Christmas without my Dad. It was hard on times to get upset, especially as my Mam was with us for the day. In fact I took great strength from the way my Mam handled the occasion and it made me realise how important it is to look forward and not back at times such as this.
Anyway, for anyone who is reading this – may I wish you and your families a very Happy Christmas.
With the end of my week’s annual leave fast approaching and DDWT Junior almost climbing the walls with boredom at home, it was definitely time to wrap up warm and head off out for a long walk!
If there’s one good thing about living in the Swansea valley – there are loads actually but that’s for another time – then it’s the beautiful natural scenery that sprawls all the way from Ystalyfera right down to Swansea, which makes going for a walk a relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable experience.
We headed up along the Swansea valley canal towards Pontardawe, facing the full force of the usual wind funnel down the valley and feeding the ducks/geese along the way.
Our destination was the playground at Pontardawe leisure centre – how else could you get a 4 year old to walk several miles!!
Our walk and usual stoppages took us out of the house for around two and a half hours and despite feeling frozen by the time we got back it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Today is a very sad day indeed as my Dad finally lost his battle against cancer at 15:35 this afternoon. Fortunately, we were at his bedside to say our last goodbyes.
The last 5 weeks or so have flown by and if the truth be known he was always fighting a losing battle against bowel, liver and lung cancer – so it is perhaps with as much sadness as relief that he is now suffering no more.
Rest in peace Dad, you might be gone, but you’ll never be forgotten.
It’s now been two whole weeks since set our weight loss targets and today was our first progress weigh-in.
Thankfully it was good news with both Mrs DDWT and I shedding 3lbs each – taking our weight to 12st 9lb and 17st 3lb respectively. It was a welcome surprise and lifted our spirits quite considerably on what was proving (mentally) to be a tough weekend.
After I’d spend the morning doing a bit of landscaping work in the garden – removing some lawn and replacing with chippings (in readiness for some large flower) pots – it was time for a family get together at ours.
I think it was just the tonic the whole family needed in light of the events of the past couple of days. DDWT Junior and I kept everyone amused with our water antics – which was great fun and Baby DDWT was all smiles especially for my Dad, which lifted his spirits no end.
So all in all it’s been a nice end to what’s been a thought provoking couple of days. I think that we’re going to need as many of these ‘days’ as possible over the coming months.
In light of my Dad’s news yesterday, I felt it was imperative that I try and focus my mind and continue to go about my/our business in order to remain both positive and strong.
With this in mind, I decided to go for an early morning run. I opted to cover the same route as my run last Sunday – albeit it a slightly slower pace. Still the 32 minute 25 second had a semi-positive effect, even if I did feel ‘shot’ after it.
In the afternoon Mrs DDWT thought it would be a good idea to get out and about, so we headed off to the Swansea Sea Festival.
Unfortunately by the time we got there – gone 3pm – most of the displays had finished. We were fortunate enough to catch the Newfoundland dogs lifesaving display, which was very impressive.
DDWT Junior enjoyed the mini-pirate ship and the shanty music was quite entertaining as well. Baby DDWT spent the whole time sleeping!! So if you wanted to see pirates of all ages (and sizes) – some on stilts – then it was the place to be 
We also made yet another visit to the National Waterfront Museum, which in all fairness never ceases to amaze us with the amount of information and quality displays on offer. Here’s a tip for you, it’s a great place to take the kids especially during the summer holidays.
Whilst inevitably casting our eyes towards the sea, it was impossible to ignore the sheer height and size of the Meridian Quay development.
Looking back to a previous post I made about the development (back in April), you can see how much its come on. Quite amazing!
