Out Partying? Or Partied Out?

14 Jan 2025 BlogLove Norfolk
Featured image

The decorations are down, the selection box is empty, and, is it just me or are bathroom scales are faulty?

Hey all. Mark My Words returns for the third month on the trot. Woo!

I hope you all had a wonderfully festive Chrimbo, and behaved yourselves over New Year! I tell you what; I find it hard work, and it gets harder every year. As my kids like to point out very frequently, I’m 50, and at an age now where I like to doze off after Christmas dinner, and would love to have an early night on New Year’s Eve.

I know, it sounds boring. But I’ve been bringing in the New Year for a long time now and it’s a bit dull now. When I was younger it was quite exciting – getting to stay up late, and then from my late teens until fatherhood it was a case of partying every year. Oddly, one of my clearest memories is going to a house party in Norwich with a mate when we were 20, and I was going to stay at his flat afterwards. Somewhere between 2 and 3am my friend decided he’d had enough and went home, and I was finally partied out at about 5am. So, I rang him from a payphone on my way over – no answer. Walked the remainder of the journey (a mile in total) and rang the doorbell – no answer. Rapped on his ground floor bedroom window – no answer. I put my ear to the window and could hear him snoring loudly! I repeated steps 2 and 3 a few times, before deciding to head back to the party, and just hang out with whoever happened to still be awake until about 7am, and then started to walk 3 miles towards my house, deciding about half-way home before deciding to call my mum for a lift home! Ah, the joys of youth!

Anyway, I digress. My first child was born in 2004, and for pretty much the next 16 years I bought the New Year in on my own. My wife likes an early night anyway, and at this time of year she’s exhausted. In addition to being worn out by our growing family, she’s a teacher too, and single-handedly puts on the school play every year, which is pretty tiring and stressful. To add to this, her snot-laden pupils gift her with coughs, colds, and every seasonal bug going. So, she uses the holidays to rest and catch up on sleep. But me, well, I liked the tradition of popping a bottle of bubbly at midnight whilst watching London’s fireworks (or Jool’s Hootenanny), even if it meant I was on my tod nearly every year.

But in the last few years, our kids have reached an age where they see it as a right of passage to stay up late. And suddenly my better half has got a second wind and is capable of staying up beyond midnight too. Yet, here I am, wanting to hit the sack early, and I’m being persuaded to stay up! The funny thing is, all year round I rarely get to bed before 1am anyway, so what harm is one more night? Perhaps it’s my body clock wanting to encourage me to start the New Year with good habits.

So, once again I stayed up. We watched a movie, played some computer and board games, spent some time together. Had a drink or two. And I got to pop open a bottle of bubbly as usual. Actually, no I didn’t. I decided to show my 17-year-old how to do it. Passing on life skills etc. He got some decent height and distance on it too. Very proud dad moment!

Next year, as the offspring will all be over 18, I think I’ll suggest they head to the pub and their old man can finally catch some zzz’s to kick-start the New Year!


Mundesley beach- black and white photo of wave drawing back from shore.

Hotspot

As I hinted at in November’s Mark My Words, this column is going to be a bit of a mish-mash of ideas because that’s how my brain works. But I feel I need to include a local flavour on most occasions. And no, as delicious as it may be, that flavour won’t be asparagus bought from a caravan in a lay-by on major A road. Besides, you’re more likely to steam asparagus than put it in a hotpot. Hmm? Did I mention I’m good at waffling and tangents? (I never mentioned if the waffling was actually any good…)

So, I’ve come up with the idea of “Hotspot” – a dash of local for those occasions when my column is focused elsewhere. This month, my Hotspot is Mundesley. There are so many wonderful coastal villages, but I’ve picked this place because of a specific memory, which was jogged when recently scanning through some photos. Or more precisely, I’m talking about Mundesley beach.

It was 18th December 2020 and my youngest son’s school had already broken up for Christmas, but everyone else in the household still had to go to school. It was a grey miserable day, but we decided to go to the beach. We started at Walcott, then went on to Mundesley and finally Cromer. Heading to the beach on a cold, grey, and windy winter’s day is invigorating. We walked, talked, skimmed stones, and sat to watch the seabirds. For me, it was just as enjoyable as going in the peak season because we got to spend quality time together. Nice.

Okay, I wanted to take some pictures too, but the sun didn’t come out. Luckily, Norfolk can still look stunning and dramatic no matter the weather (see above and feature photo). I love it when the sea waves and crashes, then races back, dragging beach detritus as it retreats.


Where to Next?

Read more Mark My Words

Read our articles on walks or browse the rest of our articles.

Why not check out our Norfolk quizzes and games.

Find things to see & do  |  Somewhere to Eat/Drink  |  Accommodation  |  Retail Therapy

Locally Made Products  |  Lifestyle Services  |  Clubs and Classes.  |  Events

Share:
Mark My Words

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Categories

Recent Posts