-- This editorial was first posted in our Newsletter on 30 December. If you want to receive this type of blogs, exclusively, you need to sign up on our free mailing list (sign-up box is on the frontpage)
The week in between Christmas and New Year is the Twilight Zone. I'm so confused which day of the week it is, whether I should work full throttle or take a break like the rest of the world. Then I remember that my website is like a slot-machine in a casino: I need to keep my readers addicted to news by providing them with a constant stream of information. There is no back-up system in place. If I go tilt, this casino closes and clients wil go next door to the second best option. Everybody is replaceable. A bit of a dark thought, isn't it?
I couldn't make up my mind whether to attend the World Cup qualifier in Mechelen or stay at home. In the end I chose the latter and watched the live stream. I forgot to write Christmas cards this year, I forgot to buy Christmas presents for those dear to me beyond my family, I forgot to send goodie bags to all the beautiful people that benevolently helped me with Eurodressage. I ran out of time for that and it's 30 December now. I even forget to plan a proper party for New Year's Eve - something I like to brood on and then don't do it. It's one of my many, MANY wishful-thinking, or should I say, good-intention projects, including my 40th birthday garden party that never happened (covid lockdown), or the overhaul of my house's interior or the landscaped garden I'm dreaming of but never commit to. Oh well... One day...
The past five years on New Year's Eve I end up going for the least complicated option: a lovely dinner at my brother's. He called me yesterday and told me it's my job to provide the cheese board this year. With no proper cheese shop within a 20-minute radius of my house, I cleverly delegated the task to my father who lives in Antwerp, right next to one of the best shops of the country (Van Tricht).
So tomorrow I will be my efficient self and catch two fish with one hook: I will drive 100 km for an NYE lunch at my dad's in Antwerp and get the cheese. Then drive 60 km to my home town to celebrate New Year's Eve with my brothers and mother in the evening. Food coma incoming! I have five articles pre-prepared for the casino crowd. I hope that'll keep them happy as I ring in the New Year!
Best wishes for 2024: good health, much love, be kind and have courage!
-- Astrid Appels