The Christmas Letter
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2007-12-22 09:46:51 - Graham EllisIt's become fashionable at this time of year in certain circles to write a newsletter to tell all those people with whom you remain in touch only at Christmas what's been happening with you and your family all year. I confess that I'm reminded of the film "as good as it gets" with some of these letters, where the waitress writes a "Thank you" letter so long - so many, many pages long - that the generous if quirky gent who has nobly (yet also selfishly) paid for a doctor to see her boy gets more than a little embarrassed. So let me keep it short, even if I use typical section headings for this sort of thing.
The Intro
Lisa and I have been running "Well House Manor" - the hotel associated with our training courses - for a year now. A steep learning curve on many fronts, but we feel we have learned and we welcome friends and family to visit us here.
The Family
Son Tyler (living in USA) got married to Alyssa in May and brought her across to meet us during a brief honeymoon the following week. Son Chris (living near Bristol), joined us as our general manager at Well House Manor in the Autumn and is having a huge and positive effect here. His wife Delene is an amazing person, but is going through a number of very serious medical issues which is very trying indeed on both of them. Daughter Kimberly (living close by in Melksham) lives with Tom, works happily in a preschool nursery, and has started day release to further qualifications.
Graham's Dad, living in Devizes, remains very active indeed of mind and body; a cataract operation just last week meant that I saw my dad for the first time in my life without bottle-bottom glasses just these last few days, and a milky opaqueness has been lifted from his sight and put a spring back in his step (mind you, that spring was never gone). We saw Lisa's Mum, in Virginia, her retirement "pad", in August. She's been through some medical stuff too, but we had a very bouncy family day with Lisa and her three siblings.
The Year and holidays
Helsinki for a course (with time for a brief look around) early in the year. Soon after Easter - a week (a course again for me) in the beautiful Belgian town of Brugge. That whirlwind week with Tyler and Alyssa in May. A week in the USA (Washington and New York State, where I gave a short course) in August. And a few days at the beginning of this month in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The Christmas plans
Christmases past have been a whirlwind of travel. But this year, we'll be notably at home; with "children" no longer being children / family situations enforcing holidays at peak summer or peak winter times, we can stay around Melksham - and after a hectic year that suits us just fine. A simple Christmas dinner - probably just a handful of us - but seeing family and friends over the period.
Looking forward
2007 has been a year of stabilizing our major project of "Well House Manor" - having got the place refurbished at the tail of 2006, we've turned it into a fully functional and running training center and general business hotel this year. For 2008, I think the key target is "consolidation" - dealing with many of those little things that make up the long tail of the project, and quietly running a superb hotel and a great set of courses. Lisa and I are also looking for some more time for ourselves; we can't go on at the pace we have been doing, and with excellent staff now on board and fully "in tune" to run the place, that plan isn't beyond possibility. Knowing us, I don't imagine we would actually be out of touch for more than a day or two anyways!
Have you ever been on holiday and said to those people who you get on with really well that they must look you up when you're back home? You know it won't happen as they live in Ripon and you live in Abercrave? Well - we say to all our friends (and our business acquaintances become our friends too in our businesses) "Please DO look us up when you're in the area - or why not have a weekend away in Wiltshire and stay with us" and we mean it!
Something extra
I started talking about the typical Christmas letter. Well - I'm now going to add something that is NOT. I've talked about family - siblings, offspring and parents, but only in passing about Lisa. I couldn't do what I do without her - not only in business, but also in personal life - things which aren't "Well House" concerned or related. It's been a tough year for her - the pressures of what we have taken on effect us all differently, and it has "shown" on all of us. But I am delighted to report - just very recently - that the pressures have turned around, are easing rather than building, and very quickly like the first flowers of spring I'm seeing fresh shoots of joie-de-vivre in Lisa, and it gladdens my heart. And I have no doubt that the Christmas period, with a chance for so many things that we've been too busy to countenance these last months, will lead to a further blossoming in an early Spring. I'm not a good one for soppy words, especially publicly expressed ... so perhaps I'll leave this extra at just a short indication of something and someone special.