GONE is the drama of Christmas 2024, when I foolishly, and with unqualified confidence, decided to buy all the presents for the entire family myself. A festive dictatorship, if you will, which quite frankly was always going to crash and burn like a death-spiralling sleigh.
I thought I performed adequately, but my stated rule of sticking to budget proved a bridge too far for most. Complaints were made and there was no comeback. I have since been relieved of my duties and will now rejoin the masses in January, staring at my credit card statement and wondering why would nobody listen!
Somewhere between the gift receipts and the quiet muttering, it struck me that this will probably be the last Christmas where all five of our kids are together for the traditional lunch. The eldest two are set to fly the coop at the end of the year (yes, yes, that’s partly wishful thinking, partly denial, but mostly the unavoidable march of time).
University ends. Jobs begin. Partners appear. Suddenly the house will feel smaller. Strangely going from five kids in the house at Christmas to four can feel very empty. Oh well, giddy up.
THANK YOU!
As we put the finishing touches on our 50th edition of the year I want to give a big shout out to the incredible team behind GC&M News. From Lewis and Tina who drive the advertising that ensures we can continue to print and publish our local news to Sonia and Chelise who produce and curate our print and digital content.
We hit 25,000 Facebook followers just last month as a sign of how we are developing across print and digital.
Shaz and Katie are tireless with the designing expertise for ads and our news pages – I can’t keep up with the workload. Ange is a gem behind the scenes with our reception and accounts and nobody would even see a copy if it wasn’t for our delivery drivers Stan and Noelene.
And finally, a big thanks to our readers and advertisers.
Without you there is no GC&M News. We live and love local, and look forward to an exciting 2026!
