2024: That was the year that was July to December

This is the second part of my family’s 2024. You can read about January to June here.

July started with a general election – the first time all five of us could vote – and a very welcome change of government. The weather was unseasonably cold and damp for the first half of the month. I took part in the Cotswold Way Relay for the first time, which I really enjoyed. My daughter went on a little holiday with her friends, so my husband and I, along with Hetty, had a lovely short break in Tenby.

My younger son did three athletics competitions during the month. He became South West champion in senior men’s long jump, but he didn’t manage to jump as far as he would like. He came home from uni at the end of the month for the holidays. We had a big turnout from my family  at Mallards Pike parkrun and I was very happy to be the first lady across the line. The weather finally warmed up at the end of the month and it was very welcome!

August seemed to fly by. My younger son was home from uni for most of the month, which was lovely, although he went on holiday for a week with his girlfriend. My husband and I ran Bugatti 10k, a hilly race, and I was happy to come first in my age category. My daughter got her A Level results and was very pleased with her AAB. We were all very proud of her. It meant she would definitely be going to university in September. My husband, daughter and I had a day out in London, and my daughter and I watched The Lion King, which we loved.

We had a big family holiday to Center Parcs with my parents, sister and her family. Unfortunately, my brother and his partner were unable to go this time, so we took the boys’ girlfriends and my daughter’s best friend. My son started back at uni on 27th August. He’s now in the clinical years of his medicine degree, which means spending nearly all of his time in hospital. It also means his holidays get a lot shorter. At the end of the month, my husband I ran Meteor Mile – a mile race on the runway of Gloucestershire Airport, which was a unique experience.

September started with me running the Cheltenham half marathon for the 10th time – and I got a PB! Then my husband, daughter and Hetty went on an off-peak holiday to Padstow. It was nice to go on holiday outside the school holidays, but the weather wasn’t great. Then my husband, eldest and I ran Worcester half marathon. We had some terrible weather in September – torrential rain, thunderstorms and floods.

On 21st September, we dropped my daughter off at uni – the same one as her brother. On 22nd September, my husband and I ran Apperley Quarter Marathon. As it was my birthday, we visited my daughter at university and found she was very unhappy. She came home twice in the next few days and gradually started to settle. We now officially have an empty nest!

In October, my husband and I ran Cardiff half marathon, which was possibly my least favourite half marathon experience ever. October was the Cheltenham Literature Festival, which is always a highlight of the autumn for me. I went to see Ian Rankin, Geri Halliwell, Bob Mortimer, Caitlin Moran and Jodi Picoult. My husband and I went for a skiing lesson in Milton Keynes. It was my very first time putting skis on! I wasn’t quite as bad as I thought I’d be, but I did fall over quite a lot.

My parents reached big parkrun milestones on the same day – 250 parkruns for my dad and 100 for my mum. At the end of the month, my husband, eldest and I ran Stroud half marathon. Everything went to plan and I got a massive PB of 1:43:28 – more than three minutes faster than my previous PB.

On the whole, October was a pretty lonely month, as life without my daughter at home really hit me. She came home a couple of times and so did my son, but I really missed them.

November is generally a miserable month, but this year it was slightly less miserable than usual. My husband and I ran two races – Guy Fawkes 5 (miles, not k) and Newent 9 (k, not miles!). The results of these races confirmed I’d won the running club race series for my age category. My daughter continued to miss home and came home quite a bit, including nearly a week for reading week.

It snowed briefly and I visited the kids at uni because my son had an awards ceremony for getting distinction on his course last year. I went to the theatre with my parents and the cinema with my daughter (twice!). At the end of the month, my husband and I went to Sorrento in Italy for a few days. It was lovely to get away and relax and I was blown away by our visit to Pompeii.

At the start of December, I went to see The Wonder Stuff – one of my favourite bands – and ran my first ever cross country race. It wasn’t as bad as I was anticipating! Getting ready for Christmas seemed to go on for longer and feel far more stressful than usual. I’m not sure why. My daughter came home from university for the holidays on the 13th and my son was a week later. As a third year medical student, his terms are longer than hers.

We had a lovely Christmas, spending more time with family than ever. We had Christmas dinner at my brother’s house and spent the afternoon and evening there. Christmas Day at my brother’s is the best – he has a beautiful house in a beautiful village and is an amazing cook.

So that was our July to December 2024. Who knows what 2025 will bring?