It’s December and, for a select few at Glasgow Warriors, the end of November and couldn’t come quickly enough.
You may have noticed (although in some cases you certainly won't have) that as a squad we were all sporting moustaches in aid of the Movember campaign which aims to raise awareness and funds for men's cancer issues.
For some of the more mature gentlemen in the group, the 5 o'clock shadow came bang on time on the 1st and grew into a fully fledged "slug" style moustache, while others opted for the handlebar approach which in no way reminded me of one of the members of the Village People.
Spare a thought however, for the younger chaps in the squad who through no fault of their own only managed a few meagre whispy strands on their top lip. All of the boys were very understanding, as I'm sure you can imagine. We have a site which is open to anyone who might like to make a donation at www.mobro.co/glasgowwarriors
There is a good buzz about the place at the moment, which certainly wasn't harmed by our 17-9 win over Ulster at Firhill, our fifth straight victory in the RaboDirect PRO12.
It was entertaining to see our new Samoan signing David Lemi adjusting to life in the rain/sleet/wind/freezing cold of a November night in Glasgow. Thankfully he could still feel enough of his fingers to set up our winning try.
I didn't have the best of evenings on a personal level, adding another facial wound to the one I got away to Leinster the weekend before. In the interests of variety, I made sure it was on the other side this time.
These bumps and bruises are part and parcel of a hugely physical sport like modern professional rugby, although it has led to me getting a few odd looks when I've popped into the petrol station or newsagents. I'm sure they've seen worse, in all fairness.
After being in the wars over the past couple of weeks, I got the night off on Sunday when the boys went to Newport to take on the Dragons. I don't think I'll offend any of them when I say the game didn't make for particularly enthralling viewing, but the last 20 minutes certainly made you sit up.
The lead changed hands a couple of times, and I really thought we'd won it when Scott Wight, our stand-off, showed a hitherto well disguised turn of pace to touch down with minutes to go. It was a shame we couldn't complete the job, but we're the first visiting team not to lose at Rodney Parade in the RaboDirect PRO12 this season, so we can't be overly disappointed.
Looking to the future, there's no hiding my excitement at the prospect of staying at the Warriors until at least 2015.
I love the club and its supporters and I also love living in this city. I feel that we are going places and the intent and actions have certainly been there from Scottish Rugby to back this up.
We have a good bunch of lads here too, who work hard for each other and enjoy each other's company. Any of you who have met them will hopefully agree with me. A delightful bunch, apart from the facial hair.
I'll try to keep you updated via this column on what's going on in the squad as we progress through the season. If there's anything you'd like to know, send me a message @chriscusiter on Twitter and I'll do my best to address it.
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