26-01-01 - Thursday I - Happy New Year

It's the start of a new year, so that means it's time to resuscitate this excuse of a blog. New Year's Eve was fun with a couple of cocktails at home with TW and TL, then to bed at about 00:30 and swiftly to sleep. And that's the level in winning for in 2026... Happy New Year!

TTFN.

23-01-01 - Sunday - Happy New Year

Well, well, well. Here we are then, in the future - 2023. Happy New Year to us all. Today was a Sunday so we didn't have much on. It was nice waking up sober, as we had a very quiet and dry New Year's Eve. We actually struggled to stay up until midnight, my eyelids were certainly very heavy at times...

TE had arranged to exercise at the rugby club with a friend, so TW & I took the mutt for a muddy walk which she (the dog) enjoyed. Luckily the rain stayed away, although this festive period has been mostly grey, damp and mild. 

I did a small bit of tidying and TW took down the Christmas decorations. We had two trees this year, which was maybe extravagant, but it was the first Christmas in our new house and we did have 13 house guests, as TW's family all came to stay. It was a brilliant Christmas, I really like all of her family, and she enjoyed it too.

After dinner (a lovely butternut squash risotto) the girls watched Glee and TW & I did some financial planning, which has set us up for the year, I reckon. It's almost an annual tradition now. Another sober evening, and then off to bed. 

TTFN.

21-01-01 Friday Covid-19 Day 293 I - Happy New Year

Happy New Year all. That was a year, wasn't it? I did want to title this entry "Happy New Year Motherfunsters", but I held back. By letting you know, I kind of did it anyway. That is the definition of having your cake and eating it. 

New Year's Eve was a calm affair at Thorley Towers. We had party food for dinner; little mouthfuls of shop-bought breaded chicken and halloumi. We baked a camembert and dipped bread in it. Then I ate mini Stollen bites for dessert, while we played Risk. This was all at the kids' request, BTW.

Then once the game had ended we watched The Last Leg and when that finished at 11pm, we went to bed. TW fell asleep in front of the TV so I had to wake her up, and as we headed upstairs she got a call from a friend, seeing what we were up to and wishing us Happy New Year. TW felt we should stay up with the children to see in the new year, now that she was awake, but I declined, since I was tired and wanted to go to sleep. 

I heard a few unimpressive fireworks being let off at 11 o'clock, probably by Worthing's Brexit contingent. When I looked out to see what was going on, it was quiet and misty and there was nothing to see. I'm sure there is some metaphor or simile there, but I can't be bothered to make it. 

TW told me that there were much more impressive and loud fireworks at midnight, but I was asleep by then and didn't hear them. 

The new year always brings resolutions, and so I have three, I think. The first, as always, is to update this blog more often. This resolution tends to fall by the wayside early, so if I were in your shoes I'd tend not to worry about this one. 

The second is to run more often; it'd be good if I could get out three times a week. So I'll probably go for a little trundle later this morning - I'll have to start as I mean to go on. 

The third is to read more. I've got a load of comics (a whole bookcase full, to be honest) that I haven't read. I've also got Private Eye delivered every fortnight, and the Byline Times every month. More reading material is coming in than is going out, so it is time to do something about that. During lockdown we spent most evenings watching Netflix or Disney+, so in order to make time for reading, I think that TV watching on the scale we were doing it is going to have to go - at least for me. 

I think my ability to concentrate for long periods of time is slowly fading, and I'd like to build that back up. I've got a few books I'm intending to read as well, so I need to focus on those. 2021 might be "The Year of Study". 

We'll have to see how it goes. 

That's it for now, I think. I hope 2021 is good for all of us, but I have a creeping concern that it won't be. 

TTFN. 

#nowreading: Why We Get The Wrong Politicians, by Isabel Hardman

20-01-03 Friday I - Crockery

We went shopping yesterday and took TY and TE with us. It was a local out-of-town complex (is that a contradiction?) with a Tesco superstore and a Marks & Spencer, and a Next tacked on. The girls had all been given Christmas money, and TE found a nice teddy bear coat in Next that she was able to buy with her own money.

I wasn’t particularly in the mood for sales hunting, but it was good to get out of the house and do something over the winterval period. The days do really run into each other and I have found myself having to consciously tell myself which day it is.

Anyway, then we went to Tesco and TY went off and came back with a plate, a side plate, and a bowl. Apparently one of her 2020 goals was to have her own personal crockery, and she was able to buy them with her Christmas money. Goal achieved by 2nd Jan; sometimes life can be straightforward for ten-year-olds.

My New Year’s resolutions are (1) to buy less comics, and (2) to write more here. I’ve got some things I think about, and it’d be good to get them out of my head and down on paper. Also, I think my life is quite mundane, so writing about specific events might help prove that theory one way or the other. Sometimes it’s hard to recall specific events and what happened as days and happenings merge into each other, so if I make an effort to record that stuff here, that might cement it into my memory as well as create a record for me and others (?) to look at.

Good luck with your resolutions, and Happy New Year!

TTFN.