Happy New Year.

Blog? Whassat? Oh yes, that thing I`m supposed to post on every so often. That blog, wot you lot read. Sorry. Happy New Year, one and all!

It`s been an interesting holiday period. Hubby was off for two weeks plus (he`s a university lecturer), the kids were home as well of course and we were all in the house together. At the same time. For extended periods of time. Weird sensation. We really only spend that amount of time together when we go away camping. So odd to do it in one`s own house. It did indeed feel like a holiday, despite the fact there`s still cleaning and shopping and....oh, forget all that. We did some nice family things.

However back to reality and life as we know it on Monday, when both new terms start. (And hopefully the workmen too.)I took the chance though to meet up with Gourdongirl today...she`s been working like a slave all Christmas and New Year, night shifts all the way, with only a few days off to have flu. We sat in Starbucks in our local Borders Books for three hours and knitted and gossiped, while I got completely spaced out on the coffee. (I don`t drink coffee normally.) We knitted and gossiped and talked about knitting etc etc...it was just like summer down at PrestonGrange, really. Except we had to pay for the coffee.

I suppose I`d better note down my New Years Resolutions for this year here, but to be frank they normally end up as a List of Wishful Thoughts. Better do better this year, SF!!!!!

Ahem...

1) Lose two stone.(That`s 28 lbs for the furriners.) GourdonGirl has suggested that doing this by Woolfest (which is in late June) would be a more than reasonable timetable for this to happen in, so Woolfest it is. I will start by going to my local Rosemary Conley class on Tuesday...it`s the only diet that has ever worked for me, so back we go again. Last time I went I lost about 40 lbs but as soon as I stopped going, I back slid and two stone of the weight has gone back on again. Bah. It`s also true that I need to lose a LOT more than two stone, but I don`t want to think about that all in one go!

2) Stop buying yarn and fibre and knit/spin from stash this year. ALL this year, with two exceptions...Woolfest and Skip North. To be honest this shouldn`t be too difficult as the shopping opportunities at both these events are so good that it`s worth saving all my yarn cash for them.

3) Dump another 10% of the contents of this house. The first 10% has barely made a dent on our packrat lifestyle so there`s plenty of leeway for this. However you can feel the difference (just not see it, lol!) and over the next few months the furniture will be moving round rather a lot so it`s the perfect opportunity to jettison stuff.

4) Spend 10% more time (non-craft time, that is) on me. To be honest this means 10% more of bugger all to start with...I`m not a high maintainance type. Chores like shaving my legs or getting my hair cut tend to be things that get done in an emergency rather than a matter of routine. How is it that when you`re young and dewy fresh you spend hours of completely unnecessary time on beauty routines, while when you get older and need a bit more routine restoration you either don`t have time or can`t be bothered? My toenails are a disgrace....last time they saw polish was summer 2005.

5) Spend more time at allotment. This is totally incompatable to being more groomed, however.

6) More exercise. Well, I`ll get that at diet class as they include a 3/4 hour workout to allow the words of wisdom on nutrition to percolate in. But I`m also thinking bike and swimming pool. Fortunately this IS compatable with spending time on the allotment.

I read in someone elses blog that they wanted to become a better wife, a better mother, better friend, better person and knit about 100 things for charity in 2007. Reading back over my list I want to do a lot of things for me, spend more time on me and throw a lot of (other folks) stuff out. And I never knit anything for charity. I am clearly a lower form of life, lol. So I feel I need to contribute something to global karma, no?

7)Therefore I resolve to improve our recycling routine this year. I already recycle glass, tins, paper and all that stuff, use Freecycle and charity shops both to buy and to dump clothes and other items and having an allotment is fabulous for recycling very many very weird things, but I`m sure I can do more.

8) Finally I resolve to cut down my spending by 10%, on both the household shopping and my own personal budget. We are so skint ...or will be, after the household improvements are finished...that this is a necessity rather than an option if we want to go on any sort of holiday this year. Not buying yarn or rubbishy, unhealthy, fattening food will help.(I like a good dual purpose resolution, don`t you?)

Watch this space. There will be an update in 2008. *grin*