So, happy new year!

Bye, bye Christmas. Thanks for all the glitter, the lights, the red-and-white stripeiness and the great presents, I really am very lucky. Thanks for all the naughty food and the lovely flowers. And did I mention the presents? Thanks again for those.

There’s no denying, the house today looks mighty bare without all the festive glitteriness shining out from every nook and cranny. To cheer up the bareness I have been to a wonderful florist in Alresford and brought some beautiful pink tulips. They look so subtle and sophisticated compared to the unabashed (but lovely) gaudiness of Christmas – a great prelude to the coming springtime, which if I close my eyes and wish very hard, I’m sure can’t be too far away, can it?

As for the new year… well, sadly I have been to my first funeral already, which is never good at any time of the year. The father of my best friend in the world died the day before Christmas Eve. I still can’t get my head around how they are all managing to cope without him, especially over Christmas. He was a wonderful man and still so young. Grasping every moment of life and living it to the full sounds very exhausting, but experiences like this do make you look at how you live your life and how you prioritise things.

Looking forward though, that’s the thing. That’s the only chance we have of changing anything, and there’s no need to be anything but hopeful and positive, especially at the beginning of a brand new year.

Of course there’s the whole new year resolutions thing too. I seem to spend the whole year making a mental list of things I should be doing less of/more of, stopping/starting. Learning some self-discipline will definitely be beneficial this year. And focus. I really need to stop with the procrastinating and use the time I normally spend thinking about things actually doing things. Plus, I need to floss more and eat only free-range meat. And watch less TV.

Happy new year.