Friday 6 January 2012

I'm Back!

Happy New Year! Bet you wondered if I’d ever be back on the blog, well here I am. But don’t blame me for my long absence, blame the schools for only just going back. Jeez that felt like a long school holiday.

So we’re back proper and it’s all change. Son number 2 is now at preschool (God help them) and for the first time in five years I have two mornings a week when I don’t have to deal with nappies, jigsaw puzzles with three missing pieces (and the distress caused by said missing pieces) and incessant Fireman Sam on the telly (silence is golden, nothing but the whirr of a laptop, bliss).

It’s kind of weird being so free, but also exciting. I can now start looking at building a career of my own. I get bored easily and need a regular switch up to keep me motivated, 5 years in the same daily routine has been unheard of for me since my school days. So I need this. I need it so badly I am like a greyhound desperate to get out of the trap. But old habits die hard, and as desperate as I am to do something for ME and for MY career, I have to resist the urge to take the opportunity to do some uninterrupted housework (I have never been a good housekeeper so why try and change that now, square peg, round hole). I may get bored easily but that is why I love to write, the endless possibilities for new opportunities and in fiction at least, plenty of new characters to get to know. So here I am, writing, and looking for new ways that I can make a career of it (or at the very least entertain people and earn some cash).

I don’t believe in New Years Resolutions. Saying that you are going to start dieting on January the first or have your last fag at midnight is just a recipe for disaster if you ask me. There is still all the Christmas chocolate to get through (is it me or is there more and more chocolate every year? I feel like my childhood was virtually Dickensian in its lack of festive fayre, my kids practically have to wade through a sea of Roses just to get to the toilet) and frankly who wants to spend the last few hours of a party gagging for a fag? But I still love the feeling of newness you get from a New Year, and the endless possibilities for change. Which is why my New Year Resolutions last for an entire year. That is I make a decision that this is going to be the year I…

Last year it was this blog, Book (wine and moaning about men) Club, and getting fit. This year I will be building on last years triumphs but mostly focussing on my career, earning some cash and fun, fun, fun.

I worry I am getting boring in my old age. I have learnt however, that I need to accept my limits. Through a lifetime of trial and error I now know my limits are: 2 glasses of wine, one vodka tonic or just stick to the Appletize because my hangovers (and resulting shame) after any more than that are just not worth it. But I have a sneaking suspicion that I may be a bit of a Fun Bobby (those of you that don’t watch Friends – Fun Bobby was Monica’s boyfriend who turned out to be an alcoholic and was no longer fun when he stopped drinking) when it comes to alcoholic beverages. Maybe I’ve been drinking socially so long I have forgotten how to let myself go when I don’t drink? Maybe I need to work on my confidence.

So anyway, what can you expect from Write or Wrong I’m Doing It Anyway in 2012? Well, there are a few things I really want to try which I’m sure won’t escape comment on my blog (horseriding – it’s never too late to learn, pole dancing, ahem sorry pole FITNESS – ditto, and indoor rock climbing – you will never get me on the edge of a cliff but I kind of like the idea of those indoor rock walls, warmer and frankly, safer). 

The biggest challenge in life is not to stagnate; when you stagnate you may as well be dead. It’s so easy to let life pass you by because it seems too much hassle or too scary to change things. Trying new things and constantly looking for ways to change is the only way to keep things interesting. And if you don’t try new things, how can you know what you like and what you don’t like? What if it turns out I love riding in the countryside with the wind in my hair and a strong steed between my thighs (don’t be rude, I was being poetic)? If I’d never have tried it I’d never have known, and what a shame it would be to miss out on a lifetimes worth of something I love.

So my New Year’s Resolution this year is to try everything. Take all my opportunities and have some serious fun. Even on an Appletize (served in a wine glass because that makes you feel like you’re having a “proper” drink).

Happy New Year to you all, I wish you the very best in all your new endeavours.