2017: the blank pages

I always get quite excited at the start of a new year: it's a new series of blank pages to be written on. And after all...surely nothing can be worse than 2016?  But then the realistic part of me takes over. The world is still the same place.  Trump is still going to be president of the USA.  Brexit is still going to happen.  In much of Europe, and indeed in our own country, the UK, fascism - give it all the new names you like, but it's still fascism - presents a genuine threat. Terrorism is now a fact of life in all parts of the continent and beyond.  The world is basically f****d and there is little to be positive about.  In 2016, a great number of famous people also passed away; many of them were "too young to die" and it particularly made you think about your own mortality.

2016 was a horrible year in so many ways and on a personal note it was topped by an unexpected and heartbreaking close family bereavement, during a time when I was still struggling to cope with the loss of my mum.  In 2016 I sunk into a very deep depression which resulted in a binge eating disorder.

However....

Life goes on.

A few days ago, at the end of that dreadful year, I made a promise to myself that I should now focus on the positive aspects of life and count my blessings.  Life is too short, and so I am going into a new year with these positive thoughts.

MY REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL....

• I am still alive.
• I continue to have a wonderful relationship with the man who is the love of my life.
• I am reasonably healthy (obesity excepted, although I'm planning to tackle that...!).
• I have a good job which I still enjoy doing after all these years and being in employment enables me to travel and visit places which I would otherwise not get the chance to see. 
• I have a nice home which remains a 'work in progress' but which I will continue to improve as the year progresses.
• I have this wonderful blogging hobby and my occasional presence on Twitter which has enabled me to get to know so many lovely people. 

In an increasingly dark world, happiness is a rare quantity and should be treasured.  I hope that you all find some kind of happiness over the year ahead and that you make the most of your life, your health and your loved ones.  So I would like to wish the readers of this and my other blogs a very happy and healthy new year filled with love, happiness and good times :)

Oh, and the diet starts tomorrow....!

Well, hello 2013!

But firstly, we had the unfinished business of closing the story of 2012. As usual, the Hogmanay tradition of a meal with faithful travelling companion at our favourite local Cantonese restaurant, followed by a couple of Kopparbergs pear ciders at Wetherspoons.

The days of staying up all night after the bells are now long gone: these days, staying power is in very short supply so I retired very early to listen to Radio Five Live for a while and then it was lights out just after 1.00 am. Living life on the edge eh!!!

I finished work on Christmas Eve and have been on holiday since then: it's been a brilliant, relaxing time but all good things have to come to an end.  Talking of which, the dismantling of the EuropeCrazy HQ Christmas tree (pictured above) ceremony also took place today.  It's like the closing ceremony of the Olympics, only without the flag being lowered, or a speech from Seb Coe, or numerous rotten musical performances.  (Although with regard to the latter, we did have a 'top tunes of 2012' show playing on one of the music channels: insert witty remark here...!)

Tomorrow is the last day of my Christmas and New Year leave and then it's back to work on Thursday :(  I feel completely unwound, but no doubt that feeling will be short-lived once Thursday morning comes!

As ever, I got my hopes up for the sales but only Boots and Matalan delivered: I'm sorted for bath stuff, perfume and cut-price knitwear for the rest of the year :)

Over the past 6 months I lost my dieting-mojo and the weight-gain went out of control.  As usual, the shops are full of fitness DVDs and the newspapers are full of the usual old 'new year, new you'-style rubbish. Yes I absolutely do need to lose weight and get fit, but this year however I'm flying solo on the dieting front and not following any official weight-loss plan: only the EuropeCrazy Frank Sinatra "I Did It My Way" diet and exercise plan between now and the end of April.  No crash diets here folks: just a sustained period of healthy eating and sensible exercise, punctuated by the good things in life - this time of the year is dark and depressing enough without denying yourself some treats!  I will only weigh myself on the last day of every month, so check back here on 31st January for a progress report. 

So what's ahead in 2013?  Well, it's an odd-numbered year so there's no Olympics and no summer football tournament to distract us: let's just hope that the weather is better this year so that there will be lots of exciting adventures to write about over the summer months. And then there's the small matter of our spring and summer holidays to plan :)))))

Goodbye 2011!

I came across this the other day and it really appealed to me. New York has a "Good Riddance Day" at the end of the year which gives people a chance to say "good riddance" to the things about the past year which they're glad to see the back of.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/New-Yorkers-Say-Good-Riddance-to-2011-136402413.html

Personally I'll also be glad to say "good riddance" to 2011 for so many reasons, both personal and on a wider scale. However it wasn't all bad - no year is all bad, and good things do happen.

I have so much to be thankful for - good health, a happy home life, a relationship which is stronger than it's ever been, a job which I genuinely enjoy doing, and having just enough money to get by. We had a couple of very good holidays in Pisa and Dublin this year. Earlier in the year I finally reached my target weight and dropped a dress size for the first time in about 20 years. I know that's totally irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but it was a major achievement for me. (I put it all on again in the second half of the year of course, but that's only a temporary blip).

Just like my weight, my own health was up and down this past year, but I end the year with the crippling back pain under control - although that right knee is still very dodgy :( Meanwhile my mum, who has had a pretty rubbish year healthwise, ends the year in, touch wood, a reasonable state of health by her standards.

I'm not into all this new year resolution nonsense, as they are doomed to fail, but the new year gives us a blank page to make some new, hopefully happy, memories. I'll be sharing them on this blog of course, and I hope that all the readers of this and my other two blogs get the chance to make lots of happy memories of your own in 2012.

Lots of love and best wishes for the new year ahead!


Laura xx