And so, the turning year

turns once again. Well actually it turned a couple of weeks ago, and living here that's not just  a technicality. When we lived in the city and a lot further south then it made no difference, but up here you really are conscious of the shortening and lengthening of days on an almost daily basis. We really should celebrate New Year on 21st December and perhaps move Christmas to the end of the month.

 

I realise  that this would still mean the western world shutting up shop for two weeks solid, which I find irritating and inconvenient but to my mind it would make more sense.

 

And speaking of finding things irritating, one of my new year aspirations is to relax a bit more and go with the flow. This is so not me you wouldn't believe, but I might enjoy life more if I could think about it less. 

 

[Digression alert - That's a bit reminiscent of Knightley's words to Emma when he proposes to her 'If I loved you less I might be able to talk about it more' - this is in my mind because the TV seems to have decided that this was a Classic Christmas and gave us various versions of Emma, Persuasion and Jane Eyre to delight or disgust. I watched the Jane Eyre film simply to see the shawl on which my own M'Amie was based. I rejected the Paltrow/Northam and Garai/Lee Miller Emmas because I can't stand either of them, but indulged myself with the  Beckinsale/Strong version because I love it. ]

 

Meanwhile back at the junction of the Old and New Years OH and I had our traditional NYE snap, mainly because we disagreed about how horrible or otherwise 2013 has been. I said it had been an awful year and he disagreed. There again it wasn't him having nasty medical tests, panics about his vision and bone scans...anyway, regardless of what he says, I think 2013 was a bit of a naff year for me, but in an uncharacteristic onslaught of positivity I am determined to enjoy 2014. I do of course have a trip to my beloved Oz to look forward to in February which helps with the positive outlook. It will be three years since I was last there and I was quite poorly with a mixture of unpleasant things that time, so this time fingers crossed that I stay well.

 

And other aspirations? To study hard with great enjoyment, to be less catty and judgemental, to live more in the moment - and I think there was something in there about blogging more regularly too.

 

Happy New Year!