2010
For some strange reason all through 2009 I kept writing 2008. Maybe I was trying to claw back a year of my life but I don’t think that’s the reason. I think so much has happened to me in the last couple of years I had simply lost track of time. When you’re young the older generations around you tell you that time speeds up the older you get. You turn away in disinterest for only time can teach you how right they are. Yep, time has sped up in recent years and only partly owing to the fact I’ve been so busy.
Well, I spent the Christmas holidays and New Year slowing down as much as possible. I read but didn’t write (although I did dream up a couple more story ideas and scribbled them down). I ate but not too much. I drank, not too much. I put my feet up. I visited family. I slipped and slid in snow that melted the very next day. I came home. I visited neighbours. I jumped around like a loony playing on a Wii console and was amazed it aged me younger than my years. I relaxed as much as I could on my birthday and welcomed the new year in with ambiguous feelings, probably because I really couldn’t get my head around that number of 2010. Yesterday (Sunday) I took the decorations down and wondered how it was possible I was doing so because it felt as if I’d just put them up. The poinsettia, which was a gift from a neighbour, is the only evidence of Christmas left.
Many of us in the UK also said goodbye to David Tennant as Doctor Who and try as I might I’m not entirely sure I can give the new Doctor a chance. He’s too young for me, which must prove my age. LOL. Jon Pertwee and to some extent Tom Baker were my doctors — and for those who understand the programme, each generation has their ‘own’ doctor. David Tennant gave the show a new lease of life that I doubt anyone else can, mostly usurping the doctors of my childhood. The final episode gave him a parting line that was eloquent for the actor and us as an audience. David loved playing the doctor and didn’t want to leave although it was his decision to do so but sometimes we have to leave good things behind to move forward to better ones. Likewise, most of the audience didn’t want him to go but gone he has and the thing to do is appreciate the good things while they are there. Tennant is one of my favourite people on TV and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what he does next. I’ve also got three hours of him in Hamlet to watch.
So, new year and that often means changes. I don’t usually make new year’s resolutions but this time I have. I have in mind what I want to do writing wise, holiday-wise…and the lovely experience of spending some quiet time with the one person most important to me in this world has made me determined to make more ‘home’ time, including time to get out for some walks, do some exercise, and sit down for a good home-cooked meal now and then. I do cook, almost every day, but I want to dig into my recipe books so every other Sunday it would be nice if it was a morning of freshly brewed coffee, some home-baked bread, or a nice dinner over a bottle of wine. We’ve been so busy in recent years, writing, working, moving, decorating, dealing with the unfortunate incidents life throws at you as well as some wonderful ones, we’ve forgotten what it’s like to do those things; the simple things. This is the year I want to remember.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Oh, and take a moment’s break to visit this month’s card at jacquie lawson. It did make me laugh so, as it’s simply so true: