A New Year

New Years tend to come with resolutions. We make them, and generally...we break them. So instead of making a whole list, I will just have one. To get things done. I will pick a thing that needs to be done, and strive to do it. Then, I'll pick another one. With a few underlying goals for the year, such as being a bit smarter about managing my diet and exercise, and putting away extra money for "treats". To accomplish the last I have set up a brand new savings account, just for the leftovers at the end of the month. We shall see if it works. But my first real "thing"...clean/organize my office. It holds some of the last remaining moving boxes, as I don't have as many closets here. It also holds everything else that doesn't have a "home", or I just don't want to deal with at any given moment. Company coming...all the clutter gets transferred to the office. It has reached critical.
But enough of that. Iain and I went to Wales over the Christmas week to visit with some friends. Avoiding the family pressures and stresses sounded like a good idea, and it also meant I was under NO obligation to contrive something for "Christmas".

We spent lots of time engaging in non-Christmas-like activities!





Our friends are into geocaching, so we got taken out on all sorts of excursions, with stops along the way to look for little hidden tupperware containers. We made it all the way to Stonehenge! But, no, I did not take pictures. The weather was atrocious whenever my camera came out, so grey skies and grey rocks weren't on the menu. I'll go back in summer. :)

But we also went to the Big Pit, a coal/iron mine. It's not too deep, so since it closed they take tourists down. Hard-hats and LOTS of walking while bent over. Well, ok, so I didn't have to bend over too much. ;) No electrical/battery-powered things allowed underground, but I got a couple shots from the surface.

However, my version of Christmas did happen. I brought my copy of A Christmas Story, and forced everyone to watch it. Laughter all around, so I can keep everyone as friends! But most importantly, we had Chinese food and went to see a movie. Sherlock Holmes. So it was on Boxing Day, but that's close enough.

Happy 2010!