Out With The Old, In With The New

New Year equals New Resolutions, written in my best handwriting with my poshest pen in a new journal bought specifically for the purpose.

Once done, I’ll blow the ink dry, close the cover and either instantly forget about them or beat myself up for a few weeks at my inadequacy to stick to them.

This year, there is no new journal and my poshest pen has only been taken from its box to write the most mundane of shopping lists. That sums up the only resolutions I have committed to this year:

1. To stop putting pressure on myself with endless lists of tasks and things I believe I should be doing, but know I will never get round to (hence the lack of a new journal to remove the temptation to start a new list in the first place).

2. Take all those things that I consider too expensive / rare / irreplaceable and use them for the purpose they were actually intended and not merely as decorative pieces (hence the reason that poshest pen has been dragged from its satin lined tomb and will be enjoyed at every opportunity).

And apart from my yearly promise to be nicer to everyone and less of a stroppy moo (never manage to stick to that one!), that is it.

Now, you’ll have to excuse me.

I’m going to look out my white fur (faux!) snow boots that have never seen a snow flake in their life. They’ll be just the thing to wear while I’m sledging on the chess board we commissioned about a decade ago but have never got round to finding pieces that matched it.

Money Maker

In just over two weeks, Mother is heading off on the trip of a lifetime (more on that later) and I wanted to give her something to take on her travels.

After much thought, cash seemed the best option; that way she can spend it on whatever she wants, whether that comes in the form of a keepsake or a night out with the friends she’s joining.

So, I set myself a target of raising £100 and have been frantically Ebay-ing over the last few weeks to achieve it.

Today I’m proud to announce that I’ve made £92.40 on items I wasn’t using and who now have happy new owners. I’m delighted!

Mother’s coming over to Glasgow tomorrow, so we can have lunch together before she jets off. All I have to do is add the last few pounds to the total, then tuck the whole lot inside the cover of the journal I’ve bought her to record her adventure and wish her ‘Bon Voyage’.