January can be a horrible month. Most of winter lies ahead of us, the days are dull, dark and dreary. The same can be said about people’s moods. Overindulgence and over spending during the festive period makes people miserable. The best of the sales are quickly over and anyway, if you spent too much money at Christmas you tend not to have the funds or the will for more shopping. For me this year though, as I write on 19th January, things are not too bad. So far so good!
I made a number of resolutions at the start of the month and in the main am still sticking with them. Plus, my mum’s move has actually, really taken place. She is now 2 hours away from me and so far, that space feels mighty good!
The move
Took place a week ago. I don’t think I have worked as hard for a very long time as I did in the days leading up to moving day. My younger brother proved as useful as I might have expected, resulting in me cramming my car with things he failed to have loaded on the removal van. I ended up taking a microwave and kitchen bin, amongst other things. I discovered that my mum never throws anything away unless it is done when her back is turned. Still a week on she seems to be settling in and my older sibling is already stepping up to the mark. My visits will now be every 2-3 weeks rather than every Friday, which means more time to myself and for us.
Dry January
Of the 18 whole days that have passed this year, I have had alcohol on 3 of them. These are New Year’s Day, 12th and 13th January. This really is a big achievement for me. I really am borderline in the alcoholism stakes, I fear. At the end of moving day I enjoyed a glass of wine with my mum and then another 3 or 4. I really do struggle to stop once I start. The next day however, when out with Master for dinner, I had one glass. He has my back on this one, though isn’t giving up with me. I do plan some wine tonight, but will be back on it tomorrow or Sunday. Semi-dry January will need to extend into February and March. Control and planning will be the name of the game. This really has to become my life as I see the warning signs. The added benefit, and one of the reasons I am doing this, is that I have lost some weight. 5lb so far this month.
Blogging
So far I am remaining true to my plans and writing reasonably often and with a little more thought and application. I plan to try to participate in Wicked Wednesday each week, along with Sinful Sunday. Plus another post or two each week. I am not joining February Photofest this year, and instead am going to concentrate on my new 365 photo blog. Up to now, many of the images are ones I took over the past year or two. But increasingly this will change as I build up a new stock. I have bought myself WordPress for dummies and am teaching myself some basic web stuff. Hopefully I will be able to apply this to my blogs soon.
Planning for my move
So, mum has moved to her new house and now I need to get mine ready for the sale to my ex and his lady. Apparently she is getting hers valued next week to sell, so I am hopeful that by summer I could be on my way. Master has some plans for building work at his place, all part of our intentions for me moving in with him. I have been talking about this for so long, but am really focused on making it happen.
So far, this January doesn’t feel like the song by Pilot, I am not yet sick and tired and it isn’t hanging on me. Though roll on February for lighter mornings!