it's just the next month along, you know.

Without blithering on about resolutions or fresh starts to the New Year (BORING), I should like to just state the following:

I am not drinking alcohol in January.

I want to be able to complete the Rubik's Cube in under 5 minutes by year end.

I want to be well into writing my book as the year winds on.

The first one is proving an eye opener in several ways.  I realise that I most certainly do miss glugging wine.  I certainly am having better quality sleep without it.  My weight is much easier to keep under 'control' as the evening drinking is not leading to outrageous late night scoffing, let alone the 1500ish calories in a bottle of wine anyhow.  I am more miserable generally as I feel I have nothing treat-y to look forward to in the evenings, and Oliver has remarked several times this week how unhappy I seem.

Bloody hell.

I sure must have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol if stopping it has had such an impact on my general 'being'.  Mind you, if I was on a diet I would be sodding miserable too.  I think alcohol takes the edge off of my niggles, and then I just get on with it.  As the edges of my niggles are not being sedated with wine I find I am more needing of talking out every last issue with Mark, to his utter delight, I can tell you.

Roll on February, with half the quantity of wine I am used to, with much of my life back on track.

The Rubik's cube.

Ahhhh, such happy memories.  I was one of the first to have one of these at school in the eighties - I could 'do a colour'  before anyone else until my smart-arsed friends got one and could do at least two colours apiece.

sniff.

and meh.

Now I have a hankering to be able to do it all - and fast.  I recall my Grandfather completing it with the aid of a paperback instruction manual and a giant magnifying glass.  It took him months.  The magnifying glass was because of his cataracts, mind you, not because it aided the solution in any way shape or form.

I completed it the other night using 13 steps on Wiki-how.  Times they are a-changing.

Now I just have to remember the steps to improve on my best time of 9 days.

Writing my book.

I have wanted to 'be a writer' for as long as I can remember.  I always saw myself writing a book on a laptop in my mind's eye.  Just after Christmas Mark produced one from the depths of our storage pouffe and dropped it on my lap saying I could have it.

Blimey.

My mind has been whizzing since.  I have an idea which has been in my head for a long time, and now is the time to squeeze it out.  I have even purchased a memory stick for the purpose.

Don't think JK Rowling need watch her back just yet though.

Is this going to work?

A mosaic of many colours, quick to knock out, join as you go, but needing over 1000 to make up a king sized blanket.  Gulp.  It is intended for my niece for her birthday in April.  This means lots of squares per day, realistically.

Luckily, realistic is not my middle name.

Tootle pip.