Happy New Year

Already the New Year again! This year, we decided to stay in and avoid the crowds and it was one of the best New Years that we have celebrated. We were planning a dinner party for friends but then decided that we were totally exhausted by the madness of the year. It seemed a much better idea to see it in just the two of us. Also, our neighbours put on some afternoon drinks which seemed social enough for me! After the terrible drought, we have had the most enormous amount of rain that seemed to start around boxing day. NYE was torrential so the idea of going anywhere was just horrible. In the end, we decided on paella (I got boy a paella pan for Christmas) which we cooked together over a bottle of champagne. It was delicious and we ate the whole lot!!! It was a great thing to spend the night together after a year that has brought some extreme events and emotions.

Often, at this time of year, I find myself spending a lot of time thinking about where I am in my life - generally in spiritual terms. I often seem to spend a lot of time exploring ideas and reading a lot about something that takes my interest. It is always a time for a lot of reflection. This year though, I have simply felt quite content. Looking back, I have been through so much this year and have spent so much time analysing what is happening and how I am feeling and what might happen that I have enjoyed a period of just 'being'. I feel quite refreshed and, although I haven't had the amount of time off that I normally would have, as I started my new job on 7 Jan, I feel quite rested. It has been an enormous weight off my shoulders that I don't have to go back to the two jobs I was doing before in what was starting to become a toxic state. I feel really excited to be starting in a new area that is full of really positive people who work really hard and are really engaged with their work. It will be a year of change but in a positive way.

I do have some health challenges again for the start of 2008 after 'finding' a few of thos kilos I lost last year. I refuse to focus on the weight aspect and feel pretty good at the moment. My main concern is knowing that I have not been healthy and it is time to take care of the old body again. It will be good to get cycling again when this rain finally stops! The rain has been so heavy a number of areas have flooded badly. Our garden flooded but receded again within a few hours, I really feel for the people whose homes and farms have been so badly affected by this. The stupid thing is that we are still technically in a drought!

Anyway - hopefully I will be able to get organised with this blog this year. It is just a matter of finding the time to put down thoughts before too much time passes.