Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in - Napoleon Bonaparte

Well here we are in 2011.  Hope everyone had a lovely time in the festive season and has been enjoying our new year thus far.  Preferably with water and without burst pipes.

2011 has been grand for me so far.  Yesterday the Yorkshireman and I spent our bank holiday sleeping late and then firmly in denial that we would unfortunately yet inevitably have to return to work the next day.  I finished my current book (Welcome to my World by Miranda Dickinson - not bad though a little predictable) and browsed the Interwebz for a nice off-peak summer holiday later in the year.  The current favourite is Alcúdia, since the Yorkshireman has never been to the Balearic Islands, but it's open to change.

Then today it was back to porridge, trawling through unread emails and watching the clock for home-time.  I hadn't held out much hope for lasting the whole day (only this morning my colleagues and I were musing about the merits of some kind of phased return system for coming back to work after a break and came out in unanimous favour) but somehow I even managed to make up a good 50 minutes of flexi time - a good start to the year.  What has made it even better is the start of Season 9 of The Biggest Loser USA starting on LivingIt this evening - another of my not-so-secret shame reality TV shows!  I had no idea it was starting until my very kind (and equally sad) mother just texted me.  Excellent surprise!

My darling Yorkshireman has already ruminated upon the new year being a good opportunity to reflect, both on lessons learned during the last 12 months and also on any goals or ambitions you would like to fulfil in the coming year.  I had already planned to do the same but don't worry, I'll keep it short and I'll refrain from any mention of reality TV shows!

2010...
What an interesting year, where I think my main focus has been on learning a lot:

• January... in which I learned that pneumonia fecking well hurts
• February... in which I learned that no matter how nice you are, some people are just pricks through and through
• March... in which I learned that I can be as stubborn as a mule if I feel strongly enough about something
• April... in which I learned that I can do things I never would have thought possible
• May... in which I learned that my fellow UK citizens are depressingly easily led by empty promises and plastic-looking men
• June... in which I learned that "perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did" (Newt Gingrich)
• July... in which I learned that Command Strips are an amazing invention
• August... in which I learned that extra firm control underwear from Debenhams really is worth the money
• September... in which I learned that even the farthest-seeming finish line does eventually arrive
• October... in which I learned that even a rainy day in an English seaside resort can be fun with the right company
• November... in which I learned that there are many reasons why people really do ♥ New York
• December... in which I learned that happiness is wherever you're willing to look for it

2011...
Hopefully this will be another interesting year, for all the right reasons.  I don't believe in new year resolutions on the principle that if you're truly ready, willing and able to do something, you should just go ahead and do it regardless of the date.  That said, there are some things I would like to do this year.   I'll keep most of them to myself, but the main principles are (in no particular order):

• To try and stop stressing out so much about things I can't actually do anything about (tricky for a worrier like myself)
• To seize every opportunity to do the things I really want to do (be it to relax with a book in a coffee shop or to visit somewhere new and exciting)
• To spend quality time with those I love and care about

So here's to 2011... let's hope it's a good 'un!