Happy New Year!

The time has come, as the walrus may or may not have said, to talk of many things.  I shall not be discussing sailing ships, sealing wax, cabbages or kings.  Nor shall I be wondering why the sea is boiling hot or whether pigs have wings.  I shall be considering, most carefully, what I intend to do with 2013.

1, Lose a shedload of weight.  That’s a given for everyone, I know, but I’m astonished that just relaxing the routine that has kept me relatively stable for a good few months now, having a few drinks and indulging in the old Christmas cake and Wenesleydale has added that many kilos to my already fairly ample frame.  So.  The incredibly complex “eat less and exercise more” diet comes back into play, the bike comes out of the garage more often and the rest of the Christmas cake gets fed to the kids.

2, Blog more.  Round about November, with NaNoWriMo, the blogging grinds to a halt.  Photo-heavy, words-light Linkys take over as they’re quick and easy(ish) to do.

3, Play more games.  Not on the PS3 but on the table with the family.  We were given “Settlers of Catan” and “Castle Panic” for Christmas, both excellent games that I can’t wait to get into.  I’ve got a 13th Age campaign lined up and ready to go.  Cribbage is making an appearance, Pontoon, maybe some Canasta…  Games over TV, every Friday.

4, Review more.  Every book I read in 2013 will get a review on Goodreads.  The first one to get this will be Jim Butcher’s latest Dresden Files novel, “Cold Days”.  “Erasmus Hobart and the Golden Arrow” will follow as soon as I’ve finished it.  Albums and movies will probably follow here.

5, Acknowledge service – good and bad.  When a company does well, I’m going to tell them.  Not when they meet my expectations, but when they exceed them.  The guy on the Thrifty car hire desk in Edinburgh airport just after Christmas, for example, not only remembered speaking to my wife on the phone weeks earlier but sorted us out with a deal that had all of us in 1 car and saved us money, a deal that hadn’t been available online when my wife made the booking but could be had because he knew the fleet at his disposal.  Thank you!  Bad service will also get highlighted.

These are my 4 key goals.  Above all of them sits my family.  Family quite definitely comes first and it’s going to be a challenging year.  Both my wife, my eldest and I have major birthdays this year; there’s a funeral and a new dog on the horizon; I’m taking Thing 3 on his trip to London in a few weeks…  Already we’re planning well into February and beyond!  The year is yet young and I feel like it’s racing away from me.

So…  What are your resolutions, folks?

I’m sure there’ll be a New Years Resolutions linky – If you know of it, please put the link into the comments!