Entry #2: Back To Life (However Do You Want Me)

I was going to get an early night, but I've been working on site developments and I wasn't going to stand in the way of a surge of productivity. Happy new year? The house party I went to was fun, I got rather pissed and had a laugh. I also got rather stained, which is not unlikely when mixing drinking with dancing. But I swear it was other people doing the spilling, I'm a good drunk, honest!

With my usual party spirit I stayed up while most everyone else was going home or to sleep. I ended up staying awake all through New Year's Day, apart from a brief snooze late morning, and eventually got down to a proper sleep around 1am on the Tuesday. Mark, a friend of Hannah's fiancé, stayed up without any sleep whatsoever — kudos!

Hannah got up and joined us early morning, and somehow a plan was devised for people still in the house to have a meal that evening. We first charged up for the day with our first healthy meal of the year, a McDonald's breakfast which I could barely taste for all the cigarattes I'd smoked. The plan came to fruition and nine of us had a tasty turkey feast.

It was a nice communal effort — some cleaned and some cooked. I did my bit by cleaning the house, going shopping and cleaning up after dessert. I tried to help with the food preparation but it became apparent I am pathetic at that, though I blame it on the chef knives not being compatible with my left-handedness, and instead I occupied myself ensuring the pattern on two matching table cloths was in perfect alignment.

After New Year's Day we get back to life, back to reality, and perhaps ponder over how much of an anti-climax Christmas was. Was that all it amounted it to, after all the preparation and anticipation? One can't be thought of as being negative for feeling this way, for the run-up to the holiday period moves ever sooner. The Christmas commercials start playing and the decorations start going up in October.

I don't like how people get themselves under so much pressure to please others. I think it's nice how this time of year encourages people to do good, but it pisses me off that people don't try the rest of year. Christmas time puts normal life on pause, brings its immunity to the dinner table, so family small-talk and fake smile rather than argue as they would at other times in the year. And once things back to normality, a lot of people are reminded of this strange time throughout the year by debts they've got into in order to fund it.

There was lots in the news in 2006 about the UK's debt problem, and the balance is ever increasing. We can't expect people to stop heading into debt until society stops making them feel that's the only way to go. I'd rather spend Christmas time with my friends and family without receiving gifts I know they'll have on their next credit card statements. There's always something I want to have, but they are wants and I'll eventually spend my own earned money on buying them.

My mum, brother and his dad came round to ours (I live with my sister and brother-in-law) for Christmas Day, and we ate beef instead of turkey this year. I went through two bottles of wine but my drinking was so paced out and I think all the food absorbed it, so it was a sober day. The main gift from my mum was a combi DVD/VHS player. She got me a combi TV/DVD for my birthday the other year, but the DVD player broke and she couldn't find the receipt. We went to my grandparents on Boxing Day, where my cousin Alex told me of his plan to go travelling with his girlfriend this year.

He's planning on recording his trip online, so of course that's something I'll be following. One of my plans for this year is to buy DVD's to put in my shiny new player, I don't have much of a collection since my money's always favoured my archive of CD's. Quite a high priority on my to-buy list is the box set of all episodes of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. I've put off learning to drive for too long, so I shall give that the green light this year. I'm going to get back to the gym too and with this I'm considering giving smoking the red light.

No particular resolutions have been made, I just have a general resolve to have an enjoyable, happy, healthy and productive year, one for me to look back on a year from now and be pleased. And I wish the same to you, all the best!

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Entry #2, published on Saturday, 6^th of January 2007 at 02:53 local time (Swatch Internet Time @147 .beats)

Returning in 2008 ;-)