Resolutions? Waste of space! I refuse to set myself up to fail, as I did on repeated Januarys in my twenties and thirties. It's freeing to rid yourself of that expectation.
Not to bring the menopause into absolutely everything (WHAT? You got a PROBLEM with that?) I'd say that having your body behave in surprising and uncontrollable ways once you hit forty, makes you view arbitrary resolutions with a world-weary LOLZZZZ. Let's accept who we are, what we've got, and what we can do. Making the best of every day we get can be enough of a challenge, without unrealistic rules added into the mix. Forget resolutions. That way madness lies.
But that doesn't mean we should dispense with making plans. Or having ideas. Or aiming for something other, something more, something exciting! That's fair enough, innit. If we don't stop to think about what we'd like to enjoy in life, it'll never happen. Taking a breath, having a think, and working out some plans are a lovely way to have a reset. Below are a vague set of written-out-loud ideas for areas of my life - the areas that are summarised on a weekly basis in this blog. What do I want to happen in 2025? Well, read on and find out.
Writing Plans
I might as well start with the big one; the one that's going to consume my entire 2025. My next book - Leeza McAuliffe Book 3 - could be out by the end of the year. I say could. If I stick to my tight schedule of writing, editing, getting feedback, more editing, and indie-publishing admin, it could be available by November. But... and it's a massive but - that's if every single person I need along the way, drops everything to help, the second I need them to do it. You'll be relieved to know, I realise this is unrealistic. Phew. It's more likely that I'll spend 2025 obsessing over the book, but it'll be a Spring 2026 release. And you know what? That's pretty good. What I've learnt from past experience is if I work towards a desired publishing date in my head, it's usually six months later that everything comes together. Either way, it's going to be a busy writing year. Bring it on.
Culture Plans
If this were a New Year's resolution, I'd say read more books. But we've already talked about the fruitlessness of setting rules to fail. So instead I'll say, continue to read books. I watch loads of TV, so that's covered. Film is sorted with my Odeon Limitless card, and when exhibitions pop up about things I'm interested in, I'll happily visit those. But books? Considering they're my one true love and a key aspect of my personality, I read them less than I did. For Christmas I got An Absolute Casserole: The Taskmaster Compendium by Alex Horne and Jack Bernhardt, The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris, and Berlin by Rory MacLean. An eclectic mix of bookish wonderment that I'm working my through as we speak. I need to keep going when they're done.
I just want to eat nice food. Is that bad? I realised a while back, that food is one of my favourite things. I love cooking, love shopping for ingredients, and buzz off making up recipes. I want to do more of that, please. My current obsession (I made it three times last week) is whizzing up garlic, ginger, chilli, lemongrass, coriander, lemon juice, olive oil, honey, salt, and pepper. And then? Why, marinading stuff in it, of course. For hours! Prawns have been my go to, but things like chicken, tofu, or salmon would work well too. When all the flavours have melded nicely together, fry/bake/airfry and you've got yourself the loveliest, tastiest mouthful ever. I've topped blinis with the spicy prawns, made a spicy prawn salad, and had spicy prawns with rice. The world's your oyster spicy prawn. Haphazard concoctions that use stuff up and result in taste sensations, are the best. I want 2025 to be riddled with them.
In terms of big stuff, this one's tricky. Today sees the start of a biggish and essential home renovation. Basically, and very boringly, the cess pit needs upgrading. Picking out colours and choosing lovely furniture, it is not. This dull, yet necessary, work is taking a bunch of money that might have been spent travelling somewhere far-flung. But you know what? There may be no big travel plans this year but that doesn't mean a cheeky weekend or overnighter isn't possible. And as much as I love to be out and about, I'd much rather be able to confidently flush the toilet as and when. I'm a simple girl woman. So let's keep it small. For Christmas I got tickets for the recording of Off Menu in London. That'll mean a hotel. And there's bound to be sibling shenanigans in the parts of the country that they're based. A Premier Inn bed after family beers is always a lovely thing. And of course, come what may, I'll be returning to my happy place of North Berwick at some point. My annual pilgrimage to regain my sanity is more essential than working drains. Probably.
But that's still big stuff. Out and About doesn't have to be defined as holiday time. It's going for walks, leaving the house, breathing deeply. After three weeks with my daily walking routine on pause, I'm restarting it this week. Sure, my muscles will be weak from all the TV, cheese, and Dairy Milk, but a blustery day and a scarf/hat combo is a blast. Being set up the for day with a walk first thing, continues to be a lovely thing that I've arrived late at in life.
So there were are. It's the 6th January - a date that's gone down in history for bad, insurrection-y reasons, but we can reframe it. Today is the day we recognise that plans and ideas can be good, forced limitations on body and behaviour are not. Let do what we can, enjoy the moment, and crack the frig on. Is it too late to say Happy New Year? Yes? No? Not sure? Whevs, I'll do what I want. HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE X
Have a lovely week, folks.
You want a swearier, better-written take on resolutions? Course you do. Here's Ian Dunt with his thoughts.
