Happy New Year!

Hello everyone!

Well, this is my first blog post and, since it is the New Year and because I see no better place to do it, I'm going to list my resolutions for 2011.

1) Plan my wedding - Yes, I am getting married... though not until June 2012. However, since I'm the world's most disorganised person I need all the time I can wrangle. I've already searched some of the most well-known wedding websites around (http://www.hitched.co.uk/, http://www.theknot.com/ to name just two) and started putting together a basic picture in my head of what I want. The bare bones have already been taken care of (dates and venues) but now I have to start with narrowing down the guest list, choosing flowers and hunting down THE DRESS, among the myriad of other things that come with planning such a big day. I sense many Bridezilla moments heading this way.

2) Lose approx. half-a-stone - I know, a cliche of most women at this time of year, but in my defence it is somewhat related to resolution No. 1, although I have plenty of other reasons for wanting to take off a few pounds. I'm not overweight (if my Mum's Wii Fit is any reliable judge), and everyone seems fond of telling me that I don't NEED to lose weight. They're probably right, but I want to do this anyway in order to take control, feel better about myself and to generally build a much healthier lifestyle. What are my obstacles in this pursuit? I'm a self-confessed chocoholic and the shelves are already packed with leftovers from Christmas. Not the best start, but I am inspired by my progress towards the end of 2010, when I managed to lose about 3 or 4 pounds and am now hovering on the edge of being a size 10.

I think the key for me is to do much more exercise. I only began losing weight last year after I took up running and borrowed a cross-trainer (which unfortunately is going back to its owner this week). Some friends and I actually planned to attend yoga classes last year. Our thinking was that we would be more motivated by going together and would have fun at the same time. Unfortunately, the plan was scuppered by a wrist injury for one friend and a leg injury for another. Hopefully, once everyone is healed (and if it isn't MY turn to come down with something) we will follow through.

3) Finish writing my book - As a writer, one of my personal hang-ups is my complete inability to see a story through to the end. This is often due to another idea coming along and catching my interest, drawing me away from the book I had started on. I am easily distracted by other things as well - TV, video games, mindless internet surfing - but this year I am resolved to complete a story and (I hope) send it to a publisher by 2012. I'm feeling especially optomistic about this book because it has themes that are relevant to the modern world and its dilemmas and at the same time is something different to all the band-wagon fiction that has hit the shelves over the past few years.

For those of you wondering, yes, I AM referring to the masses of supernatural/fantasy romance fiction. I could (and probably should) give this topic its own blog entry at a later date. I'll just state, for the record, that I have no beef with this particular genre. I'm sure some of it is good and it is obviously very popular. I just get sick of seeing it everywhere (I have similar feelings towards what we call "misery literature").

So those are my "Big Three" for the year. Only time will tell if I end up breaking any of them, or if I add more along the way. The diet plan is already in dire jeopardy... I think I can hear the chocolate calling to me from the fridge.