Last few days of Christmas, and a bit of blog admin

I’ll mostly be doing photo posts this week as I’ll be busy with putting the Christmas decorations away and getting back to work. From next Monday onwards the blog will be back on schedule, though it’ll be a different schedule from what it has been over the last year! With the pandemic continuing to rumble on, life is a bit too quiet for daily diary posts, and so I’ll be doing weekly life updates on Fridays instead. The rest of the week will be dedicated to ramblings about my various hobbies, which remain over-numerous.

I’m excited about a slight change of direction as there are lots of things I want to write about in more detail. More info about this next week (as I haven’t quite finalised everything yet!).

Colourful leggings
The leggings I wore for my birthday yesterday. 2020 was the year of colourful trousers and I do not imagine that will change for 2021!

Today’s earworm playlist:

Tears For Fears – ‘Shout’

Thirty-six

An unusual birthday today, like everybody else’s birthday during this strange year. I did the usual opening of birthday cards and presents under the Christmas tree, and the usual eating of birthday cake and drinking of (alcohol-free these days) fizz, but because I couldn’t be in Edinburgh this year it was in my own house under my own tree, with Mum and Dad on video call rather than in person. The birthday cake I made yesterday tasted just as it was supposed to, and I got some amazing presents, so it’s been a good birthday so far – it’s just felt a bit strange being at home in Newcastle. Like everything else over the past couple of weeks!

Birthday cards under the Christmas tree
As usual, my birthday cards will be living under the tree until Christmas gets put away on 6th January.

Today’s earworm playlist:

will.i.am and Cody Wise – ‘It’s My Birthday’
Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan – ‘Especially For You’

Three years blogging… and a reflection on some accidental New Year Resolutions

For years, I didn’t start new habits at New Year – or if I did, they never stuck for very long. However, for the last four years in a row, I have chosen something to focus on every year and have stuck with it. My life is a lot better as a result, and so I’m hoping I’ll be able to stick to my main 2021 goal too.

At the start of 2017, I started going to Slimming World. The accountability of the group setting enabled me to lose the five stone that I’d been trying to lose for nearly a decade, and though I’ve not managed to stay at target during the pandemic, I only have a stone to lose again this next year (which is a lot easier than five!). Life at a healthy weight is immeasurably more physically comfortable and something that I will never take for granted. Once Christmas eating is done, I’ll be back on the light meals again – I’m following a calorie-based approach rather than SW now, but I’ll always be thankful for the motivation it gave me.

At the start of 2018, I started this blog. It was always my aim to blog every day and so sometimes, especially during the empty year of 2020, blogging has felt like a bit of a chore. However, the habit of getting my words out into the world has given me confidence to do so in other ways, such as reading at poetry nights and publishing text adventure games. I love having the blog as it just feels so much more ‘mine’ than social media pages.

At the start of 2019, I got sober. I’ve mentioned this before but I feel so, so incredibly grateful that I managed to do this (and get the first difficult year of sobriety out of the way) *before* the pandemic hit – I really believe that things would have gone nowhere good if I’d still been drinking in 2020. It’s still not easy, but life is so much more stable than it was two years ago, and that has been so important over the last few months.

And at the start of 2020, after four and a half years of more sporadic running, I started a daily run streak. The start of a new decade seemed like a good time to do it, and I just wanted to see how long I could keep it up. Again, this was incredibly well-timed in terms of the pandemic, as I discussed yesterday. Whatever life throws at me, and however long it takes for races to come back, I’ll always have my run streak to keep me motivated.

On to 2021, then, and this year the main focus will be to get my house in order (literally). I already made a good start by spending a few weeks in November/December sorting out all the junk that I’d been hoarding upstairs since we moved in, but there’s a lot more to do, and a lot of daily habits that I need to instil. One of the major negative factors for my mental health is that I constantly feel that my house is dirty and untidy, and so I can never fully relax. Making time for my house projects this year, and keeping on top of the upkeep, will hopefully allow me to feel a lot better.

On a personal level, I’m feeling quite hopeful today. Not for 2021 as a whole, but for one day at a time, which is how I’ve managed all my other big life changes over the last few years.

I’m excited about tomorrow.

Lancashire hotpot
Another day, another New Year recipe I made myself for the first time. Lancashire hotpot is all about the crust, and it came out just right.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Deacon Blue – ‘Queen Of The New Year’
Tears For Fears – ‘Shout’
Abba – ‘Happy New Year’
Traditional – ‘The Blaydon Races’
Beach Boys – ‘Sloop John B’

Parallel lives

Taking a break this evening from the old photos and returning to the here and now. Hogmanay, like the rest of 2020, feels a bit confusing and bittersweet. I think 2021 will eventually be better, but it will take some time, so I certainly don’t feel like celebrating tonight. Just a quiet evening at home with BBC Scotland on TV.

It’s my first ever New Year away from Scotland and so this year I had to learn to make Dad’s famous Hogmanay pizza for myself and Geth. Through the magic of video chat, Dad was able to help me with the dough, and on the whole it turned out really well. I hope I’m equally lucky with the Lancashire hotpot for New Year’s Day tomorrow.

Hogmanay pizza
Fish pizza for Geth, veggie for me.

I completed my first year of running every day this morning! A year ago, I noticed that Smashrun did a special virtual badge for running every day during a leap year, which was what motivated me to start my run streak. Today, I finally got the badge, and a bonus one to boot:

Smashrun badge
Smashrun badge

I’ve spent a large part of the year trying not to think about the Parallel Universe Where Coronavirus Didn’t Happen: the races, the gigs, the trips abroad, the time with family and friends. But there are other parallel universes that are a lot less happy – ones I only narrowly avoided due to sheer dumb luck, or the grace of God, or whatever you want to call it. The parallel universe where I hadn’t started a run streak on the first of January, and as a result didn’t run at all after March because I had no race-related motivation. The parallel universe where I hadn’t quit drinking, and ended up drinking more and more as a result of lockdown and stress. The parallel universe where loved ones weren’t able to stay safe this year.

I didn’t end up in the best timeline, not in the slightest. But I also didn’t end up in the worst. I survived, and I have hope. Bring on 2021. Even if I kind of wish we could just skip the first half of it.

Today’s earworm playlist:

The Proclaimers – ‘The Joyful Kilmarnock Blues’
Travis – ‘The Last Laugh Of The Laughter’

Hogmanay pizza, 1995

Dad always makes homemade pizza on Hogmanay. I eat a lot of pizza, but Dad’s recipe is my favourite, and it’s super special because it only gets made once a year. This year, I’ll be spending New Year away from Scotland for the first time in my life due to the pandemic, and so I’ll be attempting to make the recipe myself.

Here’s a photo of Hogmanay (aka pizza night) from 1995.

Hogmanay pizza, 1995

Today’s earworm playlist:

Robbie Williams – ‘Soul Transmission’

Pressing on!

It’s been quite a tiring week so far! Coding, day job work and Christmas prep are all keeping me pretty busy. It’s all going well, though, and it means I will appreciate my Christmas break all the more.

My game is going really well. I’m nearly done with the coding and should be able to move onto graphics tomorrow. The deadline is Monday, but my game is fairly short so it shouldn’t take me too long, and I’m hoping to have it with my playtesters by the weekend.

Day job work (at least everything that’s come in so far) should also be done by the weekend. I keep my business open till Christmas Eve (because there are always last-minute short jobs from clients on Christmas Eve) but then I will be taking a fortnight’s break to coincide with academic Christmas holidays. I’m obviously sad that the COVID rules mean I can only spend a few days with family rather than the whole of Christmas like I usually do, but it means I can take the opportunity to learn how to do a bit of special cooking by myself this year. Dad is cooking all the New Year favourites (pizza and hotpot!) during the short time we have together at Christmas, and I’m going to be watching so that I can have a go at them myself at New Year.

New Year and my birthday are going to be very emotionally wobbly for me because there are so many things I’ve done my whole life that I can’t do this year, and I’m feeling a bit fragile about it. Still, I know everyone’s in the same boat, and we just have to make the best of it. Christmas 2021 will hopefully be really extra-special and appreciated as a result.

Another busy day tomorrow. The weekend fast approaches though!

Faux mink blanket
I dug out this enormous faux-mink blanket when I was sorting out the upstairs rooms the other week. It was just taking up space before, but now it’s a really comfy sofa throw.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Pet Shop Boys – ‘Heart’

Limbo

Just a mile (point two) today…

…and I can’t say I’m that enthused about my well-worn route at the moment, but it’s nice to get out for some fresh air every morning.

Not being able to plan things is getting to me a bit at the moment. Obviously Christmas is the most immediate example, but I also feel a bit empty due to sitting here in my house with a giant stack of rescheduled gig tickets and race entries for next year and not knowing whether they’re actually going to happen or if they’ll all be postponed… again. I know people are making a lot of positive noises about vaccines but I’m finding it hard to believe that it will be possible for life to get back to normal next year. The whole situation just feels endless right now.

I’m trying to find small positives day to day, and I’ve got no shortage of hobbies and distractions. It’s just getting a bit hard now that it’s been so long.

I had a really busy afternoon today with day job work and writing. Looking forward to a slightly more relaxed day tomorrow!

Scented candle
‘Tis the season for scented candles. I’m on my last one, though, so I need to pick up some more.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Lady Gaga – ‘The Edge Of Glory’
Walk The Moon – ‘Shut Up And Dance’

Racking up the projects

Just a mile this morning…

…because I’m still waking up with no energy, and I’m starting to get a bit worried. Hoping this fatigue will pass soon.

I’ve been very busy with writing projects most of today. I did my usual amount for my NaNoWriMo project, then a good chunk of planning for my next Adventuron jam game, then planned out a branching story that I’m hoping to put on another platform soon. I also had a bit of last-minute day job work. Most of the evening has been taken up with admin, but I’m still hoping to squeeze an hour of videogaming in before bed.

It’s all a bit mental and busy, but it always is during November! At least I’ve got a little more time than usual this year with the lockdown…

Tomorrow should be similar, though I’m hoping to be less tired in the morning.

Fetch hoodie
I have spent the weekend being comfy in loungewear and my new Fetch Everyone hoodie. Most of my old hoodies are getting pretty tatty now so I’m trying to collect a few new ones.

Today’s earworm playlist:

The Knack – ‘My Sharona’

Inside and out

Another mile today…

…and I’ll probably keep going with that until the weekend.

I’m getting my words in for my NaNo every day, though I’m finding it fairly tough going this year. I’m doing a loose collection of short stories, each set in a different universe that I’ve previously written about, and I’m hoping that the project will help me identify what I want to focus on next in terms of my writing. The nature of 2020 has made it quite hard to write recently, so it’s good to have a daily wordcount target to hit.

With lockdown approaching, the disconnect between my cosy inside world, where Geth and I are always comfy and home, and the terrifying outside world just seems to be getting ever more bizarre and pronounced 🙁 I’m not sure how we’ll ever go back to any semblance of normal.

I’ve got lots of distractions ready for this evening to help me stay calm, though I will of course be following the US election results pretty avidly. I’m not sure what sleep is going to look like tonight!

Another quiet day for writing tomorrow, I hope.

Christmas craft book
My favourite Christmas craft book will be one of tonight’s distractions. Hoping to get some craft projects on the go this month – I usually never get round to it!

Today’s earworm playlist:

There’s been nothing in my head today. Unusual, but it does happen sometimes!

Onto the next thing

Just a mile this morning…

…which is standard for Mondays, but unusually is the fourth streak saver mile in a row for me as I’m having to take a break from my 10k training due to feeling a bit ill. Hopefully I’ll be able to step it up again towards the end of the week.

Hallowe’en weekend was lovely, but I woke up this morning feeling as though it was time to take the decorations down and start thinking about prepping my Christmas crafts for this year. I’ve started my NaNoWriMo project as well, so I’m well and truly in November mode.

The new lockdown coming in from Thursday in England won’t much affect me and Geth, as we never really came out of lockdown the first time – we rarely leave the house for reasons that aren’t running or supermarket shopping. I don’t have a problem with being in lockdown during November as I’m a total homebody anyway – especially in the autumn and winter – but it does feel pretty gloomy that December is so uncertain. I’m not holding out much hope for my 10k race going ahead on 6th December, or that I’ll be able to nip up to Edinburgh in early December to decorate Mum and Dad’s tree like I usually do. However, so long as I can celebrate Christmas itself in person with them, I can live without everything else this year. Just have to keep hoping.

Tomorrow will be similar to today – NaNo, house tidying, craft planning – as I settle into my November routine. There may be some late night watching of the preliminary US election results too, if I’m brave enough.

Neep lantern
From the weekend: a traditional neep lantern, part of my eclectic array of carved fruit and veg this year.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Dead Or Alive – ‘Something In My House’
Cliff Richard – ‘Mistletoe And Wine’
Mariah Carey – ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’
Traditional – ‘Carol Of The Bells’
Tom Jones – ‘Help Yourself’