2012 Year in Review

1. What did you do in 2012 that you'd never done before? There must be something…erm taking responsibility for/leading a music group.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn't make any formal resolutions I did make a list of things I would try to do/be better at so I’ll continue with that. The main one I added in 2012 was to capitalize more on the opportunities that come my way to help someone and I think I did ok (hopefully the people I tried to help would say so too).

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? A friend from uni gave birth to a gorgeous little boy.

4. Did anyone close to you die? No they didn’t and I am grateful for this

5. What countries did you visit? Wales

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012? Stability

7. What date from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? 1st December Jason Mraz gig

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Coping

9. What was your biggest failure? The moments when I let fear/worry paralyse me

10.Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing major

11. What was the best thing you bought? gig tickets particularly for Dara O Briain & Jason Mraz

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? My mum who was so brave in the face of several scary possible diagnoses and for the way she has handled the recent operation on her spine and being in hospital since.

13. Whose behaviour made you depressed? I can't really think of anyone in my personal life whose behaviour made me depressed. I was depressed by the behaviour of the NRA in regards to their reaction to the Sandy Hook massacre.

14. Where did most of your money go? All the usual things

15. What events did you get really, really, really excited about? Hay-on-Wye trip, K’s hen party & wedding, my friend Hollie’s baby shower,

16. What song will always remind you of 2012? It was pretty difficult to avoid “Gangnam style”, I’ll be forever haunted by the images of Bruce Forsythe doing an impersonation on Strictly.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: i.happier or sadder? ii.thinner or fatter? At this exact moment in time fatter but through most of the year generally the same iii.richer or poorer? Poorer atm but not by much

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? I said this last year and it’s still true I wish I’d spent more time on creative endeavours.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? crying, eating my feelings

20. How will you be spending Christmas? It was a very strange kind of Christmas this year. I spent the day hospital visiting then dad and I had Christmas Dinner just us in the evening.

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with? My Sis-in-law ‘L’

22. Did you fall in love in 2012? No

23. How many one-night stands? None.

24. What was your favourite TV programme? Once upon a time was a new favourite for 2012 and I was much surprised by how much I enjoyed Parades End (Ford Madox Ford and I have a terrible history)

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Hate is a strong word. I try not to hate anyone

26. What was the best book you read? ‘The Floating Admiral’ written by fourteen members of the Detection Club in 1931. They each wrote a chapter building on each others plot points and clues like a literary game of consequences.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery? Also in the last few weeks has seen the resurgence of mighty Mraz

28. What did you want and get? A diagnosis for my mother!

29. What did you want and not get?

30. What were your favourite films of this year? I enjoyed Batman: The Dark Knight Rises and there’s also a warm place in my heart for Despicable Me which I finally saw on dvd this year.

31. What did you do on your birthday? The actual day was a quiet one with family and then the weekend after I had a meal with some friends

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? More opportunities to spend time with the people (family and friends) I love most in the world. I am so grateful for the opportunities I did get but so regret not being able to get to see others or be on hand to help particularly when some were going through tough times. Sometimes being at the end of the phone doesn’t feel enough.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012? Temperamental

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most/least in 2012? The usual suspects

36. What political issue stirred you the most? Every time Cameron tried to distract us with one issue *coughJimmy Carr/Starbucks tax scandalcough* so he could sneak something worse past us *cough stopping under-25s claiming housing benefits as well as cutting benefits for lone parents cough*

37. Whom did you miss? All sorts of people but these last few weeks particularly I’ve missed my big brother a lot. He’s away on his “Sumbumperine” as my gorgeous 2yr old niece calls it and though if he’d been here it probably wouldn’t have meant anything different just knowing I can’t/couldn’t just pick up the phone or contact him easily for example about what was going on with mum was difficult.

38. Who was the best new person you met? My mother’s neurologist- he took things seriously and listened but also was quick to reassure and went out of his way to chase things/people up.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012: Say what you'd want people to know if they were taken from you.

40. Sum up the year in a song lyric/quote “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” Douglas Adams from ‘The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul’

Merry Christmas

Dear reader,
as cheesy as this may sound, all of you have honestly made my year a good one. 2012 wouldn’t have been the same without you. Some of you are friends I know outside of the internet, people I couldn’t go without. Some of you are amazingly talented people with awesome blogs that have entertained and inspired me again and again. Some of you are both and all of you are the people that I love.
Thank you for everything: for making me laugh, cry, for reading my witterings and for sharing a part of your life.
Merry Christmas and a happy new year, I hope 2013 will be your best year yet! ;)

Thoughtful Tuesday

Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. ― Benjamin Franklin

Living my life with peace in my mind, heart and Soul

This weekend I went to London with four of my favourite people. We went to see Jason Mraz perform at the O2 Arena and spent some time together chilling like ice cream filling. The latter of those things may seem trivial but doesn’t happen nearly as often as we’d like as most of us are spread out across the country.
Quite early in the gig Mraz played ‘The Remedy’. I began singing almost before my brain caught up. Then as we reached the bridge and the line ‘I won't worry my life away’ it was like time stopped just for the briefest of moments. In that moment it was as though everything melted away and I felt free. It seems hard to describe here but it felt as though all the stresses, frustrations and worries of the last two years were physical weights being almost- literally lifted off my shoulders. When reality came filtering back in I was aware that I was surrounded by some of my best friends, some of the people I trust most in this world and I felt safe and supported. I spent the rest of the gig in a giddy bubble. The whole experience was, well the only genuine word I have for it is euphoric. I know that sounds cheesy reader, perhaps a little twee but I don’t use that word lightly.
Over the last couple of days I’ve been floating on a post-weekend high and done my best to maintain the mellow, one might say easy and breezy, approach to life. I do generally try to look for the joy in day to day life but sometimes the skies get rough and though it’s not anyone’s fault sometimes things pile on top of each other. It was a perfectly timed reminder so Mr Mraz I’m taking your advice and I’m looking on the bright side.

Congratulations if you spotted all Mraz lyric references dotted throughout this post by the way- Your prize is 10 extra cool points. Unfortunately at this time aforementioned prize cannot be exchanged for its monetary value or a gift of commensurate value.