So I’m down in Sussex now for New Year. The journey down took about six hours because it’s literally as far down the south coast you can go – I’m sure it’s closer to France than most of the rest of England. It’s kind of weird being by the sea and hearing seagulls in December, especially as it’s pretty cold.

At the moment I’m watching Go Diego Go with some friends and Joe’s young nephew, Morgan (which is the reason why we’re watching it). Bless. I know there’s a whole argument from parents worried that the bilingual nature of the show will mean their kids don’t learn English properly, but that’s a load of rubbish. Any good linguist will tell you that children learn language from the people around them more than anything else. And unused language will die out in any case most of the time – my dad is definitely losing most of his first language despite speaking it at work and to his family every day. So learning a few words of Spanish isn’t going to stunt English language development whatsoever. Even kids as young as one know which language to choose to communicate with the other person/people they’re having a conversation with, even if they’re completely bi- or trilingual. Anyway, random rant over

I was feeling a bit crappy before because I hate New Year. No idea why, except that it’s generally kind of boring for me. Hopefully tonight will be good though – not doing anything too exciting, but there’s lots to eat and drink, anf that’s never a bad thing!

I hope you all have a fab New Year and I’ll be blogging my resolutions in detail very soon!

The last couple of days I’ve been trying to relax, and not sleeping too well either, which means it’s going to be really difficult to get up for work on Wednesday…but on the plus side, I’ve had fun playing Wii and watching TV and reading.

Today I sorted out my room, and came across tons of stuff from years back, provoking a lot of memories, both good and bad. I was happy to throw things out and any potential negativity just passed me by really. I’m so happy with my life right now, but the pessimist in me is saying that sometime I’ll look back and cry, purely because of the good memories and how things are, and one day I’ll miss them. Stupid, but true.

I can look back on some of the bad things that happened in the past few years with the knowledge that other people have made me unhappy, and it’s taking things into my own hands and having the control that makes things go right for me. I could have made a lot of decisions that I didn’t, but I’m happy with the ones that I did make. The proof is that 2009 was a great year for me, maybe frustrating job-wise until July, but overall I’m happy with it. I could have achieved more, and sometimes that frustrates me, but then there are a lot of people out there who haven’t achieved as much, so I’m not doing too badly.

I’m normally a real hoarder, but there are rubbish bags and charity bags filled now that I’ve had my clearout. I’ve been ruthless. I guess because it’s not ‘my’ room any more, it’s a spare room that I sleep in, and I really don’t need so much stuff. Still need to do the wardrobes and tops of the bookcases, but there’s no rush. I’ve taken Pom for his walk, so all that’s left to do really is finish up in my room, tidy/sort the stuff in the bathroom, and help my sister decide on some Canterbury Tales for her essay.

I came across quite a few great photos when I was sorting too, and I’m going to buy some really nice photo frames (hopefully in the sales!) to put them up in the study. My family has never really been into photos, so the few albums and photo pockets are scattered randomly around, but some nice big picture frames are just what the study needs.

Tomorrow I’m going food shopping and then my dad’s giving me a lift back to Nottingham. I need it, since I have so much stuff to take back with me, and it’ll be good to stock up on healthy food without having to think about getting it home etc. The ice is clearing; don’t know how bad the hill to work will be, which is what I’m dreading most. I’m only there for a day/half day though, and then I’m off to Sussex for New Year, so hopefully there won’t be any more bad weather and it’ll be all clear by the 4th, which is when I’m back in work properly.

So, let’s hope 2010 is even better than 2009!

I was getting ready for the work Christmas party last week and shifting some things around in my room when it suddenly struck me just how weird it would seem to an outsider. Everyday things in my room are an odd Jekyll-and-Hyde style blend of geeky and girly. Glamour magazine partially obscures Nintendo magazine, there’s silvery glittery eyeshadow next to my copy of Wikinomics, and mini Chibithulhu sits with a small blue reindeer. Hair straighteners sit next to a USB hub. A book on the history of Apple is joined by standard chick lit. Across the room, a Jane Norman dress and an array of dice – ranging from twenty sided to three sided – are both in view.

It was kind of interesting looking at my room through a stranger’s eyes. The more I looked around, the more I got ‘used’ to it. Eventually I began thinking that maybe it wasn’t so weird as I first thought. It’s nearly 2010 after all, not 1950. I guess it’s good in a way, because at least I’m not an extreme of one or the other (the reality show ‘Beauty and the Geek’ comes to mind).

When I got to my parents’ for Christmas this year I painted the study. It has a lot of memories for me since I used to spend all my time webdesigning and doing schoolwork until I moved out. They moved the computer to the landing to make space for a bed. Then fairly recently, my dad decided to make it into an office again and I painted all the walls and moved the computer back in. It’s actually not been decorated since we moved in about eight years ago, and the walls were a bit weird (two were ‘feature’ yellow wallpaper with bluey/green checks, and two were plain yellow). Now they’re a soft creamy colour and look a lot more clean. I’ve also had a clear out of junk, and other than the addition of a filing cabinet and the removal of some drawers, it’s almost exactly the same as it used to be. It’s a nice place to spend time again now, and my back is much less cramped. I’m going to start on my old bedroom next, because it’s full of rubbish from the past few years, including uni stuff, kitchen stuff, stuff from my job down south, and stuff I don’t need any more. Plus all the stuff other people have dumped in there, and at least a thousand books. Most of it will go to charity I think (with the exception of the books), along with old clothes. It’ll be nice to visit again and actually have room to find my books and get into my bed.

I was thinking about my new year’s resolutions recently. Normally I’m very vague or not really that interested, but this time I think a fresh start is good. Along with driving lessons and laser eye surgery in a few months’ time, I also want to be much more healthy and fitter. I know what to eat, and I know what my body needs nutritionally, it’s just that I’m way easily tempted and have fallen into a lot of old bad habits. From new year’s onwards, I want to be getting up earlier and having a healthy breakfast and getting ready for the day. No more drifting off around 1am and dashing off late after spending ten minutes getting dressed etc. I also want to prioritise blogging, making it an every other day thing like it used to be. I just want to use my time much better – I’m determined to fit in everything I enjoy, and I know I have time to do it if I’m organised