We’re one week into 2011 and I’m already summarising it. New Year’s Eve was a working day like any other day. I didn’t go out partying at all because I’m still mourning a friend who lost his life in Kilifi in a terrible road accident on Boxing Day. I just couldn’t find it in me to usher in the New Year with a party so I just stayed at home with the kids. We watched movies all night and eventually I just got tired and they tucked me into bed and carried on watching their movies until the wee hours of the morning. For a 10 year old and a 5 year old that is awesome – especially when bedtime is usually at 8pm!

On New Year’s Day my noble intent of going to visit friends and relatives with boxes of chocolates was thwarted completely. The kids had taken out the huge paddling pool and the day was a fabulously hot one so I just stayed at home with them as they enjoyed playing around with their water guns and allowing me to laze on the garden swing doing absolutely nothing at all. Sunday was a working day for me and Monday brought in the traffic like the holidays had never happened. For me, life just went on and another year started without me taking much notice. In fact this year I haven’t even hounded anyone for a diary or a calendar. I love diaries. Every year I promise myself to keep a journal and indulge in using my plethora of pens that I love to collect and use but by about the second week of the year I find myself not doing any journal entries. Doesn’t matter how fancy the diary is or how expensive and posh the pen is. This has been a running battle with me (there’s the weight issues also to contend with but just don’t get me started on that one right now) and each year I solemnly promise myself that I will keep a journal that my great grandchildren will love to read in my neat handwriting but I just give up eventually.

Who wants to know that on the 11^th day of January in some insignificant year I had put on half a kilo in weight despite giving up junk food and chocolate? I’m pretty sure if I were my great grandchild I’d love to know about scandals and where the money is kept. Who cares about weight loss for goodness sake? So there’s going to be no diary or journal this year. No weight loss promises. Nothing about saving for a rainy day because at the rate 2010 went it rained almost every single day. What I will want to do is to forgive. Last year I forgave 2 people from my past and it was such a damn liberating feeling and I actually felt myself moving forward. So that might be on this year’s agenda. Forgiving. But don’t count on it because deep down I’m still a bitch who needs to get back at you for being nasty to me. If I were into forgiving and emulating the divine I’d have a pair of wings, a halo and my rent-free cloud where I’d sit all day and play my harp.

I’d better have some chocolate to calm down. Happy New Year.