Happy New Year - belatedly!

Yes, it's 2009 and I haven't been here since goodness knows when, so I had better have a quick run down of what we have been up to.

New Year's Eve was fun, as we had some friends round for the evening. I cooked a big leg of lamb, with all the veggies and then apple crumble or chocolate swamp pudding to follow. The whole meal was well appreciated, and the recipe for the swamp pudding had to be given to one visitor who is known to be a bit of a chocoholic! After the meal, we all 7 of us settled down to play one of the YFG's Christmas games - the Game of Life. There was much hilarity and rolling of eyes, and the game finished only moments before the bells heralded the New Year!

New Year's Day started with rather a long lie-in - and to be truthful there have been rather a lot of those this week.......but we had a lazy day and rested up. Saturday we had to get up early as we went to the cinema. Now that doesn't seem like a very moneysaving/thrifty thing to do, but hey! At the Cineworld cinema, they have Movies for Juniors, and all the tickets, adult or child, are just £1 each. So we took an extra child and it still cost me less than a £5. We do have to be there for a 10am showing, though, and to continue the moneysaving, we take our own popcorn and juice...So we went to see Wall-e which amazed me in a couple of ways. First that someone had had the vision to create that scenario where we have made so much rubbish that there isn't room for us on Earth anymore and we have to go and live in space. The second was that there was virtually no dialogue in the first half of the film, but it didn't seem to matter - it still worked. The EFG thought that she was going to cry, and it certainly made me think more about rubbish and recycling, and consumerism. Maybe I'll get back on that soapbox another day.

The extra child went home for lunch and the YFG went to her house in the afternoon so that they could do their homework together, but then they both came back and the child stayed for a sleepover - only leaving at 4.30pm this afternoon. They have spent the entire day making and playing in a den upstairs and have been no bother at all. It has been rather quiet! The rest of us have been doing bits and pieces - the FH has finally tackled the mountain of ironing and has been victorious!

Excellent news on the poultry front - two of the hens are laying eggs at last! One of the Barnvelders that hatched in the summer is laying one of the eggs and we have yet to work out who is responsible for the other but we are very excited and hope that the other 14 of them up there will soon start! We are over the shortest day, and Spring is around the corner, so we are optimistic (well, I suppose anyone who says Spring is around the corner at the beginning of January would have to be optimistic or mad!). I am also beginning to think more about the garden and what I am going to plant where - had thought of burning some calories today by doing some digging but the ground is frozen solid and I couldn't even get the fork into the ground.

The Christmas decorations are down and put away, the FGs are back to school on Tuesday and I have to make some decisions this week about the work that I am going to do this year - and which company I am going to work alongside.......decisions are not my strong point and I do prevaricate a lot before I do something - and I sometimes say that I will do something and then change my mind! Looking back at the plans I had for 2008, this blog is one of the more successful of them, but look how long I left it (August!!) before I actually started it - I am often more afraid of starting something than actually doing it! I have some ideas but this time I am waiting until I have some quiet time when the girls have gone back to school to actually think things through properly.

We have made one spontaneous decision this week and ordered a treadmill! The FH is not getting any lighter, and we could all do with the exercise, and having a treadmill inside the house will remove any and all excuses he has for not going for a walk. It is due to be delivered around the 13/14th of the month, so we should be seeing less of him by the end of the month! I have put a few pounds back on over Christmas so I am going to be working hard at losing those again before I head lower back down the scale.