Hello, 2012........

So here we are - the first day of a brand new year.

 Blank pages on which we will scrawl our story. My brother-in-law has just informed me that the world will end on 21 December 2012 according to Nostradamus, the Mayans and the Swiss radio. Just so you know. He added (with a shrug) "C'est la vie" or however you spell that. My French is non-existent. 

Indeed. So, if Nostradamus is correct, then living out each day full of joy, thankfulness, with eyes wide open to see the small things we overlook so often, is a great idea. 

Back to the blank pages. 

I love the idea of blank pages. Oh, the endless possibilities!

I also have a "thing" for new notebooks. Especially ones with tiny squares. 

So I love scrapbooks. I love quilts. I love little squares. There is a link there. Lttle boxes all so very different, combining to make beautiful pictures. Not so stunning separately but perfect when melded into one. 

I don't make resolutions. Long experience has taught me it is a total waste of time in my case, and it brings great dollops of guilt when I fail miserably to keep any of them. I do not need shedloads of guilt to burden my days. Guilt does not inspire joy, after all.

Bev has a great idea when she talks of setting goals instead, and she is wise when she makes those goals achievable, not impossible. Her post today is well worth reading, so pop over and do just that. The art is in getting the dreams and the reality to dovetail. Of course I want to trot around the globe. The reality is that global trotting will have to wait. BUT there is no reason on earth why I cannot have a goal of exploring new places this year. 

So I am not going to rush to make the list of goals, but I will be doing it in the next week or so, because time flies, people, and the new year is gathering momentum as I speak. I do not want to wake up and discover the fact that one month has vanished already. 

We stayed up to watch the fireworks from London last night, and they were absolutely spectacular. We had a few moments of wondering how the nation could afford to explode all those millions of pound notes (recession), but decided that it had to be superb in the Olympic/Diamond Jubilee Year. Quarter of a million people lined the banks of the Thames to watch. We do fireworks beautifully. Expensively. 

I finally fell asleep around 2am, so it was no wonder at all when I tried to get up this morning, and found that my right leg was willing to move, but the left was on strike. So morning flew by and was gone in a flash. But I have been for a short walk this afternoon. Fresh air was an essential if I was ever going to be fully present in the new year. Lack of sleep has undesirable effects when you get to stare 60 down the barrel. (I have a year or 2 to go still, but it is on its way. Unless Nostradamus was right, of course....) 

My joy knew no bounds when I finally started moving. Think plod. Plod. Plod. 

It is all in the small things, you see. 

There are 7.5hrs left of 1/1/12. I need to go and find the diary.........