As you read this I will be opening the clinic for the first time in 2012.  I’ve had a great fortnight off but I have to admit I was itching to get back to work.

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These first couple of weeks of the new year are already busy.  I’ve a fully booked appointments book and I have to finish putting the final touches to my Foundation course before handing it in for final approval. How exciting! I’m hoping to have the course up and running by the end of this year, but I’m making no promises, either to myself or anyone else.  2011 threw me a ton of curveballs that I really wasn’t expecting (the invitation to become a Foundation course tutor for starters!), and my biggest mistake of the year was to try and continue with the Big Plan regardless of all the twists and turns on the way.

So this year I’m learning from those lessons and allowing myself to be a lot more flexible.  In the words of my beloved Dupree: “stay loose, stay liquid, laugh a lot.” I have no big plans, no big ambitions, no monumental life changing goals. There are a few vague plans – an Indian Head Massage course, a holiday in Yorkshire in February and an inevitable house move but other than that I’m flowing with the river!

That said, a few posts ago I mentioned The Spending Diet.  I don’t know if you read And Then She Saved, but the blog author Anna put herself on a Spending Fast to clear off all her debt in 15 months.  The Fast is too much for me.  I don’t work like that.  If I set myself up for huge huge life changes or massive restrictions I inevitably fail and then feel even more awful.  But the various ups and downs of 2011 have seen me with quite a bit more on the credit card than I would like and so Spending Diet it is.  I’ll keep you posted!

So 2012, let’s do this.  What have you got in store for me?

Any goals for the new year you’d like to share?

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January Intentions

1. Floss twice a day.
2. Up and dressed by 8.30am even on weekends. I am sick and tired of being a sluggabed! (I’m giving myself a one day a week reprieve on this one in the interest of Release!)
3. Keep within the new household monthly budget for food shopping (which also means stricter meal planning).
4. Pedicure/eyebrow wax/reflexology appointments.
5. Do my physiotherapy exercises every day (having neck problems – nothing to worry about, it’s all par for the course!).

December in Review

1.  Write and post the Christmas cards by 10th December DONE
2. Work the Mill Road Winter Fair – I’ll be opening the clinic for free massage tasters and wearing tinsel in my hair. What more do you want? DONE (and what a successful day it was!!)
3. Make the mincemeat by 5th December DONE
4. Get the Christmas cards/gift vouchers for clients written and posted by 16th December (which is also the date of the annual Christmas trip to see the best band in the world). DONE
5. Make stollen and gingerbread by 20th December (there will be updates on this as this year I try to make them wheat free). DONE but wheat free didn’t really work – I gave myself a break over Christmas!
6. Master the art of the Yule Log for New Year. NOT DONE.  After reading the recipe several times I decided I just couldn’t face it and made a big yummy wheat-free chocolate cake instead!

If you’re in the UK, there’s a few hours to go until the New Year, if you’re in Australia it’s already happened and if you’re in the States you’ve still got most of the rest of the day to wait. And if the Mayans were right, this could be it (either that or they simply ran out of numbers).

Whatever, it seems that 2011 has been a crazy year for everyone I know, both on- and off-line.  I for one have had some stunning highs and some breathtaking lows!  Bring on 2012 – and if London can make it through the Olympic Games, we can all make it through anything.

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Have a very happy New Year dear readers and for your pleasure I give you my 12 favourite posts of 2011.

In January, in an attempt to be healthy, I made vegan carrot muffins.

In February, I took my gloves off about having M.E.

In March, I got a poem published and got all nostalgic about a letter from an agent .

In April, I did things in Sydney I’d never got to do before.

In May, I waxed lyrical on running.

In June, I turned 37.

In July, I made you a present.

In August, I made a little podcast about self-employment and my tips to smoothing the path towards it.

In September, I wrote about maggots and anxiety attacks.

In October, I asked you to be kind to yourselves.

In November, I told you a few things you might not know.

And in December, I likened Jared Leto to a yoga class.

Oh and as a bonus 13th – I love rock stars and soft furnishings.