Happy New Year! What?!? It started a week ago? My brain hasn't quite fully registered that we have started a whole new year. This year I turn 35. I will have been working for my employer for 11 years and Princess and Little Man turn 5 and 2 respectively. And still I refuse to grow up. It seems that I probably should but I have decided to wait until I am 40. Some say life begins at 40. I think I will start to feel like a grown-up at 40. I'm also postponing my mid-life crisis until I'm 65, so that when I decide to radically change my life and buy a flying porsche (which I'm sure they will be making by then), I can use my retirement money. And yes, DW would probably have something to say about that, but I suspect she will drowning in fabric and quilts and craft supplies by that stage, and may even welcome a flying car, if only to get to the perimeter of our ever-expanding stockpile. Her mantra is "She who dies with the most fabric, wins!"

So what does this year hold in store? As I have no idea, I do what most other people do: I plan a bunch of things that I will probably review with disappointment at the end of the year. Some people call them New Years Resolutions. Others call it turning over a new leaf. I call it "bunch of things", (which incidentally is why DW names my short films).

Ok, so where to start. Last year I wanted to post 100 blogs but then dropped the target to 80 when I realised I was going to be well short. I then missed that target as well. But this year, I am going to try to actually hit the big 100. Also, I am planning to watch 100 films this year, so if nothing else, I will be able to write about each film. I should mention that of the 100 films, at least 50 must be films I have not seen before. Last year, DW and I watched around 60 new films, so we thought we'd up the ante this year.

I'm also planning to finish my first novel that I have been plodding away at for the last few years. I hope that doesn't come as a surprise, that a hapless blogger might also be a frustrated novelist. It probably should go without saying. Anyway, I have taken January off work so that I can make some serious headway and it is going slowly. DW has been very supportive, as she has been all along, but I am still having trouble gaining momentum. Writing at home can be difficult as the kids are like time-vacuums. And even if I'm not looking after them directly, they know I'm about and when DW can't respond to them because of housework, they come looking for me. Also, they an affect your storytelling. I have to go back over my writing and remove references like "yucky" and "big girl pants" and I'm pretty sure evil overlords don't get sent to "the naughty spot". Still, I have made some progress and I am mostly enjoying the Writerly life, but I'd need to write far more if it would ever have a chance of being a reality. I guess I'd better keep my day job.

Ok, before I stop today, I'd better tell you what movie I opened my "bunch of things" challenge with. Mike Myers' "So I Married and Axe Murderer". I have seen this movie before but DW and I both love it, even more than the Austin Powers films and I bought it for her for Christmas. Anyway, its a very clever little film and though Mike Myers himself can be a little annoying after a while, his portayal of his own Scottish father is fantastic. "HEAD! PANTS! NOW!" So if you haven't seen it, make sure you do. If only to sing along to the Bay City Rollers.

Ciao!

Thought for the day: Where HAVE all the flowers gone?