Time for a new calendar?

The stress of New Year resolutions is well underway. What will you do this year? What was last year like? How will you make this year better? All these pressure both internal and external contribute to January Blues. But why? Why must we make all these supposedly life changing decisions now? You get to experience Christmas which for many is the happiest time of the year and from that high we go straight into this downward period of reflection and pressure to change, to be better. As somebody who suffers from anxiety I really struggle with this time of year, just the idea of reflecting on ones self in such an analytical way is something I struggle with as I struggle to find the positives. In others I excel at finding positive achievements, I love building people up, helping them achieve their goals, but when it comes to myself I struggle. This isn't a constant struggle, but when I'm feeling particularly anxious, these negative feelings raise their ugly head. "You didn't achieve much last year." "What are your plans?" "What are you going to do with your life?" 
It is because of these pressures that I have come to the decision that January should take a long hard look at itself, and decide how it wants to be viewed by the masses. Does it want to be this grumpy, depressing fellow? Or would it rather be known as the cheery month that says, "why don't you put those big decisions on hold? Put your feet up, warm yourself by the fire and watch the Harry Potter films back to back!" Let another month take up the mantle of the resolution! How about a springtime month like April, when everything is re-born? Or a summer month like July, when people are too busy sunning themselves to get stressed?
These whinging are small problems in reality, and overall I know January will come and go, yet part of me fears its passing. What if I don't make any changes? I guess we will just have to wait and see. Until then I'm going to keep writing, keep reading, keep pushing forward when I can, and take advice from Luey and take time to chill. 

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Taking down the tree

It basically sucks. There's so much fun and excitement when putting it up, everyone gets together, Christmas songs are on in the background, the only one who doesn't enjoy it is the dog who hates boxes. Taking the tree down is the opposite of this apart from the fact that the dog doesn't enjoy this either. Nobody wants to do it, everybody is back in school and work and it's got to be done by 12 th night. All in all it fell to muggins here to do it. Everything that seemed so bright and colourful before now just looks messy, our artificial tree is on it's last legs so it's moulting, and the only sounds are the dog sighing as his favourite spot on the sofa is taken up by boxes.
I tried to be more organised when putting things away this time round to save future Laura the hassle. Its good to do this sometimes, think about your future self, how angry are they going to be with you if you don't do something now. Sometimes I know she won't mind and will be glad that I chilled when I could but sometimes I know she'll be really pissed off and that's when I try to kick my ass into gear.
The house very quickly feels tidy again with the trees decorations gone, but it also feels empty. Even when everybody gets home that emptiness is still there for a bit as we all realise that Christmas is finally over. January Blues are well and truly here in this house, bring on February!

Christmas is a time for hibernation

Christmas in this household is a time to hibernate. We have a big build to Christmas Day, cooking, cleaning and decorating every inch of the house, then Christmas Day come; up at 5 opening presents, mum cooking dinner with her brother the vegetarian helping her with the turkey, more presents then napping infront of the television. Boxing Day going in a similar way in terms of lots of people over, but as its my mums birthday everything is at a must slower pace. We lay on a buffet, people don't come over till later in the day, we go for a walk wrapped up in our new scarves, we play games and then curl up and nap infront of the television again. It's a lots of busy busy busy then nothing.


The days following Boxing Day are ours. We don't leave the house, nobody comes over, we wear our Christmas pjs all, build Lego sets whilst eating our body weight in cheese. Time doesn't matter anymore, we just enjoy our time together, feeling lucky and loved. There's no other time like it, there's just this sense of weightlessness in the house, everyone's together, nobody's stressed having to go anywhere, do anything. Unfortunately this kind of high comes with a pretty big fall, but least on the way down to January we've got some things to look back on.

Who's Who?

Whilst at a New Years Eve party at my fiancé’s mum’s partner's house (already confused), my fiancé’s mum introduced us to her friends.

“This is Jack my son, this is Kate, my son Jack’s fiancé’s sister, this is Finn, Kate’s boyfriend, this is Laura Jack’s fiancé, this is Sue Laura’s mum and the little boy running around, that’s my son Jack’s son. Oh and the black lab running around, that’s their dog Luey.” By the time she’d got to Finn everyone had glazed over and had no idea who Sue was.

It’s important to point out a few things. Jack’s mum introduced us this way because that’s the order we were sitting on the couch and not because she likes to be deliberately confusing. Jack’s son will be referred to as the little one as he is currently the littlest, although he is catching up on his Aunty Sue. And finally this is how we travel, the six of us plus the dog.

Me – Laura, writer of the blog.

Jack – My Fiancé, fitness nut and artist.

Sue – My Mum, yoga master and mindfulness guru.

Kate – My sister, my mum’s daughter and photographer.

Finn – My sister’s boyfriend, tree dweller and outdoor expert.

Little one – Jack’s son, my stepson and a Lego fanatic.  

Luey – Our dog and best friend.

This is a blog about lots of things, but at its heart it's about family. There's the six of us, plus the dog. It’s a bit of squeeze but we're a team, an abnormal team, but still a team. My mum is a teacher, enjoying her job but looking forward to retirement. Jack and me both graduated a couple of years ago and are still trying to find our way. Kate and Finn are teenagers figuring out what to study next. The little one is little and is mostly concerned with what to eat and when bedtime is. And the dog mostly lies there looking at us with his big eyes wondering what on earth we’re doing and can he have a treat?

With all of this in one house it can be a lot, we’re all struggling in our own way, we all thought things would be easier, but we’re in it together. Downsides to living like this? Not enough space! The upsides? There’s always somebody to bring you up when you’re down, lots of laughter, always like Gogglebox when you watch TV and cuddle whenever you need one.

If you want one of us by default you get the lot, including the dog. We do things together, as a team. Including this blog. So if you like cooking, DIY, workout routines, photographs, books, the outdoors, art, photography, TV, yoga, nerding out about stuff, Lego….This family has basically got you covered.