New Year's promises

So we waved goodbye to 2010 with a few glasses of champagne, some spiced nuts and a whole lot of cheese at some friends of ours at their amazing home in Bradwell, a tiny village in Essex. They have a baby boy three months younger than Albie, and we were joined by another two couples, one of which have a nine-week-old baby girl called Mabel. Ahhhh. So it was a very baby-friendly night, which was good considering Albie would not go to sleep until almost midnight. We listened to all our favourite tunes (pre-selected by our host), watched Jools and his hootenanny and then sidled off home to bed at a reasonable hour. Very civilised. I have to say it was rather lovely waking up in our own bed hangover-free. Last year I was pregnant at NYE so we stayed in watching Harry Potter, after going up to the hospital for the 20-week scan. We got to see Albie wriggling about, sucking his thumb and kicking his poor mum. On this hangover-free New Year's Day we went over to my ma's to hang out with my fam, eat non -stop and catch up with each other's festive stories. And so to the New Year! 2011 will hopefully bring a new home, rather than the excitement and nerves of a new baby like last year, but this is equally exciting and stressful. Inverleith is almost complete, just a roof tile to replace and a couple of damp patches to subsequently dry and be painted. Then she'll be a catch for any decent home-buyer.

Have you made any new year resolutions? They always seem pointless to me, I never bother to make them. But this year I have.

Firstly, to lose rather a lot of weight. I have always taken it for granted that I could eat and eat and never put on weight. Except for when I was pregnant! I put on a dress size or three when I was pregnant and despite promises from midwives that I'll drop the baby weight whilst breastfeeding, a haven't lost a single pound. Hmmmppf. So my main resolution is to lose TWO STONE. That is a big goal. But I have a lot of really favourite clothes I can no longer wear and desperately want to be able to fit in them once more. My weight loss aides are as above. Cook Youself Thin cookbook, and Wii Fit. Yes, they may seem small scale to you, but I have neither the time nor the budget to go to the gym, and let's face it I HATE THE GYM! And the Wii Fit is jolly good fun. I love the hula hoop, marching and rhythm kung fu games, and the muscle training is HARD! Especially when the only exercise my tum has got in the last year is squeezing out a baby. I joined the Cook Yourself Thin website too which is great for tracking progress, working out your daily calorie allowance, and finding low-fat recipes that won't offend cooks like me. With any luck by March I will have lost 1st8lb to reach my target weight.

My other resolution is to get into my crafting a bit more. I have two new Cath Kidston books- Sew! which I got from The Lovely Portia for my birthday and Make! from D for Christmas. I am going to try and get hold of a second-hand sewing machine and take some classes so that I can make some curtains and cushions for the new house, and work on some of the other lovely projects in the book. Make! is all about applique and embroidery, which are made simple by Cath's breezy instructions and simple patterns. So I have already got to work building a fabric stash by scouring eBay for off-cuts of fabric.

This lovely stash of Rowan Pure Wool DK was a Christmas pressie from my brother. Along with some knitting needles! 'To pass the time...' read the label. But these sumptuous yarns would make a lovely crochet granny square don't you think! A beginning of a beautiful new blanket? No, no I have to Learn to Knit. And make my brother a scarf! The colours are teal, an aubergine, charcoal and cream. Lush. So there is another project to add to my list! More of the project list later. So there it is. I vow to lose two stone, and learn to knit, sew, embroider and applique. And stop smoking and swearing so much. Wish me luck. Now to crack on with last year's resolution- learn to play my shiny bass guitar!