And So it begins

Well they say the first step is always the hardest.  So I made the first step and posted a recipe on food blog.  Makes a change and feels quite good, to actually post something and not just have the idea in my head.  I know there is a long way to go, but for every journey begins with that first step.  So I made the first step.

My first post is over here

With another one scheduled to go up in an hour or so.  I know the layout is not brilliant, but that is the next thing that I am working on.  But as they say, it is always a first step and we have to make these to ensure that we can keep moving forward.

So we make the step...where each step leads us we are not always going to know, but we have to make those first steps to begin our journeys.

Another week over

12th January 2014

Another week has passed and a new week is about to start.  But on the plus side I want for a walk this morning.  Nothing to major, just over 2 miles and definitely not at any great pace.  But enough to get me out of the house and doing some form of exercise.

I think that is one of my problems.  If I don't do anything I get depressed and angry at myself for not doing anything.  But I also seem to have to psych myself up to actually get round to doing anything.  So this morning, despite the fact it was cold, I went for a walk.  And I felt better for it, I know I have a lot to- do to turn my life around, but the fact that I have made a start feels good.

So some things to point out.  My current situation didn't happen over night, it happened over the course of many years.  So it won't be fixed over night.  It will take time, patience and a lot of work, but if that is what it will take then that is what I will have to do.

Music choice is the same as last week, mostly because it is raining and I haven't chosen anything for this week.

On other good news my Dad is getting better and better each day.  He is still not eating fully but is having some soup and this is a massive step forward.

Music Choices for the Week

So we are into the first full week of the new year, time to change the CDs over in my car.  In many ways I am lucky, I have a large collection of CDs (although I will admit that some of them are spread through my flat in boxes.  One of my projects for the year is to both finally sort my collection out, correctly catalogue it and rip everything to MP3 so that I can listen to it all on my iPod.

So each week, as part of this I will be sorting through my collection and choosing 6 CDs to put into my multi-disk player in the car.  And here are my choices for the first week of the year

Very Best of the 90's

Worryingly I can only find one of the CDs for this.  The other one will be somewhere I am sure of it.  For me the 90s was about school, college and University.  The music got me through the late night studying.  So listening to this album brings back the memories of those times.

Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction

This was the first ever Metal album I listened to.  And holds some great memories for me.  I was at secondary school at the time and it did feel a little bit rebellious to be in the school choir and love metal.  Highlight for me is the Symphony of Destruction, the pounding guitar anthems and heavy beat.

Michael Jackson - Thriller

Yes a classic album.  Personally I don't think anyone will ever match him at his height in terms of popularity.  He was a little strange, but there is no doubting his absolute skill at music and performing.  The reason for choosing this album, I have been playing GTA Vice City this weekend and his music kept playing on the in game radio.  So it became an obvious choice.

Transcendental Euphoria - Various Artists

I love the Euphoria series of albums, and have them all.  The mix of music often throws up unexpected favourites.  This album and its counterpart 2nd CD are more relaxed than some are.  For me the perfect chill out albums, perfect for the drive home each evening.

The Very Best of Euphoric Dance Breakdown Ibiza

More upbeat and uplifting music.  Again from times at university where I was either studying or spending time in Middlesborough.  Double album so this completes the selection of CDs for this week.

And so off to work tomorrow.  For a lot of people it will be their first day back after the Christmas/New Year break (seems like ages ago).  It will be a day where very little work will get done by some people.  They will spend the day catching up, explaining how wonderful their Christmas/New Year was, how much they ate/drank/spent and how many wonderful presents they got.  For me..back to work with a to-do list as long as my arm.

Wasted Saturdays?

Is there such a thing as a wasted Saturday?

I had big plans for today, but the reality is that I have sat here at the desk for most of it, making notes, playing games and generally doing very little.  But that is what weekends are for isn't it, relaxing and unwinding?

The weather is pretty awful outside, so I don't fancy going for a walk.  So I am just sat here working on ideas.  The basic form of my food website is coming together.  I have the layout and ideas for the logo and headings.  Also a plan for the content and have even started to write some of the content.

For me this is about doing something for me.  I could be pig-headed and say that I am going to create the greatest food website on the planet, but that would be wrong.  The site is for me.

I have also started to put together some other ideas.  Ideas for things to do, changes to make.  Just me starting to put things together...and it is only the fourth day of the year.

And so it begins

So here we are again, the start of another year and frankly, looking out of the window, the weather has not improved much since last year.  It has been raining pretty much all day, and the grass outside of my flat is starting to represent a swampland.  I wouldn't be surprised if, in a few minutes, an alligator swims past my window.

And as the darkness falls I find myself sitting here, writing a blog post, similar to one that I have written on many occasions in the past.  Someone posted an image on my Facebook wall yesterday, the quote read something like the following

"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book.  Write a good one"

And I think that is what I am going to do.  I don't make resolutions as I find they are too easy to either break, or modify for your own purposes.  Instead I am working on a plan, for the first time in a while.  A plan to make those changes that we all need to make to ensure we live a happier and fuller lives.

Sometimes I look around at the people around me and think that they all have more in their life than I do.  Rather than do something about this, I just kept getting more and more down about it, and the reality is, lives always look better from the other side.

So we start afresh, with this plan.  And staying focused is the key thing.  Remembering what is important and why it is important is what should drive us forward.  So a couple of guiding principles to start with

1. Save money (i.e. stop wasting it on things that are not important
2. Don't worry about what others are doing, focus on those who are important to me and what is important to me.
3. Start work towards my plan :)

2013 was a bit of a crap year, not just for myself and my family, but for others around me as well.  I see some of my closest friends struggling, mostly through no fault of their own.  And I just want to help them, but am in no real position to do so at the moment.

As I said, things have to change