What’s that thing about New Year’s resolutions?

Some people say they are useless, if you want to change something you can do that anytime of the year, the 1st of January is a day like any other.

They are right, of course. Every day is a new part of your life. One day is like the smallest unit we use to divide our lives – which does not mean that not any second, minute and hour counts, but these measurements are probably too small for anything like resolutions. The next step would be one week and when it comes to resolutions, it’s mainly Mondays we choose to start something new. And after a week, we have divided our time into months. Now that’s a bigger step, don’t you think? We only have 12 of those in one year (as opposed to 52 weeks or 365 days), so choosing a month is an even bigger thing. If we mess it up we have to wait about 30 days for a new month to come, so the pressure is on.

And here we are at the start of a new year – that’s huge! For a new year we choose to change the things that are really hard, try to get rid of our worst habits: We want to give up the cigarettes, we want to lose weight, we promise ourselves to start exercising – and we want to do it all at once, because a new year means the beginning of a longer time span, in which we are really able to achieve something. If we manage to not smoke for a year, not to overeat for 12 months or exercise regularly for 365 days we will see a result before the beginning of the next one.

And this is the reason why so many of us fail in sticking to their New Year’s resolutions: Because we choose the big things to change at the start of the new year, it takes a good while until we start seeing the results. When we try to quit smoking we cannot be sure we are really over our addiction until a few months have passed. Losing weight doesn’t happen in a few days, it’s a process that requires discipline over a long time. Exercising will only make us feel fitter if we stick to it on a regular basis, putting on your trainers 3 times a week until the end of January isn’t the point, it’s still doing it in May and afterwards.

So it’s all about discipline in the long run, that’s what makes our resolutions a success or failure. We have to find a day to start, and yes, it could be any day, but the 1st of January is a special one for us celebrating it as the start of the new year. And making resolutions is the start to changing your life and becoming what you want to become – and we all have the ability to do just that.

So do you have any resolutions for 2010? Is there something you want to start working on from next Friday and stick to it for the next 12 months?

I share mine with thousands of people: For me it’s finally quitting smoking for good. Don’t worry, I am not going to bore you with this, because if you don’t smoke and never have you have no idea what that really means, if you have quit in the past you know all about it anyway and if you do smoke and don’t intend to quit you don’t want to read about it – it just makes you light up the next one even faster.

If you have a resolution for 2010 just remember: A year from now you wish you had started today!

I wish all of you a good 2010, lots of happy times and that you have the strength and discipline to stick to your resolutions!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

It's finally here - the Christmas holidays and Christmas Eve! Am I in a Christmas mood by now? Well, a bit. The weather certainly helps, it has been frrrrrrreezing cold here for the last few days, everything is covered with frost which loks really pretty, the days are clear and sunny, almost perfect - although I am still hoping for a bit of snow.

I finally decorated the dining room yesterday while enjoying a mug of hot Whiskey, we did our Christmas grocery shopping in the evening and are all set now. A friend I know from my horseriding will come with her kids this afternoon and we'll go into town for the Christmas Carols in St. Nicholas Church. I was told it's not really a religious happening, just a get together with people singing and reading stories, so I am looking forward to that.

Tonight we'll meet some friends for dinner in the Radisson Hotel (one of the few places that's open on Christmas Eve) and tomorrow it will be just Stephan and I (and the 3 Ps of course - Pepper, Paul and Pirate) having a nice Christmas lunch. Saturday will most likely be spent in front of the TV eating leftovers (and watching ER - what else!).

Next week then we'll finally go to Duesseldorf, although it's only for 3 days, far too short to do all the things we would like to do and see all the people we'd like to meet. I hope that in spring/summer next year we'll be able to spend a few more days in Germany, there are so many of you I would like to spend some time with and haven't seen in ages.

The end of one year and beginning of the next is always a special and bit sentimental time for me (and for most I guess), time to conclude and to plan ahead, to reminisce about the past 12 months and kind of rate the past year.

Well, 2009 will not go down as the happiest year for me. Losing my Mum has been - and still is - hard. But my nature is to stay positive and I am very grateful for that! So 2010, here I come, and whatever you have in store for me, I'll make the best of it and I believe you will be a good year!

But hey, let's not forget that there are a few days left in 2009, and I wish everyone a very happy Christmas time! Enjoy the celebration of light in this dark time of year, because that's what it's all about - bringing some light and joy into our lives and simply having a good time!

Laziness and bingeing again!

Sorry for not writing anything in such a long time, my only excuse is my laziness. I haven't touched my laptop at home in the last 2 weeks and only switched it on today because I need to get rid of my 2 spare Placebo tickets for next Tuesday - again. There was some mix up when I booked the tickets back in May, my first booking didn't go through so I tried it again and somehow I must have ordered 4 tickets instead of just the 2 I need. I only realized my mistake when I received the second pair and so I tried to sell them on the internet (for face value, not to make any money, I really hate people doing this!). I got a few replies from people who were interested and had arranged with one girl to meet her on Tuesday but she texted me yesterday saying she cannot make it. I am quite sure I will find someone who wants them, there were a good few people looking for tickets and it's only a small venue (the Olympia Theatre in Dublin) and they are standing tickets which I think are a lot easier to sell than seated ones. So I won't worry and wait for someone to send me a message, hopefully someone who is a real fan and desperate for tickets- there's nothing better than making someone happy!

The week before last was complete routine, for me that means (apart from work, which of course is routine) going to my Hot Yoga class on Monday, housework on Tuesday, horse riding on Wednesday, Yoga on Thursday and being lazy at the weekend. On Sunday we met some friends for a pre-Christmas lunch and it was a lovely afternoon. We had lunch (and several bottles of Prosecco and wine) in the House Hotel and went to the Townhouse Bar afterwards for a few more drinks. Needless to say that I wasn't in best form on Monday, but because it was a lunch we weren't back home (and in bed) too late and it could have been worse.

Unfortunately there was no Yoga or horse riding for me last week as I had a sore back. When I woke up last Sunday it suddenly hit me and I had trouble with it all week, but it's finally a lot better today and I hope that I can go to my Yoga classes again next week.

It's the last week before Christmas and I am not in any Christmas mood at all! It is very different from year to year, last December I couldn't wait to put up the Christmas decoration and write cards, this year I have done nothing so far. As we are staying at home in Galway for Christmas I really should do something, but I am not in the mood. And I can tell now that I won't write any Christmas cards at all this year, I don't like doing these things half-heartedly or out of a sense of duty, so anyone who was expecting a card - you might get one next year!

Even my all time favourite Christmas song doesn't appeal to me at the moment. There is a rule that we don't listen to it before 1st December and usually we cannot wait for the day, but so far we only had it on once. BTW, the song is "Fairytale Of New York" by the Pogues, a wonderful /sad story about a couple of Irish immigrants in New York, and it has been my favourite song of the season long before I moved to Ireland (and had ever heard of Galway, which is mentioned in the song, "the boys of the NYPD choire were singing Galway Bay").

My reading binge has stopped as sudden as it had started (which is typical for me, I have these reading binges a few times a year and then don't read much for a while) and has been replaced by a dvd-watching-binge - something that I am on quite often. I made an advent calendar for Stephan again this year (I guess you all know what that is? A little present for each of the 24 days leading to Christmas) and I bought him the complete series or ER (Emergency Room) to put into it. That's 15 seasons, 9999 minutes altogether, and of course that was a bit selfish as I love ER too! So since last weekend we watch hardly anything else and have so far finished the first disk (out of 4) of season 2. My guess is we'll still be watching it next March and afterwards will have no problems qualifying as ER nurses!

So that's it for today my Sweeties, I'll write again before Christmas to let you know all about our plans for the festive days and beyond, which includes the New Year's Resolutions I mentioned in an earlier post.

Ho ho ho from Galway and could someone maybe send some snow, that might help getting into the right mood!?

She's Made It! And I Am Turning Into A Girly!

Hi Sweeties,

Friday evening in Galway, it’s cold but there’s a fire burning and a glass of lovely red wine in front of me to warm me from the inside. It’s still raining a lot here, but the worst of the flooding in the countryside is over, although I think the hard work for those people affected only starts now that the water is receding and they are left with all the mud and dirt.

Daniela made it to Galway on Wednesday and we spent a lovely evening together, but we sure didn’t have enough time. We had dinner and then sat together for a while talking and then got in the mood for music. Daniela has seen “Editors” live recently and loves them. I only knew two of their songs (one is “Munich”, the other one I don’t even know the title of) and liked these two a lot, so Stephan turned into our YouTube DJ and we listened to some “Editors”, then “Interpol” (they are gorgeous, I really love their music and the voice, which by the way is quite similar to the voice of the singer of “Editors”) and other stuff.

When I was a teenager I used to listen to music for hours every day, while I was doing other things and also just for the sake of it, just sitting in my room and listening. Somewhere along the way of growing up this got lost and I wonder why? I guess it’s one of those things taken away by having to make a living, by everyday life – and that’s sad! I still do it sometimes, just sit down and listen to music, but not enough! So now that the time for New Year’s resolutions is approaching (and I’ll write some more on this topic shortly!), maybe that should be one of mine: To listen to music more often!

Anyway, the time we got to spend with Daniela was far too short, one reason being that I had to work the next day and I cannot help but being sensible and go to bed at a time that gives me enough sleep to be fit the next day. The times when I went to work too tired or even hungover are gone – one of the many things that come with growing older…

But on another level I seem to get back to my teenage years – now all of you men reading this, be warned, I might bore you to death now…I warned you, skip the next paragraph if you don’t want to know!

The last time I was really interested in fashion and make up was maybe in my early to mid twenties. Not that since then I’ve been running around naked-faced and in old fashioned clothes (which means for the last 12-17 years), but I couldn’t really be bothered, except for those occasions when one obviously wants to look nice, like parties. But I seem to go through some kind of change at the moment. Yesterday I ended up watching videos on YouTube on how to apply foundation and eye make up. And today I not even washed (!) all the different make up brushes I have gathered over the years (about 10 altogether, for foundation, powder, eye shadow, lipstick etc.) to start using them again, I also put on make up in the morning, went into town and spend a whopping amount of money at the Body Shop for some new “essentials”. Now first of all I have to stress that I buy all my decorative stuff (i.e. make up) from the Body Shop because not only are the products very good but also – and that’s mandatory for me – not tested on animals. And when I say “essentials” that’s kind of what I mean, I am not starting to wear lipstick now, but the blusher I have been using until this morning was about 8 years old – seriously. So I binned it and got a new one, also some new powder (my recent one is almost empty), a new concealer (old one empty) and eye shadow (last one long gone). And because I spent so much money I got a shimmering coconut body butter for free.

But the new me doesn’t stop there, I could also spend a fortune on clothes at the moment. Notice that I write COULD – I don’t really do it (although I might purchase something special next week, but I am not gonna tell you about it now, maybe if and when I have it), but there is so much lovely stuff out there! I am not sure if it’s just a case of today’s fashion being my kind of thing or me becoming interested in fashion generally, but oh do I need someone to stop me! Or win the lottery so I can buy whatever I feel like – and maybe make a fool of myself…

Well, to finish tonight’s post I want to thank everyone who has sent me an e-mail reply to my recent blog posts! I love to hear from you and I will get back to you with a personal e-mail soon. And in case some of you don’t know this (I know most do), you can always leave a comment on my blog right underneath each post. And if you added your name to the list of followers that would make me very happy!

One very last thing – but oh so important: I got my Placebo tickets on the post today!!! Going to see them at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin on 15th December – YEAH!!!

So I am leaving you now, still sipping my red wine and listening to the new “Editors” CD which Stephan has just downloaded from i-tunes (he likes them, too!).

Stay warm during those cold nights and for those of you who don’t like winter just remember that it’s only another 25 days until the days grow longer and the nights get shorter!

Take care,
Nathalie

The Hole, Flooding & A Visitor

It's a stormy and wet Sunday morning and I have just finished reading "Under The Dome", the latest Stephen King novel and what an amazing book it is! If you generally like Stephen King you'll love it, it has everything a Stephen King fan expects and while you are reading it you are taken into a different - and typically Stephen King style - disturbing, upsetting and weird world. His characters are so alive and real and some of them so evil and others so nice, you live with them and you live in their world for as long as you are reading. But even the longest book ends at some page and that's why I feel a bit lost at the moment (as I always do when I've read a book that really caught me) and there is this hole I need to get out of now. Before I can start a new book I will have to shake off the world of Tarker's Mill (the setting of "Under The Dome"), so it's maybe not a bad thing I have some housework to do today which will slowly but surely bring me back into the real world.

And parts of this real world are flooded at the moment. Not where we live in Renmore and not Galway City, but parts of County Galway and also Cork in the South of Ireland. My colleague couldn't make it to work on Friday because she had to leave her car a mile away from her house on Thursday and a neighbour brought her and the kids to their home in a jeep. Her husband didn't make it home at all and had to stay in a hotel in Galway Thursday night. Many streets are impassable, among them the main roads from Galway to Dublin and Limerick. Bus services were cancelled and even trains from Galway to Dublin couldn't operate. An entire town in the east of County Galway (Ballinasloe) was shut down and they even had to cut the electricity there for safety reasons.
Of course I am glad we are not affected here in Renmore, but I feel sorry for all those people whose houses and businesses are flooded and also for all the animals out in the fields. There are lots of farmers in this country and some people have sheep and cattle as a hobby, I am not sure they were all able to provide a safe place for them.

I hope the situation will have eased by Wednesday, because that's when Daniela, my friend who moved back to Hamburg, is planning to come to Galway and I am so looking forward to seeing her! She moved only 2 months ago and even while she was still living in Athlone we sometimes didn't see each other for weeks, but we always knew we could, and that's what makes the difference. I don't know when I will see her the next time because apart from the 3 days we will be in Duesseldorf for New Year's Eve it might be a while before we go to Germany again. There's just never enough time (and money), but I think that's the same for all of us.

So please, all of you, keep your fingers crossed that she'll be able to make the journey to Galway on Wednesday!

Nat Proudly Presents:

Her new boots!

Aren't they pretty?!

I think most women have a thing about shoes, I read somewhere that it's because shoes always fit and are therefore a satisfying buy, it doesn't matter if you have just gained a few pounds, your shoe size doesn't change. But that's not why I love shoes.

Just last week a childhood friend of mine reminded me of a pair of boots I had when I was about 16. I got them from a friend of mine who had bought them at a flea market in Paris, I gave her a pair of my shoes and a pair of trousers in exchange for them, and these boots have determined my taste until this day. I don't remember exactly how long they lasted, but I know I wore them almost every day unless they had to spend some time at the shoemaker's to get fixed. But one day Mr. shoemaker said "sorry, I cannot fix them anymore" and I had to finally let go. This is actually when I met Thomas, the childhood friend I mentioned, and he did remember how sad I was. So since this day I am always on the look out for a pair of boots that are similar and I have had many pairs over the years, always wearing them until they couldn't be fixed anymore (I still have to get rid of the last pair which has a whole on top and is quite useless when it's raining, although I still wore them until 2 weeks ago - I couldn't let go!).

That's why I got very excited when I saw these boots in Brown Thomas 2 weeks ago, but because they were a bit pricey I didn't buy them at first...but I thought of them every day! And I knew I had to get back to take a second look, which I did last Sunday, and oh, they were as lovely as I remembered them, so I couldn't help it, and here they are, on my feet, all comfy and nice and so me! I promise I'll take good care of them and hope they'll last for many many years!

Reading Binge

Hi Sweeties,

I know it's about time for some news but I am on a reading binge at the moment (and have been for the last few weeks, there is a list of the books I read on the right) and find it hard to drag myself away from the new Stephen King book which I started reading yesterday. My two favourite writers, John Irving and Stephen King, have made this a very exciting time for me, both releasing their new novels and they are both quite long. I am on page 236 (of 880) of "Under The Dome" and it is a real King classic, he's back where I love him most!

So I hope you'll be patient with me, I promise not to start reading another book before I have updated you on what's going on in my world, but I have to finish this one first.

I would be delighted if you signed up to my blog so I can see who's following it. I will post here at least once a week so make sure you check it out regularly!

Here is a photo of me with 2 colleagues, Irene and Noeleen from last Thursday. We had a little party in the Radisson Hotel in Galway because our boss is retiring in 2 weeks time. Oh, by the way, I'm the one in the middle - of course - rolling a fag and having a pint of beer in front of me!

So I'll be back soon, in the meantime I hope you are not getting too depressed by winter creeping in, I know most of you cannot stand it.

Take care,

Nathalie

Test

Hi Sweeties,

due to all the little problems I had with sending my newsletter by e-mail I have now decided to be brave (I am sure blogs are so yesterday for some, but surely not for me) and start a blog instead. This enables me to write as much as I like and post as many photos as I want and to post updates whenever I feel like it.

This first post is only a test, I am playing around with the layout of this blog and I am sure there will be many changes before I am happy with it. So I hope you'll be patient and if you have any suggestions, anything you'd like to see/read or if there's anything you don't like - let me know!

Take care,

Nathalie