Resolve.

Went out to the Ferry today - the aim to get ourselves a new mattress. The one we have came with a fifteen year guarantee, had been replaced once already but in all honesty even that one just wasn't cutting it anymore. So, we were prepared to bite the bullet and buy a new one.

"Not so", said the guy in the shop..."send me the details and I'll get in touch with the rep to see what we can do". So we came home without a new bed, but with the possibility of a smaller outlay on it when it comes. Does the soul good to find sales people like that. I must admit, I nearly freaked out when he said he was heading back to Australia... but he reassured me saying it was only for a holiday!

Mission accomplished we went down to the shore to try and get me an outdoor blip. Within minutes of arriving the first rain appeared. Freezing cold, we decided that a swan outside was better than a flower inside and were about to call it a day. Then out of the corner of my eye I say this pair run out onto the pier and then quickly change their minds in the face of a gale and now sleet too. They started to run back again as he light came out from behind a cloud... and I did the same. Took me until they had run the length of the pier to get the lens cap off and the camera switched on. Even though I had reached shelter behind a wall by this stage, I still managed to get rain on the filter, but the shot was worth it. You could almost feel the squeals as the pelting, cold sleet went down the neck of their jackets. This was resolve that quickly vanished in the face of Scottish winter weather. (Bear in mind that the annual Dook saw people swimming in the river here yesterday!).

Resolutions are a bit of a waste of time for me too. I never keep them, but then that's probably because they are normally of a punitive nature. Is that the Scot, or maybe the Calvinist, in us? Well, this year I am going to try some resolutions, but I want to make them positive ones.

I am going to spend more time reading, relaxing and taking long walks in the fresh air. I am going to spend more time in the company of friends and spend more time doing the things I enjoy. For me the last year has been a bit of a slog. It's been hard to see the fun in things, hard to find a reason to laugh and hard to be social. Sure, time marches on and we have to move with whatever life throws at us, but through it all we have to be ourselves. So in 2012 I want to find something positive in every day. That is, after all, me.