Pristine

So, the new year. In some ways this day feels like any other, of course. No strange bodies in the sky, plagues of frogs or, indeed, sunshine to set it apart from the one before or, most likely, the one after.

Except it's the first of January and 2013 starts right here.

And I love that, the fact that we a get a chance here to start over, to refine - or, in extreme cases, redefine - ourselves, to take another run at getting closer to the person that we feel we want to be or, maybe, really are. The first of those is probably common to everyone but the latter is interesting; sometimes the circumstances or people around us inhibit us, stop us being the person we know ourselves to be, deep down. I think a lot of us have been there at one time or another.

For me, though, this year's resolutions - with the exception of one, which I'll come to in a moment - are all about taking more incremental steps to being the person I aspire to be. I'll be forty-seven, this year. That's nearly fifty, right? But I'm OK with that, just as long as I feel that I'm getting better, becoming more like the me I want to be.

So, to my one major resolution: I want to spend more time with my children. I want the amount of time I spend with them to properly reflect how I feel about them. Which means 'phone away, more talking, more games, more sitting with them while they do their homework. (And more trips to Edinburgh and Manchester to visit the older ones. Hurrah!)

Happy New Year, everyone!