Goodbye 2013 and Hello 2014

I can't believe this is my last post of 2013.  It's been quite a year to say the least.  It's been a year of constant worry, stress, heartbreak and anxiety all interspersed with lots of happy fun times.  There's been the christening of my baby nephew, the gorgeous, Alex. Plus the birth of my beautiful second nephew Zach which were both the happiest of times.  We've had lots of family fun times and days out together, which in turn has built up a whole photograph album of memorable fun moments.  Memories that will stay with me forever.

This Christmas has been perfect.  Just me and my babies. That is all I need.  Christmas day didn't quite go to plan, as with everything, there is always a drama.  This year it wasn't the kids that were ill but my mum who was the nominated chef for the day.  There was nothing for it but to head round there and roll up my sleeves and step into her shoes.  The day wasn't spoilt by any means and it's another Christmas we can look back on and say, "Remember that year when..."

So, New Years Eve sees me sat with my feet up with a nice cold bottle of wine and a big box of chocolates all snuggled up with the two little people that mean the world to me and there's no where else that I would rather be.  Old and boring? Maybe! But, do you know what? I don't care.  I'm happy and content and that's all I care about right now.

Hopefully 2014 will being a little less drama although I wouldn't count on it.  What ever life throws at me I will take it on the chin and continue to smile and wade my way through.  My first continuing challenge is to get the vermin that is still in residence out of my loft.  Three weeks now I have lived with the little pest.  Every time I think I am one step closer to catching the thing it evades me once again.  So far it has refused to take the bait.  The traps are set and have been multiplied. I managed to track down where in the loft it is going and managed to clear away the debris of straw, leaves and junk that it had been collecting.  The traps were relocated but to no avail it's still at large.  I think it's time to call the pest control guys back in again.  Surely, there has to be a way to make it move on.

With regards my writing I haven't achieved much of what I set out to do at the beginning of 2013.  The simple fact is time has just not been on my side.  There's been so much to do and not enough hours in the day.  I'm in the process of compiling a whole new set of targets and maybe this year I may have more ticks then crosses against them.

On a plus note I've attracted 10481 page views to this blog which is a statistic that I am feeling a little bit smug about.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that amount of people would be interested in what I have to say.  Maybe they aren't but I must be doing something a little bit right.

I've managed to devour of total of 53 books this year, some good, some really bad but all read to the end.  Some have been reviewed on here and one of my targets for next year is to increase the number of book reviews I cover.  At the minute I'm loving finding some lesser known authors.  Some of their work is definitely better than some of the bigger names I've read.  So for all those lesser known writers out there hopefully I will pick a book of yours in the not to distant future and post a review leading to a little recognition for all your hard work.  If your one of those writers that would like me to review your work please feel free to get in touch.

So, that's it from me for this year.  Happy New Year everyone and have a prosperous 2014.