Another Year Over

I’m always a little depressed on New Year’s Eve. It has never been an occasion that particularly fills me with the urge to celebrate. Christmas, which is usually the fun part, is over, and all there is to look forward to is the artificial marker of midnight to mark the passage into another year. Another year that begins with two months of bleak winter, a return to work/school/reality, financial and often literal belt-tightening, as most of us begin the lengthy slog to lose the lbs gained over the festivities and it all kicks off with a stonking hangover* and a tongue that badly needs a shave.

*I am pleased to report no hangover or hairy tongue this year.

I get the impression that many people did not have a very good year for various reasons in 2011 and are quite looking forward to that clean 2012 slate. Personally, I had a rather better year in 2011 than the preceding couple of years, which economically, were pretty tough with the recession and the media endlessly banging on about how dreadful things were to derail any hopes of recovery. In 2011, however, I managed to do reasonably well at all the events and fayres that I attended and a reasonable amount of other work came my way. It was still erratic enough to have me contemplating getting a proper job, but that didn’t work out (though the process gave me a hefty morale boost) and something else always seemed to turn up.

After a couple of years of spending virtually nothing on myself and using any income on strictly business expenditure, I managed to fund myself a Kindle (see Eyesight) and a few Tarot decks and actually had money to spend on Christmas gifts for all the family without needing to worry about every single penny. I still had/have money in the bank at the end of the year and no debts. Yay! Sure, there were times when things were tight, but something always turned up.

Another good point of 2011 was that I tried to find time for friends and family. I made it to the TABI Conference for the first time in a few years and  caught up with lots of lovely people I hadn’t seen in ages. I managed to keep up better with other friends too. The family accompanied me to several events and we even managed a weekend away (that is, without me working). The children are shaping up reasonably well, with DS starting Secondary School and DD showing every sign of being from the same Renaissance mould that characterises my family and an entrepreneurial streak that comes from who knows where. Amongst her other achievements, she has had an exhibit in the National Gallery (part of a school entry) and completed the Young Writers Program of NaNoWriMo. Consequently, I am a little sad to see the back of 2011.

But, to paraphrase Scarlett O’Hara “Tomorrow is another year” (well, in fact, today is another year, but let’s not quibble), so here’s hoping that things will continue to improve along the same lines. In fact, I’m off to a roaring start already with several pieces of work lined up for this week before the year had even begun.

Happy New Year! I hope that we all have an even better year in 2012 😀