January Challenge: The Results

Towards the end of 2015, I was having a bit of a mid life crisis, in that I felt I was stuck in a bit of a rut.   I am an introvert, so I'm not naturally drawn to trying new things and making new friends.    I am,  on the whole, happiest when surrounded by dogs (they can't speak), books and TV (they don't ask me questions), and generally being indoors where there are no people skills/talking/justifying my quiet needed.  

With this in mind, I realised that there was no excuse for not trying new stuff that was safely ensconced within my comfort zone, I.e new things I could discover on my own that didn't involve me interacting with others too much.   This is the extent of my expansion in January:

Audio books help me sleep.   Not if I sit like this, though.  

New Author:  

During my usual weekly searches through my insomnia's greatest friend, Audible, I discovered Mark Dawson after his name popped up on my recommendations.   

'Welcome Back, Suzanne! Here are some new books full of murder and misery, which we thought you'd be interested in, as it's the same genre as every other book you've purchased from us since 2011'.   Or something along those lines.     You get the general drift.

It's not a departure from my crime novels because, well...it is one, but it IS a new writer  and I'm a sucker for authors who have lots of books about the same character as it gives me the chance to get to know them as I follow the series.  As far as I can tell, Dawson has several books about his protagonist, John Milton, and I'm enjoying the first instalment, 'The Cleaner'.  

New Music: 

After watching the 2015 CMA stream last week, I caught a performance by Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake, which was incredible.  Seriously: you should YouTube it.     

Needless to say, I rushed to iTunes and bought me a N'Sync CD.   I jest, I didn't.   I'm trying to enjoy listening to new music, not punish myself for that time I scared the life out of the neighbour's cat by barking like a dog until it flew out of my garden.   I felt a bit mean after that, to be honest.    

What I DID do was download 'The Traveller', which is the debut solo album from  Stapleton.   It's a mixture of blues and country and the man's voice is incredible.     From his album cover, I reckoned him for around 50 and couldn't work out how he had escaped my radar for so long.   As it turns out, he's a year younger than me, so that got me wondering how many people make the same sort of judgement when they look at my photo. 

Note to self:  Buy anti wrinkle cream.  Tomorrow.   

I may be some time.... 

New Movie:

I have friends who see every new release going, but if I watch one new movie each month, I think I'm doing fairly well.   This blog doesn't write itself when I'm at work, unfortunately.  

Anyhow, having received a recommendation from a friend about the adaptation of the story of the 1996 Everest climbing disaster (aptly named 'Everest'), I decided to give it a go.

It takes a lot for me to look up from my laptop when I'm watching a film, but this one had me me hooked from the start.   With a fabulous cast, including Josh Brolin, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightly and Jake Gyllenhaal, amongst others, I found myself, during a particularly hopeless looking scene, actually shouting words of encouragement to one of the climbers as his life hung in the balance. 

Worrying, I know, but I am certain I absolutely helped that climber survive, so it was worth the side eye from LT.   

New TV: 

I FINALLY got in on the act with 'Making a Murderer'.  I understand there's probably a second season by now, but I've been busy moving house and surviving with no Internet, so forgive my being late to this particular party.  

It.  Is.  Fascinating.   And I've only watched the first episode.   I love anything which delves into the workings of the mind and understanding the forensics and motives is guaranteed to keep me watching.

I'd recommend you check it out on Netflix, but it would appear that I'm the only person in Wales, indeed the world, who hasn't already seen it.   

This is my face after 5k these days.  

Why didn't you tell me how great it was??? 

Exercising:

I say I'll do more all the time.  In fact, I've been saying for about 20 years.   I did do more exercise than in November and December, but sadly, I still fell short.   I promised to run 30 miles, but managed to run 3.   There's no way to spin that, is there?    I did do a fair bit of indoor cycling, though.  40 miles, to be exact.   That still doesn't solve the whole running problem, but there's always February for that...right?  

So, that's basically how January went.   Did you have any challenges that you were working on in January and, if so, how did you get on?  

Suzanne x 

The January Challenge

I set myself a December challenge to try and break out of my rut and, you know...do more of The Things.    As I write this, I have done very little of it.   Like, nada.   Actually, that's not really true as I did read 26% of Go Set A Watchman, which I feel is an achievement in itself, considering it has absolutely no murderin' in it.   

Anyway, not being one to give up that easily, I've also set myself a few challenges for January, in an attempt to force myself to branch out, see the world and, absolutely try that apple cider vinegar and baking soda shampoo concoction for girls with naturally curly hair that I saw on Pinterest.   I have the stuff in my cupboard, so go me for that.  

Books:

I'm still banging on about this and still as determined to capitalise on the progress I made in December.   Because, folks, 26% of a book is better than 0%, isn't it?  I think so, too.    As I still have 74% of Go Set A Watchman to read, I'm going to finish that first before I delve into the world of Other Books.    Baby steps.  

I always put flowers in my books to encourage me to read them... 

Blogging:

I've set myself a target of at least 5 things a day to benefit my blog.  This includes doing stuff in the background on days that I'm not posting.   At the moment, I tend to work on it a little inconsistently and I'd like to develop much more of a schedule.    Even if my 5 things on a Monday are simply reading blog tips or pinning to boards, I'm determined to spend extra 20-30 minutes each day, solely dedicated to social media and blog marketing.    

I'm also hoping to make more use of my lunch hour at work, which I can use to upload and old post or read my favourite blogs, as well as using some time on my way to and from work to come up with post ideas, instead of the incessant singing that I tend to devote my time to at the moment.  

Running:

I had a fabulous running partner in Scotland who, incidentally, was also my neighbour.    This meant she knew where I lived (obviously) and would come over and drag me out.   As a result, I was pretty fit, slept better, and could run the length of myself without wanting to cry.   These days?  Not so much.

Since moving to Wales, I've pretty much used my exercise bike and been way too lazy to venture out into the streets.    I went out a couple of times in December and found out, to my horror, that I am now Officially Unfit.     Time to get back into the habit.    I have a goal of 30 miles for the month, which I used to run in a week, so I'm taking it slowly to build it up.  Also: if I finish it in a week, I can absolutely sit down for the rest of the month.   

What I wish I looked like out on my runs.  

Moving House:

Yeah, so I'm doing this anyway.    If I don't move out of the current apartment before Jan 9th, I'll be homeless, so there's nothing quite like the prospect of sleeping on a cold Welsh street to make you start packing up all your crap.   That I can tell you.

The only added element to the whole house move is to absolutely clear out all the stuff I tend to hoard and only take what I actually need.   This should result in a trip to the local charity shop with piles of clothes, as well as dumping a massive array of other nonsense.  I mean, do I really need twelve tubes of mascara?  No.  No, I don't.  

Seriously, woman, just chuck it out.

Saving More Money:

I'm pretty good with money.  I tend to find the bank accounts with the highest interest rates and I've always been a saver.    There are some things that I tend to splash out on and other things I spend on that I could really do without.    There are also things I automatically do, like buy expensive petrol, because I'm not organised enough to do anything else.   When you're petrol light is flashing, you gotta go to the closest station, right?   

This month, I'm looking at my petrol buying habit (living the dream here, folks), and opening up that new Santander current account with the awesome interest.    For last Christmas Day,  I had amassed £150 in Nectar points, which we promptly spend on gifts and wine.   The fact that I was using the card wherever I could, for the things I'd be paying for anyway (wine and petrol, mostly), meant that I was immensely cheery walking out of Sansbury's with a trolley full of goodies that I wouldn't otherwise have had.     My parents are fantastic with their Tesco card and top up vouchers, so I really need to make better use of that card, too.   

Do you have any goals for January, or have you gone the whole hog and made resolutions for the entire year??  

Suzanne x