Jan 1 - New Year, New Addiction

  Mr Smart and I had a great time last night at his sister's party.  We got to build a fire and sit around it laughing and drinking and I may or may not have eaten a Tim Tam briquette, but I won't go to much into that.  We saw in the new year on the Rucker's Hill bridge in Northcote, a short walk from the party.  There is a great view of the city from there and we got a really good view of the city's professional fireworks display as well as some local amateur fireworks.  Lots of others had the same idea and we were joined on the bridge by roughly 1000 - 1500 other ringers-in of the new year.

Click Here for Mr Smart's Unedited Video Footage

  After we returned from the bridge it was pretty much straight to bed.  I wouldn't necessarily say I was pissed out of my head but there was certainly no way I was fit to drive us home (there's a first time for everything) but luckily there was a spare bed for us to crash in and I slept pretty comfortably and was none the worse for wear in the morning.  When I woke and made my way into the lounge I was greeted with a hug, a kiss and a hongi for the new year by Mr Smart's two year old nephew.  A nice way to start the year.
  We had breakfast and headed back to Mr Smart's place for a viewing of the James Bond film Doctor No as Mr Smart recently finished reading the book, we had lunch and before too long it was time for me to be thinking about all the things I wanted to get done before work tomorrow, like the mundane but all important laundry and the less mundane but frightfully time consuming playing of Torchlight 2.
  I'm not quite sure how Mr Smart manages to pick game that are quite so suited to me, but manage it he does.  After two days play I am already a Level 12 Berserker and my faithful pet bulldog Mr Slobbers and I have over five quests under our belts.

  Tonight I beat General Grell.  I took a screenshot of a battle preceeding General Grell himself because there was no way in heck I was pressing the Print Screen button in the middle of a boss fight!

  I think it's safe to say that I'm a little hooked on the game and I will have to be careful to control the new addiction and make sure it doesn't take me away from other things I should be doing (though I'll have to let it a little bit or I'd never get to play it!).  I will not be turning this into a gaming blog by any means but it's something I'm finding very fun so I thought I would at least share a little bit about it.
  And game playing aside, the laundry did still get done!

  And I even had time this evening to prepare this year's wall calendar with everyone's birthdays marked and other such significant events.

  Now, new year's resolutions...  I'm not one for making them to be honest but as of today Mr Smart and I have both quit the major junk food chains.  No more McDonalds, Hungry Jacks, KFC, Red Rooster, Pizza Hut or Dominoes for us.  In fact the list in spirit extends to no delivery pizza at all, but homemade pizza is allowed as is eat-in restaurant pizza.
  It's a big thing for me to say 'I quit' any type of food as that usually just makes me crave it more, but when Mr Smart quits, he quits.  He hasn't had anything choclatey/sugary/dessert-like since before Easter 2012, and he's had no chips or biscuits since the start of October so I decided to join him in a show of solidarity with this latest exclusion.
  I do also have it in mind to declutter the house over the course of the year.  I have far to many 'things' which either never had or no longer have any sentimental value and can therefore be tossed, sold or donated depending on quality.  This is not so much a resolution as something that has been a long time coming which I am finally readying myself to tackle one baby step at a time.
  Obviously too, my contuning improvement of weight and health is high on this year's priorities, again, not so much a resolution, more a now permanent life goal.  I've come this far, lets see just how far I can go!  I am also going to try very hard not to spend more than I earn, but that is more necessity than resolution at this point!

  Today's food was:

• Breakfast was an omelette topped with ground pepper and chopped flat-leaf parsley on top of two small slices of toasted crusty bread.
• Morning snack was a Nespresso Dulsão do Brasil pod coffee.
• Lunch was Cajun seasoned beef pan-fried perfectly to my liking by Mr Smart, with potato & bacon salad, coleslaw and green leaf mix.
• Dinner was a serve of veggie heavy chilli con carne topped with shredded light tasty cheese.
• Dessert was two regular-size Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddos, a mini Cherry Ripe and five gold coins.  Good news, that's about the last of my Christmas treats I believe.

  I haven't weighed in today because I wasn't home in the morning but I hope to get that done tomorrow.  I am quietly confident that I have acheived my goal of not gaining in December.  I did weigh in a couple of times over the month and fluctuations aside I'm happy that I did a relatively good job.  I'm also hoping to see Bertie in the next week so that she can assist me with taking a new round of measurements as well.
  As Lord Koshington said to me today "Happy New Year, hope this year is better than the last, but not as good as the next".  Rather cleverly put if you think about it.
  Jess