And Hello 2014....

I'm expecting you to do a better job than the last guy.....

2014 started with my partner spilling a full cup of tea all over himself and our bed at 2.15am. It's wrong I know, but I did laugh when I turned and saw him sitting in a puddle of hot tea. Fortunately despite his scolded behind he also saw the funny side and if you're going to stay up late changing bedsheets and drying a mattress at 3am, New Year's Day is better than most.

I have big hopes for this year. I have a new date for my leg operation on 15th January and although I'm less excited than last time, I have high hopes it will fix it before I ruin both knees permanently. Then my year can really start properly.

We got engaged when we were watching the Olympic Torch pass through Bury on 23rd June 2012, and I'd actually like to get married this year please. I was always a bit iffy about the number 13, so I actually didn't want to get married in 2013. Thank goodness for that! That would have been an expensive disappointment because ideally we'd have married in August and my partner spent almost all of August in bed asleep and, if I'm brutally honest, completely unable to cope at all with anything taxing. Getting him to a Wedding ceremony and keeping him alert and aware of what was happening for more than an hour would have been unlikely. It'd have been the equivalent of getting him bladdered and telling him everything would be fine. I always said as a teenager that I'd get married at 42, and although I in no way planned it this way, it looks like that might just happen.

We have 2 of our young people taking their GCSE exams this year. I'd love for them to do as well as they deserve and not let stress ruin it for them. I say I'd be happier if they came home with 10 C's than nothing because they'd run away or had a panic, and I really mean it. They're both high achievers and predicted to do exceptionally well, and with that comes a real added pressure of expectation.

I want to get out more. 2013 was our year of 'staying in'. We'd just stripped my partner's camper van when he became ill, so it has no MOT and no interior. There was no hope of going tent camping, he wouldn't have coped and nor would I trying to wrangle all the kids and do everything else. We missed our big holiday and several other possible weekends away, it'd be great to get his camper back on the road and get us both to the point where we can drive distances again.

Driving is a biggie. I used to walk everywhere that I could, and that's not possible, but neither have I been able to drive. I've been virtually housebound for the last 5 months and my partner has had to do all of the weekend child-ferrying, which leaves him shattered from the effort and steals our time because he falls asleep when he gets home.

In 2014 I will spend more time with my friends!! I have so many friends that I never really noticed were there and I've met so many amazing people this year and have developed really lovely friendships with handfuls of them. My partner's Meningitis and my broken leg saga have shown me support and consideration and even genuine love from so many people, and had I not needed it I might never have known it existed. It's a very precious gift and I really want to enjoy it.

I will redecorate parts of my house and tidy my garden. In the last 6 months we've done nothing and it's looking a real mess. My youngest child goes to school in September, and I hope that'll give me the time I need to get my home ready for Winter properly next Autumn.

Most of all I'm hoping for good health and an easier year than 2013, which was undoubtedly the most physically challenging year I've ever had. No sleep and masses to do every minute I was awake because everything takes twice as long has been hard work. We all need to rest just occasionally....

I hope you all have an excellent 2014 and whatever you wish to do, I hope you achieve it.