Easter eggs already ?

January is usually a pretty low-mood month. It's cold, it's dark, there's the post Christmas downer and it feels like a long month before you get paid. Then there's the deprivation, dry January, new year diets, the new regime of fitness and realising that there are already easter eggs in the shops, but because sugar is the enemy you can't actually buy any.

Except this year I haven't had the blues. I've felt energetic, I've been spending time with my boys and I've been going through the house like a buzzsaw tidying and sorting. I put this down to a few things. The last few years I've given up chocolate and puddings in the new year, so this year I had a head start as I was unwell at Christmas so it made sense to just cut out the 'baddies' early on. I didn't indulge on New Year's Eve so I woke up with a clear head and a resolve to get out and do something active. I started off the year not having bread or alcohol or sugar and will be slowly reintroducing them in minimal amounts. The exception is my lovely friend's birthday next Friday when I will have all of the above.

I'm taking part in the Moonwalk in May this year so I've been increasing my everyday fitness. Walking, swimming, clubbercise and this week I started bootcamp too. All of this is my way of ensuring that I am as fit as I can be to take part and I'm determined to do it in a personal best time.

Making myself go to bed earlier has enabled me to do things like read a book and to settle into bed before I fall asleep. Blue Bear isn't a great sleeper so we often get woken in the night and more than once so the more sleep the better really. I haven't quite mastered the art of waking up early yet, but I'm working on that next.

I've set myself the goal of cooking more meals from scratch and encouraging the boys to try new foods as much as possible. Brown Bear came home from school yesterday having eaten a chicken burger for lunch and I asked what he had with it. "It had tomato and salad on it, but I took all that off and ate it." Small victories I guess. Blue Bear tried some broccoli at the weekend. He's always pushed it away before, but he tried tiny pieces and declared it wasn't so bad after all.

Finally I want to earn again. It doesn't have to be a lot, but I do want to have some money coming in. The difficult bit is I want to enjoy what I'm doing and it has to fit round my family. The holy grail basically. So to that end I'm keeping myself busy and saying "yes" to opportunities that arise. Who knows, it might just work out.

Well, I'll keep you posted on my progress as the year goes on. Wish me luck.