It’s been the longest month since records began, but I’m ecstatic to find myself in the death throes of January.
Fuck off you cold, dark, miserable bastard.
As a kind of new year promise to myself, I have decided that during each month I will write down anything of note and publish a post at the end looking at what I’ve done. The idea isn’t even that anyone will read it, but simply that I will do it. I can’t say how long this will last, but at least I tried.
So, without further ado, I present: the month that was January 2024
It’s traditional during January to make some kind of resolutions to be a better person or whatnot. I did not do this. Not because I’m already perfect, as you may suspect, but because I don’t enjoy the inevitable failure that follows after one week of good intentions.
I am not a big fan of dry January; I like to support the wine and hospitality industries regardless of month like a true hero. However after a very food and alcohol-heavy Christmas I was actually quite looking forward to eating and drinking a bit less. I’d say it’s been more ‘damp‘ or ‘dry-ish‘ than dry. There have certainly been fewer trips to the bottle bank, and I’ve barely consumed any cheese. Just a very normal amount, I’d say.
Fitness wise, after time off for Christmas I wasn’t ready to go back to the gym until the third week of January as my loving children gave me a hideous head cold. I’ve been back into it for nearly three weeks now; trying to go at least four times a week to do spin class, yoga and running. I also take the dog out for a few hours each day (to the park, not to the gym. That would be mad).
Despite sticking to both increased movement and decreased consumption compared to December, I have not lost a single pound. Welcome to my 40s I guess.
The good
I’ve been out for two really lovely meals this January.
The first was an amazing Sunday Roast at The Mutton in Hazeley Heath over in Hampshire, which I then reviewed and you can read all about it here.
I also met up with some friends (from back when I had a proper job) on Saturday. Not only was it lovely to see them after what feels like forever, but we got lunch at a place called Mildred’s which is a chain of vegan restaurants. The food was great, the atmosphere was lovely and the staff were friendly. I’d certainly recommend it to anyone, vegan, veggie or carnivore for a very special lunch.
And speaking of food, after close to a year of using the world’s worst gas oven which cooked food at the top/back only, we finally replaced it last week and have been able to cook things properly at home.
My partner cooked a roast on Sunday and it was bloody fantastic. And no I don’t care for your opinions on whether there’s enough gravy or potatoes. I served myself and this isn’t Rate my Plate.
The bad
Apart from the cold (both the virus and the temperature) there hasn’t been a lot of bad stuff to report, which is nice.
Although, if you’ll allow me a few small gripes:
Firstly, can we talk about how someone can gift you a voucher for, say, a three month subscription to Beer52 but when the three months is up you still have to physically call them (during work hours) to cancel, queue on the phone for 15 minutes and speak to a human who will be as annoying as possible and probably hang up on you mid conversation?
I don’t understand how this is still allowed to happen. To my mind it’s common sense that you sign up online, you should absolutely be able to cancel in the same manner. At the very least it’s ableist to demand people phone and speak to someone in person. It’s just predatory behaviour. I note from Twitter that you can email their customer support, but they’re not forthcoming with the details unless you happen to tweet them to complain first. Utter bastards. I’ve been recommended Brewser instead and might give them a go!
Also, my Virgin Pure water machine has something wrong with it (is dripping hot water with the cold) and I can’t get it sorted until the 22nd Feb. I bloody love that machine and not being able to use it is making me sad.
Dog news
In addition to her finding a new friend and a sourdough baguette, this month Izzy found two pork pies in a hedge. She wasn’t allowed to keep them either. She is currently looking for a new, nicer owner. Preferably the dog sitter, who took my ‘3/4 scoops of food’ to mean ‘three to four’ instead of the 0.75 scoops she usually has. I was too embarrassed to correct her and Izzy certainly didn’t mention it either..
The big news is that she’s currently in season, which is an experience for us all. She is quite the hot stuff. Living next to the park has never been so exciting. Fortunately even three weeks in, she still shows no interest in boy dogs (although she’s been humping her octopus* like it’s going out of fashion, poor lass).
Never fear, she isn’t (or, I’m not) allowed puppies and she’ll be getting the lot hoiked out in a few months’ time.
*Not a euphemism
Work stuff…
Over the last month, I’ve been working with Quidco on promoting their new member bonus. As as someone who has used it for over 15 years I’m really happy to be working with them; you can find out more (and get £15 for free) here.
I’m also working on a Mother’s Day gift guide. These are inevitably a load of work but worth it after the fact, probably. Things that I’m looking forward to unpacking include an adult scooter and this dress which I’ll quite possibly never have occasion to wear but is fun none the less.
Apart from that I’ve just been ticking over and rolling my eyes at a billion emails a day like this:
What has made me laugh
Laurence Fox losing his libel case. The Daily Mail shitting itself because Kate Middleton is in hospital and claiming William is the messiah for looking after his kids with just his own fortitude and household staff. That absolute muppet Mollie in the final of the Traitors.
…And that’s a wrap. Stay tuned for February.