Happy New Year

So it's 2012! I have a few goals that I want to achieve. I'd classify some of them as (New Year) resolutions, but certainly not all of them.

First off, a quick status update. Our six-week build, which started in August, is ongoing. We've moved back in, but the place is far from complete. We have retrieved about half of our stuff from storage. The rest will have to wait for the build to complete. The current end date estimate is the 19th January. We shall see. We have a shower (sort of), a bed and heating. We will survive! The project is far enough advanced that the end is in sight and we can start to imagine a new life in our "new" place.

Let's get started on the goals, eh? In no particular order...

1) Get back to the gym. I haven't been more than a couple of times since September. I've gone from 225lbs of solid muscle to 250lbs of flab. I'm 42 years old. I'm not kidding myself, the road back to health and fitness is going to be tough. I figure that the earliest I'd need to uncover on a beach would be June. I need to get motivated, eat properly and get lifting. Over and above all that, I also need to avoid injury. Last year, through poor form, I hurt my back. I do not want a repeat of that in 2012.

2) Write 6 new songs. The one good thing to come out of our enforced exile was that I discovered how great Apple's iOS devices are for home recording. My plan had been to replace my old computer with something new and shiny upon our return. Having successfully recorded quite a few song ideas with just a guitar, my iPhone and an interface jack, I decided not to go with a new computer. I was a good boy and Santa's delivered an iPad 2 for Christmas. I now have an extremely portable Digital Audio Workstation.

3) Make more time for art and literature. Beauty feeds the soul, and we've been starving ourselves lately. I have a stack of books that I need to read. None of them are classics, but hey, reading is reading! When the build is complete we'll be bringing our little art collection home, deciding what to hang and what to keep tucked away.

4) Be more intimate with my husband. When you're stuck in a small bedroom in a shared flat you don't get much privacy. Without privacy, it's easy to lose intimacy. We both recognise that our physical relationship has suffered drastically over the past 4 months. Like most relationship issues, you can't this stuff to just fix itself. You have to be aware of a problem and work on it. Love is a feedback loop. You get back what you put into it plus interest.

5) This is going to sound somewhat contrary to Number 4, but I want to be more open to sexual encounters with other people. Over the years Number 2 (my husband) and I have made some good friends through threesomes and, somewhat counter-intuitively, it has actually brought us closer together as a couple, knocking us out of a rut and adding spice to our love-making. It's not happened often. Usually, we've been on holiday and have allowed ourselves to be bad. When it comes to our day-to-day lives, though, I'm quite reticent about the whole thing. I get hung up on the potential negatives rather than the opportunity for fun. I find dial-a-dates problematic. I need to be in the same room with someone to know whether I fancy them or not.

Number Two is more adventurous. He's more than happy to jump in feet first. He has a list of fans on Grindr whom he'd shag in an instant, if I were ever amenable. It's hard for me to let go and take a chance. The flip side is that I've selected a number of people in real life but am again shy about following through. When you're in a couple, sex with someone else doesn't change anything. It's just fun. When you're the switch-hitter, though, it can be easy to think there's more to it than some harmless fun. I've ended up with two stalkers before. I really don't want to go through that again!

6) Last but not least... we NEED a cleaner. I've never had one but I'm fed up with working all day and then having to come home and clean house. I suspect that even with a cleaner we'll still have to work pretty hard to keep on top of laundry, dishes etc, but I just want some help, damn it! Besides, if we decided to try a couple of dial-a-dates, it's not sexy to have to vacuum first!