It Begins Again!

It begins again!  Nope I don't mean School Holidays, I mean my annual Big Clean Up Challenge.  Each year, I go all out and clean out and clean up my little town house and try to keep it tidy.  And each year, I fail in some way.  However, there is always one room which stays tidy... so I must be doing something right!

So, this Christmas, I thought to begin on it early and take my time with it.  It'll be something I'll be hoping to keep up with, something that will be more permanent and something where - at some point - I won't need to shuffle things from one place to another.  My main aim is to have a house where I'm not embarrassed to have somebody come around and visit; I should feel as though my home is beautiful and not a mess.

So, seeing I have my kitchen sorted out (and it's been sorted for a while now), I need to start looking at my living room and dining area.  I have never had the dining table completely clear over the time I've lived here... and it's something I'd like to have.  It's the same deal with the coffee table and the lounge.  My whole lounge room has always been cluttered and messy; and I've allowed myself to live like this for the whole time I've lived on my own because of my own personal demons.  Now, I have worked those out, it's time to move on and live a better life and clean up a little.  I'm tired of the mess and need to find my space.  It's there, I know it is, I just have to find it.

Another thing that's beginning - and it's quite new this year for me - is the Summer Reading Challenge that's be offered to me on Good Reads.  I did the Spring Challenge and only got four books read; and now I've been invited to read in this challenge and I'm halfway through a book I began in the Spring Challenge.  I'm looking forward to reading more books; such as 'The Year of the Flood' by Margaret Atwood, 'The Passport' by Herta Muller' and three Romance novels I won over the last six months from The Romance Bandits who write nothing but romance and have fun competitions.  I'm looking forward to reading these ones.  And there's also a bookray I have to finish as well I started.  However, I haven't been near it lately, so I might just post it to the next person on the list next week.

The next things that begins again, is my savings.  Okay, I'm not going to get personal about this... I'm going to save up enough money to work on my front garden this coming New Year.  I've got two lovely plants in it, but I'd like it to look more personal; so I'll be getting in and making sure I don't buy anything I don't need from my savings accounts for a few months and I'll get some lovely pots, some uncut granite, soil and plants that will look good.  I can't wait.

So, what are you looking forward to over this time of year - and the New Year - to do for yourself?  Is it something special?  Or is it something you've been meaning to do for ages? Well, it's a miserable, gray day outside.  I have the radio going and I've got a house to get into and clean.  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.