Halfway through the first month of the new year and it's not been at all winterish (not at all tempting fate).
My favourite season of all and yet it's unseasonally warm. Where's the frost? The snow? It's not been cold enough to warrant wearing the new winter coat, which is hanging in the wardrobe with its tags still attached. I mean, the bin men did their rounds last week wearing shorts (council issue but still). And already the days are visibly lengthening.
But I'm not moaning (well, not much), which leads very nicely to a ta-da! launch of my word for 2019.
I've always been a new year, new me kind of person, though I long since ditched the practice of setting new year's resolutions as they were inevitably broken all too soon.
I'm also my father's daughter. My dad gave me so much, including my height, a love of books, baking and gift giving, the bump in my nose, the tendency to perfectionism and to always think the worst and dwell on all the bad stuff (unlike my mother who lived her life believing in the power of positive thinking).
Now, I realise that none of those things is likely to change much. I may be shrinking as time passes, the oven might not be as hardworking as it used to be, it takes longer these days to finish the current read and oh, how easy is it to focus on what didn't get done, what didn't go to plan, what turned out to be so far away from what was expected or hoped for.
But I want this to be the year when, however crap the situation I might find myself in, however trapped and seemingly powerless over the direction of travel, I make the effort to stop and take the time to focus on the positives, however small, in the ordinary everyday.
So, my guiding word for the next 12 months is appreciate.
Life is punctuated by major challenges and disasters, disappointments and events that disrupt the equilibrium, consume your thoughts and make you downright miserable. And who knows what might be lurking around the corner?
All the more reason, then, to appreciate and savour the little stuff, the things that get taken for granted or overlooked or hidden amongst everything else that grabs centre stage.
Yes, I'm ready to give it a go.