A Year Later...

26 January 2011. That was the date that I left Wellington and returned to my home town. I had planned to hit the 'restart' button on my life. It didn't really work out that way, and now just days away from the anniversary of my supposed do over I struggle to list the things I have achieved in the last 12 months.

I cleared two thousand dollars worth of debt. Yes, lets put that one in the "PRO" column. I'm 30 years old, with a divorce pending. I'm currently living at home with my mum. I'm unemployed. I've gained seven kilograms. Alright, lets stop reviewing things now...

Exactly. It's time to stop looking over the things in my past. It was a hard year, but it's not this year. A new year. A new blog. I've changed the name from the sad tale that was "The House of Hazel Caine", and removed all of the old posts that tended to make 15 year old emo kids look joyously optimistic in comparison. A fresh start, and a monkey named Moe.

Moe. My voice of reason. He was the first thing that I took possession of when I returned to this tiny little town. I found him in my mother's spare bedroom while I was unpacking. My mum said had come from a friend of hers. I guess she thought that one of the grandchildren might like it, but he'd just sat there gathering dust.

I gave him a vacuum, and on the rare occasion that I not only got out of bed, but also made it, he took pride of place on my pillows. I feel that this led to his somewhat 'snooty' attitude. He suddenly became very pompous and far too logical for anyone's benefit. Whenever I passed judgement on this he would point out that it was entirely my fault, as any personality that he had was all inside my head anyway. He is after all, a stuffed monkey.

I can only conclude that I spent far too many days inside the house, and on my own. Call it self-induced Cabin Fever if you will (Moe certainly likes to), but he really has been my buddy over the last year. Got a problem? Talk to Moe. Need a rant? Rant to Moe. Just don't expect him to tell you what you want to hear, because that monkey loves to call it as he sees it. With all of his faults though, he is definitely good for cuddling when scary thunder shakes the house.

Moe and I are going to have a very busy year. He's going to make sure I don't cheat with my exercising, and stuff myself with cookies when I think he isn't watching. He's going to bark orders at me when I'm playing games online, instead of applying for jobs. He'll help me try to be more positive, and a little bit kinder to myself. Moe will help me take more photos - a hobby that I've missed. He will encourage me and keep me moving forward, and if that goes well he may even convince me to start writing again...

But for now, I'll leave you with this little gem that I stumbled across on youtube. Happy Monday, everybody!