Planning your Christmas/New Year time off

For the first time since I was 15 (Oh God) I have time off around Christmas and New Year, and honestly, I have no idea what to do with myself. I am used to working all the way to Christmas Eve and then Boxing Day all the way through New Year. So to have *counts* 12 days off is unheard of for me at the time of year. With all this time off I know I am going to procrastinate, so I need to work out a plan to keep me busy and not to waste all this time off! Let’s see what ideas I have…

Exercise

I have a lot of fitness orientated goals in 2019 (reasonable ones don’t worry) but to make sure I am in full swing for the New Year I need to have that momentum started beforehand to give me a strong idea that I can achieve those goals. I plan to run and gym and whatever else Victoria and I can come up with to keep our bodies in good shape. I always endeavour to have a deficit in my weight during the Christmas season and that aim hasn’t changed this year!

Little day trips

If the weather is nice then it would be a shame not to use the days off to wander around Northern Ireland on an odd day. Go to places I normally wouldn’t and just enjoy a day away from Belfast. I love exploring and I think Victoria and I have earned it this year (well she has more than me) but she will need company so I guess I should join her. Only fair…

Declutter the house

I think everyone does this around this time of year, get the house sorted and cleaned for the new year, start nice and fresh. With all of my new furniture in the living room that sentiment is echoed by me! I have a lot of stuff I want to get rid of that is just taking up space and this time off will allow me to properly go through it and the majority of the rooms organised in a way that I want. Moving a lot of my food to a pantry has really helped as now I can utilise the cupboard better! With a bit of luck, it won’t take too long. I would like to think it would take one long day or two shorter ones. I know it needs to be done as I want to also get rid of things in my attic as in the future I would like to use it as a room (a bit of work to achieve that, but that is 2019 and beyond Scott’s problem!) down the line and while I will keep some of the stuff up there, some I just have to be harsh with and let it go! Fingers crossed on that one!

Evening walks

Victoria and I have found that in the evenings, once we are home from work we seem to stay in the house for the night (unless we have a planned run or gym session) and to break that up Victoria suggested that we go for a walk in the evenings when it is dry. I really liked that idea as I enjoy walking and chatting with her and there are some nice little routes to walk in the evenings. Plus we can always go up for a walk in certain areas and dream buy the houses there. That might just be a thing I do though! But yes, we want to get out and stretch our legs a little and enjoy the fresh air, especially as it will be a little quiet about this time of year so it will be nice and peaceful for us to start!

Read

Victoria and I are buying each other books this Christmas to open on Christmas Eve, so we can make it one of our traditions for the future. I think it is cute, but I would like to spare a little time before bed every night, even if it is just for an hour to read that book. With a bit of luck, I will be able to make that a habit and keep it going. I like the idea of moving away from a screen at night, or at least when I am trying to go to sleep, so having a book there will help that greatly!

Allow one lazy binge watch day

As much as I want and need to be proactive, I really need at least one rest day and I think that rest day should be spent binge watching something awesome or doing a movie marathon. I will probably hit the gym and/or run first in the morning to at least feel a bit better about doing nothing, but the aim will be to find a new show and just give it all of my attention! So if you know of a show, film, franchise, let me know so I can get my binge on. Also, might need to go and get some treats for that day other than fruit… Though fruit is nice… Hmmmmmm decisions!

Start learning a new language

I feel the older I get the more I want to learn new things and one of those things is languages, I don’t know which language it could be a random one for all I care, but getting to move out of my comfort zone and learn something like a language is awesome to me. I hope to have learnt some new phrases before I get back to work!

I think that will do for today, I might be wanting to do too much, but it is 12 days and I am sure that I can fit almost all of these in somehow! I will catch up with you in January to let you know how I did! Until next time.

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