It's Sunday, right?

So who knows what day it is?

That isn't my way of admitting I'm sat here writing this blog post drunk...far from it...it is my way of capturing a time of year when we all lose track of what day

The past 7 days have no doubt been as busy for you as they have for me.
It was of course Christmas week! And I hope you have enjoyed yours as much as I have mine!
This is always, a week filled with last minute present buying, gift wrapping, gift giving, food buying, preparing, cooking and finally eating!

Not that I will bore you with the details of my Christmas week, needless to say it has been filled with last minute present buying, gift wrapping, gift giving, drinks with friends, food buying, preparing, cooking and of course eating!

It is however, a week in which we all say we're "off" but in truth we are more switched on in this week than any other as there is always so much to remember that come Christmas night we can't help but collapse into the nearest armchair and "just have 40 winks"!

Somehow, this one week coupled with unusual amounts of time off together and visiting friends and relatives we haven't seen since the year before leads to a very surreal feeling of waking up each day and basing our day around activities rather than the habits of the other 51 weeks of the year dictated by what day it happens to be.

Now of course I am full of the festive joys that this time of year brings, the food, the presents, the time with family all help reaffirm the world around you...but there is also something else bringing an unexpected cheer to my heart and affirmation for the passion that I have...writing!

That's right, by completing and publishing this blog post, I have somehow managed to complete the final (and arguably hardest for me) #RandomTask of the year!

I've done it! I've only gone and blooming well done it!

For those of you regulars, or at least recent regulars you will remember that on 16th November 2014 I made a triumphant return to this blog post after a 3 month absence and decided to challenge myself to not only return but be more prolific than ever before by publicly committing to the following #RandomTask:

"#8 Between now and 31st December 2014 I am going to publish a minimum of one new blog post per week (Monday to Sunday)"

For anyone who thought I was a dead-cert to fail a task that required regular blog posting (to be honest, from the outside looking in I would have thought exactly the same), I apologise for any bets lost or for making you question the reality in which you live.

Truth is, this hasn't felt like a task at all and has actually been the one that has given me the most pleasure and impetus to complete!
I have enjoyed having the ever impending countdown looming over me each week.
And most importantly, it has helped me find my voice again and end the year on a bigger high than I could have expected when I first started these #RandomTasks!

So why not carry this on?! That's why I am making my first #RandomTask of 2015 a continuation of my last for 2014:

#2015-1 Between now and 31st January 2015 I am going to publish a minimum of one new blog post per week (Monday to Sunday).

Unfortunately, my poem last weekend hasn't led to the Children's book deal I was hoping for, so no poem this week but I did receive some very kind feedback on it and the habits of how and when my blogs are read this past week, which is always enjoyed and nice to hear!***

Also back in my post from 16th November, I mentioned that I was still a long way from getting around to completing Danny Wallace's "Charlotte Street" (otherwise known as #RandomTask 7) so marked that #RandomTask down as "Ongoing".

Well, it's always good to carry the lessons of the years gone by with you into the year ahead so as not to make the same mistakes again. So with that in mind, I shall carry that #RandomTask forward in to 2015...but alter it slightly...

#7.5 Read one chapter of Danny Wallace's "Charlotte Street" each week until the book is completed.

See what I did there? Surely that's made it slightly less of the mountainous task it has become...surely?!

So with all of that tidied up, the final #RandomTask count for 2014 stands as:

#RandomTasks Set = 8 Completed = 5 Pending = 1 Failed = 2

Now, a 25% fail rate (not counting the Danny Wallace fiasco) may sound like a disaster, but as the intention of creating #RandomTasks in the first place was to improve my ability to commit to New Years Resolutions for longer than the first few months of any given year, I would say that the 62% success rate is the far more positive figure to focus on!

In fact that's exactly what I'm going to do...use that figure and aim to improve on that in 2015!
Let's agree to see what the year ahead holds and meet back here same time next year (obviously I encourage you to come back far more regularly than that but I was just trying to create some early suspense...I'll get better at it I promise!) and see if #RandomTasks have evolved and surpassed their inaugural year!

#2015-2 Achieve better than 62% success rate in #RandomTasks by the end of 2015

Technically that's 3 #RandomTasks to start the new year with...a pretty good start but I'm sure I'll be adding to that figure sooner rather than later so watch this space as for me, 2015 has so much potential to be the best year yet and I will be doing all that I can to make sure that potential is reached...and will no doubt be updating you on all that unfolds throughout the year!

And so I guess all that is left for me to say is...
Happy New Year to all my lovely readers, regulars and newbies, I hope 2015 is the happy, healthy and successful year we all hope for!
Do whatever works for you to make the resolutions you feel you need to make as successful as you need them to be and keep checking back here for updates on how I'm getting on with my #RandomTasks!

See you all next year!

p.s. For anyone wondering, the beard is coming along nicely, my grooming skills are improving and my girlfriend appears to have embraced my facial fuzz by buying me a "Beard Grooming Set" for Christmas, so be prepared for a future blog post solely inspired by all things beardy...tentatively entitled "A Close Shave" (thanks Nikki)!

***Hello Hannah and Scott, hope you enjoy this week's instalment, sorry there's no poem but you never know in future...now get up and out of bed, make a massive breakfast and enjoy all that the day brings!