Quarterly Update: Like Sand Through Fingers...

Day 91, Wednesday April 1, 10am: It's rather crept up on me - we are a quarter of the way through 2009, a quarter of the way through our resolutions! How time slips away, like sand through fingers.

So...

I am still overweight. And useless at the piano. And I still swim like a brick. And I don't have a website. And I've only managed one golf game all year, which was an unmitigated disaster. And I'm not sure I've managed to chew my food 30 times more than once (you remember, that day that I took 57 minutes to get through a small bowl of soup).

Actually, no, let's be fair. It just feels like that. I'm a bit down after having been dogged by one Lindfield Primary School cold bug after another for the past three weeks. So what have I - and, more importantly, what have you - achieved?

My weight is down from 13st 4lbs to about 12st 5. Wow. That's actually rather good, even if I have almost a stone to go to my target. I have taken a piano exam (alright, I probably failed, but at least I turned up for the darned thing). I have managed to swim eight lengths of crawl in a row (I began on one), which is more than a quarter of the way to my goal of 20. I've had five glasses of wine this year. I eat porridge most days, and walk to school with 8-Year-Old (she's just had her birthday - sleepover with three invited friends - don't, ever!). And I've thought quite a bit about the website, even if I haven't much progressed.

Now how's everybody else getting on?

Well, to date, I only have a handful of replies from TRSNYRC. So either 1) people are too busy to blog/email (understandable) 2) people have all given up (even more understandable) or 3) my pleading email for information has been filtered out as spam (also understandable - not the first time something I have thought/suggested/communicated has been treated as unsolicited junk). Never mind. I shall just send out the emails personally to the other 40-odd of you today.

But anyway...

1) John The Fish

A real success story! He has yet to succumb to a single drop of alcohol, continues with his gym workouts (well, when I say gym, I mean the living room, which he has now filled with benches and weight and dumbells). He walks up to 10 miles three times a week and continues to have cunning plans to catch that 20lb pike.

2) Kate The Tech

Kate has proudly overcome her technical phobias and has now downloaded several albums. She continues to sketch.

3) Motorman Mike and Yogi Clare

Motorman is turning into a monster! He's given up work (an month earlier than planned) to have a re-think n what this living lark is all about. He's managed a 36-mile training bike ride (and a couple of 20+ milers) with the team who plan to go from London to Paris on 28 June. A 40-mile expedition beckons in May. He's also gone and bought a Harley Davidson Road King Classic bike - the blog awaits pictures! He reads newspapers a lot.

Clare's major achievements appear to be 1) staying sane (quite an achievement considering her recent turmoils) and 2) putting up with Mike and his sweaty bike training gear (a major achievement, no doubt). Her music has yet to take off again although she has been playing recorder and piano (just the left hand, I think) pieces with her daughter.

4) Prohibition Roy and Shrinking Sarah

Ouch! Roy and Sarah both fell off the wagon two weeks before their intended three-month aniversary and ended up with next-morning headaches. Roy, though, says there is good news. He seems, he says, to have lost the thirst for the booze - "once you take the habit bit out of it drinking ain't that much fun" - and will continue 2009 drinking only at weekends. He makes no mention of his weight, or of cheese, or puddings but says he is considering "some more initiatives for the rest of the year". Hhe has, he adds, bought an excercise bike and intends to remove the wrapping at a later date.

Due to the falling-off- the-wagon bit, he will henceforth be called Head Vacillator.
Sarah, meanwhile, continues to work out with her personal trainer (if that does not sound too improper...)

Right, I'd better send off some of those emails again...