The New Year Begins

I awoke at 3.30 a.m. convinced I had heard a sound coming from next door. Now our neighbours next door have been away over the New Year so unless they had arrived back very much earlier than intended there should have been no noises coming from next door. I decided to investigate. Of course I found nothing amiss even after I had done a tour down the side alley and back. However I knew that further sleep was pointless.
Monday night had been peculiar because after watching the Manchester United game I had studiously avoided watching any more TV and conincidentally or not I had avoided eating and drinking alcohol. This is good for me but the downside was when bedtime came I was still alert and took a long time getting off to sleep. Then of course I had the early morning rude awakening and so sleep has been a little rationed so far. Doubtless I will make up for it with an afternoon nap but I had planned an afternoon session at the gym to try out a midweek session and compare it with my usual weekend slots.
The reason for the gym session was that when walking home in the early hours of Monday morning having celebrated the New Year at our friends', David and Jacquie, I felt tight across the chest and had difficulty breathing, which wasn't helped by the wind. My best beloved was concerned by my condition. However the point was brought home to me that I was out of condition and overweight - and the realisation was unpleasant!
I had heard somewhere that a TV programme Truth about Food, which is being broadcast on Thursday I believe, tried an experiment with volunteers who were given a diet of fruit and raw vegetables (5kg per day) as this compared with that of an ape or gorilla. The diet lasted 12 days and there were remarkable losses of weight but more importantly a reduction in cholestrol and blood pressure, etc. (I am not sure what the etc was but there were other benefits identified as well). Hence my brunch on Monday was entirely a fruit one. The good effect was spoiled by sausage rolls and dinky donuts at my firstborn's house while watching pompey scrape a 1-1 home draw with Spurs. We need a proven striker and a left back as a matter of urgency. My choices would be Wayne Bridge or Gabriel Heinze, Keith Richardson, Robert Earnshaw, David Nugent and Shaun Wright Phillips. With these sort of addition (at considerable expense I admit) we would be in with a real chance of Europe next season and doing something when we are there. I would like to see Fernandes confirmed as a Pompey player and I would also consider bringing Allessandres back.
So, avid reader, what did I do in the hours between 3.30 and the present one of writing (7.20 a.m. approx.)? I took the advice of Archimedes (see links) and drew up my wine list! After that I had a severe rash of listmania and made lists of guests to be invited to a pre-nuptial gathering in Bradford being planned for Easter Sunday and for Saturday dinners at home. I updated my Task List which I maintain on Microsoft Outlook.
My blog writing was then interrupted by the appearance of best beloved who never sleeps beyond 5.30 whether it is a workday or a holiday. But today she had slept through to 7.24 a.m. ! She wasn't greatly concerned as she is going into school as a pre term set up day and therefore timing is flexible, but it shows times are a-changing at the Corrigan household. There is a number of layers of meaning in that last statement but for now, dear reader, I will leave the nuances to you while I go and breakfast royally!