Now that I've put iTunes back on my computer I decided to join Last FM to spread my music tastes to the world! I've only added up to the C's into iTunes (I have a lot of music!) so the figures at present are a bit distorted, plus it's early days. However if you want to take a look at what I'm listening to right now feel free – Last FM Profile.

I've created a new category for our plans and preparations for Italy. Sad as it sounds I'm pretty excited about this trip probably because it's somewhere I've never been before (well besides a couple of hours in Merano!), somewhere I've been wanting to go to and it'll be a at least a fortnight away from the world. I can't stop talking about it to people, some of whom think I'm mad for wanting to drive there however the flexibility and freedom is so much more appealing this way. If we decide to stop an extra day or two somewhere then we just come home an extra day or two later. I won't book a ferry home but simply turn up and see what deal we can get.

I've been looking through various books in the book shops to get a really good book on Italy which will give us an idea about where to go, when to avoid and the sights to see. After looking through a variety of books I settled on the Rough Guide to Italy which has a lot of street maps of the major cities and the mini guide book I had for Paris was from the same makers and that was great, this book is about 3-4 times bigger so should be a good bedtime read for a couple of weeks.

Whilst looking for a book on Italy I also saw a couple of books of hotels and places to stay. Figuring that we'll probably not prebook apart from perhaps Sicily (even then I'd rather not fix myself to any specific day/time), I've decided to also buy what I found to be a reasonably good guide and the most recent book called Italien Bed and Breakfasts. This book lists B&Bs that all offer ensuite rooms along with a little information of each area.

So both of these books have just been ordered from Amazon and should be here within the week I hope. Great tip for anyone not already in the know – if you go to your local bookshop such as Borders, look over the books you're interested in then rather than noting the price and going home to search on cheaper prices online just go to amazon.co.uk on WAP (if you have it). You get a simple search where you can put the ISBN or name of the book in and see the price offered by Amazon, then decide from there whether it's a worthwhile saving! The two books I've ordered have had a saving of over £10 – 34% plus free postage, as obvious as it sounds I know plenty of people who still pay the full price for books as they're in the shop and have the book in their hand.

I'm also learning some basic Italian and will have to practise with my friend who studied Italian at University, plus my Uncle, who is Italian! Hmm maybe I should find some family who we could stay with for a night or two to help cut expenses!!

It's been a week of the new year and so far I've stayed pretty much on track with my new health and exercise regime. Even whilst out I've managed to still pile on the vegetables with meals (Pizza with very little cheese – well a lot less than I'm used to!, and covered in chargrilled vegetables). I've not touched alcohol, but this isn't too much of an issue for me so it's not so much of an accomplishment! I've been jogging on my trampette every morning besides Wednesday and Friday which I went out shopping on and probably walked further anyhow! The whole 3 fruit plus 5 veg a day is hard going however, mainly because I'm not a major lover of veg and I feel like I'm over eating with the fruit. I usually eat breakfast and often still don't feel hungry come lunch time. I know you shouldn't wait until you feel hungry to eat and so I do try to ensure I've eaten by 2pm at the latest, however with eating fruit as well by the time the evening comes I have no appetite for dinner at all!

I've not started with the boxing mitts yet so that's next on the list. If it actually stopped raining for a few hours we'd maybe even go out for a quick ride on the bikes but in the current weather I really don't fancy leaving the house let alone sitting on a bike!

Still I think the hardest week is over – getting into the routine of exercise, once I'm in the routine I usually manage to stick to it better.

In with the new, out with the old, what's in store for 2007?

Well, we've started preliminary planning of our summer holiday – a fortnight away driving to and around Italy. The new car has been great doing round trips to both Cardiff (3.5 hours each way) and to my parents (3 hours each way). It's so comfortable to drive, spacious inside and is pretty economical on petrol. We were planning to fly to Italy and then use the trains to get around the country but I then had the great idea of driving out there. It simply means that we don't have to prebook and can just aim for a fortnight and providing work is under control we can easily go, but on the other hand if something runs on longer than expected or something happens it means that we can just delay going away for a few days or so. I'm really looking forward to the trip which we'll take somewhere between July and September depending on work, the heat and any carnivals that may be going on out there. We'll be planning out the definite places we want to see but any suggestions are always welcome The main point as well with this trip is that it will be paid for with money earnt via our AIS sites, money made with little work involved, which I think is pretty cool!

This year I hope to keep a better grip and control on my work and business. Last year it spiralled out of control and I got pretty stressed which has made me ill and I'm still suffering. I'm finally tying up loose ends of a few sites left over and am planning to just take on one project at a time. I also want to ensure that we're not losing money/time as right now the income doesn't reflect the time worked. However on a good note, turnover is about £3,000 off last years already so the figures are on the up still

So the new year resolution is mainly to lose weight and get fit. Broken down this means that I want to ensure I eat 3 fruit and 5 veg a day, keep the fat intake down to cooking and buttering and try and eat at the right times of the day (and not forget to eat lunch!). It also means I need to exercise as I do very little of that now! Due to this and also the pain I'm still suffering inside at times from the Gastritis I've decided to give up alcohol for a couple of months. I don't drink that much anyhow, once a week usually, but I've decided to completely cut it out.

So that's about it really. Plan for the holiday and lose weight. Hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year and let's hope 2007 is even better than 2006

It's been a bit quiet round here which is the complete opposite of my daily life right now! Apologies to anyone who's been getting annoyed about the lack of posts, once Christmas and New Year has past I'm hoping to get back into my usual routine. I've neglected all of my blogs and online projects over the past couple of weeks as I've just not had much spare time at all.

Part of this has been from work. I've been trying to finish off the work I have left so that I can try and start the New year with a clean slate. I've almost got all of this done now however with the Christmas period oncoming clients have stopped responding leaving me to just guess on some work and not finish other stuff. I've got loose ends to tie up on one site, another site which we're ploughing through pretty quick and then that just leaves my ongoing work with my contract job and another large site I maintain. So the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter!

We came down to my parents last Sunday as I had meetings in London at the start of the week and needed to sit down with my Mum to go over my accounts and that looming tax bill that's due next month (all donations welcome!). It's been pretty cold down here and also foggy. I have to say that cars with two fog lights are extremely worse that cars with one, especially when people don't know when to use them and when not to. Last night we popped out to pick up a couple of final presents. Figured 7.30pm was a good time to go out. Visibility was at about 75-100m with wisps of fog around but I could see cars coming from far away fine. Yet so many people were driving around with their rear and front fog lights on, dazzling everyone without a thought for the poor sod (me) behind them. I can vaguely remember learning for my driving theory test that 10m was the minimum distance of visibility before you should put on fog lights, otherwise normal lights would suffice. The Highway code website now simply says to use them sparingly and remember to turn them off, but I wish they'd put a proper alert out on the television to explain to people how to drive in this fog. We've had it for almost a week now so it's not like it's a one off thing, but people clearly can't drive in it properly.

We'll be driving back home on Boxing Day to go to our second Christmas day with Dave's family. Hopefully we won't hit the traffic we did last year which was pretty stagnant on the M6. At least this time we're more aware of the cross country short cuts if we need them. Then it's back to work on Wednesday and possibly shopping in Birmingham on Friday with my Mum Will see what warm thick clothes I can pick up as all of my trousers seem to be as thin as anything!

Anyhow, that's a quick round up, I'm off to look through my boxes of what else I can take home with me this time. Have a Merry Christmas and good New Year.