January’s over (finally) and so it’s time to train the dog, make some life changes, and plan for St Patrick’s Day. No rest for the wicked!

FIRST things first, let’s give each other a hearty clap on the back for getting through what might have been the longest January in living memory.

It was touch and go at times but we made it and the gas thing is that time will pick up a fierce pace now.

February is practically over already and sure the year will be gone before we know it. Joking. Kind of. 

The St Brigid’s bank holiday was lovely (if a bit underwhelming, more on this below), there’s mid-term coming up, and it will be St Patrick’s weekend in the blink of an eye. So let’s stay focussed and intentional before we realise it’s mid-March. 

With that in mind, I heard a radio interview with world famous hypnotist Paul McKenna who has re-written his best-selling book, Change Your Life in 7 Days, and he had my full interest when he said that 80% of people will have failed their resolutions at this stage of 2026. Oops. He didn’t have to make it so personal. He was saying how most people spend more time making a list for the supermarket than they do the next five years, and if you don’t have a direction in life, ‘it’s a bit like setting out in a boat without a rudder: you could end up anywhere.’ In a tactical move he didn’t share many concrete tips as such, so I’m still a bit rudderless and of course am contemplating buying the book. I used to be an absolute sucker for such self-help books. I had them all: books on how drop a dress size in five days, how to find a guy in three days, or lose him in six, how to manifest joy and wealth, not to mention being obsessed with the 2006 bestseller The Secret. I could have opened a little library for lost souls looking to outsource the answers to life. Then I bought the Mari Kondo books and she told me to get rid of the things that weren’t sparking joy for me, so I turfed them all out. Bad move: there’s every chance I already had Paul McKenna’s original book! Gah! I’m also taken with Eoin Magee’s new book, How to Achieve Financial Freedom, but I figure the best place to start is to stop buying books I probably don’t need? Let’s sleep on it. 

Anyway, we’ve been fortunate to escape the worst of the weather. I can handle the rain, but what I can’t handle is dogs and rain. I have no problem letting our (very large retriever) Billy indoors when he’s nice and dry. But when he’s covered top to toe in muck after running through sodden fields, I’m less inclined. He doesn’t see where I’m coming from and will follow me from window to window, looking in forlornly and getting even wetter, until I relent. And as soon as he’s inside he’ll shake himself furiously, spattering dirt in every direction as I roar ‘get on your bed’ while very much feeling like I need to take to my own. 

It’s not helping that along with his canine pal from next door, they’ve started rambling since Christmas and also following us in the car. It’s beyond annoying. Sometimes I turn back and put them in, sometimes I fling a sliotar out the window  to try to distract them (I’ve nearly broken the windscreen but it does work), and sometimes I keep going but it’s hit and miss if they’ll be there waiting for me when I return. 

Now, I’m not any busier than the next person but I do have better things to be doing than driving around looking for the two of them, only for them to appear from some random ditch, dripping in muck, and having to escort them home, with me calling them very name under the sun, and the two looking like they’re having the best day of their lives. 

In moments of fury I’ve looked online for solutions and any day now there’s a little boundary collar coming his way (husband’s idea) and he’s also booked in for a little ‘procedure’ (my idea), which may quieten his gallop a bit. He’s booked in for Friday, February 13th which some might think is unlucky, for poor Billy anyway, but it will be all behind him in time for Valentine’s Day. Who knows if either tactic will work but we’ll have to wait and see. 

I know the death of actor Catherine O’Hara is old news now but all the clips of Schitt’s Creek that were shared online after her departure reminded me what a fantastic talent she was, and what a great show it was. It also got me wondering why no one is making comedies anymore? I haven’t seen anything laugh-out-loud funny in an age. It’s a crime. 

I’m probably one of the very few who hasn’t seen Hamnet yet and please don’t judge me but I think I’d find it too…I don’t know…but I actually can’t wait for the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada. The trailer looks promising. 

I have admit I was shocked that the original film was released in 2006: that’s 20 years ago! I’m reserving judgement on RTÉ’s Those Sacred Vows. The first episode last Sunday night had some appeal, and I heard Tom Vaughan Lawlor being interviewed and he seemed really nice. That counts for a lot!

Right, so back to the Bank Holiday. Full disclosure: mine was wildly disappointing, but was an important reminder that it’s vital to have a plan in place for these bonus days off, or they just fall completely flat. Ours went a bit like this: we got up and wondered what the plan was, I went off for a walk and told the others to come up with a plan, I came back and there was still no plan, and when it became obvious there wasn’t going to be a plan we went for a wander around Dunnes and bought stuff we didn’t need which wasn’t planned. 

Then we abandoned any hopes of a plan and watched Kung Fu Panda 4 (I haven’t seen 1,2 or 3 but I can confirm that you’ll be able to keep up with the storyline and even have a little snooze too), then the Sunday night fear hit, but felt worse because it was Monday night and I realised all the things I’d normally have done on a Sunday, I still hadn’t done and it was a four-day week. 

Then, because there was so much to do I decided I was as well off to go to bed and do none of it. You’ll understand now why I’m flat out now making a plan for St Patrick’s weekend, but if you see me wandering aimlessly around Dunnes don’t say a word, please.