Christmas 2011 was possibly my favourite Christmas of all time. I haven’t had time to write about it yet but I expect I will bore you soon.

Anyhoo, if you’re into resolutions it’s time to make them. And/or break them by Friday. I don’t do resolutions, but we have decided 2012 is the year we decorate at least part of the house. We will have been here for two years in April and we have yet to change anything about it. And there’s quite a lot that we want to change.

Mr TOPP has set rules though. He has lived with me long enough to know that once I get an idea I can be a bit like a bull in a china shop. I like to think of it as enthusiasm. He probably thinks of it as bloody annoying.

The main rule (other than keeping away from power tools) is that we get rid of all the crap we have around the house. Not actual crap, that’d be gross. More the piles of stuff we don’t have a home for/want to ebay. Currently our bedroom has approximately eleventy seven bags full of stuff to sell/charity shop. We have agreed that we will try to shift most all of it in January so that I can set about destroying decorating the dining room in February half term six weeks and counting.

Want to join in? You are very welcome. Just set yourself a goal for the month – your very own Personal Challenge. At the beginning of the month, decide what it is that you want to achieve over the next thirty days. It could be anything: losing a couple of pounds, getting the weeding done, making something, learning a new skill. Whatever you like. Putting my management hat on for a second: make sure it is something you can actually achieve in a month. Be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-based). Write a post about what you want to achieve and why. If you link back to my post then others can join in too – you can use the badge if you like (the code is over on the right there).

Make sure you put the link to your post on the linky list at the bottom of mine (it’s open for two weeks). Use the opportunity to seek advice from/help out/support fellow bloggers. Then spend the next month attempting to achieve your goal. At the end of the month I’ll be back to let you know how I have got on with my personal challenge and there will be another linky for you to share your success. So come back and tell us how you got on and we can all give you a pat on the back.