… because the clocks went forward on Sunday morning, making my usual wake-up time of around 6:45 happen an hour earlier according to my body clock - which unfortunately can’t be adjusted by turning a little dial.

On the other hand, despite my brain being insistent that it was too-early o’clock when the alarm went off, I didn’t actually have any trouble getting up, showered, dressed and organised for my drive and my day. If only that were the case every day!

At least I had a very quiet weekend, with plenty of sleep. OK, I watched too many Buffy episodes, and I’m way behind on my writing for the month, but I went out for a lovely meal with Colin - the first time in months that we’d actually been out together. I even expanded my culinary horizons by eating beetroot - something I’ve been avoiding ever since primary school dinners, where the salad comprised a limp slice of ham, some limp lettuce, and some soggy beetroot.

Also today, I am mostly … buying Easter eggs and bunnies

… but not chocolate ones. I paid a visit to Lush at lunchtime, to buy some of their Easter-themed bath ballistics. My cold is still bad enough that I could barely smell anything in there, so I might have to wait until my sense of smell is back before I actually use any of my ballistics.

… for the first time in a week. I’ve had a rotten stinking cold that may or may not have been exacerbated by hayfever. It was hard to tell - neither decongestant or anti-histamines seemed to be doing the trick to start with, although thankfully Sudafed is doing its stuff now. There have definitely been cold-elements, a sore throat and cough amongst them, but I do get hayfever this early in the year as I’m allergic to some tree pollen, and the willow in my garden is covered in highly-sexed catkins at the moment.

Anyway, I finally made it up to Belfast today after a few days of cowering at home, being way too full of snot to want to inflict it on other people. I’m still very snotty (and some sod had used up the box of tisses I’d left in work) but it’s under control at last. Especially since I got some very nice soft tissues at lunchtime - I actually went for a bit of a walk in the sunshine, and bought 2 second-hand books and some Mexican takeaway. Not that I could taste my lunch though apart from, weirdly, the cheese. Oh well.

It’s been a really quiet week anyway. I did very little on the weekend except watch the last matches of this year’s 6 Nations. I was disappointed that Wales didn’t manage to win their match, of course, but it was quite sweet to see Ireland get their first Grand Slam in 61 years. I can afford to be magnanimous as well, seeing as Wales have had 2 in the past 5 years…

I’ve mostly been watching an awful lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 4 or 5 episodes a day. I’m up to the start of Season 3 now, thanks to the box set of DVDs I splurged on last month (well, they were ridiculously cheap). Watching Buffy has taken the place of reading for me for a while, which feels a bit weird - but not that much, since watching it is almost the equivalent of reading a favourite novel. Character development, plot points, and wanting to experience what happens next even though I know what is going to happen…

Speaking of TV, of course, it was the last ever episode of Battlestar Galactica on Tuesday. I watched by myself since Colin was in work, and I’m glad I did since I unashamedly cried myself to a headache. I was about 90% satisfied with what happened, which isn’t a bad percentage. And that’s another box set I’ll need to buy…

… for oh-so-many reasons, of which the biggest for me is that it’s where I live. I moved here in 2000, when the peace process was already well underway, and things have improved steadily here year on year.

And apart from a stupid, brain-dead, ignorant, violent few (many of whom are in their teens and early 20s and can’t even remember the Troubles), most of the people in Northern Ireland want things to just stay peaceful, thank you very much.

To that end, yesterday there were peace rallies in several towns and cities across NI. And since I was in Belfast yesterday, I went down to the one at City Hall. Couldn’t hear the speakers very well; could hear the piper (although his high notes sounded a bit wrong); could definitely hear how several thousand people can all be silent at once.

Things might get a bit fucked-up again. (Note that I don’t normally swear on this blog, but this is something that calls for strong language.) I really really really hope not.

Also today, I am mostly … not being a wimp

… while getting more of my skin tags removed, since the doctor went straight for the liquid nitrogen this time. No scalpels involved. On the downside, he was poking some of the smaller ones, which meant the surrounding skin got scalded as well, and will probably be painful for quite a while.

So I have multiple pains in the neck at the moment. It’ll all be worth it though. One more visit should see the majority of them gone for good.

… on a potato.

Marion bought me a Bonsai Potato kit back from the States a couple of trips ago (though they’re also available in the UK), and I’ve forgotten to use it at all. But today I spotted it on the bookshelves, realised I had a perfect potato sprouting in the cupboard, and decided to finally have a go.

So I give you…. *drum roll please* ……

SPUDTHULU!

Of course, it (he?) has much growing to do. And I haven’t done more than trimmed off some of his hairier bits, so far. But I sense that my relationship with this potato will be a long and happy one - although I might need to put him back in the dark for a bit.

… because it’s for charidee, after all.

Well, that’s not the only reason I’ve been checking out the Red Nose Day climb webpage, following its Twitter feed, listening to the updates on Radio 1, and watching the online video footage. I’m genuinely very very impressed that 9 celebrities, some of whom wouldn’t be in obviously the best physical shape (looking at you, Moyles, and you, Girls Aloud), have managed to climb pretty much all the way up Mount Kilimanjaro. They should reach the summit tonight, and moreover, they’ve raised more than a million quid for Comic Relief.

I couldn’t do it, and I wouldn’t even want to try. I have done a few charity challenges though. The last was a sponsored swim a few years ago - 50 lengths, and I spent the last 10 of them cursing the person who hadn’t shown up, thus meaning we had to split 200 lengths between 4 of us instead of 5.

And of course, back when I was in school, I took part in the annual walk to Bethlehem. That’s Bethlehem in west Wales - the place they feature every Christmas on the news as a ‘light item’ because you can have cards postmarked there. The total length of the 3-day walk from Barry to Bethlehem was 64 miles, and I did it twice (5th and 6th years) although I admit I had a ride in the van for a short while both times due to hideous blisters. It was good fun despite the effort and sore feet; I have fond memories of singing our way down the A48, although not so fond ones of the weird soup we used to be given for final-day lunch by Ammanford Round Table.

The Bethlehem walk also had a rather lasting effect on me too, in the form of shin splints; I’ve suffered from them ever since, alas.

Also today, I am mostly … trying to write

… because I’ve promised myself that I’d do a personal Novel Writing Month - MyNoWriMo - during March. By the end of today, I should have written 9,678 words. So far I have 1,125. I have a bit of catching up to do.

Better get on with it…

… according to the song that I was singing in my head when I woke up this morning. I might have heard it in one of the bursts that’s all my radio alarm clock gets (see my recent poem, Nine Minutes!) but I can’t be sure. It might just have been today’s earworm.

I loved this song when it came out and got to #1, back in 1991 - we all did. I remember us playing it over and over at a party - probably till we were sick of it.

But here it is - here’s one-hit wonder Chesney, in all his early 90s glory. (Well, ok, he had another hit as well, I’m a Man Not a Boy, that got to #27 later that year - I can’t remember it though.)