So I’ve diverted her from the blog whilst I try and come up with something unique for us to do together. Obviously the area around Porthmadog is full of some of the most beautiful landscapes and views you could imagine, but it’s also more than a bit freezing and dark at this time of year. And that’s coming from somebody who spends alot of his life standing outside on the rugby field!

Having called around a few of the local restaurants, it seems a few, including Katy’s favourite, are already full. Where are all these romantic men, coming from? Most the lads I know down the pub think I’m soft for even thinking about it. Of course, we in Wales have a very special traditional offering of the lovespoon. The Welsh Lovespoon has been around since the 17th century, and is given to women by men who have spent months carving intricate designs into the wooden shape. Sounds nice, but it’s only 2 weeks away and I’ve got a load of work on, so it looks like it might be chocolates after all. Maybe if I start carving my Lovespoon now, I’ll have something really special to give her in 2013.

Aside from sport, the other big love of my life is keeping me awake at night at the moment – motors. Although maybe don’t tell Katie I said that. It’s a good job that Katy likes cars though, she’s pretty useful in my quest for a new model to be spinning around the valleys in come the Summer time. At the moment, we’ve got our hearts set on a used Peugeot 3008. I’ll be taking a quick straw poll down the pub this weekend and we’ll see what my mates reckon, and then I think I’ll probably go for it. I think sometimes I spend too much time dithering about stuff, and it’ll be just my luck that as soon as I get round to getting hold of the thing, somebody else might have driven it off into the sunset.

Then again, I never stick with cars for too long overall. I was wondering, is there more chance of me still having a the same car by 2014, or the Welsh winning the footy world cup? I’m not sure either is very likely at the moment!

I was so gutted when they lost to France in the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup. Not as gutted as the team themselves, I’m sure, but I really couldn’t believe it. They’d done brilliantly in the pool stages, beating Fiji, Namibia and Samoa (though not South Africa), then took victory against Ireland in the quarterfinals, with a 22-10 score. It was amazing. The last time they got that far was 1987 – 24 years ago. But against France in 2011, captain Sam Warburton was sent off halfway through the first half… and the rest, as they say, is history.

In the Six Nations, three of their five games are scheduled for Cardiff, which is promising. They’re in Poland at the moment, at a training camp, to get up to scratch before the tournament kicks off. I always get Poland mixed up with Portugal in my head, for some reason… they’re similar words. I’m sure they’d rather be in the latter, from a weather point of view, but never mind. Even European holiday destinations aren’t particularly warm in January.

It’ll be the first big competition I’ll have watched with Katie, which I’m also looking forward to. She’s never really known much about rugby, but seems to be developing an interest. Not that she’s got much choice, with me around. I’ve always loved it… I suppose because we played it at school. There’s often a split between those who focus on football at school and those who do rubgy. I do like footy too, but rugby has always been my game of choice.

Seriously, I am SO excited.

A friend of mine mentioned that the Mazda 2 is a great car – and having done a bit of research, I’m inclined to agree with him. It won the World Car Of The Year award in 2008, for starters. Described by Mazda as a ’supermini’, it’s a sporty vehicle, rather than the more practical style I was leaning towards before. But I haven’t really had a ‘fun’ car before, so I’m tempted.

It’s inspired by the MX-5, to some degree, with every part of the vehicle having been double-checked for excess weight and lightweight but strong materials used throughout. This means it’s surprisingly swift and yet still really tough for a small car.

The Mazda 2 is also good for the environment, which I like. Well, I say ‘good’ – what I mean is that it’s better than many other cars, as its engine is Euro Stage 5 compliant. This means it has relatively low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

I’m probably sounding geeky now. That’s what Katie would say, anyway. Fortunately, she likes cars too – I think she’s secretly quite excited about the prospect of a new one. Well, it won’t be quite new, as I think I’ll have to go for a second-hand one – but the quality of some second-hand cars is amazing. I don’t think a used Mazda 2 would fall far short of a brand new one. A bit more research and hopefully I’ll make a decision soon – though, knowing me, I’ll have changed my mind at least five times by the time I’m ready to buy.

I can’t believe that was so many years ago. I was pretty young at the time, but even then I loved F1 and it was such a tragedy. The event had been quite a complicated one, with several crashes and other incidents – and then, when Senna was leading the race on 1 May, on lap number seven, his car left the track on a fast corner and hit the retaining wall. It was going at 205 miles per hour at the time. Senna received medical treatment almost immediately, but died later in hospital.

There was lots of controversy surrounding the accident for many years afterwards, with Williams even being investigated for manslaughter. The cause was eventually identified as a steering column failure, which the Italian court ruled was due to bad design and ‘badly executed modifications’.

This is partly why some people are surprised that the Senna family has reunited with Williams, but such accidents are never clear-cut – and it was a very long time ago. With regard to his new opportunity, Bruno himself said that he believes ‘things in life happen for a reason’ and that everyone in his family is ‘ecstatic’.

By coincidence, this season is the first time that Williams cars will have Renault engines since 1997. In 1994, when Ayrton Senna both joined the team and lost his life, the team was known as Williams Renault.

I, for one, can’t help wondering whether we’ll see echoes of Ayrton Senna’s incredible talent in Bruno.

While they’re up in that direction, my dad has promised to take a look at used cars north west dealers have on sale, to see if anything takes his fancy. I think he has started to pay attention to my insistence that he needs a new one. His old one is so bad that they’re actually hiring one to drive to the Lakes!

Like where we live now, the Lakes is somewhere that you really do need a car to make the most of. There are trains and buses, and of course you can walk and cycle – or sail! – but to get to the more remote locations you need to use the roads.

I can’t imagine not having a car, now. I know they’re not good for the environment, but my theory is that unless we carry on using cars, demand for alternative fuel methods won’t be there – and so they won’t develop further. If I could afford a hybrid car, I’d definitely get one. I think it’s a great idea. Some people love traditional petrol engines and will always choose those over alternatives, but if we work towards a world where the ‘norm’ is alternative fuel – and petrol engines are a curiosity – it would be much better.

It’d be safer, too. Petrol is dangerous. It blows up! If most cars on the road were electric, the risk of vehicle fires would be surely massively reduced.

I mustn’t talk about this to my parents, though. My mum’s nervous enough about venturing outside Wales as it is.

We’ve got to host an assembly next month, on local history, and I’m wondering which topic to focus on. It’s such a wide area. Though we might end up dealing with several, as even though 15 minutes sounds like a short time, I can already tell it’ll feel like ages!

I’m learning quite a few things I didn’t already know – and finding them surprisingly interesting. Porthmadog apparently started off as a port for exporting slate to England, in the early 1800s. You’d think it was older than that, but it’s very much a product of the industrial revolution. Well, in an indirect way – the cities in England were growing fast and needed slate for house roofs. Porthmadog had a good natural harbour, so the slate was put on to ships there bound for England, after being transported down from quarries.

The town started to spring up around the tramway tracks which carried the slate – and by the 1840s there were shops, a post office… and a pub, naturally! The name of the port was actually coined in the 1930s, as the founder was an Englishman named William Madocks. Though apparently there are some rumours that it was instead named after a character called Madog. The story goes that he was a Welsh prince who travelled to America 300 years before Christopher Columbus. I don’t know if I believe that, but it’s a fascinating story to explore!

I’m the opposite… I’m always excited about buying new things for myself! I got a car not so long ago, at short notice, but I have thought a lot about changing it for something more suitable in a few months’ time.

My dad’s also very stingy about money. I know it’s not nice to badmouth your parents, but it’s all affectionately meant… and it has to be said: if there’s cash to be saved, he’ll save it. I even have to watch out for him when we go to the pub together, to make sure he doesn’t swindle me when it comes to buying rounds!

I think a good second-hand car is the best answer for him. Nowhere near as old as his current one, of course, but something he can get for a good price that’ll be dependable. That’s the problem with his present one – it’s only a matter of time before it breaks down completely. Mending it is such a waste of time.

I’ve suggested a cheap used Renault Scenic, as they’re a good size and look more expensive than they are. They’re really reliable, too. I’ll try to force the issue over dinner tonight, as Katie and I are eating with my parents. I reckon he’ll listen more once he’s had a few drinks.

I’m just as bad. Obviously I get a certain amount of exercise in my job, running about teaching PE, but December and the start of January always mean extra food and drink – and I need to put in additional effort to work that off, just like everyone else. But, much as I’d like to continue the additional workouts all year round, I just can’t stay motivated enough. I may do sport for a living and love it, but I’m still human! When there are things like bingo and the pub to enjoy, and nights in front of the TV with Katie, it just seems a bit sad to pound the streets on a daily basis.

About two or three sessions of exercise a week is generally sufficient. That’s what I aim for. It’s good to be active for at least 30 minutes a day (and by active I mean moving enough to raise your heart rate). There are lots of activities you can try, if you don’t like running. If you have a bike you can cycle – or consider getting a static exercise bike for your home. That way, it doesn’t matter what the weather is like.

Classes are also a really good way of getting fit – and in a way they’re easier, because someone else plans the exercise for you. You just have to carry it out, and you’re more likely to do it than when you’re on your own. From yoga and pilates to step aerobics and spinning, there’s usually something for all tastes at your local gym. There’s my bit of professional advice for the week!

New Year was great – we went to see Katie’s family and I got on with everyone like a house on fire. Very relieved about that! It’s the first time I’ve spent New Year away from my own family and friends, so I did miss them, of course – but it was nice to do something different, and good to see Katie on her home turf and find out more about her background. Her mum got out all the embarrassing childhood photos, of course. That was nice revenge, seeing as she’s already seen all mine!

We took quite a scenic route, on the train there and back… which was lovely. Not cheap, though. Don’t get me wrong – it was worth it, but I really need to keep my costs down for January. It’s incredible how expensive Christmas can be, in general, even when you’ve tried to have a cheap one. It’s things like the coffees you stop off for when Christmas shopping, or a bit of lunch – it all adds up.

I was already looking at debt consolidation loans before Christmas, but now I need to really get a move on and think about actually doing it. My debt isn’t very bad compared to a lot of people… it’s mostly from my university days and a few immature spending sprees when I first started working for a living and got carried away. But I still want to make sure I’m managing it properly. January is a good time for looking for loans and similar services, as banks have sales, just like everyone else!