Is it really only just over a month since Christmas?

Is it me or is January actually the longest month of the year - by a long shot!

Now don't get me wrong, as the rest of the year flies by in a torrent of 'we really must do lunch' and 'good God I can't believe it's Friday already' I actually don't mind January moving at a more realistic pace. I just wonder why.

It is, of course, a 31-day month, but so is March, May, July, August, October and December and none of those seem to drag on and on and on. And yes, it is dark for most of it, but there again so is December.

I suspect (and I don't think I am alone in this) it's because it's the month after Christmas. The month in which most of it have less than no money because we got paid ridiculously early in December and spent ridiculous amounts of money thereafter. The month in which the low after the Christmas high is so low that even a three-year-old on red Smarties and Coke can barely be bothered having a tantrum in Asda.

To make matters worse, I have no less than seven family members with birthdays in January, including my own dearest husband. Who, I ask you, has the energy and imagination to even think about another batch of presents for one's spouse, let alone afford to buy them! Couldn't there be a law against birthdays in January? Shouldn't all January births be forced to be registered in February?

So it is with gladdened heart that I welcome February into my life. Already, it's early evening before the sun starts to go down, little bulbs are poking their heads out of the frozen earth in my raised beds and friends are emerging from their nests muttering words of dinner parties, theatre visits and even Sunday afternoon walks.

Yes, now that February is here the world is a brighter, happier more optimistic place. One colleague at work the other day stated that it was less than 11 months to Christmas 2011. "Gosh, it will be on us in no time," I responded most heartedly. And I meant it.