THERE is no doubt about it, this bit between Christmas and New Year is nothing short of weird.

I am sure I speak for most of us when I say I have absolutely no idea what day of the week it is and am mostly focusing on what I can eat next, while trying to ignore how tight my jeans are.

It will all come good once January 1 is over with... or at least that is what I keep telling myself. Sitting down to write this week has not been easy. For a start I had to go and change into my PJs just so I could sit down at all. But also, getting my brain into gear as I struggle to come out of my cheese and chocolate coma is quite the challenge.

While having a think about what to tell you this week, I found myself disappearing down an online rabbit hole, reading back over the year’s events. It was quite the year in politics in 2019 but you know me, I stay well clear of that in the public arena. I have my views, I just choose not to share them. We are all entitled to our opinions but, however you look at it, political opinion is divisive and that is not what I am about. Besides, sometimes it is good to have a bit of respite from what has been a highly charged year, politically speaking.

So instead I have been reminding myself of the other newsworthy moments 2019 brought us. Good news stories were few and far between, so shall we start with the controversy that was the launch of the Greggs vegan sausage roll in January?

The meat-free, pastry-wrapped snack sparked debate across all forms of media, but saw a huge surge in sales for the bakery chain. In fact, Greggs could barely keep up with the demand as it capitalised on Veganuary and had to up its game and ensure all of their stores were fully stocked with the exciting new twist on a classic. As a result, its shares increased by more than 13 percent seeing it become the highest performer on the FTSE 100 at the time. I am yet to try one, so perhaps that will be my New Year’s resolution for 2020. I like to keep it realistic.

In more serious news, 2019 has been a big year for climate change campaigners and thank goodness for that. We all got to know 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who has become an international spokeswoman on the subject.

She has spoken bluntly and passionately about the detrimental effect humans are having on our planet and now regularly addresses world leaders about the climate crisis and what needs to be done. Greta was also responsible for large-scale climate change protests attended by school-aged children around the word in a bid to make policy makers take action.

Earlier this year she sailed to New York from the UK on a carbon-neutral racing yacht to attend the UN Climate Action Summit, and has since been named the 2019 Person of the Year by Time magazine, as well as being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Moving to high street news, it has not been a good year for LK Bennett, Debenhams, Jamie Oliver’s restaurant group, Mothercare or Thomas Cook, who all went into administration.

While Debenhams stores are set to close in their droves next year, affecting thousands of jobs, Thomas Cook stores were rescued when Hays Travel bought their entire retail portfolio of 555 shops. Thanks to Sunderland couple John and Irene Hays and their independent travel company, more than 2,000 Thomas Cook jobs were saved.

There has been no such happy ending so far for Prince Andrew this year who was connected to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein through video footage taken at Epstein’s mansion in 2010. The Duke has since stepped down from royal duties for the foreseeable future while the scandal plays out.

We lost some big names in the showbiz world this year too. Actor Windsor Davies, designer Karl Lagerfeld, comedian Freddie Starr, children’s author Judith Kerr, TV chef Gary Rhodes and broadcaster Clive James were among the celebrities who sadly passed away in 2019. Most tragically, both Prodigy frontman Keith Flint, 49, and reality TV star Mike Thalassitis, 26, were found hanged, separately, in March this year.

So let me end on some happy news. Aside from the birth of a new prince, Archie, to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, it has fallen to the world of sport to save us. First up, England’s incredible campaign in the FIFA Women’s World Cup... their semi-final against the US being the most watched British TV programme of the year.

But for me the sporting moment of 2019 was England winning the Cricket World Cup in an astonishing match against New Zealand on boundary count. I was brought up on cricket and have never seen a game like it. And I am sure I am not the only one who fell madly in love with Ben Stokes.