So what are you looking forward to in 2011?
The Royal Wedding of William and Kate perhaps? Or what about the Rugby Union World Cup?
The key date in the diaries of many political animals will be Thursday May 5th. This will see the coalition government's first big test of public opinion as voters across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire go to the polls in the local elections.
May 5th is also the date of the first UK-wide referendum since 1975, when voters were asked to decide whether we should remain part of what was then called the Common Market.
This time a very different question will appear on the ballot papers: "Do you want the United Kingdom to adopt the 'alternative vote' system instead of the current 'first past the post' system for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons?"
If you are not familiar with the proposals surrounding changes to the voting system here's a summary...Under the AV system, voters rank candidates in their constituency in order of preference. Anyone getting more than 50% of first-preference votes is elected. If no-one gets 50% of votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their backers' second choices allocated to those remaining. This process continues until one candidate has at least 50% of all votes cast.
The Yes and No to AV campaigns have already swung into action, with the Liberal Democrats broadly in favour of changing the voting system and the Conservatives largely against.
Much attention will be focussed on where Labour's big beasts stand on this issue. The Shadow Chancellor and Hull West MP Alan Johnson is a long-standing supporter of electoral reform.
However, his Hull neighbour Lord Prescott is less enthusiastic. The former Deputy Prime Minister has described the AV referendum and government proposals to create fewer, more equal-sized constituencies as a "poisonous package" which Labour must fight against.
It's a subject we'll debating when the Politics Show for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire returns on Sunday 16th January, 2011.
Council chiefs in North East Lincolnshire have defended a decision to hire a £70,000 senior manager to look at ways of saving money.
The authority's vacancy for a 'Future Shape Programme Manager' has been criticised by the Conservative MP for Cleethorpes, Martin Vickers, who said he was "appalled" by the decision.
Andrew Allison - a local campaigner for the Taxpayers' Alliance - describes the position as a "non-job."
North East East Lincolnshire is among the councils facing the maximum 8.9% reduction in government funding next year.
Many of the people I spoke to on the streets of Grimsby appeared slightly bewildered by the job description.
Here's the response from North East Lincolnshire Council...
"Future Shape is the biggest change programme the council has ever embarked upon. It involves reshaping what we do and how we do it.
We want to improve experiences and outcomes for the people and businesses of North East Lincolnshire. To do this we need to be adaptable and future proof, plus we will have to be a smaller and smarter organisation.
Over the next couple of years, it is the Future Shape programme of projects that will enable us to deliver the change required in times of unprecedented financial challenge. We have to invest in the right people to deliver this programme because it is crucial that we don't fail.
The programme manager will steer a team that will oversee £9-million of the £29.7-million we need to save because of the government's comprehensive spending review. The appointment is at a senior level in the organisation and that is reflected in the salary and importance of the post.
These are difficult times for everyone in local government and we have to have the best team in place to see us through the turbulent years. Unlike other local authorities who have engaged expensive private consultants, we are doing this with our own staff and recruiting to this in-house team."
Over the next few days, town halls across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire will be digesting the outcome of the local government grant settlement. This is the money councils will receive from Whitehall to provide services in 2011/12.
The Communities and Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles, has warned councils to prepare for a "tough and challenging settlement". Following the recent spending review, most authorities are preparing for cuts of between 25% and 30% over the next four years.
Mr Pickles doesn't mince his words in an interview for this week's Politics Show in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
The straight-talking former Tory leader of Bradford Council warns our local authorities they should go much further in tightening their belts. He told me: "What I really want to see is the frontline protected. I want to see chief executives take a pay cut. I want to see top management merge with other councils. I want to see planning departments and legal departments merge.
Mr Pickles added: "I want to share back office services so we can protect the frontline. And I'm afraid that quite a lot of councils are living in the past".
Eric Pickles even praised the BBC as an organisation that had managed to cut down on duplication and was delivering a multi-skilled workforce.
So if you can excuse me at this point, I must break off and go and sweep the studio floor.
Well it's officially a record breaker...
Our very own king of meteorology Paul Hudson has just blogged that we've had the coldest night ever recorded in Yorkshire.
It seems that everyone has their own thoughts on why we struggle to cope with severe weather, compared with some of our European neighbours. It's our main talking point on this week's Politics Show in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
Council leaders across our patch say they've done everything possible to keep the roads clear as the treacherous conditions made travelling a misery for those who had to venture out in their vehicles.
The leader of Lincolnshire County Council, Martin Hill, told me: "It's very frustrating as we all get used to jumping in the car and driving off and expecting the roads to be clear. I think what you have got to accept is that we can only do so much. The gritters have been out continuously over the past few days and as fast as they come in they are loaded up with salt and out they go again".
As South Yorkshire suffered its heaviest December snowfall on record - closing hundreds of schools - the leader of Sheffield City Council said he was looking at ways of minimising disruption to family life.
Councillor Paul Scriven said: "I think it's really important that teachers in these difficult circumstances, if they can't get to the school they normally work at, go to the school nearest to them.
He added: "It has been slower than I would have liked because the trade unions are asking questions and don't feel it may be the best idea. I just think it is a good idea to get teachers into the school nearest to where they live so that children can be educated and parents can get about their normal day".
Meanwhile, all the councils I have spoken to this week say they have enough salt in reserve to last the length of an average winter. But of course this is turning out to be no average winter.
I'm Tim Iredale, the BBC's Political Editor in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and presenter of the regional Politics Show. This is strictly a "no-spin" zone where the political viewpoint is more Humber Bridge than Westminster Bridge. Your comments and observations are more than welcome. 
