Happy New Year everyone! Another year has rolled around on us and we are looking at a new year full of possibilities and potential. Before we move forward with the new year, it is always a good idea to look back at the events of the past 12 months. This can be painful, especially if the year has not gone exactly as we wanted. However, we cannot move forward without looking back, otherwise history is doomed to repeat itself.
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Review of 2022
January
The year started with fresh determination to make some improvements. 2021 did not go as planned AT ALL. In fact, it was so bad, I couldn’t look back at it without my stomach twisting into knots. We were living in a house that we hated with the next door neighbour from Hell. And I know that we all say “things have to get better”, or some vague statement in the hope that the coming year won’t be as awful, I was determined to make some changes for the better. I took some measurements and made some notes. In 2021, I had subscribed to The Business Box and had found it to contain a lot of helpful tools, especially when it comes to goal setting. Using the information and tools, I started to make some plans. Would it work? I had no idea but I was willing to try. At the end of the month, we were dealt a terrible blow when our much-loved family dog, Buffy, had to be put to sleep after suffering a horrible back injury. Due to her age and the nature of the injury (degenerative myelopathy) we felt it would be better to have her put to sleep rather than suffer with the pain.
February
The beginning of the month was a fun time as we celebrated the littlest humans 3rd birthday. A random post on Facebook caught my eye and took me on a journey into food waste saving and community sharing. I started volunteering with Olio as a food waste hero and began collecting food waste at a local Tesco store. Two nights a week, I would load up my car with food that Tesco would have to dump, all of which was still perfectly fine to eat. I would dish it out to my friends and neighbours, freeze and store what I could. It felt good to help people out and share food from heading to a landfill. However, the housing situation was not helping my mental health. It took a lot to ensure that I didn’t slip into a state of depression.
March
March is always a fun month as we celebrated our 10 year anniversary together. It had been ten years since my husband had asked me out for a first date to an Indian. Despite it being a big milestone for our relationship, we decided to keep things low-key and ordered an Indian takeaway. One night, I got a real surprise when my wisdom tooth exploded. And I’m not joking when I say exploded! I was in the car, heading off to do an Olio collection from my local Tesco when I felt a pop in the back of my mouth. The first thing I noticed was the incredible sense of relief as the chronic headache that I have suffered from for nearly 13 years finally cleared. Again, I’m not being over dramatic, I’ve been munching painkillers for headaches for years. The second thing I noticed was the bits of tooth that I had to spit out. This random pop would be the start of a dental journey that would take a few months, but I would finally be pain-free for the first time in years. Bikes and trikes outside as well as trips to the beach with the kids were our main activities.
April
April was a life changing month in so many ways. Three birthdays take place in April and we loved being able to celebrate with everyone. At one point during the month we headed out with our friends to see Post Modern Jukebox live in Belfast. As wonderful as the evening was, it was overshadowed by an incident with our horrible neighbour. As my mum stood in the garden, watching the little humans play with their toys, she tried to start a fight with my mum. No word of a lie, she looked over the fence into the garden and started screaming at my mum for no reason. This was the beginning of the end and I couldn’t take anymore. At the end of the month, we finally moved house. I cannot express the words of gratitude I have in heart for my friends for allowing us to move into their house. We finally moved into a house which is beautiful and secure. The neighbours are lovely, it is close to the kids schools, and we have everything that we love on our doorstep.
May
One thing I will say about working from home is that it can get lonely. As I walked through the town, I spotted an ad in the window of a shop that I used to work in. On a whim, I sent my CV in, and it didn’t take long for my old boss to get in touch. Within a week, I started back at my old sales job. Once a week, I would get out of the house and send the day interacting with real people. Don’t get me wrong, I love writing, but people need to spend time with other people. Besides, a small wage and the staff discount wouldn’t go a miss. We also had a wedding to attend. The whole family got dressed up and headed out to celebrate the big day.
June
June would turn out to be a jam-packed month. Yoga was on my mind so I booked a class at the local studio for a six week beginners course. I cannot express how much I loved being there. If there is one exercise practice that everyone needs to add into their daily routine, it is yoga. I also had my final dental appointment for my wisdom teeth. In the end, I had all of them removed, I had stitches, and a very big dental bill. It was worth it. For the first time in years, I didn’t spend every moment in pain. You have no idea how difficult it is function when you are in constant pain. We also had a wedding to attend. This time, it was our friends and we attended the evening do. Trips to country park with the kids in the summer heat was a great way to spend the day in the fresh air. Our eldest had an art show to showcase her work for the year (which we are not allowed to talk about but she was awesome). The month was finished off with Jack’s birthday party in the house with some of his friends. This was the first time that we had his friends around and they were all excited to hang out together.
July
The summer was in full swing and so was the heat. Heat stroke was on my mind for most of the month as I worked in the extreme heat. On more than one occasion I had to have a cold bath to help get me through the day. We did manage to get one day trip to the farm with the kids in between working. We also attempted to get back to swimming, something we haven’t done in years. Maybe it was the heat or the need for a new activity, but we all enjoyed having a splash.
August
We had another big relationship milestone, our 7 year wedding anniversary. But the month was filled with work days, family days and very little time for much else. We also had the joy of getting ready for back to school. I’m ashamed to admit that we were still unpacking boxes and finding homes for our things in the new house. It was a slow process but we were happy to take our time. Everyone was settling in and making the place their own.
September
All kids off to school and I mean ALL of them. This is the first year that all four of them were out of the house and off to school, leaving me with a few hours to myself in the morning. I want to say that I used the time to be productive but we all know that it would be a lie. I talked to myself, watched TV, and generally wasted my time for the first few weeks. Why? Because it was the first time in years that I have had the house to myself. And sometimes, we need a bit of freedom to do nothing before we can do something. This was also the month that I heard back about my degree. After many years of study, I finally passed and am now the proud owner of a piece of paper that says I’m kind of smart.
October
As I adjusted to the empty house in the mornings, I was able to get a bit more done. Don’t get me wrong, I do a lot during the day, however, it is easier to get stuff done when you don’t get interrupted several million times. Blog goals hit and a new skip in my step, I started to work harder and get a lot of loose ends tidied up. Halloween celebrations were coupled with another birthday. Between cool looking cakes for little boys, there was pumpkins and ghost stories!
November
Quiet months are always nice but they don’t make great writing. November seems to provide a moment of calm between Halloween and Christmas. As I look back at the month, I cannot think of anything notable that happened.
December
Birthday month and Christmas season make up my December. For the first time in years, I treated myself to a professional hair cut and colour. The last time I paid for a salon trip, it was before the London Marathon and my hair was still bright blue. The tree went up, we visited people, we celebrated our friends and family. Despite the joy of the season, we were shocked by the deaths of several people that we knew within the space of a few weeks.
As you can see, 2022 was a year that was filled with ups and downs. Throughout the year, I had goals that I wanted to hit, and I managed to hit some of them. The question is, can I do better for the new year that lies ahead of me?
For 2023
The 2023 new year is an opportunity to keep moving forward. One thing I will say, I am in a much better position than I was last year. But I did not achieve this by myself. Of course, my husband was supportive (as he always is) but we allowed our friends to help us too. If it wasn’t for our friends, Stuart and Lyndsay, we would still be stuck in that Hell-hole with a psychopath of a next door neighbour. And, some of the best moments we have had during the year were spent with our friends and family. Community has been a big theme for 2022 and I hope that I will continue to enjoy plenty of time with my friends and family.
Close my rings
As the owner of an Apple Watch, I can keep an eye on my activity levels. One thing that I can do easily is close my rings every day with a little effort. That doesn’t mean putting on the yoga exercise tracker and having a nap (which I have done and clocked up “5 hours of yoga activity”). I have found that a little bit of exercise can go a long way. By walking the school run everyday, I managed to close the rings on my watch with ease. Can I do it everyday in 2023? I want to say yes if I can remember to charge the watch everyday.
Duolingo
I have been using Duolingo for a few years but I always fall off the wagon. My husband is currently on a 100+ day streak with his Duolingo. This year, I want to take a few minutes out of my day and complete the French course. The longest streak I have is 28 days so I have a lot of work to do. To make things a little easier, I might pay for the full version rather than running out of hearts and missing a day.
Blog post
I have been running this blog for many many years. This year, I would like to get a blog post up every day. If you have followed my site for a while, you will have noticed that there are days when I post nothing, and days that 4 or 5 posts can appear. Moving forward, I have planned content for everyday. Will I follow through on it? Who knows!
1,000 words
Back in 2019, I had my first book published. Since then, I had a few sitting on the back burner as battled finishing my degree, raising small children, and getting through the Covid-19 pandemic. If I’m honest, I’ve got about 20 books sitting unfinished on my laptop in different stages. Taking a little time everyday to put words on the page will make a massive difference. You never know, I might get one or two of them finished before the end of the year.
A book a week
Have you ever the saying “buying books and reading books are two different hobbies”? I have a massive book collection that I really should start reading. And there is no reason why I can’t. All I need to do is put down my phone and stop doom scrolling, then I would have time. As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I get a box from The Business Box every month and they always send a business help/guide book. Plus, I get send loads of books to be reviewed for the KappaCino Book Club reviews. A book a week means I can clock up 52 books in a year, which is good news for my brain.
The new year is here and I am ready to take it on! Let me know in the comments section what your plans are for the new year.