Packing up...and unpacking

It's that day in the year when traditionally I summarise my year. I try to think back over the past 365 days, and I also TRY to find the positives. This year must have been full of them, but right now only the less positives spring to mind....and several of those are continuing to give me reason to feel less positive! So, if you don't want to read about negative things you had better, stop reading now. If you plan to comment with 'you mustn't always be so negative...'etc then I may not read your comments. I write the blip to express my feelings and they are not meant to upset anyone.

So the year began with a socially distanced funeral with just 30 people, for my lovely dad. Then a wake for 6 people. That was the first time WE broke the covid rules...the wake we had, was a celebration with all 30 of those who had joined us to say goodbye to our lovely dad. Dad was always a lucky person. I like to think he has spent the year finding his feet wherever he is now, and perhaps in 2022 can send some of his old luck back down to the rest of us.

As everyone else did, we continued in lockdown, working from home. We were cold, our boiler broke, our cooker broke, and we bought new ones, at considerable expense. Working from home wasn't easy, and still isn't, but the positive is that we had an income. Mollie started a job working in a nursery school and Henry continued with his apprenticeship, so gets out every day. Jon was allowed to go in to the City several days a week to work, but my office is not planning on ever going back to normal working. Apparently it suits them for us to be at home working, pretty much full time, and so that is going to be the way of the future for us. That has made me think a lot more about what I want to do for the last years in my working life, as ideally I would like to see other humans, and not just on a screen. I think I may have to think about something totally different, and am keeping an open mind.

Positives of the year - a lovely week in the caravan in the Peak District, just as lockdown was easing. We didn't have use of onsite washrooms, but that is the benefit of the caravan. Then in July we had 2 weeks in Wales again in the caravan. It was lovely to be away. The weather wasn't great, but good enough and again was where we benefited with the caravan. The autumn week away was moved, as the caravan was stolen just before. Manda kindly offered us a week in Bamburgh which was lovely, and something we really needed. It was preceded by another positive event - our 2 day break to London, for me to see Cliff Richard at the Albert Hall. It was a very tiring 2 days, but so nice to get away. Then in November the highlight of our year which came in the midst of all the rubbish surrounding the caravan, and that was Mollie's graduation. A long journey to Manchester, but a great event and an evening celebrating her success. We are so proud of her amazing achievement.

We have ongoing issues with the replacement boiler and cooker that we had to buy early in the year. I hope very much that both will be replaced again in 2022, but at no extra expense to us. A strongly worded email has been drafted to Stoves today. It has caused me undue stress, and all the little things, which seem trivial to other people, have proved to make 2021 a challenging year. I know everyone has had their own challenges too.

We visited the crematorium in Hoddesdon twice more after dad's funeral in January, and missed a fourth. Two more close friends plus an uncle of Jon's. Its a beautiful crematorium, but 3 times in a year is too many.

But there are still other positives, that have come out of the sadness. I've spent a lot more time in Hoddesdon again this year, and each time, have been able to work from mums house, plus have met up more with good friends from my old guiding and venture scouting days. Such a lovely loyal group of friends who I have been fortunate enough to become reacquainted with. So much so, that we are now making it a regular occurance to meet. The 100 mile drive seems to get shorter the more I do it.

We finally took the plunge, after about 17 or 18 years with a kitchen which had been repurposed from an old friends kitchen, and we ordered a brand new one. I realised that I have never had a new fitted kitchen before. We also chose to have the kitchen/dining room wall knocked down. The builder has done a great job and now Jon and Henry are building the kitchen. The room will be a decent size. A few hiccups with parts, but apart from one bit we are still chasing them for, the boxes are all piled up in the garage. Unfortunately my house looks permanently like it has been hit by a tornado. It is starting to feel quite claustrophobic, we are so crowded. My main new years resolution is to sort, tidy and get rid of absolutely everything apart from the things I really really REALLY can't live without. It is the only way to solve the limited space and storage problems. It is something that I feel both overwhelmed but also very positive about. I have the plans in my head of how I see it. Kitchen. Conservatory. Lounge. Cloakroom. Watch this space (or rather...these blips!!)

One more positive that slipped in to the end of my year and that has been joining the Thursday singing group. Hopefully, that will continue to inject me with weekly doses of positivity.

So, back to today.

With Henry and Mollie, I took down the christmas decorations. We even bought another giant 'Really Useful Box' to put it all in, as the loft is still so wet (problem identified, just waiting for plumber/boiler supplier) A little more kitchen done, painting and another unit put together, as Jon has worked hard on it today. It takes so long. I sorted out the stuff under the sink, which began to look like the Stacey Solomon programme where she lays out the contents of your house, and you discover - for me - that I have 5 bottles of stuff to re- wax your coat, 4 bottles of bathroom cleaner, 3 bottles of gas to fill lighters, and tins of wax polish, 2 giant half bottles of bleach, and part used rinse aid, and a tin of blackboard paint. Plus so much more!

We are now sitting waiting for midnight, having played some fun family games. When we next speak, I'll be 56, entering my 57th year...and hoping 2022 is a little bit kinder to all of us. But especially to us.

Happy New Year everyone.