Thoughts Opinions & Memories | But I Smile Anyway...

Word Of The Year – 2022 edition! #WOTY

01 Jan 2022 58 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: 2022, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Create, Word of the Year

So, we are here.

2022!

Goodness knows what it will bring, but, firstly, let me wish you the happiest of New Year!

And, as you are aware, I have chosen a word to accompany that year over the last few years.

2019 – it was SELF. And I am happy to say I have been pretty good at keeping that self care up, since them, too!
2020 – BELIEVE. Well, lets all agree that 2020 was a kinda unbelievable year, allin all, with the paandemic, and BLM… However, I did believe. And my beliefs meant that 2020 was the year I finally became a published author!
2021 – I chose the word HOPE. I think we all needed hope to pull us through what I found to be a tougher year than 2020, in many ways. I travelled through it, exhausted and worried abaout everyone and everything around me. But, I did keep that hope alive, within.

This time last year, I wrote this:

Inside, I have that hope that things will get better.

I hope that I have the time and energy to keep writing.

I hope to finish that first draft and have my novella ready for a reader magnet. (Well, I need that, not hope to do it, so I can send it to newsletter subscribers!)

Another hope is that I can cope with the responsibilities of this new job role and that I make it to the end of the academic year successfully, especially considering I am stepping back into it in a couple of days with another set of enforced home learning for a while… not sure how long for, either!

Oh, and I hope to work out a healthy, happy balance with exercise and food!

And, I hope we finally find our forever home, and by this time next year, I’ll be typing my post in a totally different place!

I think I was right to choose Hope because there was so much uncertainty around what we were experiencing.

I mean, I got through the year, thank goodness! Things kinda got better with the virus, but they went down again…

I am now in my second academic year in Middle Leadership in school. Was it what I envisaged my teaching career to be? No… however, I am coping, and sometimes, enjoying it!

But, I didn’t do great with my writing. (Though, as I may have hinted at, things are on the up with regards to that, too!)

I lost lots of weight… then put it back on again!

And my hope of a forever home? Well, that became a reality!

So, what is my word for this year?

Yup, it’s Create.

One thing I am, if nothing else, is creative, but things have been drowning my creativity recently. Now, I have a huge reason to bring that creativity to the forefront of my life.

Create harmony in my household (with two teens, that will be a challenge!)
Create new dishes in my kitchen ( I just want to get cooking again!)
Create new traditions in our new house (New house, new traditions!)
Create new adventures for others to read (That’s the biggie!)

And I will keep the words from previous years going, too, because they have helped shape me over the last few years.

Do you choose a WOTY?

So long, 2021! #DropKick!

31 Dec 2021 57 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: 2021, Blog, Blog Post, Blogging, recap

What an unbelievably long year that took a relatively short time to pass!

Okay, so I know that made no sense at all, but you might just have an inkling as to what I’m talking about.

2021 feels like a year unlike no other, for me. There were ups and downs, throughout it, but, the overwhelming feeling I had, was of existing.

It felt as if I just needed to ‘get through’.

I think I just about existed through the year if I’m totally honest with you.

Do you know what I mean?

More remote learning, though the beginning of the year. More uncertainty as Covid got its claws stuck in, then kin of retracted them, then attacked, again. So many Lateral Flow Tests.

And from September, a new class filled with gorgeous children, some of whom had the hardest collective level of need that our school had ever faced.

My brain was like mush, in many ways. I couldn’t concentrate on much more than what I was doing in school, and keeping the household going, at home.

No real breakthrough in my writing. Yes, I blogged every Monday and Sunday, with the odd other post, but even my beloved blog couldn’t get my creative juices flowing.

And even though I lost some weight at the beginning of the year, it all piled back on, and then some…

We lost my uncle, too…

Oh, then there was my Bro-in-law fracturing his ankle in two places, meaning an operation and he is still unable to walk unaided, Father-in-law getting his cataracts done, Pops having his operation, my mother-in-law having her knee operations cancelled, Mum hurting her leg at the end of the year, and another family member is hospital too…

But, as I said, there were many ups, too.

No one tested positive in our family.

We did find our forever home and I now have my own writing room, and everyone has the space they crave, including Lil Man and a garden where he can go cricket-mad.

I did get through my first academic year as Phase Leader of the Early Years department, and in School Management.

Lil Man passed his GCSEs and is now doing his A-Levels.

Lil Princess became a teenager (and she doesn’t let us forget!)

We celebrated our 20th Wedding Anniversary.

I managed to see Pops and Mum twice, at least.

I got some fabulous news at the tail end of the year… still not 100% confirmed, but fingers crossed, soon!

And that is the end of this year.

I end it exhausted, and still not 100% sure what I am walking into, when I go to school on Tuesday, or what the rest of the year holds… but I live in hope!

How was your 2021?

Come on 2022! Let’s see what you’ve got in store for us!

With A Little Help From My Friends – 7 Messages Of Inspiration for 2022 – Crone Confidence

29 Dec 2021 Comments Off on With A Little Help From My Friends – 7 Messages Of Inspiration for 2022 – Crone Confidence

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: 2022, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, inspiration, New Year

I am honoured to be a part of this post filled with inspiration and positivity. Thanks, Diana!

Source: With A Little Help From My Friends – 7 Messages Of Inspiration for 2022 – Crone Confidence

Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 355 – Boxing Day

26 Dec 2021 37 Comments

by Ritu in Spidey's Serene Sundays, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Boxing Day, Spiderman, Spidey, Spidey's Serene Sunday

“Wisdom of the Ages: “Boxing Day” In the UK, the day after Christmas is named after the first activity that takes place between husband and wife after the Christmas receipts are added up.”
Matthew D. Heines

Thanks, Spidey, for another gigglesome quote!

It’s Boxing Day, and a Sunday, so we are all just going to be chilling at home. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and were able to celebrate with your loved ones.

The children will, no doubt, wake just as it’s time for me to go back to bed. (Slight exaggeration, but you know these teens!)

Hubby Dearest and I will attempt a little lie-in, though I know Sonu Singh will be waiting for his food, so I will be awake earlier, then will try and chill out a bit. (I’ll be having fun with my new gift, a Kindle Oasis!)

We shall endeavour to not end up in fisticuffs, and have a boxing match on Boxing day as the quote above, suggests!

Little titbit if you didn’t know the origins of Boxing Day here in the UK…

Boxing Day got its name when Queen Victoria was on the throne in the 1800s and has nothing to do with the sport of boxing.

The name comes from a time when the rich used to box up gifts to give to the poor.

Boxing Day was traditionally a day off for servants – a day when they received a special Christmas box from their masters.

The servants would also go home on Boxing Day to give Christmas boxes to their families.

Goodness knows what we will eat, but there is another whole Christmas dinner in the freezer, that will need using up since we did manage a family get together with the in-laws, so all the leftovers are there, hence no turkey sandwiches here!

All that remains to be seen is whether I get a chance to go and see Pops and Mum. Cases are rising, but no extra restrictions have been put into place, as yet. Cases of Omicron are rising, however, there is talk that it isn’t as severe as Delta and other variants, and if you have had your vaccinations and boosters, and are sensible, you are less likely to be affected too badly, even if you did contract it…

I wait, with bated breath…

So, what do you do on Boxing Day?

Wishing you a wonderfully peaceful Sunday, Peeps!

Merry Christmas, Peeps!

24 Dec 2021 68 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Christmas Wishes, Merry Christmas

Now, I don’t know about you, but this Christmas has a distinctly different feel about it, to last year. And to any previous Christmases, too.

We are by no means back to any sort of old normal, but last year, we were plunged into Tier 4, here, meaning lockdowns, and no mixing at all, so thankfully, I had already, in my wisdom, bought a version of Christmas dinner, and stuck it in the freezer!

I was also isolating, having being exposed to the virus, with a close contact having tested positive.

Joy!

It was tough, not seeing the in-laws, and, maybe more so, not being able to drive up to Brum to see my parents.

We were in our bubble of four.

It was strange, but still, we managed our festive time.

This year, there has been that constant worry that at the last minute, BoZo was going to announce that “No, sorry, we can’t do any mixing. That would be frivolous.|” (While raising a glass of good cheer at his own Parlimentary Christmas party, no doubt!)

But, no. Nothing like that has been said… yet.

Masks in public places, yes.

Take tests, yes.

Get boostered, yes.

But, so far, you can still mix with the family, and loved ones.

And that is what we will be doing in the next couple of days.

Christmas lunch with the in-laws, and I am praying (Please God, and BoZo!) that I will be able to drive up to my parents, even for one night next week, to see them, and know they are well, without any additional restrictions suddenly put in place.

And, somewhere within, I do appear to have a spark of… HOPE…!

I know I will be busy, but I’m never too busy to be here, to wish you all a Wonderful Christmas! May your festive period be full of joy and be it the presents under the Christmas tree, or the presence of those you have missed, I hope all your Christmas wishes come true!