Strange title, isn’t it? I could not think of anything else when the month has been so challenging. I had to dig deep to find things to be grateful for. It was a testing month for sure. Here’s a recap of how the month went by:
Health and Fitness:
January was not a very good month at all on these fronts, at least the first fortnight. The husband and I fell sick with a really bad cough and fever. The cough was so bad that it knocked us off our feet. For nights on end we could not sleep and it went on for about a fortnight. It really tested us. The worst part about being sick was being sleep deprived and running on auto-pilot to complete the chores. Also all workout was out of question. I sorely missed my walks, runs, strength training – all the things I enjoy and that keep me happy. So you can imagine how miserable I felt. But the grateful streak is that all that is behind us now. The body as usual fights it out and fights hard. And I am back to my workouts with the family. So very grateful for it. I never take my health for granted but every such episode makes me appreciate my body even more. And yes, Yoga is back on the schedule especially pranayams since my allergy episodes are on the rise.
The Children:
Parenting is challenging no matter how grown up your kids are. While you read about my troubles in dealing with disrespect in my last post, there was also the happiness of having a plan delivered well. Both the kids had their exams this January. The older son had his pre-boards that he managed well. The younger boy also did quite well. He followed a disciplined approach, making a time table to study and learn. I helped him out by supervising and revising with him. Made me realize that he is not completely ready to self study as yet. It was happiness when he scored well, more because of the joy that he felt at his own accomplishment. Of course, the temper tantrums are still a work in progress. And making him sit down to study is still a task.
Coco, as always, continues to inspire me with his happy demeanour and ready hugs. And boy can he run! Only the older son can actually run with him. 🙂 We lesser mortals jog along.
I am very grateful to have them in my life, for their smiles, hugs, ready forgiveness, care, compassion and how they are getting to be my friends as they get older. No matter how much I struggle sometimes with parenting, my kids are my joy!
Social Media
As mentioned in my last post, my presence on social media is sporadic and targeted. I am working on my Pinterest and Instagram profiles now purely from my work point of view. Glad to see positive small steps in both. Here is how my Pinterest profile is doing. Check out my stats in November when I wasn’t working on it to my stats in January end. Slowly and steadily, there is progress.
For those who wanted to know, I got about 700 clicks to both my blogs in January from Pinterest as compared with about 50 in December. Good work in progress for sure.
TailwindApp has been making scheduling my pins and keeping track of analytics a breeze. I was so happy after trying Tailwind Plus in January that I renewed it to an annual subscription this month end. If you haven’t you must try the Tailwind App for Pinterest, it takes the toil away from pinning and scheduling. You will love it!
Househelps:
My morning househelp went for an extended leave while I was sick, the one in the evening has been an even tougher cookie. A new one who joined quit in about 10 days. Got another one who left for a long leave within 2 days of joining. She came back after more than a week. The news was sad. Her mother had passed away. It was quite horrible. My inconveniences and troubles seemed so small then. So very grateful for my helps to help me handle my work load and keep me sane.
Entertainment:
This was the first month without cable and it went off quite well, I must say. I managed to finish watching the absolutely delightful Sherlock (I know I am so late!), read the book and watched the movie of A man called Ove and was happy when both the kids read and enjoyed the book as much as I did. As an avid Homeland watcher, I am glad that the new season starts this February. Really looking forward to it. Have a few books that I must get to soon.
Work:
Can never feel grateful and humbled for my work which gives me the flexibility to balance work-life and also find joy and fulfilment. I thank my wonderful clients and colleagues for my Editorial and writing work who are a delight to work with and teach me so much. Also extremely grateful for all my blog collaborations and constant work with brands that keeps me energized and well compensated for.
Cooking:
With us experiencing an unexpectedly chilly January, it was a month when I cooked a lot with the seasonal produce especially peas and red carrots. Some of the recipes are already up on my cooking blog if you’d like to try them.
Have been making the instant green chilli pickle regularly as everyone at home loves it.
February is going to be a much better month, I reckon. At least I hope. How was your January?
Do join Vidya’s #GratitudeCircle this month and every month.
Featured Pic courtesy Shutterstock
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