I am used to September having a new beginnings feel to it because it is the start of a new school year, but this year 1st April feels more like New Year to me than 1st January did. The combination of H moving out, Easter, vaccinations and the lifting of Covid restrictions mean I am truly in a new year / new start mood. It is also the beginning of our family financial year, so that also feels new year-ish. We are big on budgeting and keeping tabs on our expenditure, because it allows us to make realistic plans for future travel and retirement. For various reasons we have ended up setting our budget for the year from 1st April, and that is when we do a financial stocktake to see whether it is a belt-loosening or belt-tightening sort of year. We joke that I am the "finance director" producing an end of year report - really I just like to play with spreadsheets!
I see from looking back at my first blog post of the year that I was in hibernation mode, wanting to hide away from everything until I got my vaccine. I did not do any of my usual New Year pondering about how I wanted to approach the year and what I would like to change - I won't say make resolutions, as that is just setting myself up for failure! I did conclude a few days later that my word for the year should be "Slow", though looking back at that post I have not ever really engaged with it. I will try to think "Slow" more often as I start my New Year Mark 2. I am also planning to go back to daily blogging for a while to try to get my thoughts in order as life moves on to a new stage. I know one thing that needs to change is my eating habits, which have not been as healthy as they should be over the winter.
As for today ... M was working this morning, with a very early start as he had been asked to move his shift start time back an hour. TG has decided she would like to watch the Harry Potter movies again, so we watched the second half of Chamber of Secrets (we watched the first half yesterday). We also moved a chest of drawers that H didn't need into TG's room so she no longer has to try to use broken drawers at the bottom of a wardrobe. She then did some sorting out of her room this afternoon, and I went out to meet three friends. The plan was to go for a walk but one of them has had a nasty cold and didn't feel like much walking, so we just had a short stroll then parked ourselves on folding chairs to drink coffee and eat scones we had brought with us. It was cold sitting outdoors, with a very chilly wind, so we didn't stay out too long. I regretted not wearing my warmest coat. Bad call! It was so lovely to see them after over a year, though.
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