It’s almost the end of January, and unusually for me I’ve not shared my word of the year yet. Nor have I posted a decade in review, and in all honesty I probably won’t post anything in great detail. The 2010s were a decade of house refurbs and holidays and many happy times; there were job changes for us both, but we also lost more good friends and family than ideally we’d have liked. We celebrated milestone birthdays, and ten years of marriage with family and friends, and by all accounts we should feel grown up by now, but I’m not sure we really do.

At the start of 2019 I was looking forward to facing the year with tenacity, and I predicted it would be a busy one. I wasn’t wrong. At work for half of the year I covered the junior role on my team as well as my own, and by November, it was tough. MOH too had had a stressful time at work too, and so our holiday in December was a much needed break for us both. It helped recharge our batteries, and for me reduced some of the overwhelm.

This year I think there’ll need to be more of that tenacity, but also more discipline to stick at things. I know I can make things happen, at home and at work, if I stick to them. I also know that I need to stick at the things that are important, and not just the things that shout loudest and seem most urgent. I’ve also recently learnt that I ‘over give’ so while I can stick at things, I need to stick at the right things.

So that’s why gumption seems to fit. This year being I’m certain that being ‘shrewd or spirited initiative and resourceful’ will stand me in very good stead.

The year though has already started with a bit of a health scare for MOH, though now it’s been identified as kidney stones that’s helped, and I hope he’s well on the way to being fixed. We’ve a couple of breaks booked already to look forward to. We’re heading off to Lyon next month and a cottage in the Lake District in early summer. There’s another family wedding, this time in Yorkshire, and milestone birthdays for both of our siblings.

We’ve plans for some work on our house, and in the garden - which we made little progress on last year - and I’m planning to make sure there’s time for crafting too. That all means there’ll be plenty to share here, and 2020 will be as busy as any yet I’m sure. We also think that the decade ahead will be a big one for us.

But with added gumption* who knows what successes 2020 will bring?

* I clearly didn’t give imagery much thought ahead of choosing gumption as my word, a G was the closest I could get!