When Helen asked me to write this post my heart sank! 2016 has been a tough year at Monkeyfeeet HQ, heck most of us would agree its been a year full of shockers world wide right?
I’ve thought a lot about our year and we are genuinely very blessed in many many ways, I have an amazing little family and we have a lovely house in a lovely location. This year we have had 3 great holidays and my husband and I have spent two evenings away without children which is unheard of! Because of this it seems silly to complain about anything making us sad, we really are very lucky.
Crazy holiday selfies
even crazier ‘parents night off’ selfies
We have had some struggles though the largest of which being the passing of my lovely Mother In Law, the kids lush Nana. Her death came suddenly and the shock and grief have honestly infiltrated every bit of our family life and so I’ve felt like we have been at times washed out to sea, struggling to stay afloat. We are strong though and whilst the light may be a small chink there it is at the end of the tunnel and I feel we will get there together.
Another low is how poorly we have all been following a bout of Norovirus on our October Holiday we seem to have spent all of November catching and passing around one bug after another!
Personal highlights for me have included having two articles published in The Huffington post, earning a small wage from my little corner of cyber space and working with some amazing companies. I’ve also been involved in the creation of a new local Womens Institute and I’m proud to be the Secretary but more so be part of a group of women so eager to support one another and make a difference in our community, we have collected food for our food bank and donated around 40 bags filled with treats and necessities for vulnerable and homeless women across the region.
My WI committee sisters!
I’m also proud of my Facebook pals, in November I asked for donations for
- The Womens Refuge
- Children who would have little or nothing at Christmas
- Handbags for the Homeless Appeal
- Gifts for the Church Christmas lunch for lonely and homeless folk….
Not even half of the collection!
We were over run, overwhelmed and over joyed with the response! Two car loads of toys clothes and toiletries to the Refuge, one car load of gifts, clothes and toiletries to our young peoples projects and church lunch, bags of food to the food bank, a car full of toys and books to families with nothing this Christmas and 2 massive cars full to the Homeless Women NE charity! My spirit was truly restored at the generosity of others and I will definitely be co-coordinating more charity help this coming year.
My Son squeezed into a car full of Handbags for the Homeless with not an inch of space left over!
In balance I can’t bring myself to say we have had a great year because it feels disloyal to the memory of our lovely Mam BUT we are blessed every day, we have found a smile every single day and the family may have struggled but we did it together.
Karen writes at blog.monkey-feet.com and can be found on facebook and twitter
I feel so bad that I have bin bags of clothes here that I sorted for Karen and never got round to taking to her! Gah! Hope 2017 brings more of the good and less of the bad for Karen.