WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED IN A YEAR...

We recently celebrated a milestone, the first birthday of our gorgeous grand baby.

It's amazing how quickly this time has gone. Honestly it just feels like last month we had Little Miss for the week, taking her to school, picking her up, visiting Mum, Dad and bubs in hospital each night.  But no, a huge amount of time has gone by.

And of course in that time there has been a lot of firsts. Let's face it, for babies, there is nothing else but firsts.

First smiles, first beginnings of speech. First time they roll over by themselves.

First introduction to books and songs. First cuddles. First discover of their fingers and toes and other bits in between (just on nappy change time)

First outfits...

and first Christmases. Learning to crawl, to taste, those first tentative steps. So many discoveries...the world is simply amazing.

And even though it has felt like all of this happened a second a go, it was really over one whole year.

12 months

4 seasons

52 weeks

365 days

8760 hours.

And that for me, is the scary number, the amount of hours.  Frankly so few of these were used productively. No, actually that is wrong. I have been productive.

In the past year I have built garden beds, potted up plants and rejuvenated and moved plants around.
I have bought new furniture...have been very productive craft wise.

Have created a lot of baby outfits (and not just for ours)..have made gifts and presents. Have baked up a storm and pushed myself making cakes and decorating cookies.

The year hasn't been all smooth sailing, and during those difficult times I've learnt a lot about myself. I'm a lot stronger than I give myself credit for..and I'm much more capable than I had imagined. I just have to have confidence in myself and self belief. (and if anyone knows how to achieve this I would love to hear from you!)

As for the nitty gritty of writing...those 8760 hours are still staring at me. Daring me to be honest. Let's face it, a lot of those hours are spent sleeping. 

Lot more of those hours are spent at getting to, getting from, and actually being at work.

More of those hours are wasted  spent in front of the television and zoning out.  House work and all those repetitive boring chores account for more hours. 

Hours spent being social (which for me isn't a lot, I'm not a social sort of person) take up more, then the garden has to take a lot more hours. Especially in the warmer months when I swear the grass grows while I look at it. 

Actual writing time is very little. I'm scared to do the maths. Not saying I have done nothing, that would have been terrifying but perhaps a reality check. Doing nothing for a year means you don't want to do it. 

However I do know that I have not spent my hours wisely. They have worked for me, at the time. 

Could I have done more? Hell yes!

Should I have done more?

That is a much more difficult question to answer. 

And as I have rambled on, pondering what on earth I have done with the year just gone by...I come back to my priorities. And while I do enjoy my writing, and at times feel forced to put down on paper what I'm feeling and experiencing...family is my main focus.

Love them to bits. And they will always take precedence over anything else happening.

Which is the way, to my mind, it should be.

Vicki