Hello! This could be my last post for this year. Wrapping 2019 with a gratitude post for this month makes me feel content at this moment as I write this.
How was your Diwali? Mine was good. We enjoyed it. I hope you and your family had a great time too. Since I hardly used WhatsApp this month, I couldn’t send messages to many friends this Diwali. Still remember, you all were in my thoughts and prayers this Diwali. I’m happy to find such lovely people online.
Yes, It’s that time of the month where we sit down and cherish all the moments that just travelled by. October has by far been the best month this whole year, not because it’s the husband’s birthday. The second best month was June, also not because it was my birthday month. We spent the four months together, what can be more special?
Finally something good this year so I’m wrapping 2019 with a cheerful smile.
My attempts at gratitude posts failed miserably this year. I wanted to try writing Weekly Gratitude posts, but hardly crossed 2 months. I’m not sure if I might write another gratitude post to officially wrap 2019. Or maybe I might. Still, I really wanted to share this here. So here’s pretty much my year in short along with October.
Wrapping 2019 with a Smile
We (Lakki and I) reached Chennai on the 1st of October followed by the husband the next day. This was an unexpected trip for him, but still delighted he came over. Distance definitely changes a few things. Married for 3 years, as a team we focussed on taking care of those around us. It backfired terribly. We are still a team, but just got better because of what we discovered this year. These 130 days has done a lot of good than I thought possible.
I’m happy for the love of my life, the 1000+ conflicts we’ve had this year, has made us talk so much better to each other. This year has reminded us so many lessons about life. Yes, a reminder since we had left “US” behind due to daily life. The most important of all is being there for each other at all times. Since we were away for most of this year, it was really tough to smoothen things our way. My most favourite quote came to my aid this year,
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
When we got our chance to stay together we did not just grab it with both hands, but embraced it fully and lived it like there is no tomorrow. Last October, we spent it at Bangalore and this one at Chennai after our travel. Isn’t that a treat to me? So I’m thankful.
I feel blessed to have my daughter next to me all the time. This year was tough on her too, staying away from her dad wasn’t easy for her. Misery loves company and we were each other’s ally. She enjoyed every second with her dad these 4 months. They went on rides almost everyday and she just didn’t let him be. More than me she is awaiting her next trip.
She has started to weave her stories already. We are impressed and are happy, won’t ask for more. Her new versions of rhymes are totally cracking us up. Here is a sample:
You must have heard of the Baby Shark rhyme. If not check out Cocomelon Baby Shark. She saw the aquarium at my mom’s and started singing the rhyme. I told her that this aquarium is too small for sharks. This one could hold Gold Fish, Black Molly and Angel Fish for now.
She was all ears, she nodded her head and repeated the same to me in her own words. Then changed it to baby gold fish do do do.. How quick these little ones grow..
I am happy for my Family & Friends. I roasted them with many dry and dull stories for a while now. Yet have been very supportive this year. I was emotionally drained with lots of things this year. Staying away from hubby was draining me a lot. Mom, dad, sister along with my grandmother, uncle and aunty helped me in their own way.
I’ve had many meltdowns this year than ever and my girls(including my granny) listened and comforted me many times. I got to meet some of them this year, though we’re already planning to meet soon. I’m happy to have these people in my life.
I’m grateful for the time I’ve got to stay at my parents this year. I still do and I am thankful for the love my parents share on the little one. I’m happy for my sister-in-law and her family for being supportive and helping us despite their very own problems this year.
This month we took a road trip to Tirupati, a long pending one to meet Mr. Venky. This was an interesting trip because the driver shared so much history about this particular Temple along with other temples. He drives almost everyday to Tirupati and he’s doing this for 14 years now.
His stories were aplenty and we were all ears. We also visited a much lesser known temple on the way back. It’s Mahishasuramardini’s temple near Tirutani. The usually bitter neem tastes like a normal leaf here. I don’t know the science behind this. I’m yet to find it out.
Bullet Journal, Social Media
I’ve been away from Social Media this month. Surprisingly, I find little interest or almost no interest to open most of the platforms. The only platform I use right now is Facebook, to share my blogposts in BAR group. Otherwise, you’d not find me much in WhatsApp, Instagram or others too.
I’m perfectly alright, I just wanted to invest more of my time with my family and myself. I’ll tell you I’m bad at multi-tasking. I cannot read a book and listen to music at the same time. So when the little one approaches me and I’m busy typing, I cannot focus on what she talks. So I took a break from phone overall. Now, I use it for typing posts(at times) and calls.
No, these social media platforms don’t hinder me, it’s just me who consumes it more than necessary. I want to use it minimally because I don’t want my daughter to be too fond of my phone either. We play games and watch a few pre-downloaded videos on the phone, both are offline work with the phone.
My bullet journal was my everything this year. I am learning to draw and my journal is helping me there too. The one good thing about it, is the creativity. Either I copy designs or scribble something on my own. My weekly logs make it interesting to see what I did to what I ate. I’m planning to do a Roundup post about my bujo. Let’s see.
Also, thankful for the good rains in Chennai this monsoon. Even though it’s not full-fledged yet, I’m happy to see rains in Chennai after 3 years. I feel like our prayers are always heard.
I’ve made some major decisions this year for the coming year. More on that soon in the coming posts.
That’s about my October. My husband is starting back tomorrow. Right now we don’t have a rented house there at the moment. A new project and a fresh start has come again. Wishing things settle down sooner, so we could too.
How was your October? I’d love to know. With so many things to be thankful for, I am wrapping 2019 and hoping for a better life in 2020 for all of us.
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Much Love Monday is a series I am hosting in my blog about how each of us look at Mondays. This will be hosted on the 3rd and 4th Monday in this blog. You can share your experience about your Monday or an experience worth sharing on Monday in your blog. You can add this badge to your post and comment here so we can follow each other’s posts.
Joining Vidya Sury’s Gratitude circle first Time this year and I’m happy to be part of it at least once this year.
Sounds like a lovely October! Taking a break from social media sounds good. These platforms can be quite the time suck, so it’s important to know why you’re spending time there and I’d you even need to! Sounds like the BuJo is helping you find your creativity! I just found it too time consuming overall, though I did pick a few ideas and incorporated them into my planner system.
Aww staying away from hubby can be tough and can get lonely, but I am glad you have so much support from your family. On the positive note, distance makes the heart grow fonder. Seems baby shark do do is loved by all kids. It’s wonderful that you have cut off so much on social media. Yes, it is important to bond and strengthen relationship in real time. I have almost stopped journalling. This reminds me, I should get back to it again.
Seems like an eventful month! Looking forward to hearing about your decisions!
I understand it is very difficult to stay at different places as a couple with a kid. For some reason, I thought you were in the UK. Where in the US were you, Jayanthy? I am in Phoenix, Arizona.
Nice to know that you had a busy and good month. Take care. 🙂
Your post is written so from the heart Jayanthy that it was a sheer pleasure to read it. Thanks for sharing such details about your life and thoughts. I can understand your difficulty in being away from your partner and salute you for thinking of it as taking time out for yourselves. We all tend to lose ourself in the US and its good to see you make the best of this time. Your daughter seems like a handful and a joyful blessing-happy to hear anecdotes about her.
Taking a break from social media is good and especially when you are doing it to spend more time and efforts on your daughter.
Wishing you a wonderful November ahead and look forward to these interesting posts. I really hope you will get time and inclination to write more of them.