So how do I sum up 2022?

SHIT to be quite frank.
I would happily go back to 2020 at this point.

The year started off well.
Murron appeared to be happy and baby JJ was flourishing.

Dharma was just getting on with work and Uni.

Marji was getting on with work but had FINALLY got the go ahead for surgery on her foot in June.
We also got to see her officially graduate from Uni because she didn’t get a graduation during lockdown.

Ian was still off work due to his psoriatic arthritis and the pain he was in.
He was awaiting various operations to help get him back on track.

My job was still fresh and going well.

Nothing really unexpected or out of the ordinary.
We were getting a little frustrated at the length of waiting Ian was having to do for all of his appointments and procedures, but other than that, things were fine.

As a family we carried on with life as normal.
Cinema trips, theatre trips, the occasional meal out, trips to London, an Imagine Dragons concert.

Normal.

The turning point was June 22nd when Murron rocked up on our doorstep with little JJ.
Her relationship had broken down completely and she was home with us until she could get council housing.
All I can say about that one is that the system is completely fucked! It’s taken us nearly 6 months just to get her into ‘temporary’ housing. Thankfully she’s fallen on her feet and got into a brand new 2 bed flat and is settling in well, but it’s only temporary, while she continues to bid to get a forever home. This could take over a year!

That was just the start and I could have lived with that, but on July 5th, our whole lives changed forever when my husband, and father to all three of my girls, unexpectedly passed away.
The day had been like any other, it was sunny and warm, the kids had some friends over and were sitting in the garden, chatting and drinking.
Ian was complaining about feeling a bit unwell and had taken himself to his room to relax for a while, which again was nothing out of the ordinary. With his medical conditions he did this regularly.
I was working until 4 and after I signed off for the day, I went into the garden for a drink and a chat.
Then there was lots of screaming from Dharma who had found her Dad unresponsive and the shit literally hit the fan.

The last 5 months have been a bit of a blur.
July and August were spent organising funeral arrangements and spending half my life on the phone to insurance companies, Ian’s pension companies, resetting all the utility bills and anything else that was in Ian’s name.
There were days when I spent ‘literally’ then entire day on the phone. The queue waits were horrific. For a grieving person to be sat in a queue for an hour before talking to anyone is ridiculous. To then be told you need to talk to a different department and go through the same waiting process again is soul destroying.

Anyway, I got through it all….. just about.
I still get the odd thing through the door for him that I’d forgotten about, like Specsavers appointments, but these are minor and I can deal with them. I’m sure I’ll get a few more over the next year. The important stuff is dealt with.

While all this was going on, we also had to look for a new house. Without Ian’s wages coming in, we couldn’t afford to stay where we are currently. Ian was a bit savvy with his pension and insurance and we have been able to buy a property, albeit with a very small manageable mortgage over the next 12 years.
We have been lucky enough to find an amazing house just a couple of streets from where we currently are and after a nail biting couple of months we have finally exchanged contracts and will be completing on January 4th.

We have just had a wonderful, but bitter sweet Xmas.
Murron and JJ came home for a few nights, we had a big family get together on 23rd, went to see Ian at the cemetry on 24th, Mum and Dad came over and spent Xmas day with us, we went to my brothers for boxing day, today was a chillout day after getting Murron and JJ back home and then having a visit from some good friends.

I had just 3 days of work between Xmas and new year, and now I have 3 weeks off to sort out the house move.
It’s going to be absolute chaos for a while.
We should be completing on 4th January and a moving firm will be moving the bulky bits of furniture and heavy boxes on Saturday 7th. This gives me and the girls a few days to do a bit of prep work on the new house before we move in.
My brother is coming over to ‘hopefully’ fully board the loft for us. It already has a retractable step ladder and lighting and from the quick look i’ve had, it’s a good open space big enough to stand up in, so being able to use it from the minute we walk in is going to be really handy.

Why 3 weeks?
There’s a lot of fixing and decorating and cleaning to be done in the house we are handing back at the end of January.
It’s actually quite a relief to have the crossover period. It means that there’s plenty of time to sort things out and I’m not in a blind panic to get it all done.

So in one way we are dragging the last dregs of 2022 into January, but by the end of January, we should be all done and looking ahead to a very different year.
We are all determined to make it a good one.
I am not going to be dragging my feet and moping, that’s the last thing Ian would want me to do.
I’m sure I’ll have my moments, it’s only natural, but for the most part, I am going to carry on enjoying my new life with my girls and little JJ.

Happy New Year XXX