How is the summer going on in your part of the world?? Bright & sunny, hot & sweaty or just plain hell fire? :D
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I hate summer, but I like May – it’s my anniversary and birthday month, which translates into ‘shopping and gifts’ month :). It’s also the month of summer rains, which I enjoy; thunder, lightning and all!!
April wasn’t a good month for me. Apart from the searing heat, everyone in the family fell ill and they’re still recovering. Our maid decided to quit suddenly (again) and I fell behind in all my goals. But the biggest blow was from a client who cheated me outright. I sent her some articles on which I spent a lot of time and research, after which she just disappeared without any response to my mails or messages. Afterwards, I found those very articles popping up on various websites, with no credit to me whatsoever!!! I’m having a hard time now, contacting those website owners informing them that they’ve published stolen content. Needless to say, this has been a very demoralizing experience for me :(.
I know I’m supposed to forgive that person and not keep the resentment building within me, but right now I just can’t help heaping curses on her. It’s a lesson, I know, and I’m trying to make the most of it by alerting others too.
Anyway, moving on to more pleasant news, Cub finally learnt swimming!! He was so scared initially and used to cry but now he just loves diving into the pool and I’m so proud of him!! He’s inspired me to learn too :).
1. Health – Proper workouts have been close to negligible, though I have been active since I do all the housework now. (No maid, remember?) There’s also the walking to and from the pool where Cub has his classes, so I do kind of get in a short walk everyday. Food wise I’ve been eating less, though not exactly healthy food. I’m not much of a soft drink/cold coffee drinker, but the extreme heat saw me reaching out for those unhealthy options. Have you ever tasted them without the fizz – they’re gross!!! I’m proud to say that I’ve become quite regular with my green and black tea.
2. Family – I have been a little stressed what with Ms. CheaterFace and people getting sick, which has led to a little more yelling from my side. Cub and I played Lego together and some online games as well. Took a trip with the in-laws and spent some time with the extended family during a cousin’s wedding.
3. Time Management – Major Fail. The maid disappearing really upset my schedule. Although I did manage to finish all my work and get the house clean, I was stressed throughout and was running around like a headless chicken.
4. Writing/Blogging – Began working with a new client which has been going well so far. A few pitches didn’t work out since I have decided that I’m not going to write for extremely low pay. I need to spend time and effort, so I might as well make it worth the trouble. And I’ve already talked about how one *@#$# client fleeced me.
The blog has suffered a slump, and I’m not proud of it. Hope to make amends in May.
5. Budget – I visited Lulu mall during our Kochi trip, which is good fun for kids and okay otherwise. I did a little bit of shopping from there – this cotton kurta in blue from Fabindia, this lipstick from Faces, and this EDT and this hand cream from Marks & Spencer. I actually need some more clothes, many of my older ones are faded or don’t fit right anymore. I wondered if I should wait to lose weight before shopping, but then I read this postby Sal at Already Pretty and decided to focus on dressing my ‘today’ body. Writing income was a little on the lower side, have to do a little more aggressive pitching.
6. Personal – I started reading ‘Two Men in a Boat’ and made some progress with my accumulated magazine collection.
Word of the Year – I have been anything but mindful last month, with all the stress. It was so bad that I didn’t even realize I wasn’t being mindful!!
So that’s how it was. I hope that May is much better and brings in more quality work and helps me relax without slacking off. I need to prioritize better and stay calm.
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Random – Here’s a photo I clicked of the moon; it isn’t all that special but I found it beautiful – single crescent against a plain starless sky.
How about you guys, how was April?? Any special plans for May?