For those who have been following my blogs for a while would know to not expect much in winter. I am a “conserve all energy by doing the bare minimum” person. I want to be a bear during these months, to only be able to hibernate.

Almost 3 months since my last blog. Eye roll. With this challenge of 40 things to do, you’d think I’d be enthusiastic and energy bound. Second eye roll. Winter is the time of reflection for me; where I do as little as physically possible but that also means my brain takes this opportunity to take centre stage. Thus, I must admit my list of 40 still has many ticks required. I did have fun however and one challenge needed 4 attempts to complete.

Kicking off June was the “No chocolate flavoured items for 7 days”. Easy. I’ve done 30 days before (many many years ago) so hard tough can 7 days be? Attempt 1 – I failed on Day 4 when I had a hot chocolate with a colleague and only when said drink was done did I even realize I was supposed to be doing this challenge. Attempt 2 – Day 2 fail. I forgot I was doing this challenge and had a chocolate at work. Attempt 3 – I received a chocolate sweet from another colleague…I am seeing a link between chocolate and work here…Attempt 4 – I not only had morning reminders, but afternoon reminders and just in case, evening reminders for 7 days. Avoiding chocolate is hard.

Third 10km done IN WINTER! Worst time of the year but who cares. Tick. Just 7 to go…in 4 months considering August just started and is clearly almost over already. And I witnessed my fourth sunrise on the run. It was different to the last, being in the city, but just as beautiful.

July was the month of self-care. It also marked the tenth year of my blog writing. 10 freaking years. I can’t believe I haven’t gotten bored.

My first time ever doing a full day spa. It was delectable and such a guilty pleasure. 6 different focus areas and types of massages, with meals and snacks in between, I kept wondering how many more items could be done after each one and could they each just get better one after the other? Yes they could and yes they did.

My absolute highlight was spending an entire weekend with some favorite people who can’t get rid of me after 28 years of friendship. Shame, they’re stuck with me, and I’m stuck with them. So we traveled to a little town and as always, each night, I fell asleep too early and each day, was driven nuts by someone shorter than I (yes, it is totally possible), who made it our mission (how it became “our” no one knows) to find a milkshake place or a fish place or I think it was a bracelet shop (I can’t remember). It was an adventure of a different kind and yes, we found all that she asked for. Plus we bonded and made some random memories (and photos) and yes, they will see this because they all obviously read my blogs religiously. Insert Side Eye.

And to end the month of July, I finished my fourth book thus far.

This winter flew by and while the cold months drain my energy, I knew I had to get at least one thing done, and going through this, I only see now that I did much more.

Reflection is something I never take for granted and typing this all out, has made me feel grateful that I managed to get through…that chocolate challenge and know I don’t need to do it again.

Here’s to one more month of cold. And energy conservation.