2017 GLAFY*

I started the year with a set of intentions, plans to improve on things and with hope that the tracker mortgage issue would be sorted out soon.

Some things I didn’t do so well with in 2017. The driving test still hasn’t been tackled. I renewed my licence and I have a set of lessons bought, but not booked. That will be sorted imminently.

Activity wise I’ve not been great. As many of you will know I started back working in another office 20+ hours a week in January. That has been challenging but above all else this has meant that we waved goodbye to Family Income Supplement and the worry that we would slide back into arrears have subsided.

I put an intention in place to complete at least 1 of the books I had in drafts at the start of the year. That I did in spades. Cookbook number 2 is complete. I’ll be taking some time at the start of the year to figure out whether I want to go back down the conventional publishing route, publish myself, or do something a little different!

In 2017 I joined the Lidl Ireland team as their brand ambassador. I still feel like pinching myself when I see myself in their brochures, or get a message from somebody who has tried my recipes. I got to go on the LGFA FutureStars Roadshow in July, cooking on a roadshow and giving home-cooking/family advice.

In 2017 I spoke about food waste at a film festival, about blogging for the Bord Bia Brand Forum, worked with Flogas at Taste of Dublin, joined FoodCloud as a volunteer, and much more. It was a very up and down year to be honest.

Last Monday my husband John shared a picture on Christmas Day from his memories in 2016. There I was with one of my sisters, my Aunt, and my 2 Grandparents. I’d dropped by to see them and we decided to take a quick snap of the 3 generations while we were there. Little did I know that in the space of a year we’d be left with such a massive hole in our lives.

Since Grandad turned 100 in 2016 the fact that we were on borrowed time with him became more and more apparent as time went on. Yet on Easter Sunday last he was able to tell me about the North Strand bombing (he lived very near the bombsite). Grandad passed away after a short illness in early Summer and my Grandmother left to be reunited with him just before Hallowe’en.

It’s gas you know.

The day after we finally got our redress from the bank (more on that in a day or so I’m still processing it), John was walking out of a shop, head filled anger at the bank, when he stepped off the pavement into a moving car without looking. I know he’s going to be embarrassed that I am mentioning this but this is how much the stress has taken over our lives. He’s okay, miraculously. The biggest injury is to his pride. He’s feeling terribly guilty for the windscreen he broke with the impact. Driver if you’re reading this he’s very sorry and hopes you’re okay.

This year, 2017, has been the year where people mattered. Where it mattered to tell people that I loved them, that I appreciated them, and to thank them.

Tomorrow might be the day that they’re not there to tell them in person.

2017 has been a hugely challenging year; filled with great sorrow and joy. Like any year I suppose but it has had far more tears and grief than we expected.  So GLAFY* 2017 and let’s see what 2018 brings.

*GLAFY: It’s an Irish acronym; mainly used in Dublin. Pronounced ‘Geh-laff-ee’. It stands for ‘Good Luck And Feck Ya’ – I suppose the easiest way to explain it is that it’s used to describe something with good riddance.