I made no plans for 2025, if I had chosen a word or phrase for the year it would probably have been ‘keep up’. It takes me a while to change and adjust to new things and that’s what I’ve been trying to do.

I don’t like it when people compare their struggles to others, so I’m well aware that I’m lucky to only be balancing menopause with work and home and an allotment and being a person in the world. I am acutely aware of my privileges in doing this but it would be an understatement to say that I have found the last 10 months of adjustment difficult.

So I’ve not made grand plans, I’ve just coped and in the background of my mind I can see that my brain has been thinking about it. About what’s important to me and how I’m going to make it work.

I’m a fan of being kind to yourself and resting but sometimes being kind to yourself means giving yourself the kick up the backside you need. So this is my kick up the backside, if you are going through a similar period of change don’t feel that my way should work for you!

So this month it’s time to start making commitments and having goals again..

Home

• The rigid commitment for May is that I get over to Mum’s every Saturday and Wednesday evening. Saturday’s are already something I do but I’ve been talking about getting over after work to take her out for a walk! She doesn’t much like the idea but I think it’ll be good for both of us!
• I also need to stop half arsing the state of the flat, I’m never going to be a cleantok icon but I do need to make sure that certain things are done. I have a list of house jobs and I just need to tick them off every week.
• I also need to reinstate golden hour and a proper sleep schedule, I’ve been back sliding so I need to sort myself out because that helps everything.
• Finally as part of my weekly regimen, I need to food plan better. Interestingly, during Lent I was migraine free but the Easter weekend (when I reintroduced chocolate) I had a really bad migraine. So I’m back to cutting out processed sweets, cake and biscuits!

Work

There is only one thing on my work list and that’s to get into the office more. The current plan is Monday to Wednesday. Or at the very least Tuesday and Wednesday.

Exercise

Exercise is not something I enjoy but I really should start aiming to close the rings for on my Apple watch, at least five out of seven days! And do the same for my step count!

Allotment

The task list for the plot is never ending but by the end of May. I would like to have:

• The polytunnel set up (with plants),
• The beds all cleared.
• Tomatoes and summer squash planted
• The blueberry and fruit tree area netted
• The rosemary pruned
• To have made a start on sorting the iris and rose garden/pond

Lastly, I’d like to get back into the rhythm of posting here. Maybe it’ll start by committing to a Monday, Wednesday and Friday post here but I don’t want to overload myself!