The good, the great, the remarkably average

Yes, yes, I know, there isn’t enough Botox in Essex to iron out the wrinkles that 2016 has left us with. I hear you. This was a year in which I spent six entire weeks at the hospital, without missing a day. I’m not kidding. Ben and I were in hospital for a week after his asthma attack, and on the night that he was discharged, my nan was rushed in for emergency surgery on a twisted bowel. While she was still recovering (and violently delirious from the anaesthetic), my grandad developed pneumonia. It’d be fucking funny if it hadn’t been, y’know, fairly upsetting.

This was a year in which stresses and struggles formed an orderly queue at the front door, patiently waiting their turn. One in, one out. A year of altercations (both public and private), trials and tribulations. A year that saw me lose contract after contract, and be rejected from job after job. Pennies were tight, our luck seemed to be low.

But, are we sitting here, on the second day of 2017, mourning a shitty old year? Fuck, NO. Because, for all the shit that went down, there was good stuff, too. Of course there was! We’re still standing, aren’t we? We’re still laughing. It’d take more than 2106 to stop us laughing.

And so, with that, I want to offer you my best bits of 2016. BECAUSE THERE WERE GOOD BITS. These are the things that provided distraction, entertained me, and made me smile. This is the good shit. Check this shit out. And report back, please – I’d love to know what you thought about the shit that I loved.

Telly that I watched

Love

Orange is the New Black

Master of None

Gogglebox

Toast

Black Mirror

First Dates

Billy & Billie

Very British Problems

The Undateables

Would I Lie to You

Movies that I saw

Sing

Victoria

Hunt for the Wilderpeople

The Fundamentals of Caring

Man Up

The Skeleton Twins

Sing Street

Music that I listened to

The XX – On Hold

Stone Roses – All for One

Warpaint – New Song

Jagwar Mar – Obi Wan

Whyte Horses – Snowfalls

Nick Cave – Skeleton Tree

Avalanches – Frankie Sinatra

DJ Shadow – Nobody Speak

Jamie T – Tesco Land

Ultimate Painting – Monday Morning, Somewhere Central

Podcasts that I enjoyed

Adam Buxton

Athletico Mince

My Dad Wrote a Porno

The Archers

Scroobius Pip

Blogs that I loved

Mummy Muckups

Mum to Five

Handbag Mafia

Toilets aren’t for Turtles

The Thud

Hugzilla

Veggie Mama

Mrs Woog @ Woogsworld

The Joys of Three Boys

Carly Findlay

Potential Psychology Blog

Gift Grapevine

The United States of Mama

Between Roots and Wings

Hurrah for Gin

Totes Inappropes

Say Hello Jo

Awesomely Unprepared

Kangaroo Spotting

Rebel Without a Pause

Maxabella Loves

Books I read

This year, I didn’t read shit. I know! I’ll tell you for why: the time that I would’ve spent reading (or drinking, whatevs), I actually spent writing. My first book – a work of funny-as-fuck fiction (new genre) – is halfway to completion. I didn’t expect it to take quite as long as it is, but then, I didn’t expect three children to rob me of quite as much time as they do. Go figure.

People I adored

My husband, pro-doodler and handsome hound dog

Kids that I quite liked

Ben

Frankie

Alice

And that kid I saw helping himself to the free samples at Lennards the chicken shop. I liked him.