I know I am a week late with the August Gratitude Circle blog hop but there are pretty good reasons why. If there's one thing I've realized yet again, it is that I am stronger than my circumstances.
In these already challenging times, it is amusing how life keeps presenting bizarre situations that are seemingly stressful and look impossible - and yet - things do work out because I believe we are all stronger than our circumstances.
To begin with, let me share why this post is up later than usual.Sometime in mid-August, I started having problems with my blog hosting services. Hours of waiting on customer care did not solve the issue. In fact, they kept saying the problem had been solved but the truth was, it was not solved. Then two weeks on, my sister Vanita, who was doing all the heavy weight lifting on this issue while I sat looking worried on the side, decided we should move before something really drastic happened.
Of course, I trust her blindly in most things and she got things rolling to shift my six blogs to a new hosting company. This happened over a week and I know how challenging it was for her, constantly troubleshooting and fixing things and ensuring everything was up and running.
I am so grateful to have Vanita on my side, taking care of everything. Sure, I worried a lot - unnecessarily as it turned out later - the lack of knowledge about certain things can make us panic. Still, all is well that ends well. And all my blogs are up and running now.
Remote challenge
Around the end of July, my son's college asked the students to vacate their rooms. Remotely. And we freaked out wondering what to do. I mean, he came home in March for a week-when the pandemic broke out and could not return to campus.
Question was, how to pack his stuff remotely and have it sent home? Then the college gave us the option of packing and storing it there or having it sent. After some thought, we decided to have it sent to us, because who knows when we'll be able to travel? And thus started that saga. Long story short, we managed to get someone to help-break the locks to the room, pack everything, and book the cartons home, which arrived ten days later. All the while I kept telling my folks everything would be okay while actually going crazy secretly. See? Stronger than my circumstances. Grateful to the folks that made it happen.
Then I received a phone call one afternoon, to tell me that one of my aunts had passed away. She was the wife of one of my favorite uncles (mom's bros). I felt incredibly sad at the news, recalling our conversations when I met her in Jan, earlier this year. She was living alone and quite content with life as it was. I have some good memories of her and I am grateful we were connected. I feel terrible each time news of a beloved family member's death arrives; I find myself wishing I had more time with them. Sigh.
Odd thing-these days I do not see the newspaper, but I am somehow eerily drawn to the Obituaries page, which has an increasing number of tributes. I am always nervous about seeing someone I know. Do you ever feel that?
But life is not all doom and gloom!
Vidur graduated!
They had a Zoom graduation ceremony. Not really what everyone was looking forward to but under the circumstances, the best that could be done. They've issued a standing invitation to attend any of the grad ceremonies in the next three years on campus. So, my son received his MS degree. Seems like we brought his 5-day-old-self home rather nervously only the other day-how the time has flown!
In other news, Vidur has had to defer his Ph.D. admission because of the COVID-19 situation. The time is not great for international students right now and with classes being delivered online, the advice was to wait a bit. He'll be attending classes informally to keep in touch. We are just glad he's home. Of course, I'll cry buckets when the time comes for him to leave, but until then, grateful that we are getting this time with him. Yes, we nag him, but you know...
Sury turned 60
Thing is, he's always so cheerful and fun, constantly make us laugh that I can't really imagine him aging, ever. Yet, time does not stand still, does it? Grateful we were all at home to enjoy his special day because over the past five years, we've missed Vidur's birthdays with him being on campus; we've missed being together on mine thanks to travel.
The work front is trying to look up
- no, peeking, teasing me, actually, and giving me hope. I am keeping my fingers crossed. To motivate myself I got a little desk so I can work with my legs stretched out. Yep, need the change of place periodically, don't we? It has folding legs that tuck under it so it can be put away after use. It's so convenient!
Connecting with classmates
One of the wonderful things that happened last week was a lovely phone-call with my classmate-we have sat together on the same bench for the three years I studied in that school, from the eighth grade through the tenth. The next day, we had a Zoom call with the WhatsApp classmate group and it was so much fun. Is it me, or does everyone we met during our childhood look exactly the same to us? I was grateful that we are all in touch - 30 of us - and are so blessed to connect on a daily basis.
I am due for my routine blood tests next week and I am hoping the results are good or at least, not worse than the last time. I know I've stressed myself out and have had to skip walking on some days thanks to the crazy rains during that time of the day. Also, it is hard to resist a piece of chocolate sometimes, you know? But I've been active and doing all the other things that go into a healthy lifestyle, so. Yet again, keeping fingers crossed. Why do blood reports and a visit to the doc feel like a critical school exam? Hmph!
In the meantime - we are still surviving with the " new normal ", afraid to go out as we hear news of rising COVID-19 cases with a vaccine only in the distant horizon. Oh yeah, we will survive.
All in all, I would say August was a mixed blessing and reminded me of the quote:
"You can't really be strong until you can see a funny side to things."- Ken Kesey
And again, yes, my mantra is:
I am stronger than my circumstances!
♥
Does it seem like this year is just whizzing by? Or that 2020 has had only two valid months, namely January and February?
Tell me in your post. And link up below.
Welcome to the August 2020 Gratitude Circle blog hop!
As always, please note: To join the Gratitude Circle blog hop, you can write about anything that made you feel good. It is not mandatory to write about your personal life. Or list personal things you are grateful for. You have the freedom to share anything that made you feel good. A happy event. Something you saw. An experience. A place. Something that brought you happiness. A lovely book you read that filled you with joy. Anything. I repeat - it need not be personal at all.- Write your posts.
- Add the badge.
- Remember to link to my post to validate your entry to the linky.
- Add your post link to the linky below.
- Comment and say hello here.
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