My word for 2017: Celebration

Celebration. What do I have to celebrate? What do you have to celebrate? Let's start with me - after all, this is my blog!

I know that I'm a bit late with revealing my word for 2017, but life has been getting in the way of blogging recently. There's another reason, however it's too early to tell you, so that will have to be added to the comments at the right time. (I do love a mystery, don't you?) I will tell you though that it's to do with money, however I have realised that there are so many other things in my life to celebrate that are nothing to do with money - and which are far more important than money - some of which I describe below.

First of all, I have to celebrate my family and my friends. I have three children whom I am immensely proud of and who are all lovely people: a real cause for celebration. I am lucky enough to have many good friends, some of whom I have known for many years, and others who became my friends after we moved to Spain nearly nine years ago. I should also add that I count my extended family amongst my friends. Last, but definitely not least, is my second husband John. I have known him for twenty five years (we met through Serpentine running club) and we married almost eight years ago surrounded by both our families and close friends. Since we met we have been lucky enough to go on some amazing holidays together, visiting Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the USA as well as many countries in Europe. Having said that, it's still good to return to the UK to visit our families and meet up with many of our friends there.

Next I have to celebrate the fact that I am fit and healthy. I know many people aren't as fortunate as I am, so I appreciate the fact that I am able to go to dance exercise classes three mornings a week. I have also started to learn Sevillanos and Flamenco for one hour on Tuesday evenings, which is great fun. As we don't have a car we walk everywhere, plus we go on walks in the countryside of between 9k and 10k with our local Day Centre.  John and I follow a healthy diet, apart from the occasional pizza - after all, both chocolate and red wine have health benefits, don't they? In my case I haven't eaten meat for over 30 years, though I do occasionally eat fish.

I also celebrate the fact that I have a roof over my head and that we have running water and electricity. Many other people in the world don't have these luxuries that most of us take for granted. Having said that, we have experienced the occasional power cut since moving to Spain, usually because there is a fiesta in town with extra lights and musical acts using lots of electric power!

Another cause of celebration is the way we have been accepted by our Spanish neighbours in Jumilla and how patient they are when we try to speak to them in Spanish. Sadly, nowadays, residents in many other countries are not so welcoming towards immigrants. We have been accepted as part of the local community and are referred to as "Jumillanos".

As I said before, I have so many other things to celebrate in my life, however the final one that I would like to mention is my blog and the new friends that I have made through blogging: yes you, my readers.

Now it's your turn: what do you have to celebrate in your life?