A-Z Challenge 2024 - Reflections Post

Well I completed the challenge in that I posted for every letter of the alphabet and on time!  (Although some came close to the wire.)

Did I win?

I'm not sure that I did.  There's a lot going on in our house right now so I'm not sure that I gave the same amount of input as I've done in some of the previous years of taking part.  I certainly didn't find time to check out too many new blogs but I did try to visit those of people who had visited mine.

Thank you to all those who did, especially if you left a comment.  Apologies if I missed getting back to you.

Thanks also to the A to Z Team (Arlee Bird, J Lenni Dorner, Zalka Csenge Virág, John Holton, Jayden R Vincente, and Ronel) who supported everyone through the challenge and do such a great job every year.

There were lots of suggestions from the team of what to consider for this post (read more here) but if I tried to address all of them this post would probably never see the light of day.

For me one of the main reasons for doing the challenge is to try and keep my blog active and interesting and to stretch my writing.  Well I need to work on the being active part as this is the first post I've done since completing the challenge!  I'm also not sure that I really stretched myself as there was very little forward planning done apart from drafting out what each letter would be.  Many of the posts were written either on the day or maybe a day or two in advance.

But, having said all that I expect to be doing it all over again next year!

A - Z Challenge 2023 - Reflections

Hmm well I think I could just go back to a previous year's Reflection post and copy and paste it here.

Well not quite.

I've been blogging for years but there are often times when I need a challenge to get me back into the rhythm of regular blogging and the A-Z Challenge definitely serves that purpose.

Except it doesn't - well not always.  I start out with good intentions, usually before Christmas, thinking about what I might use as a theme etc and, I've usually got at least a few posts scheduled to post before the 1st April.  My aim being that, if my posts are already done,  I'll have time to visit lots of new blogs.

It never seems to turn out that way.  I often end up winging it and visiting new blogs becomes very sporadic.  I didn't even get to the A-Z homepage very often which I feel is a bit disrespectful to the wonderful team who put this challenge together year after year.  (Although I'm not sure having the lists on the A-Z page was helpful.  As long as the lists are available somewhere to be downloaded I'm happy.)

This year I did manage to have all my posts appear at the right time.  None of them were late so that's an improvement on last year.  But I feel I was lazy with my theme - Being a Grandparent.  I have 6 grandchildren and I love them all to bits so writing about them is really easy.  I certainly wasn't pushing any boundaries.

I don't consider myself a writer as such but I do like to write.  I need to have a good think about how I might approach next year's challenge.

Oh yes I expect to be back.

The links to all my posts for this year can be found here.

A-Z 2022 Reflections post

Alice, I need your help.

And why would that be Wendy?

Because I've got to do a Reflection post for the A-Z challenge and it would be good to have your input.

Oooh goody!  It's about time you did a new post.  Your readers must be thinking you'd fallen down a black hole and taken me with you.

No such luck Alice.

Anyway the A-Z team have given some pointers on things to include so I suggest we just work our way through them together.

Hmm that sounds boring and a bit like hard work Wendy.

Don't be rude Alice.  The A-Z team put a lot of hard work and effort into making the challenge a success and they are to be appreciated. Anyway this is the list:

Give consideration to how the A to Z Challenge impacted your blog.

View your stats to see how the last 30 days changed your blog view numbers.

Make an observation about how many comments you got on your April posts.

Contemplate what you learned from making posts during the Challenge.

What gave you the idea for your Challenge Theme, if you used one?

Did any blogs you visited in the Challenge make a lasting impression on you?

Perhaps meditate on how to express your thoughts about the Challenge this year.

Give an opinion on any of the three #AZchat events from this year.

What impact did the Challenge have on your social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)?

Rumination about the A to Z Challenge can help the team improve!

This year included a deliberation to find another graphic person after the loss of Jeremy. Muse about the imagination and talent of Anjela.

What is your impression of the A to Z Team?

After much cogitation, let your pensiveness reflect in your post.

Did any dreams or goals you set come to fruition during this April Challenge?

Please tell everyone if you picked up any sweet merchandise this year.

Hmm well some of that is easy Wendy although there won’t be any meditating going on here.  And the challenge had no impact on your social media as you don’t do Twitter and you keep your blog completely separate form Facebook and Instagram.

As for chats?  Do you mean to tell me now, when it’s far too late that we could have been chatting with other people about the challenge during the challenge?

Well yes Alice but I felt that was a bit beyond me and I’m not sure if the timing was right.

You just didn’t want to let me have a voice did you?

Well that might have been a bit tricky Alice as only I can hear you.

Ok.  Point taken.  Now what about your stats whatever they are?

Short for statistics Alice.  The blogging platform provides details on things like page views, comments etc and mine were definitely up for April but as I really only blog for my own satisfaction I never really take any notice of them.

Right.  Moving on.  I think the new graphics person did a good job.  Hard stepping into someone else’s shoes.  Actually Wendy you’re right.  The whole team do a great job.  But how do they find the time?  You’re retired and have lots of time but still struggled to get the posts done on time once you caught up with yourself.

Well taking a holiday during the first week of the challenge wasn’t ideal and yes I was winging it most days after that.  And once again I haven’t managed to visit as many other blogs as I feel I should have.  I did manage to visit people who’d left me comments and I have started working my way through the sign up list.  There just never seem to be enough hours in the day.

Gaining more grandchildren hasn’t helped Wendy but at least you had me to provide your theme and give suggestions, even if I was just resurrected from 2019.

Yes but now I’ve resurrected you I don’t think you’re going back into the recesses of my mind anytime soon Alice. 

Oh no Wendy.  I’m here to stay which I know will please many of your readers.

So there you have it.  A reflections post done in the style of my A-Z posts.  This is my 8^th completed challenge, once again by the skin of my teeth on quite a few days.  Forward planning is still not my strong point.  However, enthusiasm for blogging has revived and satisfaction gained from doing more than just waffle or doing regular memes.

Thank you to everyone, old and new, for your visits to my blog and the lovely comments.  Apologies if I haven’t made it back to your blog yet, I’m working on it.

As for Alice…..well you definitely haven’t heard the last from her.

Links to all my A-Z posts can be found here.

A-Z Challenge 2021 - Reflections

Well so much for the challenge getting me back into blogging every day - this is only my 3rd post since completing the challenge.

Firstly I would like to say a big thank you to the team behind the challenge.  They all do a great job and this year they really tried to add variety into the challenge.  I'm afraid I didn't really "double down" by doing any of the additional suggestions/challenges apart from the "No E? No problem!" which was to write a blog post without using the letter E.  This one appealed to me so you can find my post here.

I am glad to say that I completed the challenge and only one of my posts was slightly late although I was almost burning the midnight oil on several days.  This is the 7th time I've done this challenge and every year I tell myself to be prepared i.e. have all my posts done and scheduled to post before 1st April.  I've never managed that yet but I did get some of this year's posts done in advance.  Some, not many.

Having a theme also helps and this year mine was Living in Lockdown.  It feels like we've been in lockdown forever here in London but things are easing now and I've had both my jabs so I'm feeling more relaxed about mixing, especially with people I know.

I won't be wearing a challenge T-shirt though, not even sure they ship to the UK but I'm not particularly public about my blog.  Of course it is in the public domain but I don't have it linked to Facebook or Instagram which I use.  I don't use Twitter or much else in the way of social media so I'm definitely not one for self promotion.  Hence my lack of participation in some of the challenges.

Lockdown has given us all many challenges but I think it's also stifled some of us.  Reading and blogging, two of my favourite things became difficult, almost a chore.  There definitely wasn't the same enjoyment there.  It was interesting to see that I wasn't alone in feeling like that and there were lots of explanations out there as to why this was. (Check out my U post for one of them.)

Despite having so much time on our hands I seemed to get less done.

Overall I'm happy with the way my challenge worked out and I'll definitely be back next year.

One thing I was disappointed with was not visiting many other blogs.  I definitely tried to respond to people who visited my blog but I was very bad at checking out new blogs by working through the master list.  But this is something I find myself saying every year.  I'm going to sign up for the Road Trip and set myself a daily target of blogs to visit to rectify this.  So apologies if I didn't get to visit you yet, but I'm on my way! 

For ease of reference all my A-Z posts can be found here.

A - Z Challenge 2020 - Reflections!

Well it's taken me a week to get around to doing this but here goes.

I completed all the letters and on time!  I think that's a first for me.  I've always managed to do a post for every letter (even when they didn't work too well with my theme) but sometimes I've been playing catch up for a day or two.  This year all my posts went up on time even though I wasn't particularly well prepared.

I chose my theme (Moving House) a while back and started preparing some of the posts and at least thinking about what I could write about.  Then Covid-19 reared it's head and our whole situation changed.

Here in London it's been particularly bad and my borough (Newham) is the worst for deaths.  It's been pretty scary and we've been staying home for nearly 7 weeks now.  Moving house is not going to happen anytime soon.

However I stuck to my theme and just added bits and pieces here and there to reflect the current situation.

Overall I'm pleased with how things went but I did notice that traffic levels seemed much lower this year.  I did manage to visit the main A-Z blog site most days and I did have a few new visitors to my blog.  I returned the favour and visited back.  Maybe everyone was feeling a bit like me - I found it very hard to concentrate on much during this time.  The first couple of weeks weren't too bad but after that even reading didn't hold my attention for very long.   Consequently I didn't get around to visiting other blogs as much as I normally would.  I feel bad about that but maybe I'll do better on the roadtrip this year.

Reflections on the A - Z Challenge 2019

Part of the A-Z Challenge involves doing a reflection post on your thoughts on the challenge once it's over.

As usual The Team have been helpful and given us questions to  give us some pointers on what to think about so here goes:

1. What did you love about the challenge this year?
What really pleased me was that this year (my fifth time of taking part)  I felt I did more creative writing.  

The idea for the posts came to me last year.  I wanted to do something that felt more like writing as opposed to writing about topics.  I didn’t want it to be a story that had to be followed from start to finish so I ended up with: “Conversations in my Head” with a muse called Alice who was loosely based on Alice from Alice in Wonderland.   I tried to include references to the story when I could but Alice had a habit of taking on a life of her own!

I wasn't as prepared as I'd hoped to be but I definitely felt less pressured this year as I had prepared at least half of my posts in advance.  The rest were all ready before they were due.  In previous years I have been known to "wing it" and that's hard.


2. What would you change about it?
I don't think I'd change anything.
 
3. What was the best moment for you during this year's challenge?
That was when I'd written my last post and scheduled it to post!
 
4. What is the best comment your blog got during the challenge, and who left the comment?
I has some lovely comments and I'm not going to pick just one and upset all the others! 

I still didn't have enough time to visit other blogs although I did try and get around to everyone who left me comments.  I did feel that I probably wasn't the only one finding it hard to do visits and I didn't have many new visitors to my blog.

I'm aware though that I didn't always leave comments on the A-Z post of the day and I don't have a great social media presence.

5. Will you do the challenge again?
Yes
 
6. Was it well organized and were the hosts helpful? (Did you fill out the after survey?)
Yes, Yes and Yes!

7. How did you and your blog grow, change, or improve as a result of this challenge? Did you find new blogs out there to enjoy?

As I stated abote, the posts for the challenge were different from what I usually post and were well received, even from regular followers.  Researching the posts took time but now Alice has been unleashed I'm sure more posts in the future will feature her.

I did find a few new blogs but I need to spend more time on working through the Master List.
 
8. Were you on the Master List? (If you did the challenge last year, was it better this time without the daily lists?)
I was on the Master List and Yes I prefer not having to worry about daily lists.

9. Any suggestions for our future?
Keep up the good work!
 
10. Any notes to the co-host team? A word of thanks to Jeremy for all his hard work on the graphics? A picture with your A to Z shirt, if you ordered one?
Well done to the team, including Jeremy.  Haven't got a T-shirt.  (Not sure if you ship overseas.)


Umm Wendy, don't I get a say in this?
No Alice.  I'm reflecting, which means I'm not listening to you!

A - Z Challenge 2018 - Reflection Post

 

Well we're now into May, the challenge has expired and it's time to reflect.

What went well?  I completed it and posted every post on time.  I also managed to add my link to the daily list on 29 of the 30 days.  (I think!  I know I missed one deadline but I'm pretty sure it was just one.)

What went badly?  I wasn't as prepared as I'd hoped to be.  Posts for the second  half of the month were often rushed and I wasn't that happy with some of them.  Mainly because my theme didn't give me a lot of wriggle room on some letters.  I had to get creative but I didn't always have the time to do that.

What went really badly?  I was rubbish at visiting new blogs.  I did try and make sure I visited people who took the time to leave me comments and I think I was pretty successful at doing that.  Apologies if I did totally ignore anyone.  But I didn't work my way through the list of participants as I have done in previous years.  

What would I do differently?   I would try and be more prepared so that all my posts were pre-scheduled, giving me more time to visit other blogs, plus keep up with the regular posts and memes I usually follow.  I'd also think through my choice of theme to be sure it would work for all the letters or at least how I could get around any difficult ones.

Will I be back?  Definitely.

A - Z Reflections Post

This is my third year of doing the A-Z challenge.  I had high hopes of it being my best yet, in terms of getting posts done on time and visiting/commenting on other blogs, although I knew the first part would be tricky as I was due to be away on a cruise.  I prepared enough posts in advance to cover the time I was away and had the remainder part drafted.  So far so good.

Then the team threw a huge curveball in removing THE LIST!

Of course there was a big debate over this.  I would have preferred it if the list was kept but I could understand the issues the team were having. BUT I also knew I would find it hard to post a link on the days aboard ship.  

And then life took another turn.  My Grandson arrived - 11 weeks early.  I let my published posts go live but I opted out of posting a link on the site as I knew I wouldn't be able to visit and comment on new blogs so it didn't seem fair to invite people to visit me either.

Somehow I managed to finish and publish all my posts with nearly all of them going live on the correct day.  I also kept up reasonably well with my regular followers.  But that was it.

Did I enjoy it?  Yes and No.  Yes I was pleased that I managed to complete the posts but No sometimes it was hard and therefore not so enjoyable.  Did I feel part of it?  Not really but that was my own choice.  Will I do it again?  Probably but that might depend on how much time that little guy I mentioned earlier is taking up.  He is doing really well and we hope he'll be home soon.

Reflections on the A-Z Challenge 7/5/16

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This was my second challenge.  Last year I learned about the challenge from a friend at just the right time for me.  I’d recently stopped working and needed something to motivate me to get back into blogging regularly.  I survived by the skin of my teeth.  But I loved it.

This year I decided to plan ahead.  I’d chosen my theme before Christmas (London Underground stations) and even planned a schedule for getting out and about to visit the stations and get some photos.

So far so good. 

I even began drafting the posts.

I was feeling so pleased with myself. 

Then life intervened, a bereavement and illness pushed my schedule way behind and then the weather wasn’t kind to me either.  But I was ahead enough to get through.

I had some lovely feedback on my posts and I really enjoyed doing the research.  I even took myself to the London Transport Museum to get information for those tricky letters of X, Y and Z.  This was great personal development for me, especially as there was a time, due to depression and anxiety, when I wouldn’t even contemplate using public transport let alone travel around it on my own.

Lots of plus points there and of course I’ll be back next year.  Hopefully even more organized and therefore with more time to visit other blogs.  I managed to keep up with responding to those who left me comments but found it hard to visit new blogs and maintain contact although I have found a few new blogs to follow.   Now I’ll be going back to check out some more.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and a HUGE thanks to the organisers and their minions for making this such a great challenge.

A funny old week

I’ve tried to keep to routines this week but it hasn’t been easy.  A family friend, Del, died last week which was sad but he’d lived to the age of 93 and had not been in great health for some time so it was a release for him but of course difficult for those left behind.

His body was received into our church late on Wednesday so I attended the service for that.  Del used to be a Governor at the school where I worked so some of my former work colleagues were there and we ended up going to the pub for a drink so it was nice to catch up.  On Thursday I collected my Mother-in-law and with hubby we attended the funeral and reception afterwards.  It was a lovely send-off and the weather was good so we were able to sit outside at the reception which was held at the local tennis clubhouse.

My Mother-in-law has stayed with us since Thursday as it was our weekend to have her and on Friday hubby’s sister from France came with her husband for a visit.  They stayed over until Saturday morning before heading off to visit other family members.

It was nice to be able to put them up without any hassle.  One advantage of an empty nest.

Today we have our youngest and eldest offspring here with their partners for dinner so that will be a nice get together, especially for MIL.

Lots going on but I’ve done very little walking!  One thing we also did this week was to return items to work.  I still had my laptop, keys, security fobs, debit card etc belonging to the school that needed to be returned.  I couldn’t face going in so Nick did that for me.  It was closure in a way as I now have no reason to go to the school and there is no reason for them to contact me.  But considering I’ve had no contact from the Headteacher or Leadership team since I was off sick and subsequently resigned I’m not surprised that no one had asked for my things back!

Making that break was quite hard but because of the funeral this week I have actually seen all my former office team now so at least they know what happened.  From all accounts things are not getting any better at the school and more staff are leaving at the end of this term.

It’s taken a while but I’m glad to be out of the firing line and I am enjoying getting on with the rest of my life.