Ultimate Blog Challenge - Day 20: Challenge

Welcome back and Happy Weekend! Day 20 of our Ultimate Blog Challenge is all about - Challenge. Haha!

In today's assignment e-mail Paul, our host, asked whether we have been talking with our real life family and friends about participating in the UBC. 

No, I haven't. They lose track of all the challenges I do.

Oh, wait, I think I mentioned this one to my son.

In all the years I have been blogging, I have done many writing challenges, above all Blogging from A - Z for seven years in a row. Or Secret Subject Swap and Use Your Words each and every month for eight years.

There were a few others, too: Blog with Friends,  20 Days of Chill in January, 10 Days of Heat in August, 

For a while I ran my own challenge Top Ten Thursday.

Since 2016 I have been participating in the monthly Photo Blogging Challenge.

Blogging Challenges are frankly what keeps my blog alive. They provide a prompt and a due date, and with them come expectations and accountability. 

If I sign up, I follow through.

Sometimes meeting the deadline is the bigger challenge than generating content. Actually that's true for most posts, however, I'm talking about the few times time was literally running out. 

In October 2014 we were on a road trip through the Pacific West Coast area. We were supposed to get on the ferry to the U.S. but online booking had closed two days prior to the scheduled departure, and our showing up for "first come, first serve" almost worked but didn't work. 

I ended up finishing my post at a Starbucks in Victoria (Vancouver Island). As you can see I had a little help from a cute Smurf!

Today's prompt - talk about a recent challenge and how you've made it through - is most probably not limited to writing. 

What else challenged me?

Two lockdowns within less than a year, one of them including home schooling while I still had to go to work myself. 

I took the youngster with me. He settled down in our meeting room, from where he attended Zoom class. 

In order to make his days more fun (there was no practice, and there were on play dates, and I wouldn't let him spend half of his time in front of a screen) we set up a Lockdown Challenge. 

Every day was dedicated to a country. We would research fun facts and cook a specialty. This one was Thai Day.

Oh, you know what other challenge I had, along with everybody else on this planet? 

My hair appointment was coming up for mid-March 2020. You guessed right. I missed it by two days. Salons were not considered necessities and had to close shop. This is our AFTER picture, taken on April 30:

I had an incident with my car in May that required repairs, that required spare parts, that were not available until October. 

I probably have to mention that my insurance does not cover a loaner. So I depended on my husband's mercy, public transportation and my own feet every time Colin needed to be taken to practice. During that time I also became a regular customer at grocery delivery services. 

I probably have to mention that during the spring / early summer month they train off ice and don't require the bulky bag holding their gear. Which means we car pool with two other families. Which means I have to go pick them up at their home, drive them to practice, feed them and take them home once or twice a week. The other days are covered by the other parents. 

So I guess my approach to challenges is "make the best of it", and "keep smiling".

Agreed?

What challenges did you have to face? Let me know below.