It's a funny life with Megan: I fought hard, but Winter 2022 is the winner

That's it. That gloves are off. I've done my 10 rounds with a ruthless opponent and I've conceded defeat.

This heavyweight hasn't only been doing the rounds with me, it has stepped in the ring with anyone, taking on even the fastest and fittest of the bunch and still won.

It now holds the world's heavyweight champion title, and it goes by the name of Winter 2022!!

If you think you can take on Winter 2022. Think again. This champ isn't like any other winter, it's faster, it's bigger and it takes no prisoners.

I first stepped in the ring with it and took my corner back in May. I had a good coach, I thought - my coach's name was "experience". I naively thought I knew what I was in for with Winter 2022 and experience would help me.

From the very first punch, though, back in the sunny Hawke's Bay days of May I was on the back foot. Winter 2022 threw Covid at us. It hit my oldest son fair in the guts. The rest of us took a few punches and fell to the floor too, but essentially, we were able to dodge around it.

Then we hit back. We threw a month's worth of vitamin C gummies at it, when we remembered to take them. We also took the sting out of the kidney punch with a little Vicks VapoRub. Boy did that make it mad!

It gave us a couple of rounds to get all high and mighty, and then it launched another attack. The headbutt that gave us headaches, fevers and a cough that lasts for 12 weeks.

We tried to roundhouse it with paracetamol and extra fluids. It laughed in our face and upped the ante by using a low blow. Winter 2022 made the parents in the house and the children sick at the same time!

As I crawled away to my corner because that's all I could do, I heard Winter 2022's coach telling it to KO me.

I cried in anticipation of the final blow. I knew that he'd saved the best for last. And there it was, the main event. The one that would bring me to my knees. It unleashed the cold sore virus. I was sucker-punched well and truly and, of course, couldn't find the Zovirax. Winter 2022, you win.

This article was first published by Hawkes Bay Today and is republished here with permission.