Merry & Bright

To all those who celebrate,

I wish you and yours

the merriest of Christmases. 

Happy New Year

I must admit, I am happy to say good-bye to 2021. It was not a good year for me. In actuality, it was probably one of the hardest years I've ever had, so watching it fade away last night was a good thing. 

I am trying to look at 2022 with a hope-filled heart. I want 2022 to be better; I need 2022 to be better. I hope your 2022 is filled with only good things - including kind people, good health, enough sleep and peace. Happy New Year.

Positives

2020 has been an especially hard year for me. I know it's been a challenge for everyone, but I am so ready for things to change. I've been struggling quite a bit lately, so this week I've been really, really trying to focus on some of the good things that happened to me in 2020.

 2020 was the year I discovered yoga.

 

This year I was diagnosed with problems between my L4 and L5 vertebrae. I've had back problems for a long time, but 2020 was the year things came to a head and I had to see an orthopedic doctor. He told me I needed to strengthen my core muscles, and if I did that there was a good chance my back would improve. He suggested yoga and I took his advice seriously. Fast forward eight months of practicing yoga three to five times per week and now I am mostly pain free - which is a wonderful thing.

In 2020 I finished two quilts.

 

The first was a cat quilt I made for my youngest. It was a request when their bedroom got redecorated - inspired by our tuxedo cat, Minnie.  I machine pieced and machine quilted this one during spring lock down.

I also completed a queen-sized quilt I started way back in 1998 (but whose counting.) I started it to commemorate the millennium, but it got packed away; then I had kids and it never got unpacked. I finally dug it out and finished it during lock down last spring. It was about 90% done, but it was nice to cross that quilt off of my to do list. (It's machine pieced and hand quilted.)

I got to spend more time with my teenage children in 2020.  

Most teenagers pull away from their families and start to focus on their peers. The pandemic took that away from my kids and kept them home. And while they did spent time interacting with friends online,  they also built forts in our living room and we played Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza and Monty Python Fluxx. We watched every 80s movie we could and laughed at the special effects. We crafted and designed T shirts and made pasties (so many pasties.) We laughed and we cried - together. I ache for their loss because they've missed out on so much,  but the extra time I got with my kids is something I will treasure forever.

In 2020 I celebrated my 24th wedding anniversary. 

 

I lucked out in the husband department. My husband is a wonderful man and I can't imagine my life without him. In some ways, the pandemic brought us closer together. We went on more walks in 2020 than I think we took in the past five years - combined. Every single day I am thankful he's part of my life.

We remained employed in 2020.

As a teacher and the director of the Island's Department of Public Works, we were both deemed essential workers. Teaching over Zoom certainly wasn't my favorite, but it was doable. My husband wasn't thrilled to move his office into his Fallout Shelter (his man cave) so he could work from home, but it beat the alternative. 2020 could have been so much worse.

In 2020 I stayed healthy.

Believe it or not, in 2020 I walked over 1,300 miles and averaged about 35 minutes of exercise per day. I may not be an Olympic athlete, but I'm pretty darn healthy. Every day when I get out of bed I try to be thankful I get another day.  Some days it's been hard. Some days it's felt more like it's another day to get through, but I just keep trying to be positive and grateful. Grateful for another day with my kids, another day with my husband, another day at school, another day on Mackinac.

 

But I would be lying if I said I want another day of 2020. I'm done. I'm ready to say good-bye to this year and welcome in 2021. I need a new year. I need a year of healing and a presidential president, a year of vaccines and diminishing death rates, a year of less stress, and a year full of hope for a brighter future; a Covid-free future - a happy future. I think HOPE has to be my word for 2021. Sometimes, I felt like I was in survival mode this past year, like I just needed to get through the day, or the week or the month; like I couldn't stop moving because if I did, I didn't know if I could start up again. Tonight I am full of hope that 2021 will be a better year.

 

I hope 2021 is a bright year for you, too.

 

Happy New Year.

Happy Halloween

I'm not sure what tonight it going to bring. No matter what happens, we're prepared. My husband and the kids built a socially-distanced-candy-delivery-system for passing out treats; and  I made socially-distant-treat-collecting-bags so they kids can get candy safely.

I'm having visions of next year's Halloween special on TV - How The Corona Virus Stole Halloween.  Maybe the virus's heart will grow three sizes and decide to stop infecting people. It could happen; it would be a Halloween miracle...

Wish List

This little item (details here) is now near the top of my wish list. It's a bummer that they don't seem to be available in the United States... yet. Given that it's "ski-steered" and "track-driven" it would be legal on Mackinac Island, though it does look a bit tippy to me.

I bet it gets great gas mileage. (A good thing when gas in your town runs over $6.00 a gallon.) Plus, it doesn't look like it goes too fast so it would be great for kids.  I emailed the company just to see how much they cost, but it's been several weeks and I have yet to hear back from them. I guess I'm going to have to live without one. Unless - anyone out there is heading to Zheijang, China, and would like to bring one home for me. If so, please ask if they come in turquoise.

The Dinner Fairy

I don't know about you, but when I get home from work, I'm done; exhausted.  I want to sit down put my feet up and have the Dinner Fairy make dinner magically appear, which, of course, never seems to happen. So today I decided to try my hand at being the Dinner Fairy...

In just under three and a half hours I managed to make six casseroles to freeze and then pop into the oven when I get home from work next week. Two lasagnas, this, this, this and this are now safely tucked away in the basement freezer, just waiting for their turn at the dinner table. 

The only down side is,

now I have this to clean up...

Mackinac in Paint

Did you know Mackinac had a paint color? It is the aqua color in the dresser.  I discovered it here, and now I'm having visions of Grand Hotel Mackinac Blue on the walls in my laundry room... 

Granted

Lots of heavy wet snow fell on

Mackinac Island

yesterday and today,

so lots of us got outside and enjoyed it!

Sadly, the temperatures have been hovering right around

freezing, so it's melting quickly. We're

keeping our fingers crossed that

we'll get more tomorrow...