I think for all of us, 2020 started out with some seriously high hopes. I know I had some. A man I know even deemed 2020, “the year of perfect vision.” Yeah, maybe through rose-colored glasses with fingerprints all over them, after dipping them in mud.
I recently took stock of my year and despite the shortcomings, I realized I DID accomplish some of my 2020 goals. You see, I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions. They are typically the “to-do list” for the first week of January. How I have laughed over the years at the newbies at my gym after the new year. Trust me, they all seem to lose their “new year, new me” gumption by the middle of January.
I decided long ago, that resolutions just don’t work. For me, anyway. What I find does work, is making a list of goals that I want to accomplish in the new year. For 2020, Home Improvements – check! What else was I going to spend my money on this year other than purchasing copious amounts of food for my two remote-study college students? There were no happy hours (that saved me a lot of money), no trips to Europe, or even the local mall. I actually became pretty paint savvy (on walls, that is) and even took on some diamond art projects. Those damn beads are freaking everywhere!
Because I didn’t frequent the gym like my usual self, I decided to create my own home gym. The gym for socialization? Yeah, that was fun, but my new socialization is watching Netflix while walking on the treadmill with my yellow lab watching and wondering what the hell I’m doing. Trust me, I don’t even know.
One of my newly acquired skills this year was learning the art of Zoom meetings. Because my kids had basically “taken over” my house, I was banished to my bedroom where I had Zoom meetings sitting on my bed. I would throw off all of the pillows and even hung a tapestry behind my bed so I could cover up my headboard with it. I thought I was being pretty slick.
I couldn’t even come out to the kitchen for a snack as my daughter had taken over the entire kitchen island with her Zoom meetings for school. One time I came out of my room and yelled “turn that shit down” only to learn it was her professor talking to the class. Yeah, fun times.
Before Covid hit, I was a free bird, so to speak. Both kids were away at college, my house was clean, no dishes were in the sink, no dirty laundry in every crack and crevice of bedrooms, and no meals to cook for anyone. Unless I WANTED to cook. In the past few months, my house has turned into a laundromat on crack, the dishwasher runs incessantly and I have turned into Betty Freaking Crocker.
“Mom, what’s for dinner tonight?”
“Pretend you’re at college right now and figure it out.”
“But, Mom, you make the food for the dining hall!”
Seriously people? On one of many positive notes, I have spent more time in the kitchen making homemade meals. Hell, I can read, so I can stir up just about anything at this point. Less time was spent “eating out” and more time was spent creating healthier (sometimes) options for my family. Please disregard the Oreo cookies on the counter.
2020 was a harrowing year on many levels. We all went through a lot, and for some, much more than others. I am deeply saddened by the lives lost due to a “plague” we never expected to experience in our lifetime, businesses lost and many people without jobs. 2020 was pretty much hell.
But I will say this. I am grateful for the time I have had with my kids this past year, even though they eat me out of house and home. We have had so many fantastic conversations that we would never have had if they were away at college. I am grateful for my friends and the many Zoom calls we have had to stay connected and create our own “happy hours.” What would a Zoom call be without wine??
For 2021, my wish for everyone is that we proceed with positivity and learn from our experiences in 2020. Appreciate each other more, be more thoughtful and kind to one another, as we never know when life can turn on a dime or a year.
So to 2020, I say sayonara, and to 2021, thanks for finally showing up!
