Blue-Footed Musings

On this last day of the year, I worked on some tasks from my to-do list, and even finished (finally!) the large version of the 2019 photo album. I told my inner perfectionist to be quiet as I hit the order button, and within the hour I had discovered more photos and some text that probably should have gone into the album. This surprised me not at all, and I chose not to be upset by it.

In the evening I watched a sad movie (“The Midnight Sky”). Then I went downstairs to be with my family and together we watched a TV broadcast of performers singing in a mostly empty Times Square. The emptiness struck me as sad but appropriately symbolic for the year. The ball dropped. We drank a toast to the new year. The children went to bed and I soon followed. It wasn’t much of a celebration, but there wasn’t much to celebrate about 2020.

Good-bye, 2020. You sucked.

Hello, 2021. We have high hopes for you. Please don’t let us down.

Earlier today I saw a Facebook meme that asked me for a positive word, specifically one starting with the first letter of my first name, to act as a wish for a better year ahead. “K” is a common starting letter for first names, but much less so for other words. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to think of a good one.

The first word that sprang to mind was “karma.” I could think of several high-profile people who IMHO deserved a big karmic “payback’s a bitch” bite in the ass. That was not necessarily a correct or positive use of the word “karma,” though, and it smacked of vengefulness, which is not the kind of energy one ought to bring to the new year.

Thinking about it now, I realize that the word “kindness” is a more obvious choice (duh!), and a better one. I choose that instead. I sincerely hope that 2021 will bring more kindness into all of our lives.

However, if the people whose names begin with “J” would like to wish for Justice, more power to them!

As I mentioned in a post last week, the weather for Christmas was expected to be bad. That forecast turned out to be accurate. The wind howled and the rain poured. For a while it looked as though we might flood (Christmas is a bad day to find out that your sump pump isn’t working), but the rain stopped just in time. The trees all stayed up and the power stayed on. The Internet was out for the morning, but that’s not such a bad thing on Christmas. I asked my kids and husband that evening what their favorite gifts had been. Marshall loved his wearable axolotl blanket. Livia had enjoyed opening her Christmas stocking. My husband was happy with his new deck of cards. I’m not sure what my favorite present was, but looking back on that day, the thing I am most grateful for is that we made it through the storm unscathed and that Christmas was not marred by property damage, or worse.

I didn’t strain myself today. I slept late. Really, really late. That was very lazy of me. But, after I finally got up, I tackled my list of financial tasks. I paid bills, printed receipts, checked balances, and updated accounts as necessary. So that’s one thing done from my to-do list and one little weight removed from my shoulders as we approach the new year. I also finished reading a book, worked on a photo album, and did some cleaning.

My husband made lentil soup for me today. That means he loves me. Lentils are the Legume of Love.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I hope to coast to the end of the year. That’s true, but there are also some things I’d like to accomplish this week, if possible. Here is my tentative to-do list.

1. Bring the kids to the Christmas lights display, if they want to go. It’s outdoors and socially distanced, and everyone is required to wear masks while on the property, so I think it would be safe. The kids seem disinclined to go out in public, though, which is understandable. I will let them decide.
2. Clean, clean, clean. Wouldn’t it be great to start out the new year with a clean house?
3. Finish the book I’m reading now (The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith) and try to squeeze in at least one more book before the end of the year. Finished book 12/28 and decided that I was done for the year.
4. Write my annual Year of Reading blog post.
5. Write my annual End of Year blog post. 12/30 Draft created.
6. Finish the large version of my 2019 photo album.12/31 Done and ordered.
7. Finish the small version of my 2020 photo album.
8. Take care of some year-end financial tasks. No, they won’t be fun, but postponing them won’t make them any funnerer. Done 12/28
9. Shop for Livia’s upcoming birthday. Done 12/31
10. Update our address book. 12/30 Ordered product to help with this, but it has to decontaminate for a few days, so I will finish this task next year.

This morning the kids were delighted to find so many presents beneath the Christmas tree. Marshall told me that he was surprised, because he had thought that there would be fewer presents due to the pandemic. Hah! As if Santa and Grammie would let a plague get in their way. They’re unstoppable Christmas forces! They had help, too, from Grandpa and Daddy, who bravely drove to New Hampshire for a gift exchange earlier in the week. Everybody worked extra hard to make Christmas happen this year, and it paid off.

In the evening, after a delicious Christmas dinner, we played Stinker, one of the two games we got as gifts this year. How the game works is that each player gets a random selection of letters to use for spelling silly answers to questions. Good spelling and grammar are irrelevant, even discouraged, which makes the game accessible for all. Players are given the opportunity to explain why their answers should win, and that’s where the fun really kicks in.

We enjoyed the game, and I recommend it to others with one caveat: some of the questions reference things such as drugs, divorce, funerals, etc. For some families, that might be a deal-breaker. My kids are old enough that it wasn’t too much of an issue, and we simply skipped the questions that we didn’t like.

So, we enjoyed Christmas to the extent that one can in the middle of a pandemic. And now our yuletide work is done. We can relax and coast to the end of the year, I hope.