hindsight is 2020...a review

there is a part of me that feels
like maybe it’s wrong
to do a review of 2020…
that 2020 has left a sour taste for
so many people…

i am a bit of a pollyanna-personality though.
:)

it’s just in my nature.
even the year my marriage ended,
i did a year end review
and was able to focus on the positives
so i guess i should be ok with
a pandemic.
heh.

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Every year, I reread my
journals, blog, facebook posts and instagram…
(and, not gonna lie, I catch myself thinking
that someone should take my internet away
many, many times during this exercise).

GEEK GIRL 2020 HIGHLIGHT REEL

♥ I read 31 books! My goal was 30 so I am ahead of the game albeit by a tiny margin,
but still…and one of the books was a computer science text book but I read it cover to cover
so it counts!

♥ Speaking of computer science, I passed my first course with 84% and plenty of tears,
cursing, frustration and questioning myself.

♥ I turned 50! and had a party complete with fireworks (and a stern warning not to light them myself…for good reason), McDonald gift cards for Happy Meals, lots of laughter, hugs and candy and my brother and partner-in-crime told me::

♥ they were taking me to CABOT TRAIL as part of my birthday present!! It was so great! I was able to cross something big off my bucket list AND spend some concentrated time with my niece and nephew who have learned that I am both amusing AND annoying on a road trip. Heh.

♥ After a lot of manual labor, back cramps and cursing, I was able to complete the yard clean up. It only took at least 43 yard bags and a dumpster, but I got it done. Other big orange house accomplishments included fixing the broken wheel on the lawn mower ONLY TO HAVE ANOTHER WHEEL IMMEDIATELY SHATTER, spray foam which resulted in a very artistic sculpture- y display but also kept the ants out, and a garden that produced roughly 60 billiondy tomatoes.

♥ Creatively, I sold some cards, paintings and a little book that someone asked me to put together. I am not gonna lie…that one pushed me HARD out of my comfort zone but the recipient was happy with the final result and that’s what matters. I also got out for lots of adventures with the camera and bought a new phone…JUST for the camera. AND I had a photo shared by CBC…not just CBC PEI (sorry, CBC PEI, I get excited about that, too) but the BIG CBC…like…CBC!!! :) I also built a smurf display!

the photo shared by the big CBC!! :)

♥ I watched all the Star Wars movies and all the Marvel movies! I joined a book club and even
went to some of the meetings! I started a photography club at work (pre-COVID) and started a book trading group with a friend in an effort to let go of some of my possessions. I also started an accountability group with a friend but again…COVID foiled our plans.

♥ I went snowshoeing, also got so lost in Bonshaw that I had to ask 4 grown ups to lead me out..I survived the gruesome shellfish foot injury of the summer of 2020 where I pretty much had my foot amputated (ok…it required a muppets band aid on it but still….I could have died.) I also accepted a marriage proposal from an internet scammer who thought I was a coal miner with 7 children…until I couldn’t give him two to three thousand dollars for foodstuff for his son…heh. Takes all kinds.

All in all, 2020 was not a bad year for me.

And honestly, I am hopeful for 2021.
I’m going into it with big plans, goals and ideas…
world domination blueprints and a weird sense of humor
just like I always do.

Happy New Year…thanks for sticking with me
as long as you have. I am always surprised that
this little scribbling I do in the teeny tiny quiet corner
of the internetsphere gets any readers at all…
so I greatly appreciate you. ♥♥♥

I hope 2020 was not too painful for you
and that 2021 brings you good things…and candy. :)
(mostly cause I think you are nice…
and that you will probably share with me….heh)

decembeREST

I have been thinking a little bit.
This Christmas is going to be different for me…
even more different than the
last two have been.
This is the first year that 25 will be working
on Christmas Day.

I have never not had the kids here
Christmas morning.

But I know that Christmas will likely be different
this year
for a lot of us…

If the separation taught me anything, though,
it showed me that just because things aren’t how they have always been…
that doesn’t mean that they can’t still be good.
You just have to redefine and realign.
Look for the positives,
feel the negatives if you have to…but don’t focus on them.

The other thing I have been thinking about
is that online dating has not been bringing me
much joy or happiness lately.
I feel like it’s become…meh. Boring. Annoying.
A distraction that served its purpose
when I needed it the most
but right now…I’m very, very happy.
I’m content.
And now I feel that what began as an intended distraction
is now really a distraction from where I actually want to
be spending my time.

So, I have decided for the month of December
I am going to delete the dating app and limit my social media…
I will still post on social media because, honestly, that fuels my creativity.
But I am going to limit endless scrolling
and if I do scroll, I am going to try to limit it to Pinterest
because that usually gives me a shot of inspiration.

I am thinking of December in terms of rest
right now and that makes me happy.
I am picturing
tea in a polka dot mug,
journals,
hot chocolate, chicken soup in a slow cooker,
music, podcasts, magazines,
Christmas movies with heavy blankets,
quiet walks all bundled up,
candles, books, snowmen,
maybe finally a puzzle.

And for whatever traditions
we can’t recreate this year,
we try something new.
Who knows…maybe it will stick…
I wouldn’t have thought jamming a
Christmas tree in the back seat of a civic
would become a tradition
but there it is.
:)

Happy Sunday.
Thanks for sticking with me through
all my moods and musings.
♥

polka dots, pugs and almost the first dairy bar run...

I am feeling a little calmer about the
state of the world today…
I am adjusting a little better after
giving myself a little bit of a FB break.

I did go into Charlottetown on Friday
for coffee with a friend….
if you have never gone to Bar 1911,
you should totally check it out.
It’s a beautiful little spot and
I totally want to try out their specialty coffee
that comes with a shot of fireball.
mmmm.
And…& the menu had DOUGHNUT BOWLS?!?
I must try this.

I spent the rest of the weekend
studying and working on cards,
vegging out to music,
catching up on grays anatomy,
watching movies about judy garland,
eating jujubes by the handful,
making chicken noodle soup in the slow cooker
and reading a brand new book…

today pugsley & I
took a walk on the boardwalk
in the blue sky
and sunshine
and it was beautiful and crisp and fresh…
we went down on the beach
and walked for a long time
in the silence and the stillness
and for that little bit,
I totally forgot that there was anything
scary going on in the world
all around me.

In that moment,
it was just me and a pug,
some polka dot rubber boots
and the seagulls…

and…we would have gone to the dairy bar
but sooooo many cars….
haha. it was chaos of a different kind.
we’ll save that treat for when the snow melts a little bit more.

friday i'm in love....or how I am distracting myself...

♥ this song…in every version I can find.

♥ jujubes & diet coke

♥ this podcast. And the whole idea that failure
is something we should strive for…not to fail,
but to put ourselves out there…to push out of that comfort zone…
sure, you might fail…
but…you might just succeed.
This hit home for me…I think I have already been moving
with that mindset
but this kind of reinforced it.

♥ chase & sierra covers

♥ working on some new ideas…expanding past cards…
this is my first framed print…and I am kind of excited about it…
if it doesn’t sell, I’ll keep it for me. :)

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the epitome of geekiness lives here...

There are things I know I should not share.

This is one of them.

Yet…here I am…sharing it anyway. :)

I like schedules and routines and lists…
and color coded spreadsheets.

I feel like there is a lot that I want to accomplish
this year..this is my year to “ignite” after all!

Sometimes, though,
I feel like things are getting away from me…
like time is getting away from me…
like I can’t fit it all in…
so I made this little schedule for myself.

And, as crazy as it looks, it has definitely helped.

Nothing about it is carved in stone.
If something comes up,
like the chance to go to a movie
(AND PAY A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT
FOR POPCORN but I am not going to rant
about that again)…or go for a coffee
with your brother, then I happily do those things…
but otherwise…I try to stick to the schedule
but…mainly for balance.

I have also started an accountability group
with some friends and I can’t even tell you
how awesome that has been.

To get together once a month at your
favorite coffee house and geek it out
over pens, spreadsheets, apps and color coding
WHILE gently holding each other accountable
for goals that we have set AND
being excited for each other when
targets are hit and boxes are ticked off,
well…it’s pretty damn exhilarating and energizing.

I know I say this every year…
but I think that THIS is gonna be my year.
:)