Y’all. It’s been a year.

I know I’m not alone, but I’ve missed the old normal. I miss going out to dinner without worrying about how close the table next to us is. I miss parties. I miss making weird faces at people, that they can see. I feel horrible when my grandma’s retirement community is on lockdown and they can’t leave their rooms and see their neighbors. I feel awful that anyone has to do this year of staying home and 6 feet apart alone.

There is a lot to miss, but even in all the darkness, I’ve found pockets of joy. Joy in the unrushed weekend, because you know we don’t have anywhere to go. Joy in the cozy snuggles with Lucy dog during the work day. The joy of a closet full of cotton jersey dresses and fancy slippers. Joy in snail mail, bird watching, and plants.

This isn’t the year any of us planned or hoped for, but let’s take some time at the end of this wild ride to reflect. Highs and lows, because you don’t get one without the other.

20 Highs

1. Home renovations! All new kitchen, master bath, and some new floors.

2. Going to Magic Kingdom on my birthday with Christopher, my brother, sister in law, and nieces. It was the girls first time at MK and it was so magical to spend the day with them.

3. Going to Seattle with Christopher on a work trip, I love that city.

4. Petting & Feeding Kangaroos in Washington.

5. Driving through the Wild Florida Drive Thru Safari

6. Sleepovers with the nieces

7. Celebrating our 11th Wedding Anniversary

8. Annual plant shopping trip with Kimber

9. Working from home

10. Telehealth doctors appointments

11. Visiting my parents’ new town and seeing their new to them historic home/our new vacation home hehe

12. Had a new roof installed on our house, plus new gutters.

13. Stayed at a Disney Resort to say goodbye to our annual passes.

14. I’ve kept several plants alive, which is basically a quarantine miracle.

15. Tiger King Memes

16. Going to the Funko Pop HQ in Washington

17. Seeing snow

18. Painting napkins and making my own tassel napkin rings at a Busy Bee Hostful Hive workshop

19. S’mores Saturday - an accidental day of eating s’mores foods all day.

20. Finally riding Rise of the Resistance the day before its 1st birthday.

20 Lows

1. Living through a global pandemic

2. Enormous loss of life all around the world

3. Presidential Election year

4. My worst migraine ever - I puked on myself while driving… it was fucking nasty

5. Increased anxiety and depression (thank you science for medication)

6. Missing friends and family

7. Worrying about friends with Covid

8. Ignoring the news, because my mental health was suffering (I love the news)

9. Social unrest

10. Not being able to get paper products or cleaning supplies for months at a time.

11. Cancelled events, Broadway shows, Concerts, Football games, parties, etc.

12. Lucy getting really sick after eating a bunch of dirt that had leftover turkey frying oil poured on it.

13. Our water heater died, and it took weeks for us to get a plumber to come install the new one.

14. Not getting to travel as much

15. Not renewing our Disney annual passes because the parks are just less magical

16. Not being able to support our favorite local businesses as often because of closures and capacity restrictions

17. Cancelling what would have been our 9th Annual Gingerbread House Building Party

18. Feeling lonely, overwhelmed, and stuck

19. Fear of getting Covid or losing our jobs/insurance or all of the above

20. Feeling like we lost a year of life, even if we did make the best of it.

I hope you were able to make the most of this upside down year, and I’m hoping 2021 is a little less stressful for everyone.

Peace out, 2020.