Category: Family Life

It has been several months since I have written out here. 2022 proved to actually be a harder year for me than 2020 or 2021. On March 16 after what can be described as both a long and short battle with cancer, my dad passed away. I say long and short because he had it for 12 years, but did not find out he was terminal until 6 weeks before his passing. It has been difficult to adjust to my life without my dad. Every day though I am getting better. In fact yesterday, my neighbor came over to tell me that she saw me laughing while walking with another neighbor and she was so relieved to see me coming out the other side. I guess I doing just that. Life does go on and I am starting to live again.

Summer has been busy around here. The bees are buzzing around making honey for us. Our gardens are bursting at the seams. The tomatoes alone are going to be a major chore to can. Our middle child graduated from college and moved into her own place. I am planning a trip to Europe with my mom in August. Things are moving forward.

Well, here we are, entering year three of a pandemic that I believe we were told would last two weeks. I should make it a point to never listen to politicians or people in power. My family has remained COVID free, but I feel like our luck may be running out as the virus creeps closer and more and more people I know have it. Thankfully, we are all fully vaxxed, so I expect that if we get sick, it will be mild.

Like with every new year, I try to come up with a list of goals that I want to accomplish. This year, I am trying something new and skipping the lose weight and go to the gym more. I already go to the gym regularly. I have been very slowly losing weight the last year and while I wish it was more, it’s better than nothing. So, I am going to keep that status quo for now. Instead, I have some other goals that don’t involve my physical health.

1. I am going to attempt to not buy any clothes for one year. As my daughter has pointed out many times, the textile industry is one of the main causes of global warming. The fast fashion industry has made it too easy to purchase cute clothes for cheap. But we need to ask ourselves, what is the true cost of buying that $15 sweater that won’t even last that long. I have more than enough clothing to get me through a year. I went into 2022 prepared. In December I purchased a pair of workout shoes (my old pair was literally tearing away from the sole), the summer work shoes I will need and new socks. Unless some kind of special event happens where I need a dress, I am set for one year. This challenge shouldn’t be too hard for me. I hate shopping and am so frugal that I do wear things out before replacing them.
2. My reading goal is 135 books for the year. I keep track of my books on Goodreads. Last year’s goal was 130 books, finished 10 days ahead of schedule. Reading is my escape from the real world. It also the activity that grounds my daily routine. I read every single night before bed for at least an hour. This is a routine I have followed since second or third grade. I have always been a patron of my local library. It is no shock that I now work at a library.
3. I am going to order our state park sticker this week so that we can start visiting the parks sooner. Wisconsin has some really beautiful state parks that we need to utilize more. Since a long distance vacation appears to be at least one more full year in the future, sticking close to home is our only choice.
4. I am going to learn to say “No” more often to requests. I am terrible about saying no to pretty much anyone. I only hurt myself when I do that.
5. In January, we are going to challenge ourselves again to eat from the freezer and pantry without going to the store (eggs and bananas will be the exception to that rule). By starting the year with this goal, we save money and clear out the freezer and pantry of food that was lost over the past year.
6. This one is a big one for me. I need to stop cancelling and rescheduling appointments. I do it all the time. There is no reason for it, just procrastination and laziness. I am starting today. I have a 10:00am doctor appointment, that I considered rescheduling for absolutely no reason. I will go and then it will be done. This will be a good goal to test my saying no goal. “Can you work on Thursday?” “No, I have an appointment scheduled”. Sounds easier than it is.
7. We need to remodel our kids bathroom. It is in DESPERATE need. I think this summer is the target date. When that happens, we will only have 1 of our kids still here. She will only be here for summers and breaks though. It was something that has been backburnered for years because it was always in use.
8. We also need to finish replacing the moulding and doors. That has been slow going because my husband has been doing it. Target date of summer for that to be done.
9. Replace a couple pieces of our furniture. Again, I let things wear out until the bitter end. Our couches are in serious need of replacement. My understanding is that furniture everywhere is on backorder. I am going to start looking in the summer when the inventory has hopefully been replenished.
10. Finally, finish a couple of crafting projects that I have sitting around. I like doing them when watching TV, but forget to pick them up. Should be an easy goal.

It snowed A LOT in my neck of the woods in the last 24 hours. During days like this, I stay home. I hate driving in snow and ice and I really hate being cold. We started the day with a big breakfast. I thought my husband earned it after snow blowing the driveway. I also baked a lovely loaf of zucchini bread and made a batch of tortellini soup for dinner.

The most important part of my day though was that I watched the movie Dig on Netflix. Watch it. For some reason, movies that take place in 1930’s England on old British estates are just better than everything else out there. Make sure to add watching Dig on to your To Do list.

I am currently writing my latest blog post from the comfort of my bedroom. Alone. In isolation. On New Year’s Eve at 3:00 pm, the dumpster fire that was 2020 decided to give me one final blow. The dreaded “you have been exposed” phone call. It felt like a punch to the gut. We actually had plans! At home, but we were going to get sushi, watch Scarface and ring in the new year. Together. I started to cry, gathered what I needed and headed to my bedroom. What a fitting way to say good bye to a shit year.

Mind you, I am taking precautions for the love of my family, but I am exceedingly careful and do not believe that I have COVID. As a textbook rule follower, not isolating after such a phone call was just not an option. So, I sit and read. I have journaled. I some how managed to get 10,000 steps in yesterday, in my bedroom. I did some yoga and meditation. My bathroom closet has never been cleaner and all my drawers are organized. I watched a shit ton of really bad movies and enjoyed some of the British mysteries I love. I found that the 85 year old woman from the library who has been begging me to watch Silent Witness for the last 3 years was not lying! It’s great television. Not to mention a much younger and very handsome Mr. Bates (Downton Abbey) makes an appearance. I am officially hooked.

All of this time alone has also had me thinking about all I want to accomplish in 2021. I started 2020 with so many plans, most that had to be back burnered. I found myself just letting things go because, well COVID. We all had an excuse to set stuff aside. But, maybe it is time to take a second look at what I had planned. Or better yet, make a new list that fits my needs for what is bound to be another unpredictable year.

1. Spend less time on my phone, FB, Instagram. Technology in general. I have actually made progress with the less FB. The algorithm that has been set for me gives me a really boring feed. I don’t feel compelled to check it often, because it’s the same stuff. I do like Instagram because of the pictures though. I follow a lot of homesteading sites and the photos of people’s farms, home projects and animals have me hooked.
2. Limit some toxic relationships. There are a couple people in my life who are not great for me. That is not to say that they are not great people, they are. I just find that it is ok to say “this is not working and not everyone needs to spend time together.” I know that sounds harsh, but life is simply too short.
3. I need to walk the dogs more. A lot more. We have golden retrievers and golden retrievers need a lot of exercise to stay sane and normal. Every time they eat a non food item, which is surprisingly often, I have to remind myself whose fault that is. Ours. A bored dog is a curious dog. More walks. They also need to be socialized a lot more. When the world returns to normal, we are going to have a lot of anti social dogs who have not seen other people or been alone for any amount of time. Again, through no fault of their own.
4. Expand my canning from water to pressure. I would like to can green beans that are not pickled. Summer 2021 will be my next step in preserving our bounty.
5. Continue with my daily walks and expand that to walks in my local park. We have a gorgeous park with trails that seem to go on forever. In the fall it feels like a walk through a Disney forest. I will not take the dogs there. Too many scents and they go in opposite directions.
6. I want to have a summer party to celebrate my daughter’s high school graduation, son’s college graduation and life returning to normal. I am so very optimistic that come summer, we can at the very least have a small gathering to celebrate some milestones that were set aside.
7. Date night is back on the goals list. We started out strong and then let it fizzle. I realized that we can have date night at home. Just unplug, get some take out and watch a movie or do a puzzle. This absolutely has to be a weekly thing.

I think that is about it, for now. I am going to allow myself to just take the next several months as they come. I do see a light at the end of tunnel and do believe that 2021 will be so much better. What are your goals for this new year.

1. My number one goal is to get my pressure back to normal.  Several of my goals have been set to help bring it down with the help of medication.
   • I continue to be on the high end of normal. 
2. Lose 20 pounds.
   • Slowly losing
3. Continue to get 10,000 steps a day in.
   • I have been a rockstar at this one.
4. Go to the gym 3 days per week.
   • My membership at my gym remains frozen.
5.  Eat more fruits and vegetables.  I eat a lot as it is, but it’s time to add more, especially potassium rich produce.
   • I am crushing this goal.  I make every meal at home right now so I am able to achieve this every day.
6. Try to start trying to meditate at least 2 or 3 days per week.
   • My fitbit app now has meditate as a weekly goal. I am sticking to it.
7. Get back into the yoga habit.
   • Nope
8. Cut down on the alcohol.
   • Accomplished
9.  Pay off the house.  We had every intention of paying it off December 31.  A couple of unexpected expenses put that on hold.
   • DONE!
10. Read 110 books in 2020.
    • Two more to go and done
11. Read 3 classic books this year.
    • My number of classics stays at two.
12. More dates with my husband.
    • Since we don’t go anywhere, we have designated Friday night, movie night.
13. We have a membership to the Milwaukee Art Museum that I plan on utilizing a lot more this year.
    • There’s always next year or the year after.
14. Spend more time outdoors.
    • This has been easy to do.
15. Throw away 20 items per day.
    • Done
16. More no spend days.
    • This is easy.  I have been trying to purchase from local businesses right now to help them out.
17. Spend more time with my friends.
    • I have been doing Zoom chats on a regular basis.
18. Finish a knitting project I started in November and start and finish another.
    • Done
19. Learn how to can!
    • Boy did I learn how to can. I canned nearly 200 jars of food this year.
20. Go on 2 weekend getaways with my husband.
    • Maybe we can do this in 2022.