Or should I say 10 on the second Monday of the month? Ha!
I love blog series' like this, but I almost always forget to join in. Not this year! I'm a little late, but I'm still hopping in. Better late than never, right?
My memories range from mundane to huge, but these were the first 10 things that popped in my head, so here we go!
10 Memories from 2020:
Leaving the library world
I worked in public libraries for almost 2 years and academic libraries for nearly 12 years. Back in July 2019, I decided to transition to a school library. I knew it would be a challenge, but I was ready for a change, especially considering Char will be starting school this fall (cue my tears...), and I thought it would be nice to be in a school with her.
Well, that didn't quite work out for me...
I have the utmost respect for anyone who works in K-12 education, but it is definitely not for me! I tried to make it work, using online resources and getting help from other librarians in the county, but it just didn't pan out. After meetings with administration and a long talk with Will, I decided to resign. Then, when the pandemic hit, I looked for remote jobs. I had a couple of false starts, but now I'm in a role that I enjoy!
Tornadoes, Derechos, and a Bombing
Nashville and Middle Tennessee had a rough year. On March 3, there was a huge, deadly tornado that hit our area. It caused a lot of property damage, and some of it is still apparent, such as my old middle school that is still in shambles. Entire neighborhoods in our area were basically wiped out. We were extremely fortunate because we only experienced a power outage and debris in our yard.
Two months later, we experienced a derecho, which is not a weather term that I was familiar with before it happened. Again, we were fortunate to only experience a power outage (my parents' outage lasted for around 4 days), but it was yet another blow to the area.
On Christmas Day, Nashville experienced a bombing. I was in Char's bed with her that morning because I was trying to get her to rest a little more after a late night on Christmas Eve. Around 6:30 AM, I heard a loud booming noise, and I had a brief thought that it was thunder or a garbage truck, but then I realized that it wasn't either of those things. I didn't think anything about it until we were at Will's family's house later that day, and they were talking about the bombing. We had a lot of phone, Internet, and TV issues during Christmas and the day after, plus we had a copycat person in our county a couple of days later, but all told, we were extremely lucky to not have experienced anything more serious.
Let's see how 2021 will shape up for Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
New glasses and haircuts
Now, on to something a little less heavy/serious. In 2020, Char and I both got new glasses and haircuts. I actually got two haircuts last year - one in a salon in March and one from my grandma (who is a retired beautician) in October when I absolutely had to have a hair change...and then almost instantly regretted it. Ha!
These weren't big occurrences, but they were some mundane memories from last year that have stuck with me!
Last gathering with friends
My mom and I have a mutual friend that we have a group text with and get together with at least three or four times a year. We try to base it around our birthdays and Christmas, but we also just get together randomly sometimes, and it's almost always at Panera! Last March we decided to get together at our regular Panera location. It was right at the beginning of the Covid situation, so people had started social distancing a little bit, but there weren't regulations in place, people weren't wearing masks, etc. We didn't realize that this would be the last time we would all get together during the year! We still talk via text every day, and we had a virtual get-together, but I will be glad when it's safe enough to see each other in person again! Will better be prepared for me to be gone for a while when that day comes!
Our first pandemic birthdays
Will and Koopa's birthdays are at the end of March (on the exact same day actually!), so their birthdays happened right when the quarantine/lockdown situation started last year. We don't usually do anything for Will's birthday besides having dinner with his mom and stepfather, but that was off the table in 2020 since there was so much we didn't know about Covid (I mean, there's still a lot we don't know but now we're a little more used to things...). Both Will's mom and stepdad and my parents decided to do drop by birthday gifts for Will and left things on our front porch. It was different than normal, but it was nice to see them briefly and to get to celebrate him. Koopa's birthday was just normal, but it's still worth mentioning lol.
Char's birthday/birthday party
Char turned 4 last year, and before...everything...my mom and I had been looking at birthday party venues. We had settled on one we thought would be fun, and then, well, you know the rest of the story! Since we had been around my parents and brother (and none of us were working outside of the home at the time, thanks to furloughs and closures), we felt comfortable having a small party at my parents' house for her. She was a little crabby that day, but she was excited to celebrate. The best moment was when she opened up the Barbie Dream House that she had been asking for! My dad had already put it together for her, but my mom wanted her to have something to unwrap, so the box was full of paper. When she opened the box and saw what it was, she was so excited. She said, "let's put this together," and then she started opening the box. She was so confused and a little sad that the box was empty until her Pop Pop and uncle brought the fully put-together dream house into the living room!
I don't know what her birthday is going to look like this year. For some reason, since I was pregnant with her, I have wanted to take her on a carriage ride for her 5th birthday. Will and I also talked about taking her to the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant downtown too. Unfortunately, the restaurant is located on Second Avenue where the Nashville Christmas day bombing occurred, and we don't know if carriage rides are even a thing with the pandemic. Sigh. I'm sure that we'll find a special way to celebrate her, even if it's not a big party to make up for last year. Her birthday is in April, so we'll see what happens between now and then!
Animal Crossing
My husband likes to watch video game streamers on Twitch, and back in the spring, they were all about Animal Crossing. I had played Animal Crossing many years ago (I can't even remember what platform it was on...maybe the Nintendo DS?), so I knew how much fun it was. After Will had watched some streamers for a while, he decided he wanted to try it also. He was furloughed from his job, and I wasn't working at the time, so we both had long stretches of time to play on our devices.
[I have to give him a shout out here because he got me the game and a Switch Lite for his birthday. I don't know how I managed that, but I now expect presents on his birthday every year!]
We weren't the only ones who lost ourselves in the game during that weird stretch of spring and early summer when everything was still so unknown (The disease hates sunshine! It'll go away by Memorial Day! It'll disappear one day!). We built our little villages and traded items. We had real-life discussions about strategies and plans in the game. We were super into it! Then, Will had to go back to work, and even though I tried to keep up his game, and he checked into it at night, it had lost a little bit of magic. He hasn't touched his game since last summer. I was a little more consistent, but I haven't played since Thanksgiving. I know I'll go back to it, but it probably won't be the same as that little time frame when we were super into it!
A new kitten
Somehow my aunt and dad conspired together in order to get Char a new kitten! Because our dog is a little wild, the kitten had to live at my mom and dad's house, so that's why my dad was involved! When my aunt and grandma delivered it to my parents' house, Char was thrilled! She kept telling them thank you for the kitty and petting it. We asked her what she wanted to name it, and she kept going back to the name Machena. We have no idea where that came from, but it has stuck, along with the nickname Cheni! When we got Cheni, we thought it was a girl, but my parents were surprised to find out that she is a he! Oops!! Cheni is a sweet and patient kitten who is entertaining and can (mostly) handle Char's energy when she is with him. I've never been a big cat person, but I have a soft spot in my heart for him!
Elections, politics, and social justice
I don't need to say much here! 2020 was a year for my husband and I to discover where we stand politically and with different social justice topics. I'm happy to say that we see eye-to-eye on these things and have been having great discussions about them! It was also a year to discover who in our families we could have disagreements with...and who just decided we weren't worth it. It's rough to lose connections with people, but I am a liberal who believes Black Lives Matter and that the soon-to-be president will bring unity and healing to our nation. I also believe that liberals and conservatives do have a lot in common, but the conservative voices of reason are being drowned out by the conspiracy theory fools who shout over everyone else. I think we'll get back to a good middle ground, but it's going to take some work on both sides!
Christmas excitement!
Let's end this on a lighter note! This was the first year that Char was really into Christmas, and it was so much fun! My mom and I had Christmas countdowns on our phones for her to see, plus we had advent calendars to help her count down the days. My parents watch her while Will and I work (I'll never be able to express enough gratitude for this!!), and she somehow finagled her way into opening multiple presents before Christmas even arrived! Stinker!
Seeing Christmas through her eyes was so fun and exciting! It ended a really crappy year on a high note for us, and it allowed us to all get caught up in the magic and excitement of Christmas again! It was so sad to take down our decorations and tree, especially since one of Char's "jobs" every day was to turn on the lights on the tree. Oh well. Only around 10 more months until we can decorate again! 😉
And there you have it! 10 memories from a topsy-turvy year! Although 2021 is shaping up to be another bizarre year, I feel like I'm in a better place mentally and will handle things a little more easily than I did last year. Here's to a happy 2021 for us all!
I missed the linkup, but check out Leslie's site for her post and those who linked up in time!
