2020 in Review

 Just off the top of my head... 

I will remember this year for the coming together (separately of course) over memes, homeschool disaster #1 and #2, Easter with neighbors in the street, finally giving my hair (who has always had a life all her own) a name, moving on a whim, the importance of red flags, homeschool epiphany #1, and Johnny's chronic poop/attitude issues. 

Nora hated every second of kindergarten at home. We did lots of worksheets. Then we did zero worksheets. She and Perry became feral children who lived outside with the neighbor kids. I bathed them sometimes, I think. 

In March, I felt like the Lord put it on my heart that we wouldn't live in our house much longer. So we started and finished last minute fixer upper projects like this one:

and the side yard:

Then Rona reared her ugly, spikey-ball head and I thought....well I guess Rob is going to get laid off and that's why we're moving. But no... and praise God! An acquaintance on Instagram mentioned off hand in a story that she was thinking about selling her house... and being creeper-like I had already peeked into her window one time picking up something from her porch ... so I said "Hey Rob, guess what..." and then we bought and sold a house in a pandemic. We didn't move into a bigger house... it is a same size house, but without a pool. Nora let Johnny out of the pool gate twice and I was done. 

Here's a poem I wrote to that house:

Re-entry:

The first time we went to the Library after it re-opened we were the only kid family there. Not only were we loud by comparison to the silent old people, but I realized we had also lost all social skills. We left approximately 7 min later. I think I lost my own social skills too, and learned new skills like the "smile by eye-squinch" maneuver. A risky move for my 35 year old eye wrinkles but Instagram can hear my thoughts and will recommend a product for that. 

And now its time for some real talk:

Johnny has been tough. Like really tough, always fussy, I am jumping through all of his hoops because I just want him to be happy for some extended minutes of his awake life. This has made me tired, foggy and jagged. 

There were A LOT of red flags popping up in my life and I was ignoring them one after the other. Making rationalizations and justifications for them if I even gave them that much energy. Do you know what happens when you ignore a bunch of red flags? A bomb goes off instead. 

If you have fallen asleep to your red flags, WAKE. UP. You have them for a reason. Is there something you are ignoring over and over about your health because it's not debilitating? A relationship that is pushing boundaries or needing boundaries? An environment you or your kids need to stop visiting? A show? An app? Red flags can be anywhere. Ask yourself questions. That uneasy feeling... is that what a red flag feels like to you?

Fast forward:: School starts online

This is how that went:

I ordered the homeschool curriculum "The Good and the Beautiful" language arts for Nora because online school not cutting it and I didn't want her to fall behind in reading. We LOVED it. Even her. My whole mindset shifted about homeschooling. It didn't seem impossible anymore and I can see more value in it where I couldn't before. We are not homeschooling currently but I love that I got a glimpse into it. 

2020 specifics:

Masks were hard for me. Maybe they still are but I wear them. BUT NOW, for only $36, we can buy shirts that are made to pull up over our faces and hook to our ears so that's neat. 2020 also taught me if something doesn't look quite right it is because you need to put an orangey filter on it and then it will probably look better than what you see out of your natural born eye balls. 

Best Quotes of the Year:

Nora: "If you could climb a ladder all the way to heaven would you climb it?"

Me: "Eek, that's a really tall ladder I might be scared"

Perry: "Yes you would Mommy!"

Nora: "Yeah you would, anything is worth seeing Jesus" 

&

"I find myself worrying most that when we hand our children phones we steal their boredom from them. As a result we are raising a generation of writers who will never start writing, artists who will never start doodling, chefs who will never make a mess in the kitchen, athletes who will never kick a ball against a wall, musicians who will never pick up their aunt's guitar and start strumming." -Glennon Doyle 

Books I read:

Where the Crawdads Sing

Educated

Murmur of Bees

Get out of your Head

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

Becoming Duchess Goldblatt

From Sand and Ash

The Growing Season

Answered Prayers by George Muller

Mr Ives Christmas

Songs of the Year:

A Spoon of Sugar - Kacey Musgraves (because it makes Johnny happy) 

Skyline Motel EP on repeat all year

Total Freedom- Kathleen Edwards ... probably our most favorite find. At first you listen and think "ok, yeah." Then you listen again and then you can't stop. Its like kombucha. 

Looking forward: 

*Nora is starting at a new school in January because there were too many red flags at the previous one. 

*I am coming out of behavior therapy pregnancy and nursing retirement! I have to reactivate my license and get some CE hours but I'm coming for you all my sweet behavior challenged babies! I've missed you and all your shenanigans. 

* I made Senior Manager this year consulting for Beautycounter and have loved this company more than ever before.  

* I plan on making writing a more integral part of my life. Hopefully, I will share more on that later. Big thank you to the both of you that made it to my last sentence besides my mom and Aunt Helen. 

Happy New Year Friends