one year later

   It's been a year. A really long year, in a lot of ways. Most of us are still here, though not all of us. We lost my cousin Todd this year, way way too young. I lost two neighbors, one elderly, one not. Probably every one of you lost someone this past year. I don't think any of us could have imagined how we would feel after a year of "social distancing" and "safer at home". 

   Did you find new hobbies? Did you make changes in your eating habits? Hah, did you gain those 20 pounds that a lot of people gained? Hopefully not. I learned that keeping a regular sleep schedule really helped with my sanity, and with my focus at work. Were you able to work from home? Are you one who lost their job? I sure hope you are all doing okay. I was lucky in that my job transitioned pretty easily to my home office, and I might keep doing that going forward. I don't miss the commute time, or having to get up earlier in the mornings. I do miss my coworkers and friends. I used to enjoy driving, though now I just take leisurely drives to get out of the city once in a while, as opposed to a daily drive. 

   I read a lot more books this year, still not as many as I thought I would, but it's an improvement. I didn't watch as many movies or binge as much tv as I imagined, so that was probably good. My mom and I must have done about a billion jigsaw puzzles, or maybe more like 50, but it was quite a few. I've finished about a dozen paint-by-number paintings, and I think my next attempt will be a blank canvas and making something on my own. We'll see how that goes. 

   I still want to read more. I still want to work out more (at all) some days. That has some room for improvement. I learned how to use my bread machine, which is both good and bad! Ha, warm fresh bread is a wonderful thing, and I'm possibly enjoying that a little more than my waistline should. 

   These are all things that even though the weather is warming up, and more of my friends and family are getting their vaccines now, we can keep as takeaways from this experience. We've found the free time, we've found a quieter, less hectic pace, maybe we've found new hobbies too. So keep doing the things you like, get back to the things you miss, reach out to the people you've lost touch with, and hug and squeeze the ones you've missed. Get your shots, when they are available. Stay safe until then. 

   We have an opportunity to write our "new normal", and there's no reason it has to be anything like our "old normal". Keep the good things, learn from what we have all been through, and make this next day, and the next week, and this next year, even better.