…… has come and will hopefully become a much better year than its predecessor.
Although it didn’t start off too well, did it?

I think I’m going to just skip the political crap, other than to say that it’s a breath of fresh air to have a sane, caring and ethical man in the White House.
I do not for one second think that the bat shit craziness is over, but I’m choosing to look forward with hope.
Hope helps.

So, when last I left you we were still waiting for the election.
It’s been awhile.

While all of my kids and their kids have been healthy and well, Covid didn’t leave us unscathed.
My father in law died shortly before Thanksgiving …… from Covid. He went into the hospital for a fractured pelvis but did well there. Then they sent him to rehab. The day he went into rehab, a Friday, he tested negative. By Monday he was positive. He died 8 days later.
Alone.
I went to Oklahoma for the small, socially distanced* funeral. All 3 of my sons went. As well as my daughter in law (my grandson stayed safely home). Covid and distance kept my daughters away.
He was 95 and lived a very good life.
He was happy and blessed.
And he didn’t deserve to die from that.
Nor did the other 437,000+ people in our country.
T.A.N.W.

I had plans to go to Texas for the holidays the week of Christmas and then return shortly after Christmas.
The best laid plans.

Daughter #2 received two foster children the week of Thanksgiving. The first was a 2 year old girl. Sixteen hours later she received a 3 month old boy.
She was a wee bit overwhelmed.
So I changed my trip and went to Texas on Dec 1st, thinking I’d return on Jan 3.
Again …… those dang plans.

Things were hoppin’ at her house. The kids all seemed to adapt to one another, for the most part. The boys actually did much better than I expected. They seemed to enjoy having a little sister. Most of the time.
They loved having a little brother. All of the time.
The two year old was, naturally, a two year old.
Her favorite word was “NO!”
This got old after the first two times.
And it got really old when 3 year old E started to copy it.
At school.
But I think D#2 nipped that in the bud.
Good for her.

We celebrated Christmas at her house. All of my kids came, which was wonderful.
Everyone quarantined and tested and quarantined some more.
We social distanced* the best we could and no one ended up getting Covid.
Yay for that.
It was great to see everyone, especially Daughter#1, whom I hadn’t seen since last Christmas.
Stupid Covid.

After Christmas I decided to stay and help D2 a little longer. It seemed that the little girl would soon be placed with a relative so I thought I’d stay to help.
She was a lot.
It took a bit longer than we thought but she was finally transitioned on Jan 18th.
I flew back to NY the next day.
I don’t waste time.

While it was wonderful to hang with my grandsons and my daughter, I missed my own space.
My own, very quiet, very peaceful space.
Grand-parenting can be exhausting!
Or maybe that’s just me.
Whatever. I own it.

All of my kids and grands are doing well.
Son #3 graduated from law school in December, a semester early.
Now he needs to decide where he wants to live/work/take the Bar.
I thought he’d be staying in Colorado, but it appears that may not be the case.
He’s thinking about moving to NYC.
While it would be nice to have him closer (not too close, he has 2 big dogs so that ensures he won’t live with me!), I think he might need a reality check.
But …… I’m not the one to give that.
He’s 26 and will do whatever he thinks is best.
I’ll just sit back and watch.
I just hope that he’ll be happy wherever he lands.

I’d totally love it if more of my kids moved up here.
They all seem to love NY, though a couple may love it only as a place to visit.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds.
Who knows?
I may decide to move somewhere else.
But not for two years.
I have a lease.
They kind of frown when you break those.

I passed the 13 year mark of widowhood in December.
Unimaginable.
Yet true.
I still think of him every day.
I still miss him every day.
I don’t expect those two things to change.
Ever.

His birthday was earlier this month.
This was the first time that I didn’t post that on FB.
I’m not sure why.
Was that a sign of “growth”?
Or maybe that I just didn’t want to go there?
In all honesty, I completely forgot what day it was.
Helping out with four kids all under the age of 6 can do that to a person.
I rarely knew what day of the week it was, let alone the date.
One of my daughters reminded me.
And then a lovely friend from the past called me.
We hadn’t talked in a long time so that felt wonderful and special.
Other than that …… it was just a date.
To many people.
I’m not sure what that says so I won’t read anything into it.
As the saying goes, “It is what it is.”

New York is doing pretty well.
Other than that no theatre thing.
Indoor dining will return to 25% capacity on Feb 14th.
We’re still low in numbers compared to most other states.
Almost everyone here wears a mask without having to be yelled at.
The vaccine has, like most other places, disappeared for now.
But hopefully that will be rectified.

I’m doing well.
I still love being here, even if I can’t go out to do what I want.
I seem to keep busy doing pretty much nothing.
Well, I’m in two book clubs and a movie club that meets twice a month. We watch 3 movies every two weeks. It’s not as fun as going out to a movie together but it’s still fun to see those faces every two weeks.
I’m taking my second course of American Sign Language over Zoom every week.
I finished the first one over Christmas.
It may or may not be starting to eat my lunch now.
I need to practice more.

I play Mahjongg once or twice a week. On line with friends and every once in awhile, in person. Socially distanced.*

I started knitting a blanket.
We’ll see how far that goes.

My plants are all doing extremely well, which never ceases to amaze me.

I attend church online. We were meeting in person before Thanksgiving, very socially distanced*. But that only lasted about 4 weeks before the numbers started going up in NY and that was the end of that.

I meet with a group of wid friends every Friday night for happy hour.
I love those women and our time together.
Widowed peeps are the best.

Last night I went to a friend’s apartment to watch a play online, socially distanced.*
Three other friends came. We all live in the same building.
It was wonderful to get to see them after such a long absence.
I had to quarantine when I got back to NY, but only for three days. I had a negative test before I left and then on the 4th day after I arrived I took another test, which was also negative. That’s how you get out of quarantine in NY.
But I’m still pretty careful about going out and getting together with friends.
It’s not often and it’s definitely careful.

It’s a good thing that I’m more introvert than extrovert.
I’m sure you “people” people are going mad.
I get that.
You get your energy from being around people.
Being around people can zap mine.
Being around toddlers can put me into a coma!
But I digress.

I guess that’s all the news from here.
I’m toying around with starting a new blog that deals with Christianity and politics.
I wasn’t sure if it was time to put that somewhere else other than here.
Thoughts?

I hope you all had good, uneventful holidays.
I hope that you and your loved ones are healthy.
I hope that 2021 is kinder to you than the last year.

I hope it’s kinder to all of us.


*I hate the phrase “socially distanced” and I hate that we have to do it. But I know that it’s important for us ALL to do it so that we can beat this thing, so I make sure to include it in telling you, my lovely readers, what I’m doing.
Also, I don’t want any of you screaming at me in all caps.