Days 290-296- Goodbye 2020

 Vacation got off to a weird start for me.  I started feeling some mild cold symptoms, symptoms I typically have when I get strep throat.  I decided to get a strep test, and while I was at the urgent care, they suggested I also get a Covid test.  Thankfully, they don't do the way up the nose test so it was much less difficult than I was expecting.  I had to isolate at home until I had the results (because I'm responsible) which wasn't too difficult since we're basically isolating at home all the time.  Thankfully, I got my test results the next day and I was negative for strep and Covid.  After a few days of resting, December was super stressful and I'm not sure I slept a full night the entire month, I was back on track to enjoy vacation.

I'm usually super busy during vacation, with all the life stuff I neglected during the first part of the school year.  This year was very different and it was a bit odd to have so much free time to just relax, take kitty pictures, practice my cocktail skills and enjoy my new glasses, get back to barre and pilates, and binge all of Flip or Flop.  I even found a little time to watch Pretty Little Liars.

I hit my 200th class on OpenFit!  

For New Year's Eve, we decided to book a room at the Hyatt for a change of scenery.  We booked a room with a "river view" balcony which we thought was the same as a city view, but it's really not.  Adding to the mix up, we ordered take out from Sulmona and they didn't give us any plastic utensils.  JO had to walk all the way back to the restaurant to get us some.  The evening got back on track with a Zoom call with friends and a walk along the river to enjoy the city views!  I really miss Boston, but it's not safe on that side of the river. It was nice to see the skyline.

First morning of 2021!

2020 was a horrible year for so many people, but there was so much I loved about 2020.  In 2020, I actually had time to put myself, my health, and my mental wellbeing first.  I've let go of so much school stress and I'm loving my new teaching role this year. It's not perfect, and kids learn best at school, but I've found ways to be successful and it's made me feel more confident in my teaching abilities.  I've had time to really take care of my health.  I ran 100 miles in the spring and just finished my 200th barre and pilates class since May.  I find myself with nothing to do after 7:00pm and it's amazing.  Don't get me wrong.  I can't wait until my schedule is filled with concerts, movies, and ballet performances, but right now I'm really trying to appreciate the gift of time that 2020 gave me.  2020 also gave me a chance to reconnect with friends who live far away, from Zoom social hours to Zoom workouts, I got to see friends I hadn't seen in years.  (Maybe I should have jumped on the Facetime train earlier?) 

That being said, I lost a lot of faith in humanity in 2020.  I really thought our country would unite in a way we hadn't seen in a long time.  Instead, our horrendous leadership fragmented the country even more.  Even now, we find ourselves in the midst of a horrific, but not unpredicted, second wave.  We should never have ended up in this position.  We knew this was what was going to happen and we did nothing to stop it.  We should be paying people in dangerous jobs to stay home.  I drove past a mall this week and it was jam packed.  I stopped in a Crate and Barrel because I was looking to replace a Christmas present I broke almost immediately after opening.  I was running in, looking for one thing, and then was going to leave.  Even by doing that, I felt guilty about being out and about in a second wave.  I was appalled to see at least 60 people milling and browsing.  We are in the middle of a freaking pandemic, you don't need to browse for a new table scape!

  On Saturday night, we braved the cold for dinner on the patio at The Independent.  You know what, it was cold, but it was safe and responsible!  It was also a nice distraction from the slow roll out of the vaccine, the president and his minions trying to intervene in the election results, and the new, more contagious strain of the virus!