We have just a few days left this year!
Did this year seem fast or slow for you? Long or short? For me, it’s both. So much has happened this year it seems the year has to have been long in order for these things to have all happened:
Started writing at the Wing in NYC in January and saw Oprah on tour in Atlanta.
My NYC trip snowed out in February. Life continued as “normal.”
In March we watched our son’s team win the Vermont State Basketball Championship, the pandemic struck, lock down began and I quickly moved all of my work to virtual. My husband’s business shut down and our daughter came home with her little dog from NYC to stay.
Trips, shows, outings were all cancelled including our yearly vacation to the beach in April.
In May more trips and plans were cancelled, my son and I celebrated our first COVID style birthdays. We ate cake on the front lawn with friends and for the first time ever realized how gross it is that we blow out candles on a cake and then eat the cake!
Our daughter left to go back to NYC the first week in June, leaving a little more space in the house. I emceed the first ever WBON Virtual Conference and it was a big success! Throughout this year I have been very grateful for everyone’s adapting to virtual- I have been able to take some great classes and spend time with some amazing people that otherwise would not have been possible. My love of learning has been taken to a new level.
Besides classes, I visited museums virtually and took a few online retreats, as well. My favorite local gym, REV, started outdoor classes and I loved joining in on those before I went full on into walking great lengths most days, enjoying our amazing summer weather.
I now take several workout classes with REV and The Class, and Yin yoga with Emily at Laughing River Yoga each week- all virtual. I don’t miss driving all around trying to get everywhere.
July continued- work, walking, warm weather. Joe Joe went for a week to his soon to be new school for a week with the basketball team and the house was very empty.
August continued, more summer, Rowan came back to visit and we got to visit the Shelburne Museum- in person! What a treat.
On August 26, Wednesday, I took Joe Joe to school, as far as we knew, not to return home, without visits, until December 11. It was one of the few times in my life I have literally wailed- for hours. Then the next day, too. By Friday I was all cried out and at 10 am got a call- “you need to come back and pick Joe Joe up because I boy who tested positive with COVID walked into his room without a mask. Home for two weeks, we quarantined, played games and I enjoyed the bonus time and the blessing of a complete do-over. I was much better prepared when I dropped him off for the second time. August was a big month, I also finished writing and planning my Coaches Business Development and Planning book. I hired a coach to hold me accountable and to help me with writing details and publishing support.
September I spent getting used to an empty house during the day and I walked 107 miles. I took myself on a writing retreat to Lincolnville/Camden Maine- driving 5 hours straight both ways- from green area to green area to avoid quarantining. It was a great experience and I made a lot of progress and enjoyed spending time in a new place.
On October 7 I broke my ankle. That put a swift end to pretty much everything. I had gratitude, once again, for the work I do and did not miss a beat. I had already planned to really slow down in October, even more than this year had already slowed me. But I guess there was more slowing to be done! I have not slept so much or so long since I was a teenager! I think it was long over due and I am now a big fan of getting more sleep!
We got to visit Joe Joe at school for one hour outside in October- before they shut down the visits again as quickly as they opened them up. I was on crutches which added a whole other dimension to the trip. I got good news the following week- I could have a walking boot because my break was non weight bearing and that was life changing!
November was pretty quiet, until we got the call- the school rethought their idea and let the kids come home the Friday before Thanksgiving until into the new year. Best news ever! We had Thanksgiving, the three of us instead of two.
And now December- it is here! We are well into it! It seems like it was just Christmas, but thinking about all of those things I just wrote, and there is so much more, but thanks for hanging in there to get this far!
Our daughter is back with her little dog for a month during the holidays, our house is full again. Our kids appreciate the traditions we have, and once again we have bonus time to be together. Everyone in their corners doing their work, coming together for meals and family time. The dogs are the happiest they have ever been.
This is a mini year in review. It is the perfect time to do one for yourself. You can do a mini one like this, and just hit some of the highlights, or go into full detail. I suggest handwriting. Record the highs and the lows, this is for you to capture what you have just been through. I used my calendar to remind me of some of it.
Take 15-20 minutes- or more if you can- to do this today. I have something for you tomorrow that by doing this work today will get you ready for!