...2021. Where to start? At the beginning? Maybe… or not. The beginning was much like 2020. Lockdown. Avoiding everyone. It’s kind of ending that way too due to Omicron and the complete lack of masks in most places around here.
With that being said, there was a lot of fun in 2021! I worked too much - that’s a given - but we also got to do some really fun stuff.
The first thing that was accomplished in 2021 was three bathroom remodels. This was made possible by 2020 being ridiculously busy for work, a home equity line of credit, and not having to meet a $7000 medical deductible in 2021. We got a nice shower. I got my freestanding tub. All is well in the world.
Most exciting part though? WE FOUND A POCKET DOOR. Okay. Todd found a pocket door while demoing the weird door frame on our master bathroom. Thanks, Todd!
We are still in the process of refinishing the pocket door and also making it so that if you close it all the way you don’t get locked in the bathroom, but to say I’m excited is an understatement. The entire time we’ve lived in this house I’ve always mused about a secret pocket door hiding somewhere. Found it!
We also put up a barn door for the hall bath. I found a great deal on closeout doors or ‘someone marked this wrong’ doors that included the hardware. It only took us 1.5 months from buying to putting together to installing.
This is why we hired someone to do most of the bathroom work.
In the nicer weather, even up to this past weekend, we’ve been able to hang out with friends outside and have an impressive number of pizza parties. It’s always nice to hang out and catch up with neighbors and friends.
And Edie was the mascot for Woofstock Dog Party in the Park! She had fun. Arthur just vomited in the car both ways. That’s his M.O.
This year also involved some travel! You heard that right! N95 masks on planes and in airports - didn’t pass out once! Woot! And a bit of driving as well. We didn’t wear N95s while driving in the car together though.
The first big trip was the trip I’d been training for since fall of 2020. I went to San Diego with Project Athena and walked 52-ish miles with an amazing group of humans. You can read all about this adventure here:
The Walk – Day 1 (tatacancer.com)
And here:
The Walk – Day 2 (tatacancer.com)
And thank you to everyone who made this possible:
The Thank You Post (tatacancer.com)
This adventure introduced me to what I call my Athena Sisters. Mostly cancer survivors or thrivers. A group of badass women who I am excited to travel through life with. I’ll get back to them later though!
This year marked our 10-year wedding anniversary and 20 years together. Crap. What? Seriously, time is flying by. To commemorate this milestone we went back to where the whole married thing started: Las Vegas!
That’s right. We got married in Vegas 10 years ago this summer and didn’t tell anyone. Unfortunately, we missed my brother’s wedding to his beautiful wife - CONGRATULATIONS!!! - because of our travel, but it was an awesome trip!
We did the normal Vegas things - hiked a bit in the Valley of Fire and Red Rocks.
Went to Meow Wolf.
Went to Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.
Ate a lot of tacos. Saw some art. Pinball Museum. And then we ended the trip differently than last time. The first time I was there for a conference, and he stayed. I’d come back to the room, and he’d be bundled up in bed with the air on ‘arctic freeze’ and watching Asian TV in whatever language was being spoken with no subtitles. This time I was also to attend the same conference, but I shipped the hubby home. We have kids at home now, after all. Sure, they’re four-legged and hairy, but still.
So, I stayed and spoke at my conference and avoided everyone because cases were rising in Vegas sharply and mask mandates had gone back into effect while we were there. We wore our masks whenever we were around people anyway, so it was the same for us. Oh! We still do.
That was the end of July. August 1 I turned 40 again, so that was cool. Pandemic birthdays don’t count.
Fall was insanely busy with work, as usual, so it’s mostly a blur for me until we got to Thanksgiving week. That week we drove to the Quad Cities of Iowa - but not all the way to Des Moines, sorry, guys - and met our newest niece! She’s 1. She's adorable. She’s very popular with four-legged family members. It was nice to see Gabe’s family and to meet her. And I’m not gonna lie - avoiding that additional 3 hour drive to Des Moines? It’s a killer. I invite anyone from Des Moines to visit us in Pennsylvania and tell us it was an easy drive.
I did a C25K this fall - Couch to 5k - for fun and because I keep saying I want to run. I got up to 30 minutes of ‘running’ - I’m not fast - and did not die, so I feel if I maybe keep doing it, someday I’ll be able to actually run a 5k in 30 minutes!
Note to self: Get back to running since you stopped three weeks ago… oops.
The next trip saw me leaving the family at home and flying to Tampa, Florida. Why? For a Mud Run with my Athena Sisters! We rented a house and I was there Thursday to Monday, Mud Run was on Saturday, and there was a heated pool and it was just an awesome little vacation. It’s amazing that you can meet a group of people once and just be friends like we are now. Bonded by something ethereal, yet real.
It was great to see them all again and to meet a few of their kids. We are trying to figure out the next adventure and where to go. I hope we can make something happen in 2022 again!
We ran for approximately 100 yards in total, and not all of us, just the slow ones who kept falling behind the fast walkers - you know who you are - and - Hi! Love, the slow walkers.
We still have one more trip to go this year - a quick jaunt to NYC to see Book of Mormon - and then the rest of the year will be quietly spent at home.
This year had challenges and wins. Sadness and joy. We lost people we loved. We made new friends. My football team was distinctly average yet somehow ended up in the Big Ten Championship.
For 2022 there may be some big changes on the horizon, but I want you to know that if you are reading this - you are loved.
Even if you stumbled across it while googling ‘Tatas.’
To a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a prosperous New Year!
Now here are a bunch of photos of our flowers! Ha! And noms.
