It\u2019s my last post of the year, the year 2020 (Fun fact, and I don\u2019t know why I\u2019m putting this in parenthesis but whatever, it took me forever before I understood the meaning of the saying \u201chindsight is 2020.\u201d Like I think I was in my 30s. However here I\u2019m using it as sort of a double entendre. Can you guess both meanings?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ah 2020, the year that everybody seems to hate, as if life isn\u2019t what you make it. Now that just mere hours \u2013 not even days \u2013 are left in this topsy-turvy year, I thought I\u2019d look back and see what 2020 has meant to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No doubt 2020 had it\u2019s trying times, but what year doesn\u2019t. Obviously what\u2019s unique about this year is the coronavirus, and everyone feeling it collectively, on a global scale. I guess as the saying goes, misery loves company. I must admit, I too enjoy the camaraderie of someone understanding my pain with me, but uh ruh, I don\u2019t want to wallow in that shit\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Umm, now I lost my train of thought \u2013 all I can think about is food. Speaking of which, food is one of the highlights of 2020 for me. I ate a lot of delicious take-out, and before I knew it, gained my quarantine 15. But I also cooked some nice meals, tried some new meals. Even though my food is not the best (it\u2019s more like food you eat to satisfy your hunger, not necessarily something you eat when you want something tasty), I rediscovered that I really enjoy cooking, and experimenting in the kitchen, though for the most part this year, I\u2019ve been following recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then there was that practically suffocating feeling of having nothing to do \u2013 especially during that time when damn near everything was shut down except the grocery store. Like I\u2019m pretty much a hermit anyway. My social life wasn\u2019t poppin\u2019 in 2019, but I would at least take myself out to lunch every now and then, and go see a movie. With those options now off the table, it helped me to reintroduce myself to myself. It helped me to better get to know me (If this sentence looks and sounds crazy, it\u2019s because it is, but sometimes when I write, I develop a cadence and I don\u2019t want to break it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Food is still on my mind. Right now, I\u2019m thinking of making brown butter rice crispy treats. I\u2019ve had the ingredients since Sunday, planning ahead for New Year\u2019s Eve. I\u2019m trying to be good, because I ate a lot during Christmas but\u2026 we shall see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think I\u2019ve learned to love myself and like myself more this year, and that\u2019s a pretty big accomplishment for me, especially since I haven\u2019t achieved a lot of the things I thought I would have achieved at 40 (I\u2019m now 41, but I spent 51 of the 52 weeks in 2020 being 40). I mean, let\u2019s face it, career wise, I am the nightmare of my childhood dreams\u2026and my 20-year-old dreams\u2026hell, and my 30-year-old dreams. But the 41-year-old me knows that I\u2019m trying, that I\u2019ve always tried (albeit sometimes rather slowly) and that I\u2019ve managed to preserve hope and heart along the way even when life proved disappointing. Not to mention (though I guess I\u2019m about to) I think I\u2019m an amazing writer, with a brilliant mind and just in general quite interesting (damn, I think I just broke my cadence). That\u2019s gotta count for something (Nope, there it is).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyway, let me wrap up this thing. I\u2019m happy to be alive covid-free. I\u2019m thankful for the lessons of 2020. And since I can\u2019t stand when people wish me happy New Year before the new year actually gets here, I\u2019ll just leave you with my favorite end of the year parting words \u2013 see you next year (ha! I\u2019m so cute and corny).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now about those brown butter rice crispy treats\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s my last post of the year, the year 2020 (Fun fact, and I don\u2019t know why I\u2019m putting this in parenthesis but whatever, it took me forever before I understood the meaning of the saying \u201chindsight is 2020.\u201d Like…<\/p>\n