As you all know, 2020 was an exceedingly strange year. Because its events were so unusual, I have felt overwhelmed about writing my year-end posts, but I have finally decided to just emphasize the enjoyable or funny parts of the year, with fewer references to the difficult things, which are hard to explain, sometimes involve issues with other people, and just add more negativity to the world. I don't want to make light of what a hard year it was, and I know that it was far more difficult for people in less privileged situations than mine, but the best way for me to publicly look back on the year is to bring up positive experiences.
I was as prepared for 2020 as I could have been, since I was already going through life transitions unrelated to the pandemic, but I have still experienced unexpected losses and felt intense, overwhelming stress over the world situation, other people's suffering, and my own issues. The past seven months have been emotionally challenging for me, but overall, I have tried to make the best of my situation. During 2020, I experienced a lot of blessings that were unique to life in lockdown, and the following list emphasizes highlights from the year.
1. Back in January, I went to Michigan with Dad.
We visited his mom, took a day to see his uncle, and spent that evening
with Hannah, a family friend who lived over the border in Indiana at
that time. I am very thankful that we got to spend time with people, and
even though I didn't want to take off work for another trip, since I
had just been in August and November, I thought, "Well, I should take
the opportunity while I have it," never imagining that during breakfast in the hotel one day, we would see breaking news about a new virus from
China that might precipitate a global crisis. I am SO GLAD that I made
this last trip.
2. I re-watched series five of Doctor Who.
I hadn't watched the series all the way through in several years, and
really enjoyed it. It was very nostalgic, and I enjoyed processing the
stories from a more adult perspective, in addition to enjoying them with the same absolute glee that I did when I was fourteen.
3.
I got to see Emily B. and Melissa at a coffee shop while Melissa was in
town, and afterwards, I stopped by a table to say hello to Owen and
ended up hanging out with him, too. It was such a
great day. I knew at the time that this would be one of my social
highlights of 2020, and it truly would have remained so, even if the
rest of the year had gone on as normal. It was so, so fun to catch up
with friends in a planned way and then have the spontaneous visit.
4. I adopted one of my older sister's stuffed dogs, Rescue, because I dearly loved him when I was a child, and love him still. She
received him from our parents on the same Valentine's Day when I got
Teefty, and I always really liked him. When we went through some of my
older sister's stuffed animals in 2018, Lydia claimed him and others, but I
absconded with Rescue back in February, after she and I celebrated his
eighteenth birthday like the extremely normal people that we are.
As 2020 continued to develop, I found that Rescue was great to cuddle and pat while the world burned, and I didn't give him back. Lydia got upset, and kept wailing at me, "You don't even like dogs!" I would remind her that I had a bond with Rescue before she was even born, but I helped her find a matching dog on Ebay. When I couldn't find anything reasonably priced, I did a Google search, which turned up this Ebay listing. I couldn't imagine why it hadn't come up before, but then I realized that the seller had a very significant typo, thus naming this dog “Resuce.” That has been his name ever since.
My older sister's take on this? “When I try to get rid of my
stuffed animals, they multiply!”
5. On March sixth, I attended Sophie's going away party, and it was an incredibly special and wonderful time. Her plans for an overseas internship with International Justice Mission promptly fell through because of COVID-19, of course, but the party was an incredibly special experience, and I loved getting to spend time with people there, celebrate Sophie, and talk about our memories and special experiences with her near the end.
In order to go to the party, I fought off a cold with every home remedy under the sun, because I couldn't bear to miss an event that was so important to me. I am deeply thankful that I was able to go, because this was The Last Event before lockdown happened. Because I had stayed out from work while I was sick, it was alarming to finally get well and go back only for everything to shut down the very next day. I was ready to go back to
my routine, so I was upset about staying home even longer, but I found
that it wasn't as difficult as I expected.
6. During the beginning of lockdown, Mom and I watched three different versions of Jane Austen's Emma in about a week. We started with the 2020 adaptation, which moved to paid streaming after theaters had to shut down. It was so abominable that we needed a palate cleanser, so we watched the 2009 mini-series, after which we found an obscure 1997 adaptation on Amazon Prime and watched that too. Then, as I found that I couldn't remember for sure what was in the book and what wasn't, I reread the whole novel. I enjoyed it very much, and I liked it much better as an adult since it was no longer a stretch for my reading level.
7. In April, since I was on leave from work and had plenty of time to write, I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month occurs every November, but the same nonprofit also offers other writing events, and I participated in a "camp" program for the first time since April 2013, when this blog was just two weeks old. I accomplished a lot this April, writing several new stories and finishing twenty drafts that had been sitting in a folder for months. I had a lot of fun, and am grateful that I had so much time to invest in my writing.
8. Dad grew a beard for the first time in his life. This may not seem like something that should make the list, but it has been an Event. I have especially enjoyed hearing about other people's reactions to it, like the guy from our former church who ran into him in public, did a double-take, and asked, “Did you go into the witness protection program or something?!”
9. I reread The Blood of Kings trilogy, a favorite Christian fantasy series from my teenage years. These books are by Jill Williamson, and they hold up in a way that almost no other contemporary Christian fantasy series can. I enjoyed them just as much or more as an adult, was amazed to see just how many plot points and scenes were permanently seared into my memory, and relived the deep ways that this series spoke to me and helped me when my mental health was at its worst. I am very thankful for this series, and lockdown was the perfect opportunity to reread three very long books in succession.
10. The pandemic forced me to overcome my hatred of ebooks, and while the library was closed, I joined NetGalley to read and review temporary, digital copies of upcoming books. I was already a Christian nonfiction reviewer for a particular website, but this expanded my options and gave me the chance to review lots of books that I wouldn't know about otherwise, or that wouldn't have been available to me for a long time. I have especially enjoyed reading fiction and nonfiction picture books this way, since they are brief to read at the computer. I have reviewed eighty-three books total from NetGalley so far, and will continue to use this system to support authors and supplement my reading life.
11. I wildly expanded my American Girl collection as I reread all of the main series, all of the short story collections, many of the mysteries, and other companion books. This journey is continuing into 2021, because even though I originally thought that I would just reread the main series about the characters from my childhood, I got completely obsessed again. I borrowed lots of books from the library when I could, but purchased lots of others cheaply online, buying approximately ninety more books. NINETY.
There are a lot of books that I loved as a child that do not stand the test of time, but almost all of these do, and I love them. I appreciate them even more now that I have graduated with a history major, and also know that I might not have pursued the history major in the first place if these characters hadn't been such a significant part of my childhood.
12. I started selling stuff on Ebay, was far more successful than I had ever imagined, and am still making money off my and my family's random junk and things that we have outgrown or no longer need. This is key to understanding why I spent money on about ninety American Girl books while I was out of work. It was tremendously satisfying to cover the cost of the first large batch of books with money from selling our 1980s hand-me-down Teddy Ruxpin and his various books and tapes.
I am thankful for the opportunity to learn new skills, practice customer service, and make money off things that my family no longer wants. I have also collected interesting stories about what people are willing to buy, and it is tremendously satisfying to be able to sell odd and obscure things online, knowing that they would probably end up in the landfill if I donated them locally and they didn't sell at the thrift store. Also, I have sold many things that have real value, and hit the perfect time slot to sell old homeschool materials, right when more parents were opting to homeschool and equipping themselves for a new school year.
13. I played on the swings with Lydia in the backyard almost every day over the summer. This never would have happened if 2020 had gone on like normal, and I am thankful that I had such a great opportunity to further develop my relationship with her, now that she is growing up and changing. She has been particularly interested to learn more about my fictional characters from a teenage perspective, instead of a child's, and her enthusiasm for one in particular has been a lot of fun.
14. I fulfilled my New Year's resolution to watch more movies. This included rewatching High School Musical with Lydia, and I have to say, I far preferred that to watching Greta Gerwig's Little Women. I would rather watch my nemesis Sharpay warble ridiculous songs while cavorting across a golf course to fling herself at Troy, instead of suffering through Jo's screaming and yelling at Professor Bhaer for critiquing her writing, or changing her mind about Laurie at the last minute, even though she NEVER DID in the book.
I was very unhappy with Greta Gerwig's approach to the story, and even though I knew that she adapated the book in a non-linear way, I didn't realize that she had thrown the whole book into a blender. The story had no shape, was confusing and mentally taxing to follow, and had terrible pacing. I know that other people experience stories differently than I do and enjoyed this, and I am glad that they did, but it just made me feel incredibly grumpy. And I'm not even touching on the historical inaccuracies!
I also watched the Disney Channel Descendants movies. That was the lowest that lockdown took me, but Lydia convinced me that one of my fictional characters would see the movies, and that I needed to watch them for writing purposes. She was correct. Also, even though neither she nor I actually like these movies, I still prefer them to the 2019 Little Women.
15. Even though I couldn't go to concerts this year, I attended six Switchfoot livestreams. I am very thankful for the way that my favorite band has navigated the pandemic, staying involved with fans and providing a deep sense of community and joy with each of their virtual shows. Lydia and I have enjoyed watching them together every month, and I am excited for their upcoming concerts in the new year. Even though it's not live music, it's the next best thing, and is much cheaper and more accessible. All of the concerts have been deeply uplifting, and I definitely recommend them. You can see more information here.
16. Throughout the year, I enjoyed regular Jackbox game nights with friends. I played almost every Thursday night with my older sister and our friends Rosie and Lyddi, who visited us last December. We also have a very active group chat, and during the peak of lockdown, we chated extensively and regaled each other with long sagas from our childhoods.
I have also played Jackbox games regularly with some of the friends that I met on the Narnia forum. Although I am in regular contact with Emily and Elizabeth, I hadn't interacted with Glenburne or Mike (not their real names, either of them!) very often. I hugely enjoyed reconnecting with them so much this year. I've also gotten to play occasionally with some friends from church, and am grateful for the rare but excellent times when I've gotten to see them in person.
17. I watched Meet the Robinsons for the first time during a virtual movie night with my older sister, Rosie, and Lyddi. I had heard so many rave reviews that I should have watched this movie long ago, but I never got around to it, and it ended up being the perfect thing for that moment. I laughed a lot, and for the last thirty minutes of the movie, I cried and cried. I was not expecting it to be so profoundly moving, and it was the perfect blend of fantasy and real-life family dynamics.
Also. Also. I somehow managed to watch this movie thirteen years after the release without anyone having spoiled it for me, and I LOVED the plot twists, which I did not see coming at all. They also included this flashback scene, and even though the villain was plotting personal revenge, I think that he was scheming about how 2020 would go down.
18. In August, I started grad school, pursuing a master's degree in Library Science. I have greatly enjoyed my classes so far, and I am thankful that I started the program when I did, because this is a fascinating time to study library services. (It's also a great time to actually plan to be an online student.) My professors and classmates have shared lots of interesting perspectives on how libraries have adapted their services to a pandemic world, and I did a research project for one class about curbside pick-up and virtual programs at my library.
19. I went back to work in September after staying home for six months, but my favorite coworker has now left. I have enjoyed getting back to a regular routine, but when my branch reopened on a limited basis in November, my closest friend at work moved to a different, non-public-facing job in the system. She likes her new job, and I think that it's a great fit for her, but losing out on regular, in-person contact with her has been one of my big losses in 2020.
20. I helped Mom and Dad finish cleaning out my childhood home, which we will be putting on the market in 2021. It was hard to say goodbye, because I have always been attached to that house, and it was part of my life for twenty-one years. Still, we needed to finish cleaning out our piles and piles of junk and stored treasures, and I feel a huge sense of accomplishment over our work there.
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