hApPy hUmP dAy, pals, and welcome to Currently 01.2021, the first edition of this series in the shiny new year. I am linking up with Anne and today we are talking about what we are beginning, feeling, organizing, resolving and wondering. I hope you’ll join in with us.
This post might be more aptly titled ‘Duke’s Mixture 01.2021’ (see my first one by that same name, here), as I am also linking up with Joyce for my second Hodge Podge (first one, here). And linking up with my new friend Denyse for her #LifeThisWeek link-up. Plus - sharing my winter goals. Seems like a lot of series are scheduled for the same days this year.
Let’s get started, shall we?
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CURRENTLY 01.2021
Hello 2021…come to mama!! Boy am I glad you’re here. And so are a few of my closest family and friends. And like the whole wide world. Just one question - what took you so long? 2020 felt more like 3 years. We’ve been looking forward to you since last spring. Hope you won’t disappoint us. You wouldn’t do that would you?
With the holidays behind us, and the Christmas decorations packed away, let’s see what I’m up to currently 01.2021…
Beginning…
to see the light at the end of the long, dark Covid tunnel. The vaccine is here in El Paso. Some of our first responders and frontline health professionals have been inoculated. Now the city is waiting to receive additional COVID-19 vaccines from the state.
[source]
If residents have pre-existing health conditions, as defined by the Texas Department of Health Services, that put them at greater risk they can pre-register to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as it becomes available. My diagnosis of stage II chronic kidney disease allowed me to be placed on a waiting list for when the next round of vaccines become available. According to ElPasoStrong.org “availability is anticipated to expand in early 2021.”
Feeling…
hopeful. My WOTY is light. Which will get a dedicated post in the near future. We have begun working out and eating better. So I am feeling hopeful that this Covid 7, as in pounds, will soon be gone. And PTL…PC’s back is better. He is on some new meds that are helping with his constant pain. And is scheduled for an epidural in 10 days.
No, that’s not his spine.
Organizing…
everything for 2021. The librarian in me still loves to organize. Except on the days when I don’t. Ha!! But once again, I will be following Taylor’s decluttering calendar to get rid of things that no longer bring me joy. Or that no longer fit…looking at you Covid 7. Or that are just gathering dust.
Taylor starts with the kitchen and so did I. But I also tackled my closet, which isn’t on her calendar until late spring. Here’s how that turned out.
PC says he will go through his closet this weekend and then off to the consignment store I go!!
Resolving…
to find my blogging purpose and stick to it. I started this blog after retiring early from a job I loved. One that was a huge part of my life. And at that point, I planned to blog about attempting to fill my empty days. Guess that is still my purpose but I am no longer mourning my career. And my days are no longer quite as empty. So maybe I need to tweak this purpose?
Wondering…
what this year holds. We could never have guessed, this time last year, how 2020 would unfold. I wonder what surprises are in store for us in 2021?
HodgePodge
Linking up with Joyce at From This Side of the Pond for this new-to-me series. This is certainly not a new series, however. I think this edition is Joyce’s 402 hodge podge!!
- What advice would you give yourself as we begin this new year? Lighten up. Take your WOTY to heart. Stop worrying and turn things over to God. Believe (WOTY 2020) and know that everything will be alright.
- If you could throw a themed party for yourself what would the theme be? Love this question. Probably a costume party. I have a Pinterest board for costumes. Auditioned for the children’s TV show I hosted in costume (scarecrow). Embarrassed my daughters unmercifully in costume (cow with life-like udders). But I would probably want to be able to have several costume changes throughout the evening. In the photo below, my PC was a Union soldier and I was a southern belle.
- Tell us where you were and something about what life was like when you were 20- 21. That was one of the saddest chapters of my life. My parents had fairly disowned me for a time because I had lived with a boy during summer school at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He had a little apartment off campus and I moved in with him, even though my parents paid for a dorm room. When they found out, my parents were very, very upset. They gave me an ultimatum that made my life more difficult for awhile. I was sad, and lost, and really struggling.
- What’s on the menu at your house this week? Last night was bun-less hamburgers with caramelized onions and green peppers, which my Prince C. said he enjoyed. Tonight I am trying a knock-off recipe for Olive Garden’s gnocchi soup.
- What should you do more of this year? Less of? More exercise, more of the things I love to do. Less wasting time on the Internet.
Bonus Thought
- Insert your own random thought here. My baby girl Camila Jean turns one year old the day after tomorrow. I am so resentful that this virus is keeping me from celebrating in person with her. Another milestone into which Covid has inserted itself.
Winter Goals
- Create and keep to a blogging schedule
- Set up planner
- Purge clothes
- Declutter
- Consolidate remainder of children’s books
Pretty self-explanatory. Worked on my blogging schedule today. And set up my planner for the first 6 months of the year. Oy vey, that was a nightmare. But that’s a story for another post. Clothes purge is well underway. Decluttering has begun. And I have made a dent on my children’s books but need to go back in there and be ruthless. Just hurts my librarian ❤️.
Your Turn
What are you currently beginning, feeling, organizing, resolving and wondering? And how would you respond to the hodge podge questions this week? Have you set any winter goals or new year’s resolutions? Please share in a comment below!
And that’s a wrap for Currently 01.2021. Thanks for reading. Thanks for walking through my retirement with me!! So glad you stopped by.
P.S. Don’t forget about 10 on the 10th…coming up in 4 short days. See the prompt here.
Hugs and kisses,
We’ve been organizing so much of the house; it seems like one project in a room leads to another project in another room and so on… I love it though.
I love organizing, too!! But you are right…there is no end…one project leads to another!!
Mary says
Retirement…**sigh** I’m almost there! Just 3 more years!
You went to UT? That’s in my backyard (figuratively, not literally!) 🙂
Hi there, thank you for coming by! Yes, I went to UT from my sophomore year through graduation. I am a Memphis (Bartlett) girl. Started college at a local private school that was called Southwestern at Memphis then. Has been changed to Rhodes College, now. Was up your way…Knoxville…a year ago August for my niece’s wedding (also a VOL - go Big Orange!).
I could write a book about my retirement. The reasons I retired. Partially motivated by a health issue but after surgery, I could have easily returned to work a few more years. Mostly because of a horrible administrator who destroyed our campus.
Carrie says
Yes, to finding your blogging purpose. I’m right there with you, sister. I love the hodgepodge. Thanks for sharing. Happy New Year!
Anne says
Great to hear you were able to get on a list for the vaccine! My husband gets his second dose this week, but I imagine it’ll be awhile before it becomes available to me… And I am quite intrigued by this idea of a decluttering calendar. I don’t have tons of clutter, but I still thoroughly enjoy decluttering - probably why I don’t have much clutter in the first place 🙂
Nancy says
The vaccination started here yesterday. I think it s my turn in February. I don t,, do,, goals. I just go with the flow. Have a great day!
Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life says
Oh no I am so sorry you can’t celebrate your granddaughter’s first birthday. What a milestone this virus has stolen. Next year’s party will have to be a big one!
And I love a good theme party!!! We used to have big theme parties every summer until we had Wyatt. My favorite was our Elvis party. Everyone came dressed up, we showed Elvis movies on a projector outside, served peanut butter and banana sandwiches (among other things lol). It was just a lot of fun!
I hope you get the vaccine next time around! I have friends who work the frontlines in Detroit getting it and my parents can get it starting the 11th of this month. It is such a relief to me.
Dara says
I hope you’re still feeling hopeful after yesterday! What a day. I also hope you get the vaccine soon! Can you see why my word is Hope? I keep saying it!
Happy birthday to your granddaughter! I love your WOTY. I’m trying to eat better too, and eventually, I need to start exercising more. I want to focus on one thing at a time for the most part though so it’s not so overwhelming. I know you do a lot of smoothies - do you have any good recipes?? Feel free to email me!!
I can’t wait to see your planner post. I still need to get mine set up. With my carpal tunnel, it hasn’t been easy to write so I haven’t done anything with mine yet.
-Lauren
Hey sugar plum!! So glad to hear from you. Hope you guys made it through the holidays healthy and happy. Want to try to link up with for my planner post. Need to get it written. I am sorry you are dealing with carpal tunnel. Are you being treated for it? Are they talking surgery? I had something similar called de quervain’s tenosynovitis but it is better. Thank goodness. Hope you are soon on the mend.
I’ve been wanting to rethink my blogging purpose, too. Covid I feel has changed a lot of things for me as I feel I have a lack of a schedule, time and it is harder to focus lately!! But, I still want to do it… I am excited about the vaccines, my husband gets his second round of it next week. I will probably be awhile still and my kids aren’t old enough yet. But, it is light at the end of the tunnel! Happy birthday to your sweet granddaughter!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
Oy vey, it is harder to focus, isn’t it! And focus was never my strong suite to begin with. Hope you will bring back some of your crafting and recipes. I miss those posts!! You are such an inspiration.
Deb says
Such a shame to not be able to properly celebrate that milestone birthday - there’s a lot of celebrations to be caught up on once the world is a safer place.
Good news that you are on the list for vaccination, who knew that having an underlying health condition would one day work in your favour! Ours will be done in age order and health conditions, out of a scale of one to ten, we come in at seven so I think it’s going to be a while for us.
I’m so pleased to hear that blogging is high on your ‘to do’ list - it will be good to ‘see’ you more often!
Hey Deb, I have missed you. And worried about you. I know it is hard to write blog posts when your heart is heavy and life is tough. Hated to read that you guys are locked down tight again.
In some ways, it is a blessing that your good health puts you further down the list for the vaccine but by the same token, it is a blessing that my health troubles (mild) put me closer to the top of the list. LIFE!
Kellyann Rohr says
Your goals are always so well thought out - I love that!!!
But I really love that picture of you and PC dressed up - what a great idea! You make a beautiful Southern Belle!
xo,
Kellyann
Thank you, Kellyann. I love to wear costumes. Someday Halloween will be allowed again and we can all channel our inner child once more.
Sheila says
WOTY? Please help me with this one.
So, you’re from the Bartlett TN area! I live in west TN, near Jackson-small world, right?
I think of you when I hear El Paso mentioned on the news. Stay Covid safe & know I enjoy your posts.
So nice to meet you, Sheila!! Thank you for coming by and thank you for leaving a comment.
WOTY is blogger-speak for Word of the Year. Do you have a WOTY? If so, please come back and share it with me. Tell
me how you selected it.
My dad worked at St. Jude for years as a cancer research scientist. We moved from Boston to Memphis in 1968, a month after Martin
Luther King was killed there. In the midst of all of the chaos. I had a college roommate - Dorothy Williams - from Jackson. Might
you know her?
El Paso was sadly in the news a lot over the past year. First with the anniversary of the horrific Walmart shooting and then
as a Covid epicenter.
I am so glad you left a comment, and have somehow stumbled across my blog. Thank you!! Please come back again. Stay safe and well, too.
Natasha says
I’m glad that PCs back is feeling better. And reading about everyone who is tackling clutter and organization makes me want to tackle some of that too!
Thank you, Natasha. I think doing one small decluttering job a week is doable. And it makes me feel better!!
I know what you mean about your blogging purpose and tweaking things - I’m doing the same at the moment - trying to balance it (my blogging) with my writing and my day job. More importantly, I’m trying to work out where my blog is heading.Loved the pics - especially your grand babies at the window & you as a Southern belle.
Thank you, Joanne. I would think you have a very full plate, especially with settling into your new home. Hope blogging and life fall into place for both of this year.
I love your choice of word for the year - light. It can have so many different meanings and positivity.
I need to do some decluttering of my clothes as well. There are so many I just don’t wear and it seems I wear the same things all of the time.
Thank you! And thank you for finding and visiting my blog. Need to get my WOTY post written tonight. Also need to do ironing! Hmmm, which to do first.
joyce says
Thank you for joining in the Hodgepodge. I am mid-wedding planning so am slow to get around to read answers. Covid has ruined so much, been the cause of so much disappointment…we are all ready for things to return to some normalcy, but I feel like that’s still a bit out of reach. Hoping the vaccine helps. A wedding in the middle of it all has not been without challenge!! My hubs is from Maryville-Go Vols!
Yay!! Go Vols, indeed!
I am so enjoying the HodgePodge questions and link ups. Thank you for hosting and inspiring us to think!!
Hoping the vaccine will make a difference SOON. I think we are just finishing up our first wave while the
rest of the world has started on their second wave. And now we have the new strains to worry about! Ugh.
Hope the wedding-planning is going well and offers a pleasant distraction.
Thank you for coming by.
Denyse Whelan says
Hi Leslie,
Thanks for the shout out about my Monday link up.
Must be a teacher/organised/librarian thing to tweak things on the blog in the new year. I did that to mine and added a newer image of me that best reflects how I am going almost 4 years post oral cancer.
Not seeing grandkids has been an issue for us too but in a week we are hosting our son and his 4 (aged 5-13) and next day our daughter and her 4 (aged 24-8) because it is our Golden Wedding Anniversary on 23.1.2021. yes, that is what I was doing when I was 21. I got married!! 50 years ago.
We still are not up to vaccinating for covid here in Australia as the government and health people work out which one to use. Glad it’s happening where you are.
Thank you for linking up for Life This Week. Next week the optional prompt is Back To. 3/51 #LifeThisWeek 18 Jan. I hope to see you there. Denyse.
Loved your photos Leslie, especially the one of you and PC all dressed up and the grandbabies too!
Good luck in your list of things to do, sounds like a good plan. I’m starting to get serious about the extra kilos (pounds) so I can relate!
Great to see you at #lifethisweek