I feel like I start one of these for every year end, but never seem to finish them and get them posted. Then when I try to recap later, it all feels irrelevant. 2019 was especially like that - I remember thinking it was such a horrible year and that 2020 would have to be better. But here we are....
January - The year started out extremely hopeful. K and I had both come through our end of year 2019 surgeries and were recovering well. We went on our planned Caribbean Cruise and had an amazing time in clear waters.
February - I celebrated my 39th Birthday and was looking forward to a fruitful year. Things seemed to be in a calm place, though we were hearing more and more about COVID-19.
March - I took my last work trip to DC and was worried for two weeks afterwards that I might have gotten sick or passed an illness to one of my family members. I knew things were serious when Disney shut down its parks.
April - The only thing that changed for me was limiting dining out and seeing my family. We all sat tight and did out best to not spread COVID. My Beetle finally died after 10 years and I had to get a new car. Otherwise, it was nice to not have to go to an office or travel for work as often. I was starting to become obsessive with capturing the Maryland COVID numbers though. Every day I would record the information in my paper journal like it would be some important document for later historians.
May - If you've read any of this blog before you'll know that May is when my personal world blew up a little. I was hospitalized and then diagnosed with Crohn's disease shortly before I was laid off at work due to COVID. Maybe saying it blew up a little is an understatement.
June - I got an amazing offer to work as an independent contractor in New Hampshire for the Summer. So I started my own company and set off to have an adventure. It was a beautiful area and the people were incredible, but it was still a little lonely being away from K and my family.
July - Family visits to New Hampshire, which was still relatively free of COVID above the Notches. It was wonderful to share my good fortune with everyone and give them a breathing space in the middle of the pandemic.
August - Visits to my sister in Boston and interviewing for full time jobs.
September - I was officially hired at a new company and started making my plans to move back home.
October - I moved back home and started my new job. I didn't think it was possible to find a company that felt like a better fit - in terms of what I enjoy doing and my skill set. It has a different feel from the Accounting based company I worked for at the beginning of the year, but is equally as fast paced.
November - With the cold weather coming back, the COVID rates went higher. It prevented us from getting together with all of the family we wanted to see at Thanksgiving. But we made it work.
December - This really felt like a blur. It was limited but we did what we could to celebrate the season.
I would finish with my hopes for the new year but I don't want to jinx anything. So I'll keep that to myself for the time being.
