2020 in review

Last year I was so very glad to see 2019 end. It had not been a great year for me, and I had high hopes for this year. I had some running goals, some health goals, work goals, etc. Yeah so that didn’t exactly go as planned, huh.

What did you do in 2020 that you’d never done before? 

• In January, I was 35 miles away from a major volcano eruption in the Philippines. What I thought were little flies biting me were actually pieces of volcanic ash bouncing off my face. At the time, we had no idea if we would be able to fly back to the States as Taal kept rumbling. Hard to believe that was this year.
• I ran the furthest I’ve ever run as I trained for my first ever marathon (not quite 18 miles, more about that later).
• I ran two virtual half marathons. Ugh, virtual races are just not much fun.
• My third metatarsal in my right foot broke right up high in the neck while running. 
• And of course I’m living in a time of pandemic (or to use a more Biblical term, a pestilence). 

Did anyone close to you give birth? 

Grace Elizabeth was born January 25, 2020. I'm still incredibly honored that she shares a name with me, and I am so glad I’ve gotten to visit her and her parents twice this year. I wish it were more.

Did anyone close to you die? 

No. But I’m definitely affected by the COVID-related deaths this year. I don’t see how you can be a normal human being with any kind of heart and not be affected.

Did you suffer illness or injury? 

Yes. Once again I broke a bone while doing the sport I love. This thing has taken forever to heal, which is very annoying. I’ve also had nerve pain from the top of my right foot shooting down into my big toe since last March. None of the orthopedists I’ve seen are concerned so while I have a scheduled nerve conduction test in April, I’m continuing to work out. If the weather ever cooperates, I will bike and run, foot pain be damned. 

As with the broken pelvis, I’m using a bone growth stimulator and will be for another 130+ days.

What countries did you visit? 

In January, I spent three weeks in Manila for work. Volcano and the start of the pandemic aside, that was a really cool trip and I’m glad I got to see a part of the world I probably wouldn’t have gone to on my own dime.

What would you like to have in 2021 that you lacked in 2020? 

A vaccine for COVID. 

I’d also like to break a pattern that seems to be emerging in my life:

• 2017—cancer diagnosis
• 2018—bone fracture
• 2019—cancer diagnosis
• 2020—bone fracture
• 2021—??

What dates from 2020 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? 

• January 12: Taal erupted 
• January 25: Grace was born
• February 3: I turned 60
• February 14: we met Grace
• March 13: my city locked down for COVID and we began working from home (I will be working from home at least through the end of June 2021)
• May 6: third metatarsal broke
• August 22: got my hair cut short and went blonde 

There are other events but the dates aren’t etched—we got to see Grace and her family over Labor Day weekend but sadly have had to cancel all other trips. 

What was your biggest achievement of the year? 

In April, along with probably every other sewist in the country, I fired up my sewing machine and cranked out nearly 100 face masks for friends, family and in one case, the family of a friend (that family lives in Ireland so I can truthfully say my masks were international!).

One real bright spot this year, or I should more accurately say two bright spots are our COVID kittens. I'm so glad we got them. 

I also decided to give veganism a try. Originally I planned to try for about a month but here I am, nearly at the six month mark and I think I'll stick with it. Health-wise I already had great numbers for cholesterol but saw huge improvement there anyway. My LDL dropped from 70 to 35, which made me blink! 

And I busted through a big hang up of mine when SheFit asked me to send a photo of me wearing their bra to be used in a social media campaign. 

But honestly this year has felt like I’m just marking time. I’d planned to train and run my first full marathon this year both as a way to say screw you cancer and to celebrate turning 60. I was very disappointed when the race went virtual but of course on May 6, it was all moot anyway when my foot broke. 

I did run two virtual half marathons, and I don’t think I’ll do that again. It’s just a real slog. 

What was the best thing you bought? 

I wrote a very long post about things we bought this year to make our home comfy and cozy.

Where did most of your money go? 

And of course, that post also describes where our money went (as it sure didn’t go for traveling). We did have a lot of medical expenses but not nearly what we had in 2019.

What did you get really excited about? 

I didn't know it was going to happen, but my mother, sister and brother surprised me so much I staggered when they were all at a restaurant to celebrate my 60th birthday. That was absolutely surreal and wonderful.

I was so excited to be training to run that marathon. I’d done a lot of research to find one that was not horrible in terms of the route but also not hard to travel to, and Grandma’s seemed like the perfect one. Plus it’s in June so I knew I could get in a proper training schedule since I wouldn’t have to do most of the training in winter. And I’d found a running coach because I wanted to train safely and sanely.

So words are inadequate, I cannot tell you how heartsick I was when I broke my foot. I sat in that urgent orthopedic clinic and knew, I just knew that it was broken and that I would not be healed in time to run the marathon. I’m not much of a crier, but I teared up there in that office.

And in November when it looked like I had a non-union fracture, I was crushed. I’d already been researching bikes so that same day I got that news, I went to a local bike shop and ordered a bike. I’ve been able to ride a few times but I need it to be a little less windy and I also need shoe covers to be able to ride in the Kansas winter weather.

For the second year in a row, it’s been a really hard year. I sometimes feel as though I’m digging a hole in dry sand only of course the sand will not stay out of the hole so I keep digging, digging, digging, all for nothing.

What book(s) did you love this year? 

I continue to be an indiscriminate reader (escapism at its finest) and devour all sorts of fiction, especially science fiction, some fantasy (I’m very, very picky) and a fair amount of post-apocalyptic fiction. 

However I don’t advise reading Station Eleven when in a foreign country as a pandemic starts (yes, I thought I would re-read it when I was in Manila and COVID-19 was breaking loose in China and Southeast Asia—not my best plan). 

What song will always remind you of 2020? 

Once again, I’m boring. I’ve been listening to the Housewerks playlist on Spotify. This song cracked me up last spring.