At the End of 2020

Our New Year's Eve is not all that different than it would have been if COVID precautions weren't part of our lives. (I'm sitting here writing at 9:30 at night...really just a night like almost any night).

We had appetizers for supper and ate at the kitchen island instead of the dinner table.We started to work on a time capsule, and wore party hats and 2021 glasses and found a kid-friendly countdown. All-in-all, it was a nice time - a little different than our day-to-day. But, nothing remarkable.

Earlier today, however, we did have a fun time. A neighbor friend (Dea) and I decided to put together a Noon Year's Eve party for kids at our playground. I think there were 10 kids with their adults - and a few other adults as well. We made egg shakers for our noise makers as well as some other crafts - and did a countdown at noon (actually at 12:01 and 15 seconds) and threw popcorn in the air. Kids played. Adults talked. There was was mishap with kids sledding, but everyone was okay in the end.

Today might actually mirror the entirety of 2020. A lot of family time spent at home. A little excitement and figuring out ways to have fun and be community in safe, Covid-friendly ways. A little fear (during the sledding mishap). Some attempt to create meaningful ways to mark time and transitions even if they feel to me like they fall a little flat. And, a lot of cleaning. 

I do not think I'll look back at this year and think it was horrible. There have certainly been some shifts in life. Issues I am thinking about now are not at all what I thought I'd be thinking about a year ago. There has been some good work begun on things I care about - and much more to do. I've gotten more organized in some ways at home. I've gotten more proficient in my cooking (even if one kid won't eat anything). I've done pretty well at developing and sticking to regular exercise. I've read a lot. 

Overall, I have much to be thankful for from this past year. I bless it and am glad to move forward into 2021.

Postcards to Voters

For this year's presidential elections, I felt like I needed to do something more than contribute money, so I wrote 200 postcards to Wisconsin urging people who might vote to do so. (My understanding it targeted people who were sometime-voters). I followed that up with 90 more sent to Georgia. Here is when I mailed the Wisconsin postcards in October. The text was something like, "Dear [first name], thank you for being a voter (or first-time voter). Who you vote for is a secret, but whether you vote is public information. Please vote in the Tuesday, November 3rd election. Local organizations may follow up with you to update your voting record. Amy"

Then, knowing that Georgia's Senate election will determine who has control of the Senate, I signed up to write 100 postcards, and then grabbed 75 more. I also was getting our Christmas cards out at the same time, so I was writing a lot. The text for these was, "Dear [first name], Thank you for be a voter (or voters...some of these for for couples or entire households). Please vote in the Tuesday, January 5th Senate elections for Rev. Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Amy." 

It was not much, but it was something I was able to do. 
 

Christmas Day, 2020

The writing itch has been tingling more and more this last month. As usual, ideas of what I'd like to write will come to mind that quickly get lost in the details of the day. Tonight, as I was washing dishes, I thought I'd like to have some kind of record of what I made for special meals - especially as I felt like they were nice meals.

Christmas Eve

Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs - These were so simple. I've saved some of the cooking liquid to make gravy from. I didn't think of it until after we finished with supper.

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes - Super easy. We've had these before. 

These dinner rolls. So much tastier than previous vegan dinner rolls I've made. Because I didn't have quick-rise yeast, I had to increase the amount I used. And, of course, substituted the milk and butter with our vegan milk and butter. 

Then, frozen corn and jello rounded out the meal.

Christmas Day

Ham (hamsteaks because I haven't figured out how to order ham from our grocery store for drive-up pick-up that is a whole sliced ham and not just ham slices).

Green Beans (just steamed).

Roasted red potatoes - no real recipe.

Cherry sauce from mom's recipe (1 can red tart pitted cherries, ½ C Sugar, 2 T cornstarch: Blend sugar and cornstarch in saucepan, add cherries with liquid. Cook, stirring constantly until it boils. Boil for 1 minute.)

Rice pudding

Leftover rolls from yesterday.

And, why not - Thanksgiving Day

Turkey Breast: I used parts of both of these recipes/pages: How to Cook a Turkey Breast and Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast

Garlicky Steamed Green Beans

The very-much not-vegan Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes

Vegan Stuffing

My mom's Cranberry sauce recipe - fresh cranberries, orange juice, sugar - cooked until cranberries pop.

And these dinner rolls (fine, but not quite as good as the ones I made at Christmas).

We also got an apple pie from our realtor that was enormous. I was planning to make a previous vegan pumpkin pie that was a winner. And then, I was planning to make it for Christmas, but picked up some vegan cupcakes from the grocery store...that we still haven't eaten. They'll still be good tomorrow.