You may remember my 20 for 2020 list that I made last December – before any of us had ever heard of Covid or ever thought we would wear a face mask except in the bathtub. When I first drafted my list, 2020 lay before us, full of promise and hope. Little did any of us know on New Year’s Day that only a few months into this year, we would be locked down for weeks, cut off from family, friends, jobs and activities we loved.
Now, as we look to the beginning of 2021, many of us are stepping carefully out of quarantine into a different normal. We live with Covid-19 on our brains. I have spent the last nine months mostly alone, venturing out periodically but I have hibernated more than I ever thought possible. And now, it’s time to see how the 20 for 2020 actually played out.
Let’s review what I wanted to accomplish and get an update on what was completed and what is getting pushed to 2021.
1- Clean out under my stairs.
DONE! I went through every piece of stuff under my stairs and purged a great deal of it! I actually sold much of what I pulled out on eBay and ended up pocketing almost $900. So – cleaning out under my stairs not only proved to be satisfying in the sense of purging crap, it also provided me some substantial extra income!
2- Get my photo albums up to date.
Nope – didn’t happen. This will push into 2021.
3- Finish my daughter’s photo album.
Also – not done – I did start going through some photos and memorabilia for her, but have not tackled this one yet.
4- Complete vacation albums for myself and my father and sister.
Done! The album was completed and gifted to both my dad and my sister.
5- Paint my daughter’s old room.
DONE!!! But only in the knick of time and I must give credit to my daughters – they accomplished this task for me over Christmas! Best present ever!!!
6- Read the first four Harry Potter illustrated versions.
DONE! I had forgotten how much I loved the books. So much better than the movies, and the movies are GOOD!
7- Re-organize all my dishes.
DONE!
8- Decide what to do with some of my mother’s china.
Not done – my sister has to help me with this one.
9- Bake a perfect chocolate cake from scratch
Not Done.
10- Have friends over for dinner party/game night at least twice.
Nope – hopefully in 2021 we can do this!
11- Start a draft for my book
Not done- although I have a document of ideas going.
12- Watch “Casablanca”
DONE- and I didn’t think it was that great……
13- Read 12 books
DONE!! I read 15. More books than I have read in the past five years! The titles I read: The Royal Secret, Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, Maid of the King’s Court, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hawaii, And I Was There (Pearl Harbor and Midway, Breaking the Secrets), Lady in Waiting, Waiting for Tom Hanks, The Heir Affair, American Duchess and Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon.
14- Figure out what to do with old film and negatives I have.
Done! I used Legacy Box and they did a great job!
15- Stop being afraid of my Instapot and start using it
Not done – still afraid of it!
16- Take my nutrition supplements regularly.
Doing pretty good with this.
17- Use my free weekend night at a Hilton hotel and go someplace I love!
Done! – Used it when I went with my daughter to DC right before quarantine started.
18- Work to reduce waste and recycle more.
Doing better for sure!
19- Bake a really good loaf of sourdough bread.
DONE! And I love baking sourdough!
20- Blog two times a week and build my audience and email list.
Sort of – I did a redesign of my website and my email list is growing (thanks to those of you who subscribe!)
So, all in all I think did pretty good. I have to be careful and not chastise myself thinking, “You’ve had all this quarantine time, why didn’t you get more done?” And then I have to remember to be kind to myself. 2020 was hard! Some days it was a challenge to just get out of bed. I choose instead to focus on all I have accomplished in 2020 and look forward to what 2021 will bring.
So, why not call this a Ta-Da list! Ta-Da! Look at everything I did accomplish!
Did you do a 20 for 2020? How did it go? I’d love to hear your update!
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