Gerry is watching Jr. hockey on TV in the living room and Molly is sitting on his lap and enjoying a collagen chew. What to do? What do do? I thought of going into my woman cave and reading or writing this blog post or doing some much-needed tidying and organizing, but it’s cold in there. I have a faux fireplace heater which could remedy the situation, but for now I’m planted on the love seat in the living room with Gerry and Molly. When my husband watches sports on television, he often does so with the sound off so it’s quiet save for the sound of Molly’s chewing. So, as we sit in companionable silence, I tap out the last blog post of the year.
Have you chosen a word for 2024? Do you do such a thing? I did, for years. My favourite was inhabitation. It might have been for 2011, as that was around the time I started growing restless and increasingly longed for something different from the corporate life I was giving the best of myself to. I started gardening and thinking seriously about what life post-career could look like. I was choosing to focus more on living in my home than existing in a cubicle. I haven’t chosen a word for 2024 yet. A couple of possibilities are bouncing around in my mind, but I’m not ready to commit. I might just let it go this year.
Do you do anything to celebrate New Year’s Eve? The last time we rang in a new year was 2000. Remember all the hype and concern about things like elevators ceasing to function at the stroke of midnight? I was an IT professional back then and I can attest to the volume of work that was done behind the scenes to make sure that systems would continue to function. The big issue was that in legacy computer systems, years were stored in two digits and once 99 became 00, all manner of unexpected chaos could have occurred (though I doubt elevators would have been affected).
What’s the weather like where you are? Rumour has it that January 1 is going to bring with it snow and colder temperatures. We knew this unseasonably warm weather we’ve been enjoying wouldn’t last forever. Truth is, I’m ready for a change and some hygge time. I haven’t even had the occasion to pull out my reading socks and curl up by the fire with a book this year. Of course, that’s easy for me to say, as I’m not the one manning the snow shovel. 🙂 We really need the moisture—here, back in B.C. and all across the country—so there’s that too.
Tomorrow, I’ll start putting together my 2023 blog book (it takes a chunk of time to formatting the year’s posts for print). It will be the 17th volume in the series since I started doing this. Occasionally, I refer back to a previous year’s book for a writing project, but mostly they just live on my bookshelf. Maybe sometime in the future, after I’m long gone, a grandchild or great-grandchild or someone in my lineage will be interested in what life was like for an ordinary woman in these times. Or maybe not, and that’s okay too.
So, that’s a wrap for 2023. Let’s go forward with gratitude for what was, peace for what is, and hope for what’s yet to come.
P.S. I couldn’t end without sharing one last photo of our sweet girl, Molly. 🙂
I’m so impressed with your faithful commitment to writing your life for 17 years for your generations to come. Even the most mundane of times that great-great grandma Linda lived can bring enlightenment, joy, and an understanding of why this child reading this post is the way she is. Blessings to you for a great 2024