Sincerely, Starlight

Happy New Year’s Eve! Before I dive into my (20th Annual!) list of 25 Accomplishments, I have to acknowledge a major fail. Not trying to start off on a negative foot, but it’s glaringly apparent….this is the first post on this blog in a year. I didn’t post on here once – all year. I did much better over at A Day in the Lifestyle, although it’s a tad (couple months) behind, as well. I lost the sign-in info and got locked out of Two Blondes in the Heartland for a year, so that….well, that didn’t go as planned. Neither of the blondes even live in the Heartland anymore….so I don’t even know what is going on over there.

This blog was supposed to be a bit different. And it is. You won’t find any recipes or skin care recommendations. It was created to share thoughts. Conversation starters. Something to make me think deeper. But, in order to do that, I had to write. And I didn’t have much time this year for recreational writing. I wrote PLENTY, but not for fun. Instead, we spent a lot of time living. So much that sometimes, I didn’t have time to write about it. It always will be a lifelong goal to write more. It’s a big part of who I am. It will never not be important to me. I may need to restructure a little more to make time for it. I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out at this time next year if I figured it out?

Coming up with 25 things for this year’s list was difficult. We did things, but it was definitely a quality over quantity kind of year. Therefore, some of our “big things” involved multiple accomplishments that I listed separately. It’s my list. I can do it my way.

And with that, here we go:

ONE: Sold our house in Iowa. Now, this may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but it was. Repairs, “staging,” and so much cleaning. I cleaned the house like crazy when Dan and I moved in together, and we kept it pretty clean, but there was still so. much. cleaning. We had a great realtor who helped with all the technical stuff, but still – selling the house was definitely an accomplishment.

TWO: Moved to NY. Dan drove the U-haul, towing the Charger behind, and I drove the Mustang. Halfway across the country! If you’ve ever ridden in a car with me, especially with me driving stick, you understand. In addition, the 2021 housing market meant that we moved to NY with NO HOUSE. We moved into a two bedroom apartment, sight unseen, so that we could get to NY before school started. This also involved an hour and a half (round trip) drive to Bizi’s new school twice a day until we moved onto item #3.

THREE: Bought our new house. Our new house was a bigger financial investment than the last house. Being able to put up a decent down-payment and secure this mortgage all by ourselves without dipping into any assets other than our regular old paychecks was an accomplishment.

FOUR: I read 96 books this year. My goal was 50, but I guess I make more time for reading than writing? Standouts include: The Girl who Escaped from Auschwitz, Love and Other Words, The Final Revival of Opal and Nev, Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, A Woman is No Man, The People We Keep, The Starless Sea, Under the Whispering Door, Magic Lessons, and The Book of Magic. I’m currently working on A Promised Land, which I am LOVING, but don’t think I’ll have it done today.

FIVE: Bookstagram. I now have 1,465 followers. Which I understand is not many in the Instagram world, but for an old lady who likes to read books, I feel like it’s an accomplishment. I’m actually a little torn about it because on the one hand, gaining social media followers isn’t exactly “my thing,” especially at my age (says the lady with five instagram accounts…), but….it’s all about books. WHAT? Are you kidding me? It’s actually been a lot of fun, I’ve discovered so many new writers, been able to interact with some of my favorite authors, and even learned a bit about how to take cute pictures (I still have a long way to go on that one…).

SIX: This research project.

SEVEN: Celebrated our anniversary/my birthday in Times Square! Here’s where we start with me doing one thing (taking a trip) and turning it into a bunch of list items, but wow. Was it a heck of a trip!

EIGHT: Didn’t die at the Top of the Rock. I walked off the elevator and was instantly on my knees. SOOOOO embarrassing. I never knew I was scared of heights. I mean, I knew I didn’t love them, but when I got up on that roof, I could not get my body to listen to my mind. I would wait a few minutes, try to get up and walk, and within a few steps, my knees would buckle again. I finally told Dan and the kids to go enjoy without me and I’d catch up because people were looking at me and I was humiliated. I never got to the point where I was completely okay, but it got better.

NINE: Saw Niagara Falls. I’ve always wanted to see Niagara, so this was definitely a bucket list item for me.

TEN: Survived NYC comedy club, LoL Comedy Lounge, with a 14-year-old. Now, before anyone mommy judges, I had no idea. I’ve never been to a comedy club. I’ve never followed standup comedy. I really didn’t have a clue. TripAdvisor said it was a great thing to do, so when the guy came up to me on the street…well…. Dan and Joe’s faces were priceless when they realized what I had done, but by then, we (and by we, I mean, well…me) had already dropped the money on the tickets and being in Times Square, it was a pretty penny. Definitely not an amount we were willing to just waste. In all honesty, we had a blast. The comics were super interactive and while they were definitely crass and it’s not an experience I a) ever wanted to do as a family activity and b) will EVER do again, it definitely made for some hilarious memories and is one of the kids’ favorite stories from the trip. BAD MOTHER OF THE YEAR.

ELEVEN: Played the piano from Big!!! I have loved this piano since I was a kid! The thought of actually being in FAO Schwartz, of having this piano under my feet, oh my goodness!!!! But we did it! I played on the same big foot piano as Tom Hanks!!!

TWELVE: FINALLY WENT TO FENWAY!!!!! Another huge bucket list item. A Red Sox fan for going on twenty years, I have always wanted to go to Fenway. In fact, my family has been instructed – with many reminders over the years – to take my ashes to Fenway upon my death. It’s a really big deal. Like, really big.

THIRTEEN: I FLIPPING FOUND DONNIE WAHLBERG‘S OLD APARTMENT. (Theirs was the one on the bottom – long time ago, back before two of the kids became famous, I guess.) I don’t know how I didn’t drop dead right on the spot, but I managed to hold it together. Barely. And if, like my bad kids, you say Mark is better or more famous or “didn’t ride Donnie’s coattails” or whatever nonsense they said, you can just move on. Go away. Go.

THOSE STEPS HAVE BEEN WALKED ON BY DONNIE WAHLBERG. I’m still dying over here.

FOURTEEN: Introduced Dan to the adorable and classic ’80s film, Savannah Smiles.

FIFTEEN: Got kicked out of Canada. Bizi has never been to Canada, so when I found out the border was open, I got really excited and decided to take her to Toronto for dinner. We had our passports and our vaccine cards, so I thought we were all set. I didn’t understand that it was required to have a vaccine card AND a negative COVID test. I thought….well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. We drove all the way to the border, which is only about an hour and a half, but still…we drove all the way to the border. After I told the agent that we didn’t have COVID tests, meaning that she knew we weren’t going to dinner, she just kept asking me a million questions about why we were going to Canada. And then sent me over to the Customs building where we were officially ejected from Canada. Not the first time I’ve been interviewed (interrogated) at Customs, but definitely the first time I got kicked out of a country. Officially, we weren’t kicked out, we were denied entry. But since we had to go through the checkpoint to the building that was on the Canadian side, I feel that technically, we were kicked out. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. We weren’t bitter – we found it to be quite an entertaining experience.

SIXTEEN: Completed the TreeRush Adventures zip lining course – mostly. They had four levels and I made it through the first three. (I fell off an element early on, realized I was safely harnessed and not going to die, and wasn’t scared after that.). Unfortunately, by the time I got to the fourth and hardest level, I had worn myself out and only made it about a third of the way through before my legs checked out. Dan and our friend, also Dan, made it all the way through. Rhea and I cheered from the ground. Mostly, though, we had a wonderful time with two of our bestest friends. Oh my goodness, do I love them.

SEVENTEEN: Started running again. My knee isn’t a fan of running anymore, but it really bothers me that I’ve lost my ability to get up and run 10-15 miles on a whim. We got back into it and were running just shy of 5k three times a week, but when we moved to the new house, we lost our momentum. Quickly found out there is an excellent running trail a block down the road(!!!), but it started to get cold and enter your favorite excuse here. Honestly, we are too busy and I need to find a way to make sure I fit running in my daily routine again. However, we did spend the summer and early fall running almost three 5Ks a week, so I think that’s an accomplishment.

EIGHTEEN: Added to my souvenir mug collection. I picked up some in New York, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Massachusetts, South Dakota, Nebraska, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. We have a lot of mugs. Mostly Starbucks, but a few others, as well. I added 19 mugs to the collection this year and since the rule is that I have to actually go to the location to have the mug, I feel like the travel required to get these was quite the accomplishment!

NINETEEN: Some of you may know that I’ve had this health problem that has caught up with me over the last couple years….it’s stupid. And to deal with it, I don’t get to eat most of the yummy food I make. My diet has to be primarily vegan, sugar-free, and gluten-free. I find it annoying. But, if I’m good, really really good, I let myself have a treat every so often. One of those treats this year is what is known around here as a “garbage plate.” The accomplishment is that I finished this.

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TWENTY: Discovered multiple new local breweries. Dan really loves trying new craft beers. Me, I’m not quite as into it as he is, especially since I can’t have much alcohol, but I like trying new sour ales and ciders here and there. We have found some great new breweries and cideries around here.

TWENTY-ONE: Learned the amazingness that is thrifting. I’ve always loved thrift stores, but unlike my daughters, I don’t always score great finds. This year, Dan and I have found some amazing things. The best find of all belongs to Dan – hands down, no question. But I found some good stuff, too!

TWENTY-TWO: Let me just say these are NOT in order of importance. Because if they were, this probably would have been first. Dan and I finally had our wedding on Tybee Island! This was a year late, but (thanks to my parents), it still happened! If you don’t already know, we thought we weren’t having a wedding, which is why you see so few people in these pictures. We thought we were going to have to postpone – again. But my parents managed to pull off a miracle, and we had a wedding. So amazing.

Also pulled off a surprise party at the Pirate House in Savannah.

And even managed to introduce Bizi to Washington, DC on the way home.

TWENTY-THREE: I know I already kind of mentioned this, but friends, we pulled off TWO family vacations this year. Okay, not the whole family – that’s getting harder and harder to do as the kids get older and have actual lives that it turns out I’m not the boss of…but we still managed to get some of the kids out on two different excursions!

In March, we took Joe and Bizi to Chicago, Lake Erie, Niagara Falls, NYC and Boston.

Then in August, we took the three youngest kids to the Sandhills and South Dakota for a week.

And managed to get in some time with the adult kiddos in Omaha, as well.

TWENTY-FOUR: Prepared our first NY Thanksgiving. Only three of the kids were able to join us for Thanksgiving, but I cooked for the whole family because I don’t know how not to! I’ve been making this dinner for 25 years. I’m not changing it now!

I made turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green rice, corn casserole, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cheese ball, strawberry pretzel salad, pasta pepperoni salad, corn bread, frog eye salad, apple pie, two pumpkin pies, banana bread, and stuffing. Single-handedly. From scratch. I even used apple pie filling I made and canned myself in September, so yes, this was an accomplishment. (The cranberry sauce I dumped from a can, the relish plate of veggies, pickles, olives and ranch dip, and the cocktail shrimp I pulled out of the freezer – not quite the same level of accomplishment.) The real accomplishment is that I exercised some restraint and didn’t make a ham because I finally agreed that we had enough food. This time.

TWENTY-FIVE: Apparently I thought we were having the whole new neighborhood over for Christmas goodies… We still have so much Christmas food – please come get some. This year, I made peanut clusters, pfefferneuse, butter cookies, peanut butter blossoms, no-bake cookies, oatmeal fudge bars, walnut fudge, peanut butter balls, almond bark pretzels, Santa hats, spritz cookies, and Snickers cookies. Made from scratch, if possible. I was not over here making my own Bugles and Snickers bars from scratch. I don’t like cooking that much. (And I don’t think I want to learn how to make Bugles, of all things.) We also had to buy the peanut brittle this year because I couldn’t find raw peanuts. The brittle we bought from Top’s was actually just as good, so we survived.

As you can see, we had quite the year. It was a beautiful year with so much to celebrate. It’s always bittersweet to watch the years go by, as time seems to just go faster every year, but I also can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Sincerely,

Starlight

I have been looking for a way to start this blog. For months. I wanted somewhere to share writing that didn’t quite fit in with the content on my other blogs. What kind of writing? I don’t know exactly. Not the next Great American Novel, but just thoughts. Ideas. Occasionally maybe even a suggestion. But there’s where I would start feeling presumptuous. Why would anyone want to read my thoughts or ideas? And why would anyone want to take my advice (when I sometimes don’t even take my advice)?

I did write a welcome post on here once. It was full of the grand plans for our new holding company, the ultimate goals we have been working so hard on. I even sent it to a friend for feedback – and then promptly, without waiting for feedback, deleted it. Again, that thought of “Why would anyone want to read this?” made the decision for me. Just in case I looked stupid.

So I’ve come to accept that no one may read this blog. If you want yummy food, cute drinks, and amazing book recommendations, you really should check out A Day in the Lifestyle. And if you are looking for short day trip spots to visit, pop over to Two Blondes in the Heartland. Both are badly in need of updated posts, but there’s lots of fun ideas on both of those. But here, you’re just going to get me. Having provided you with two acceptable alternatives, I no longer feel guilty if you choose to stick around.

Unfortunately, coming to that conclusion (and accepting that this may suck) wasn’t really a good springboard for a first post.

Thanks to the calendar for coming through in the clutch.

Every year, on or around New Year’s Eve, I encourage our family to join me in listing our 25 biggest accomplishments of the year. When the kids were little, they always participated. As they have grown, they have since participated less and less, but I’m hoping they’ll come back to the tradition as adults. Dan, of course, is always an eager participant (just one of the many reasons I love him).

Some years I have shared this list on blogs now defunct. Other years, I have written it on notebook paper and shoved it in a box in the closet. This year, I need a first post on a new blog, so I guess I’m sharing it. I honestly have no idea what I’m about to write, but here goes. These are not listed in order of importance, so please do not assign value to the numbers.

1 – Did not run out of toilet paper.

2 – Set a goal to read 50 books for the year. Read 64.5 books. Stand out favorites include Harry’s Trees, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Me Before You, The Peacock Emporium, and the first three installments of the Seasonal quartet.

3 – Dan and I became licensed foster parents in January. Most of the work we put into this was done in 2019, but it became official in 2020. Unfortunately, due to a representative of Lutheran Services of Iowa insisting that COVID-19 was “just like the flu” and taking minimal precautions to protect the foster and bio families she worked with, we ended up in a position where we could only continue our work with the foster system by putting our own family at risk. For that reason, we chose not to renew our license, but we are proud of the work we did! The bio mom of the foster kiddo we had for a few months still contacts us on a regular basis, invites us to family functions, participates in video chats, and, most importantly, asks us for advice as she works hard to continue a positive lifestyle for her and her son. Our goal in becoming foster parents was to be a positive influence, and in that regard, we succeeded.

4 – Made homemade pickles! We even canned them ourselves! Honestly the best pickles I’ve ever had.

5 – Started a small in-home bakery. This has been so much fun. I’ve had to take it down a notch after kind of wearing myself out doing too much, but I have met so many wonderful people! I’ve also learned I’m actually pretty good in the kitchen. Really looking forward to continuing this in the new year.

6 – Tried seaweed in a recipe. And actually ate it. It sucked. So bad. But I ate it, so it counts.

7 – That amazing Chiefs win over the Texans on January 12? Yeah, that was all me. They were still losing by 24 points when I said to Dan, “You know what will help? Pie. I’m making pie.” And we all know how that turned out. Apparently, I make magic chocolate pie. So basically, this should say “Led the Kansas City Chiefs to a Superbowl victory.” I think my ring got lost in the mail.

8 – Grew tomatoes. I think we harvested four or five, so for our first year, I think we did okay.

9 – Stayed home. Wore a mask. Did our part to protect other people (not just ourselves).

10 – Got a rabbit. Lived with rabbit. Still tolerating rabbit. This rabbit is not the nicest rabbit I’ve ever met. Despite our best efforts and the loads of advice we have sought, the rabbit does not like us. Any of us. Which was quite devastating to Bizi, our big animal lover. There was one week where she ate paint (I know, I know – we didn’t know she was going to chew full a$$ holes in the wall…) and didn’t feel good. She was nice that week. But she’s still here and we are still responsible, kind, loving pet owners, so that’s most definitely an accomplishment.

11 – Had a family paint fight. I’ve wanted to do this for awhile and we certainly had the time this year.

12 – Watched almost every true crime show I can find on Hulu.

13 – Climbed snowy rocks in Pipestone National Park. Fell, but did not die.

14 – As I’m looking through the pictures of this year, trying to remember everything I want to include, let’s go back to #3. Not only did we become licensed foster parents, but we had a two-year-old for three months. A two-year-old. We took him ice skating, we encouraged him to eat his vegetables, we read him bedtime stories. We gave baths and changed diapers and played peek-a-boo. We bought a car seat and little boy clothes and bath toys. We watched Sesame Street and played with blocks. We had a toddler. In this house. And we all survived. I feel like that earns a separate mention.

15 – Did not buy these pajamas. As much as I want them, I did not buy them. I feel like I’m not adequately conveying the amount of self control this took, but believe me, it made the list for a reason. I. Love. These. Pajamas.

16 – Made this Valentine’s Day Coke Cake. Was it really an accomplishment? Any other year, I’d say no. But this year, the bar is set much lower.

17 – Introduced my husband to amazing things like watching The Outsiders, making homemade divinity, perusing the seemingly unlimited amounts of pop at Pops 66, and enjoying the benefits of face masks.

18 – Tried 20 new varieties of tea from The Tea Smith, one of my favorite places on earth.

19 – Watched my third baby graduate high school. This kids-growing-into-adults thing is for the birds, I tell ya.

20 – Made myself lose five pounds before buying a new printer. I wish you could hear how hard I’m laughing at this right now. Whatever. I lost the five pounds and have a sweet new printer (that I can’t figure out half the time).

21 – Took an unplanned, last minute, completely impromptu and totally socially distant road trip to Oklahoma City. And had a blast. Would highly recommend.

22 – Beat the pants off my family in Friends Monopoly.

23 – Voted! I don’t know how I ended up putting flowers and sh*t all over this picture, but I guess I did. Who knows.

24 – Made enough food to feed an army. These pics are a small portion of what we’ve eaten in just the last month. The rest of the year was no different. I acknowledge I have a problem and we’re just going to have to accept that.

25 – Survived. Retained my sense of hope, faith in humanity (for the most part), and belief in the future.

These accomplishments are a small snapshot of our year. Thank you for allowing me to share them with you. As always, I encourage everyone to look back and reflect on their accomplishments this year. It was quite a year… You deserve a pat on the back for making it through.

Sincerely,

Starlight