This post has been mulling around in my head for about six months. I’ve rewritten it several times. I have decided to do my best to not get too political and to focus on our lives during the China virus (I said I wouldn’t get too political) Looking back on our lives One Year Later.

A lot of our life didn’t change, even with a worldwide pandemic. Last spring I was babysitting our 3 Foster grandsons 3-4 days a week, I was going to church to record online Kid’s Church so I was seeing my friends at church. We live in Florida so we only had about 2 months of shutdowns then life opened back up. My schedule had changed around but my activities hadn’t changed much.

I taught piano via Zoom for the last 6 weeks of the School year, please don’t make me ever do that again. Ron’s business is down 85% which has been difficult. The bulk of his business is repairing band and orchestra instruments for the school system. Kids were out of school for the 4th quarter of last year and this school year they aren’t using the school owned instruments so he has nothing to repair. I started a new side hustle selling Color Street Nails and that is going well. Our granddaughter was born June 20th and it sucked that we couldn’t be there for the delivery but all went well.

What I Learned

• I am stronger than I ever thought
• My faith is deep and sustains me
• My God truly will supply all my needs, His provision is miraculous and beautiful
• I need people and connection more than I would have ever guessed
• My marriage is strong
• I’m thankful my best friend is always just a phone call away
• I can stand up for my rights when pressured
• Patience is a virtue I am still working on
• Everything isn’t as it seems
• Fear is a liar.
• I don’t enjoy jigsaw puzzles as much as I thought I would.

What We Binge Watched

When we were originally told stay home for 14 days to flatten the curve, I dreamed of all the shows and movies I would watch. I was sure I would finally catch up on my Marvel Universe viewing, (I am way, way behind) or maybe I’d watch all the Star Wars films, I’ve seen the original trilogy and that’s it. Well, I have Watched a lot of TV and movies but I have watched zero Marvel or Star Wars in the last year.

I watched a lot of musical theater! Thanks to some free shows on Broadway HD and Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber sharing many of his shows on YouTube, I had the delight of watching several shows for the first time.

I binged a lot of old TV shows, some I had seen and some I hadn’t. I was keeping a list, but it has been misplaced so I will do the best I can to list them all here. Disclaimer: We only watch shows that are mostly clean and PG13 or less rating. We also watch a lot of Disney+ though not everything on there is appropriate either.

• Full House-I’d seen it all before but it was fun to watch it in order again
• Fuller House season 5- It was just ok, but I can say I’ve seen it all
• Boy Meets World-I had seen random episodes when it first aired. I LOVE this show and I’m planning on watching it all again soon.
• Girl Meets World-I’ve watched all of this show several times. I didn’t realize how many things throw back to Boy Meets World until I watched it.
• The Wonder Years-again, I had seen random episodes but not the whole show. It was good but not great. It did bring back many memories of my 60s and early 70s childhood.
• Lizzie McGuire-I’ve been harassed for years for never watching this. It was ok. I had also been told the movie was the best part…it wasn’t.
• Pick of the Litter-very interesting
• Encore-so fun!
• The Imagineering Story-loved it and want more
• Kim Possible-I’ve watched this so many times over the years, I have some episodes memorized
• Tangled: The Series-watched some of it, got too dark magic for us, stopped watching
• JONAS- season 1 was fun, season 2 not so much
• A.N.T. Farm-had seen it all before, why not watch it again
• Family Affair-I’m about halfway through but it’s getting so repetitive I probably won’t finish it
• Cedar Cove-I watched it when it originally aired. Ron is watching with me. We haven’t watched since October. We have 17 episodes left on the DVR.
• Cheer-I enjoyed it more than I thought I would
• Outdaughtered- I’m about halfway through but I had to take a break from all the whining from the kids and the dad. I’ll go back to it and finish it soon.

I’m sure there is more but I’ve forgotten.

Have you tried something new? Watched something new? I’d love to know how your last year was.

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