Present

 As in:

• Here and accounted for; 
• Being in the moment; 
• A gift.

“Present” will be my word for 2021.

I’m not much for doing the latest thing and it seems the “word of the year” may have become passé or swallowed up in COVID posts. But this word popped in my head this morning along with the above definitions, and I thought, “Why not?”

Because I wasn’t present for the bulk of 2020.

A lot of that is due to the pandemic, but I need to take ownership of part of it due to my own struggles. I can confirm that last year taught me that I am, indeed, an introvert. I started so many blog posts that are still sitting in draft mode. I denied myself the joy of seeing my friends due to the packing and fixing up of our home to get it on the market. While I thought our home would be on the market for a year or more, we had an offer in 30 days and then packed up and moved into an apartment less than half the size of our former home. 

The struggle is real, as they say.

We lost a dear sister-in-law. While her final diagnosis was not COVID, the Hubs and I feel that her placement on a COVID-ward did her no favors and may have sped up her demise. She was a wonderful person, and we miss her. 

Work life was, and remains, insane. This week I briefly thought, again, about retiring earlier than planned. The last 5 years have been a sh!tshow of epic proportions. The good thing that happened was the addition of 4 new staff members, and I am eternally grateful that at some point in this year I will be able to breathe normally again and sleep for several hours without waking up in a panic wondering if a deadline was met. For now, I still find myself hyperventilating too often.

As far as quilting goes, very little happened. I did make one quilt and I will post it soon, along with some smaller makes. While I hardly touched my machines, there was machine activity (!), and I will also share that in another post.

But let’s focus on the positive: The Hubs and I and our children and most of our extended family are healthy. We’ve practiced social distancing and all of us wear our masks. 

We have jobs, sh!tshows or not. We get paid. We have a roof (actually, another floor of additional apartment dwellers like us), above our heads. The refrigerator and freezer have food in them. 

In all, we are lucky.

The things I missed the most in 2020 was hugging my kids, meeting with family and friends, and quilting and sewing.

For 2021, my hope is that we all are vaccinated, and can move freely around the planet again. I know masks may be a permanent thing and for those of us with autoimmune issues, I find that is a small price to pay to protect myself. 

And quilting! And making! I’ve made a plan of attack. I even hope to finish another project this week. I have 34 project bins and while I will not deny myself the pleasure of starting a new project (part of aforesaid plan of attack), I do plan to finish quite a few UFOs this year. 

Go make, and be present!