Top 5 Non-Sewing Highlights of 2020

I thought I would do a few fun posts the end of this year.  The Sewcialists came up with a fun #SewingTop5 and I will play along.  I have already posted my top 5 Hits and Misses of 2020. Now it is time for my top 5 non-sewing highlights.  Then I will post reflections, and goals.

2020 was a crazy year for everyone.  For us it was pretty low-key.  The kids were home, the husband’s job requires almost 80 hours per week of his time now so he is gone often. Miss K and I are very high risk so we didn’t enter anywhere for over 6 months+.  It felt so eerie to go into the doctor’s office after all that time. We still do not go anywhere unless it is deemed necessary (doctor, dentist). I spend most my time at home anyway, so it wasn’t a huge change for me.  I’m also a huge introvert so again, not much change except most our groceries went out of stock and the kids had unruly times of boredom and frustration.

The top 5 non-sewing highlights are pretty mellow for 2020.

1. I have other hobbies besides sewing.  I spent quite a bit of time on them. They include video games, reading, puzzles, painting, canning, watching movies, pretty much anything low-key or creative.

I worked on my fox painting some this year (I think I started it in 2017. it’s taking a long time as my hand gets tired easily).

I also put together a bunch of puzzles.

I tried to watch a bunch of shows I had backlogged.  I am not a big TV person so I can only handle maybe an hour or two of the tv screen a day.  Many days I go without any TV; it is just not my thing, really.

2. We spent time in the kitchen (also, not unusual).

I canned a bit this year. Not as much as at our old house, but a decent amount.

We baked cookies, muffins, breads, etc.

3. We spent time outdoors.

Walking the dogs.

Walking in general, just to get out of these 4 walls.

Playing in the snow, in the pool, and in the tent. Trying to keep busy and not bored.

4. We found a friend who kept wandering in our yard this summer.  This was a super exciting event that kept us entertained for about a week. She seemed to like our pool stuff. After a week Mrs. Turtle moved on. My husband thinks she was looking for a place to lay her eggs. (she was not harmed, we picked her up 2 times to put her by the edge of the fence by a hole so she could leave; she just kept coming back to the middle of our yard!)

5. and the biggest non-sewing event this year was that Mr. T graduated high school. Unfortunately due to covid he had no party, no graduation ceremony; he was accepted to UW Stout but then didn’t go due to covid closing down most the school stuff.  He’s pretty bummed and I’m sad he wasn’t able to enjoy these important events in his life.  He isn’t a fan of online schooling.  Its a nutso time for everyone, but I feel especially bad for the Seniors this year and last year.  they missed out on so much.

I also worked on house projects a ton.  I re-did all the trim, we carpeted the stairs, I replaced all window screens, touched up paint, finished the kitchen backsplash, etc.  Just an absolute ton of things.  We will live here 1-3 more years and then move to a more “forever” home closer to my husband’s work. I look forward to moving.  This in-town living is difficult for all of us.

Other than that, we spent a lot of time laying around and such. We’ve been blessed in that it hasn’t been too bad of a year for us besides my cruddy health. I feel bad for others who are deeply impacted by the virus.