Looking Back and Looking Forward

 Things that made me happy in February

Snowstorms--one of which was the biggest storm we've had since moving back to MA. We got 18 inches from that one!

Egyptian Pyramids Dishscape (yay!)

A fun antiques shop and lunch with two friends

Dinner out with two other friends at a new (to me) Italian restaurant that was yummy! (The food, not the restaurant)

Meeting and talking with James "The Beast" McGrath who used to compete on NBC's American Ninja Warrior. The boys did an open gym with him at a nearby ninja gym. He was hoping for and waiting for the call to compete on the new season that's being filmed soon. I hope he got that call.

A box of delicious chocolate-covered strawberries from Edible Arrangements

Receiving a bouquet of hydrangeas and a balloon and funny card from one of my BFFs for Galentine's Day

Sam reading and really liking the Percy Jackson series (I'm so happy to see him being into reading!) and watching the two movies together

John and Sam did the sacrament together for the first time. It was John's first time blessing it and Sam's first time passing it. Very special! 

Getting a manicure with my sisters and niece. My nails looked so pretty for a week!

New pajamas that are super comfy and cute (and were only $10 at BJ'S!)

Going with friends to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for the first time and seeing a beautiful Monet exhibit there, among other very cool things. That museum is a treasure!

On TV, All Creatures Great and Small, which was delightful, and I discovered the pleasures of Poirot

I got my first maskless massage in a year. Massages are better without masks!

A trip with three friends to another antique store that was amazing where I made some great discoveries, followed by lunch at one of my favorite restaurants

I did two puzzles! And I enjoyed them because they weren't super-challenging and discouraging!

(Posts and pictures to come of most of these things. Not the massage. 😄)

Things I'm Looking Forward to in March

The return of spring. You can already feel hints of it in the air! 

The new Dishscape, which I discovered this morning. It's a lovely scene of an Irish castle and cottages by the sea. I get to enjoy that view and the peaceful sounds from it all month long! 

John's 16th birthday!! And a family party to celebrate it along with my sister's and nephew's birthdays!

A full month of regular school--"regular" being a relative term, as things haven't yet returned to normal (maybe next month, I hope, I hope), but "regular" in terms of there not being any no-school days and only one early-release day. This school year the boys have been going to school every other day. It's working but it falls far short of what they need for a full education. It's time to go back full time; send them all back ASAP! But I digress.

A new interesting-looking show that's getting good reviews on NBC called Debris that involves alien things and paranormal stuff. Heads up, it starts tonight!

When Calls the Heart

Good books to read

Get-togethers with friends and family

There's not a lot on the calendar for March other than our usual things, but that's okay. I'm hoping it will be a lot more normal than last year's crazy March when the lockdowns started and so much about Covid was still unknown and the calendar got completely wiped out!

January 2021 Randoms

January, January...

Sweet times with John, Shane (his cousin/my nephew), and Bentwood

I couldn't leave out my other nephew, Rocco!

The first-ever issue of the new worldwide church-wide Liahona magazine, replacing my beloved Ensign. But the Liahona will be beloved by me too. 😊

I thought this was funny, and very fitting (not necessarily size-wise, but times-wise. Ha ha.).

✋

Things to Watch

This looks good! I want to be an archaeologist!

I watched both of these. I just finished All Creatures Great and Small last night. I loved it and I'm so glad that it's been renewed for a second season.  

This woman was the the Codebreaker. She was amazing! 

  

Owls

Another cool owl sighting happened in Central Park! 

"This week's visitor was believed to be the first documented sighting of a snowy owl in Central Park since 1890..."

From a mystery I read in January. The book wasn't great but I liked this part about owls!

Catalogs

Yes, I'm definitely a catalog person and I have been since high school. I have some time built into my schedule to go through the catalogs I get each week.

The Lands' End catalog is one of my favorites. I wear a puffer vest almost every day in the winter, usually my navy blue or black one. They really are my "vesties" 😄! 

Another catalog thing

Egypt

I've developed an unlikely love affair with Egypt over the last couple of years, thanks in part to the Amelia Peabody books and also because of my love of history and an ever-increasing interest in archaeology. England is still my #1 destination, but sleeper hit Egypt is coming up hot on its heels! 

Once I pare down my to-read bookshelves, I want to get this book.

I want to do this so much!

Only $19K per person, no big deal 😬

Cruising down the Nile on a dahabeeyah...this would be a dream come true!

My blog views on January 6th (the day of the Capitol riot) exploded! I'm not sure what exactly attracted so many people that day. My guess is one of my pro-Trump or end-of-the-world posts? 😅 

😋😍😋

Selfie trio

The boys enjoyed visiting a huge WWII battleship.

I thought this was funny. Good for this guy! 

I finally got all caught up on getting my blog books printed out. It cost a pretty penny, even with a 40% discount, but it's done!

I stopped listening to NPR last year because its coverage was so blatantly biased and I couldn't take it anymore. This is how I made my opinion known.

I came across this Thanksgiving "Skittles Sorting Mat" when I was going through things in the storage room. This was so cute. I miss the days when I had little kids who did things like this. I snapped a picture and then put it in the donate box. ::sob::

January was boring weather-wise until the very end of the month when a walloping good snowstorm was in the forecast. Finally! We were in the purple range and we ended up getting over a foot!

Crazy Times Scrapbook, January 2021

 Well, 2021 gave itself the equivalent of a bad haircut as it started out with the uprising that happened at the Capitol on January 6th. It can only go up from there...hopefully! We'll see what the rest of the year has in store.  

The "uprising" was crazy! I have many thoughts about it that I'm not going to write much about on here except to say that I think there was a lot more to it than meets the eye.

The Wall Street Journal has been tough on Trump in the wake of what happened on 1/6 (they were pretty tough on him before that too, but not nearly as bad as the majority of other media outlets). I personally don't agree with everything they and their writers think about this. 

Here's a WSJ writer who defended Trump. I agree with him!

👍

"Time will vindicate Donald Trump"

"Law enforcement oddly opened the doors to the building, allowing protesters to 'storm' the Capitol."

I'll just say it; I think it's very possible that this was mostly a pre-planned hoax by Deep State liberals and globalists who are trying to undermine the U.S., and a small percentage of Trump supporters fed right into it and took the blame. 

One week later...here we go again!

Coronavirus

Sadly, COVID-19 was raging in the country and in the world in January, which wasn't too surprising after the holidays. Fortunately by the end of the month it was getting better. 

Yesterday, about a month after this article was published, the U.S. reached the half-million mark.

I feel vindicated! I knew the flu-vaccine mandate in MA was ridiculous. I'm so glad we didn't get needless and possibly harmful flu shots.

"Classic flu" was wiped out; Covid is the new flu that took its place.

"Why are we so afraid of this virus if the chances of survival are so high?" 

By the end of January, rates of infection were definitely improving.

Other Signs of the Crazy Times

Why would the government get rid of the 1776 Report!?! Why, indeed. I really am afraid and sad for America's future. And as a mother, I'm upset by the potential dystopian, totalitarian future my children are facing in this once-great country.