I discovered over the last 7 days that sitting around relaxing moping isn’t as fun as I thought it would be. A little bit of a** kicking to oust 2020 was what I really wanted to be doing. So I read books instead. Now I wonder how in the world people find a comfortable way to sit for hours while they read books?
I didn’t really mope, nope. And I didn’t sit all the time, just a lot of the time.
I read on the treadmill while I walked for 50 minutes to get to the end of the book below. I received a notice that the book was due and that the e-library reclaimed it. I had no idea how 3 weeks had flown by. When I opened up my Kindle, it was still there. I didn’t know how long it would stay there and I didn’t want to miss the ending of it! So I walked, and walked, and walked until I was done reading it. I’m so glad I did, it was a great ending.
Okay, I lied. I did mope some on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after.
I missed having our girls home for Christmas. Virtual zoom connections both days didn’t feel the same as seeing them in person lounging around the house in their PJs.
My new PJs with cute kitty faces on them helped me feel cozy in our empty nest. Mr. gave them to me for Christmas. I bought them myself, washed them, wrapped them, and then told him thanks for such a nice gift. It was a cuddle up under the mistletoe moment.
Feeling blue made it easy to sit around. I plopped my butt in several spots around the house in an attempt to sit calmly, read books, and feel content with the lack of normal hustle and bustle. On Christmas Eve I finished up reading my second book of the month.
I sat around all of Christmas Day after we Zoom-called with our daughters. I read and binge-watched A Christmas Story and It’s a Wonderful Life. Mr. and I ate the whole tray of Christmas cookies – we agreed to carb-load to experiment with our blood sugars and fat-adapted status.
Copper and I napped by the fireplace. After that, I played with my camera and the shadows from the afternoon sun. Drank some wine. Holidays, I tell ya, they bring on the good cheer.
I woke up the day after Christmas with a sore butt. WTH? Should I just rest more or should I do the normal thing I do on 12/26? It’s the day I usually tear down all the decorations, box them up for storage, and then clean. I make Christmas disappear until the next year.
Not this year, though, with all the weirdness happening around us, I decided to be different. I just sat around and read for another entire day. I’m working my way through the second novel in a week.
I walked on the treadmill, then showered and put back on my new jammies. And went right back to sitting while admiring the Christmas decorations that I should’ve been putting away.
I gave Tizzie a piece of tissue to play with and put Copper on the cat bed next to me on the couch and commenced reading for hours. I adjusted my sore butt multiple times throughout the day.
Yikes – boy do I feel it in my bum today. How in the world do people sit around all day long and not be sore afterward? As I sat, I wondered how I’d change things if I could?
It was the first Christmas in 28 years that we weren’t with our daughters to celebrate. I’m sure they felt the oddness too.
Damn, not seeing them did piss me off. But I got over myself.
Big ideas come from forward thinking people who challenge the norm, think outside the box, and invent the world they see inside rather than submitting to the limitations of current dilemmas.
T. D. Jakes
I set goals in my own mind, like, we will do Black Friday shopping next year, the girls will come home for Christmas next year, and I will not get a sore butt next year. So there.
At one point in the morning, I grabbed some breakfast, ate it while I watched Tizzie play with the tissue paper, and Copper snooze the morning away. Pets don’t seem to be bothered by the weirdness of 2020.
Copper woke me up at 3:45 am, guess he’s my little reminder that in the wee (peeing) hours of the morning, I’m still a mom with responsibilities who deserves to put her feet up once in a while.
In my new 2021 planner, I jotted down one goal. Then erased it. I wasn’t ready to commit to anything semi-permanent yet.
If I could accomplish one goal it would be to box up 2020, seal it along with the virus, and bury it for good. Obviously, I can’t, but I can learn from the events of the year and hopefully not repeat the really bad sh*t.
Can one plan themselves away from an ongoing pandemic?
That was my mission yesterday. I moved from spot to spot trying to find a place where my behind didn’t hurt. I carried my Kindle along to read and my new planner to capture ideas for the new year.
Today, I’ll stand up, bend and twist and not sit too much. I’ll box up the decorations and smile as I count the empty nest blessings from Christmas of 2020. Then I’ll read. My daughter sent me a text message telling me that I should grab a tissue when she noticed I was reading Little Fires Everywhere. . .what does she know that I don’t????
Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “box.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
PS – What book are you reading? I am setting a month of novel reading as a goal for January, do share your suggestions in the comments! When do you take down your decorations? Did you get together with your family for the holidays? Do you get a sore bum when you sit and read for too long?
Nice tree, Shelley. The only reading here is online, I’m too impatient to read books! 2021 will be better, let’s be positive. 😎😊
Thanks, John. LOL – I’m finding my Kindle is helping me read more now that I figured out the free online library. I’m giving 2021 a chance, we’ll see how it works out ;-)!
All any of us can do is to continue to be as safe as possible u til a vaccine is available to all. I am hibernating at home until that time as much as possible…
:-)!
As with all situations you need to look at all sides. Was this a horrible, scary and sad year? YES…but it also reminded some people who forgot, the value of being kind, the awesomeness of family and that God’s love is still there. While we also were separated from each other in my family, at least we still have each other. May the next year be filled with love and a reminder of how precious we all are.
Yes, indeed there are multiple sides Anita. Thank you for sharing your beautiful perspectives. xx
I always enjoy getting book recommendations! I’ve read Little Fires Everywhere and Everything I Never Told You, by the same author. I enjoyed them both very much. I’m currently reading The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni… so far, so good. I mostly read in bed before turning out the light so my bum doesn’t get sore… my back does. I’ll probably box up our Christmas decorations today or tomorrow… a bittersweet task.
Thank you – and ditto to you on your book recommendations. I’ve added those two books to my Want To Read list. I couldn’t put down the Little Fires book yesterday – so, the boxes of Christmas decorations are on my to-do list this week. BTW – my bum is even more sore … LOL! The book about Sam sounds very interesting. I like to read on the treadmill to maximize my time there, and I like to read in bed too – but I tend to fall asleep too fast.
I hope your undecorating went well. You’re right, it is a bittersweet task.
LOL – Since hubby was sick I bought myself presents this year too and gave them to him to wrap. The kids and I all tested negative so we will be having our Christmas on New Year’s Eve. Kind of a good way to start the year actually, at least that’s what I’m trying to convince myself (and them).
Way to help your hubby out for holiday shopping. I’m sorry to hear he was so sick. I hope he’s feeling much better now. That’s great that no one else caught it. Isn’t it strange that only one of your household caught it? Whenever the celebration together can happen, it is a happy reason to enjoy each other’s company!
The best part was that you ate the cookies – Go Team!
LOL – yep, we ate the whole plate of them! 😉
Lovely and cozy Christmas, and so thankful for being able to see our loved ones virtually when we can’t be together. We did the same here. 🙂
Thank you for sharing – I’m glad to see you made the virtual connection work this year. It wasn’t too bad – it was still fun to chat with the kids and see them open their gifts even if my trifocals made it a challenge. Plus the paper mess was at their houses to clean up, not ours. LOL 😉
I don’t like to read because it requires you to sit for long periods of time and even as a child I couldn’t just sit like that. Never thought about getting a sore backside from it.
I’m sorry you weren’t able to spend Christmas with your kids. I am very grateful to live near mine and I am not sure how I would feel if we hadn’t been able to spend Christmas together. I’m really not a big holiday person but this year I definitely needed something to help me feel cheerful.
Wishing you a happier New Year! May 2021 bring us all peace, happiness, and the joy of moments spent with family and friends.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I’m with you on not wanting to spend so much time sitting reading. And am still feeling the pain today (because I couldn’t put the book down yesterday …).
I’m happy to read you were able to be with your family and that it help you feel cheerful.
I know I need to make my mind up to choose to be happier in 2021. I have been a rebel to accepting this ‘normal’ all year. So much still doesn’t make sense. I agree, I hope we all find peace, happiness, and joy this coming year – and that we’re doing it together instead of apart. 🙂
I sit so much anyway, I think I developed calluses on my rear end, so it doesn’r hurt.
LOL – oh, my, I never thought of calluses on my rear end, I could see that happening though!
I love Celeste Ng’s writing. Good choice! Also, it when I’m close to the end of a library book on my Kindle, I just leave it in airplane mode and read like crazy. Like you, I ache if I sit around too long reading…it’s a touch decision some days. LOL.
It was odd to not have our normal gatherings, but at least we had a couple littles and their parents who had quarantined for two weeks to spend Christmas with us. And they have to quarantine for two weeks upon their return to Canada. It was a big effort and we’re grateful. Still, we would have loved to have more of our usual outings and gatherings. We’re waiting for that vaccine!
Man, that was a lot of typos. Ooops.
All typing and typos are welcome here – 🙂
I’m SO enjoying Celeste’s writing style. I couldn’t put the book down yesterday, so I’m extra sore today. YIKES. Oh, my, I wonder if that’s the setting that I have my Kindle on. I had returned the book, but it was still there for me to read.
That’s great that your family was able to quarantine and make Christmas in person happen. Is Canada requiring quarantine upon return to the country?
Our states rollout of the vaccine is questionable at best. It’s interesting to see who is getting it and who should be getting it and aren’t. Just another 2020 thing, I guess.
Cheers to you and yours for a blessed, togetherness kind of 2021!
Canada indeed requires a 2 week (enforced with random checks!) quarantine. Our kids are finally off house arrest tomorrow. 😂
WOW – we don’t have that kind of quarantine going here. It’s the honor system.
Glad to hear your kids will finally be off house arrest tomorrow. I hope their experience was mild!
PS – it’s great to hear from you! 🙂
They weren’t sick…just the required quarantine if they left the country. 🤷♀️ Canada is apparently much more strict about these things than we are.
Ah, makes sense. It amazes me how different each country is. And how the virus remains despite all the efforts. Glad your family was well and that their plans carried through. 🙂
Yes I do get sore from sitting ! And I can’t read laying in bed . I get a sore neck! And I can’t sit on my soft couch , I get a sore back! So I often sit on a hard kitchen chair . I think I need to work on my core strength. 😆
Thanks for sharing. I feel the same pains!!! In the same spots! Maybe I do need to work on my core too – sounds like a 2021 goal 😉 I tried standing up and that worked – couldn’t read for long, but it started the core training at the same time as reading. 🙂
OK Shelley. Not good you missed the kids. Great to buy what you wanted and give them to yourself from Mr. Reading is a good way to while away hours. I did laugh at “I woke up the day after Christmas with a sore butt.” wondering what sort of “mistletoe moment” you had. 😀 😀 😀
LOL!!!! As I re-read that line I thought, “Brian might twist that around!!” LOL!
Those are the cutest pajamas! I’m sorry about your not being able to spend the holiday with your daughters–that’s really tough. Next year! I wonder how you’re liking Little Fires Everywhere–by my fellow Cleveland native, Celeste Ng. I really wanted to connect with the characters but didn’t. Might try her first book sometime though.
Thank you – I love these PJs they’re soft and cuddly. We’re doing okay, now that the holidays are over. But we sure missed the in-person visits.
I finished Little Fires Everywhere – I enjoyed it. I didn’t get teared up like my youngest did when she read it. After not feeling incredibly emotional over any of the book, I started to think maybe I’ve become too apathetic during this pandemic? I listened to Brene Brown’s podcast with Celeste, and she had described how emotional she was reading it too. I have the first book on hold on my e-library. I do think Celeste has a gift of winding in lots of story lines and being able to tie it all together in the end which made for a fun read. Now I’m onto reading Where the Crawdads Sing. I’m enjoying it so far.
Well it was a restful Christmas holiday anyway and everyone should have a toe’s up day or two sometimes. Years ago, before the walking regimen, even though I disliked Winter, it seemed that it was the only time I could permit myself that luxury of sitting for hours with a good book. I tried that on Christmas Day and nodded off. But that used to be the ONLY redeeming goodness of Winter, was my extra down time … the rest of the time outside stuff always seem to need your attention.
Yes, it was. I find your comment, “I could permit myself that luxury of sitting for hours with a good book.” intriguing. I can relate, I’m the type to feel as though I need to be productive and moving whenever I’m awake. It was a challenge to not do that for a couple of days. Almost felt like I was on vacation. Weird. I hope you permit yourself some down time to just sit without having to do something. Let me know how you do and if your bum is sore too ;-)!
I want to spend some time this weekend with down time. I started that book last weekend, couldn’t get into it, tried “Mad Men” which I always wanted to watch and discovered it on Amazon through my Prime membership (a luxury I normally would not have, but my worries about running out of non-perishable food, despite stocking up pretty well), I was ecstatic. I binge-watched 8 episodes last weekend and would like to finish the last 5 this weekend to finish off Season 1. So I likely will have some bum time this weekend, especially given the weather (not coming later in the day Friday). I need to take some time off from social media, so this is a great break. I’d watch an episode tonight but I’m really behind in Reader.
Yay – that sounds great! I’m with you on taking a break from social media too!! xx
I did it today too – I will pay the price by being even more behind in Reader. Hope everyone cuts me some slack. 🙂 We do need a break from it sometimes … sometimes I feel like I’m joined at the hip with the laptop!