A heavy blanket of lethargy cocooned me after we finished the remodel in November 2019, which I assumed 2020 would remedy. Hah! That didn’t happen. I had a huge list of things to do in 2021, but my mom required a total reverse shoulder replacement of her dominant arm and months of physical therapy after a fall. I didn’t realize how traumatic that experience was until the anniversary of her accident crept across my desk calendar like a slug, dark and nasty. By September of 2021, I was a tangle of nerves, waiting for…something. I was at peak “quietly freaking out” when I saw this tweet by Owl at the Library.
I saved the illustration by Olya Grebennik and made it my screen lock.
I shared it on Instagram, where it became one of my most engaging posts of 2021. (Ten people follow me; this means nothing.) Thanks to that and a few other illustrations I shared, the algorithm suggested more and more whimsical drawings of anthropomorphized animals in burrows. Women my age started sending me illustrations of cozy critter dens that were popping up in their algorithms. It appears we of GenX, typically cynical and practical, have a new fondness for cute. Who can blame us? The previous two years were a maelstrom of shootings, protests, fires, and disease. Our children are growing up and leaving home; our parents are frailer and need us more. We earned our prime real estate in Brambly Hedge, thank you very much. Leave us be as we find joy gazing at mice in aprons preparing for a wedding.
The new year begins in less than a week, and though I am usually a huge fan of challenges, I’m skipping this year. The best I can do is make a list of things to do for 2022, hoping that I get to a few items on the list. Fingers crossed.
Sharing online my list of Things To Do in 2022 is weird, but it’s convenient and motivating for me. The list is malleable and will change throughout the year (and years to come, it’s a hell of a list). The goal remains a grandmotherly country estate with a lived-in feel, now with animals wearing aprons.
Happy New Year, friends. May all that is beautiful, meaningful, and brings you joy be yours throughout the coming year.
Things to Do in 2022
- Entryway
- New rug
- Fix or repalce coat hooks
- Art
- Paint door, if not replace
- Family Room
- Paint board and batten (?)
- New ottoman covers
- Purge bookcases
- Hang art
- Explore TV unit options
- Dining Room
- New rug for underneath table
- New rug for underneath Buttercup’s cage
- Move corkboard into Nico’s room?
- Art for dining room
- Den
- Remove printer, maybe the under cabinet
- Rehang the pictures
- Frame and add more family pictures
- Keep desk or remove
- Kitchen
- Clean out cabinets
- Clean out cupboards
- Explore cafe curtains
- New small appliances: Vitamix, KitchenAid
- New ovens (this pains me)
- Do I want wallpaper on the big wall?
- Dutch door for kitchen, or paint it
- Laundry room
- Clean out pantry (quarterly, ugh?)
- New washer and dryer
- Explore turning laundry room into baking corner
- Explore pantry efficiency options (drawers? new cabinet?)
- Guest Bathroom
- Wallpaper
- Accesories, just finish it for Pete’s sake
- Side Entrance
- Handrails for step
- Make Side entrance more of the main entrance
- Plant roses in the left brick planter
- Some sort of sign or art or hanging plants for large blank wall
- Primary Bedroom
- Purge closets
- A rug for under the bed
- New bedding
- A different set of lamps, maybe
- Window treatments
- Primary Bathroom
- Paint
- Plants
- Boys’ Bathroom
- Just finish it already
- Nico’s Room
- Paint
- New bedding
- Mikey’s Room
- Declutter and reevaluate after he leaves for college
- Paint
- New bedding
- Get rid of dresser (transfer to Nico’s room?)
- Blog
- Let’s shoot for 12 posts this year
- Clean up categories
- Debating changing the name
Well I know what my first post of the new year will be now!
I read this whole list with a smile (cozy burrow friends forever) and then the gut punch of “Re-evaluate after he leaves for college”. I remember our blogs when our babies were…babies.
Looking forward to hearing from you in 2022!!
I can not believe college is months away. I am trying not to think about it too much!
“Let’s shoot for 12 posts this year.” Yes, I can get behind this. I think I can do that as well over on Busy Nothings. I like it. As for renaming…oh, that would be sadness. You are Pancakes & French Fries (though heaven knows why…I don’t think I ever caught that story!). :) But, whatever you are…I’ll always click through when I see you share a post. :) Happy New Year!
It’s definitely a name “of its time.” All blog names back then were A & B. The weirder the better. PFF was a very late night meal I made as a teenager with my best friend at the time during a sleepover. We couldn’t decide if we wanted sweet or savory, so we did both!
Jules, I’ve been reading you for years and am always gratified and happy when I see you post, especially lately. I had first been charmed by your ‘saltiness’ and I absolutely love dark and sarcastic humour. I have been missing your writing. I decided to put my comment here, instead of your most recent post, because your voice here sounds most like your old voice. I understand that there are health challenges going on, as yet undiagnosed, and I am hoping that they can be resolved quickly and without too much more difficulty. When I read your list, I was reminded of my sister who, several years ago, found herself in an incredibly stressful situation and refused to slow down and take care of herself. As a result she contracted necrotizing fasciitis (yes, that’s flesh-eating disease) and the fates ended up making all her decisions for her. She almost lost her life but thankfully recovered, although she has lost the ability to walk for long periods as her ankle bore the brunt of the disease. Her brush with death made all of us think. I will be 64 this year and for decades I had wanted to travel to Europe as I had studied art history while in university. This past May I finally did and spent two weeks in Greece with a dear girlfriend (I did this while my own husband was in hospital – long story) – she had intended to go with her husband but he was diagnosed with dementia and this, combined with his high level of anxiety, made travel for him impossible. Why am I telling you all this? Well, probably because I see in you someone who is incredibly talented, both in the home and your job, but I truly believe that there are bigger things in store for you. You are an amazing writer and I hope you re-visit this love more frequently. For yourself, and for all of us too. Carpe diem. P.S. I hope you read this comment in the spirit of which it has been given – with respect and gratitude.