Out with the old, in with the new

Welcome 2022! Maybe it is simply that it is a new year, but I'm feeling hopeful. Hopeful that this is the year the pandemic will truly be over, and the new normal of our lives will be healthy and safe, and we'll find common ground as we move into the future.

Today it is a bright and sunny day here, and that may have something to do with my current positivity. Too, we're getting a brief respite from the bitterly cold weather. I woke to -24C (-11F) with a forecast high of -11C (12F). It will feel practically balmy, though this morning breeze made it feel much colder when I went out to feed the birds.

Yesterday I gathered up and put away all of the Christmas decorations, though left out anything that wasn't too Christmas-y. Snow themed items, and a basket of stuffed animals are still displayed. It looks soooo empty now. 

I also spent some time yesterday, and again this morning, reading through posts on my old blog. I started blogging in May 2011, ending that blog in Dec 2016, with several hundred posts. I enjoyed reading what I written, the posts brought back many memories and refreshed others, I laughed or cried every so often, and cringed at the typos! For the first year, I had few comments, but by the end of 2016, I had a group of loyal followers, many of whom have made the trek to this blog when I started it up in 2017. You know who you are, and I thank you. I'm also grateful to those who have come onboard since My Life, My World previewed. All of you are precious to me.

When I first started my blog I posted every day! But it didn't take long until my posts were less frequent and with the exception of Friday Funny (when I posted a meme or cartoon), there would be times when I posted only ever few weeks.  Here on this blog I've gotten into the routine of posting once a week (except this past week). 

All of this to say, I admire those who post everyday. I don't think I could do that, but I will endeavor to add a little more variety to my posts. Rather than a litany of what I've been doing, I think I'll revive Friday Funny and possibly throw in a thankful Thursday or even a throwback Thursday to the mix. Some of my favorite posts were from my travels and I'm planning (cross my fingers, toes and eyes) to do some of that this year too. D and I are planning a trip to my home town this summer; we'll camp at the Regional park and will visit a few nearby places while we're there. There may also be another more exciting trip...but that's all I'll say about that for now.

Oh, and at least for now, there will be less chatter about curling. Sadly, the Canadian mixed doubles and the Grand Slam event planned for this month have been cancelled due to the increasing cases of Covid. The World Junior hockey tournament was also shut down before the end of the tournament as several teams had outbreaks and had to forfeit their games. To add insult to injury, did you hear that the Russian hockey team and their coaches were removed from their flight to Germany due to improper behavior? I've read other articles that the coach, in business class, was vaping, refused to wear his mask, and was using his cellphone to play loud music. He refused to comply with the flight attendants requests. Back in economy class, the young men were behaving no better, tearing apart cigarettes and refusing to wear their masks. They were de-planed but I don't know whether they were put on a later flight or had to find another way home. But worse still, were the comments from readers cheering on this behavior. One comment suggested the individuals were fighting against the communism of Canada. That made me laugh and shake my head!

On a far happier note, here's an article about a Seattle Kraken hockey fan and the assistant equipment manager of the Vancouver Canucks. To summarize, this young woman spotted an irregular mole on the back of the man's neck at the first home game of the Kraken from her seat behind the bench. She decided to say something to him, and later, he had the mole checked out and learned it was malignant. The two teams have since announced they are contributing $10,000 towards her medical school funding. I think she'll be an incredible doctor.

To end this post, I'll leave you with these photos:

My mom generally had a jigsaw puzzle out on a card table over the Christmas holidays. I've done it for the past couple of years. While I was visiting D in the fall, we stopped at the Winners store in the nearby city, and found a box of four puzzles (all fall scenes) for $19.99. That's an incredible price for four 1000 piece puzzles. I didn't have any help with it, as my kids aren't interested, so it took me over two weeks to finish it. I'll be taking it down shortly as this is also the table I use for crafting but at least I have proof of it's completion.

I'm dreadful at taking selfies. These are a couple of gifts I received for Christmas. The pajamas are from my adult children, and the socks are from Eli. He told his mom I needed the socks, because "G'ma loves purple." He's right, I do!

And now you know why my daughter also gave me a purple hand mixer.

Finally, you'll probably notice I changed out the header photo. It was taken in early January, 2021 as it's been too damned cold to go for a walk thus far. Perhaps by mid-month we'll see some nicer weather.  

Have a great week everyone!