We started December with advent calendars and a birthday and ended with the end of the year. December 2021 … we finally made it, but I haven’t totally processed that it’s another new year already. Pandemic times are confusing for my brain. Anyway, here’s the last round-up of 2021 of What We Did, What We Ate, What We Watched, and What We Read.
What We Did
Advent calendars. These are not for particularly religious reasons, although we religiously buy the cheese advent calendars from Aldi every year. This year, Phil added a gourmet chocolate calendar to my daily ritual and a hot sauce one for our son. The kids also had chocolate calendars from a standholder at Central Market who used to work with Phil. We had a lot of daily surprises from these delicious calendars, and it was a daily delight in an otherwise glum sort of month.
Sick days. Boo. Our daughter was experiencing some COVID-like symptoms, so she stayed home for two days and I stayed with her. On day 2, we went for a rapid COVID test, which was negative. While we waited for the results we played an online game of Monopoly. (I just invented a new word while I was typing: monopology … I’m sorry for the things I said while playing Monopoly.) which spoiler alert reveals that I’m just as competitive with an online game as a physical one. Later in the month, our son wasn’t feeling well and stayed home for a day. Instead of going out and waiting for two hours for a test, we bought an at-home one and did science in our house! (I do not enjoy any of this.)
But, when the fourth member of our family turned 12, he finally got his chance at his COVID vaccine. We went on his birthday. The pharmacist administering the shot said to him: “You’re lucky it’s your birthday, otherwise we give it in the tush.” After I explained what his tush was, our son laughed. Local pharmacies for the win, friends.
Every December our favorite local radio station out of Philadelphia does a countdown of some kind. This year, it was the top 2021 albums of all time as voted on by listeners. We had the radio on A LOT during the week-plus countdown. Stream WXPN online if you’re looking for an eclectic mix of music curated by music lovers.
Coffee with friends.
And dinner with a friend. These sorts of things have been lacking during COVID, for good reason, but I’ve recognized the need to have regular friend interactions in my life. Both of these were uplifting and healing to my stressed-out, weary soul.
Spirit week. Again. This time, holiday-themed and stretching over nine days of school. We wore socks, dressed as movie characters, wore Christmas colors, wore song references, holiday headgear and ugly sweaters, among other things. It wasn’t all bad, but it did require a lot of effort beforehand.
Every year, our school’s Technology Student Association puts on a light show in the parking lot of the middle school. It’s free (donations accepted) and it shows off the hard work students have done programming the light show. It’s amazing and fun. This year was no exception.
Basketball practices started, and our son played one game before Christmas break. He scored a basket and shot a free throw (he missed the free throw) but it was fun to see him out there.
Christmas shopping, So much Christmas shopping. We went to our favorite local businesses and came home with gifts that we were delighted to give.
On December 24, we flew home to Illinois for Christmas.
We all made it, but one of our bags didn’t, which set off an hours-long waiting game of tracking down the bag. The bag made it on the next flight from Baltimore, but that was two hours behind us. So, we went for lunch with my parents at Portillo’s, then took a walk at a local historic site.
It was a mild day weather-wise for December in Illinois, so it made for a nice change of pace from all the people and bustle.
When we went back to the airport to see if the bag had come in, we discovered that it, indeed, had landed with the plane but had been picked up by another passenger by mistake. So, a very friendly and competent airline attendant tracked down the other passenger by phone and asked them to come back to the airport to retrieve their missing bag and return ours. Because of the fiasco, we missed one of the family gatherings we were supposed to attend. Travel, for us, is never dull.
Two days after Christmas, we were back to the airport to drop Phil off so that he could return to work. The rest of us went shopping in the suburbs so the kids could spend their Christmas money. We ended with a visit to Bass Pro Shops’ Outdoor World, which is a wild experience.
It snowed one day, so we made Christmas cookies.
This is our annual tradition as well, and someday I’ll figure out how to get them made ahead of time and distributed on or by Christmas.
They turned out just like Grandma used to make, which is really the whole point.
Throughout our holiday, we played games with family. These included Can You Name Five?; Smash Up; Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza; and We Didn’t Playtest This.
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is a clear favorite.
My Grandma got to move to a different room in her assisted living facility, so while my parents and aunt and uncle moved her, the kids and I took Grandma out for lunch and a drive. It was an enjoyable couple of hours.
On the last day of the year, the kids and I flew back to Pennsylvania with little to no complications. The airport wasn’t too busy. Our flight was originally going to be delayed a little bit but then was on time. We had a super bumpy flight but we made it (and so did all of our bags!). We reconnected with Phil and drove home. The kids and Phil stayed up till midnight. I turned in hours before that because the day had taken its toll on me.
What We Ate
Sushi. The birthday boy wanted sushi for his birthday meal, so he invited a friend over and we ate a variety of sushi.
Which was followed by Peanut Butter Mud Cake (ice cream cake; he is my son, after all).
For our last small group snack of the season, we made Christmas crack and ranch crackers, both of which we ate too much of and have too much leftover.
It’s still soup season. This month’s soups featured acorn squash soup, potato leek soup, cream of broccoli soup, cabbage, potato and sausage soup; and stuffed pepper soup. I could eat soup every day.
We needed a takeout celebratory meal for Phil’s new job, so we ordered from Awash, a restaurant we haven’t been to in a while. We had a variety of Ethiopian food: meat and vegetarian dishes with the ubiquitous injera (a spongy bread).
When I went out with my friend for dinner I had fish tacos from Tied House in Lititz.
Cookies and egg nog are the traditional snack while we watch White Christmas.
As mentioned earlier, we ate Portillo’s while we waited for our delayed bag.
For one of our family gatherings, we had burritos and tacos and other Mexican delights from a local taco joint.
On our shopping day, we went to a place called COVO, Greek street food. It was set up sort of like Chipotle except your choices were pitas, bowls, salads or platters. It was delicious.
Grandma wanted a taco, so we went to Mama Cimino’s, a local restaurant my friend and her husband own and run. We ate a taco, taco salad, pizza and a sampling of fried deliciousness.
And no visit to our hometown is complete without eating food from Arthur’s Garden Deli. Potatoes. Sandwiches. Soups. Highly recommend if you’re ever in northern Illinois, but it might also just be nostalgia.
And then on the way back to the airport, we stopped at a diner near Midway for lunch. It’s an all-day breakfast kind of place (my kind of place!) and if there’s a Benedict option on the menu, I’m ordering it. This was potatoes Benedict: eggs and hollandaise and ham over potato pancakes.
What We Watched
The World According to Jeff Goldblum. A Disney Plus show. Anyone who displays even mild curiosity about the world around them endears me.
Hawkeye. Loved it from the first minute till the last.
Kim’s Convenience.
Nailed It. We watched an episode with Jack McBrayer, who is rightly labeled a national treasure.
Grantchester, the last episode of season 6. Already looking forward to season 7.
Welcome to Earth hosted by Will Smith on Disney Plus. Intense first episode. I learned, like, 12 things in less than an hour.
Nicole Byer’s comedy special on Netflix. She’s funny on Nailed It, and this one had its moments. Lots of swearing and crude humor, though.
White Christmas. An annual tradition.
All the Queen’s Horses. So, my hometown is the same town that was swindled out of $53 million over 20 years by a city employee. This documentary on Prime (previously on Netflix) is all about the woman who committed this egregious crime and how the city uncovered it and recovered from it. Fascinating and depressing all at the same time.
Judge Judy. And a variety of other daytime television we never see, but Judge Judy has quickly become our son’s favorite.
What We Read
Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson. I actually started this in November but forgot to add it last month. I need some words about writing every now and then, and I respect Peterson as a songwriter and author. I’m slowly working my way through this one.
Good Kings, Bad Kings by Susan Nussbaum. A few months ago I was looking for books featuring disabled characters or addressing disability issues, and my sister-in-law sent me a link to a disabled book reviewer who gave their critique and opinions on a variety of such books. This was one the reviewer thought was worthwhile. Its characters are all people who either live in or work at an institution for disabled youth, and it was sometimes hard to read because I know the circumstances are ones actually faced by people living in institutions. Fiction is a powerful method to bring awareness to topics like these.
Spy Ski School by Stuart Gibbs. Reading aloud with my kids. I’m hooked on these books.
The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan. A heart-warming, authentic family drama. I’ve got some good recommendations coming in from friends and this was one of them.
Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. I bought this one at a book sale at the school last year. YA is such an amazing genre for getting to know the characters well.
Murder in the Dark by Kerry Greenwood. A Phryne Fisher Christmas/New Year’s story. How appropriate!
How The Light Gets In by Louise Penny. Such a work of genius. It’s a mystery, of course, but I didn’t know who to trust at any point of the story and I was shocked by how it all turned out.
When I Was The Greatest by Jason Reynolds. After hearing him speak on a podcast, I went searching for more of his work at the library. This was another one that allowed me to see into a way of life I’m not familiar with.
Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich. I pulled this one off a display at the library when they were featuring Native authors. It was odd reading a dystopian story during a pandemic that’s lingering and wavering in intensity. But it was interesting writing and I want to read more Native authors.
When Calls the Heart by Jeanette Oke. So, I’ve seen every episode of the show through season 8, and I was curious about the books. I needed a quick read when I was between books on holiday, and this certainly fit that bill. But I found it shallow and lacking in plot. I might still read the rest of the series, though. Sometimes I am a glutton for punishment and even reading a not-great book is better than not reading at all.
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon. Finally digging into this behemoth of a book, taking my time, savoring the words of this ninth story in the Outlander series. I want to go back and re-read the first eight but I couldn’t wait to pick up the story again.
