#MTBoSYuleBlog - 3 Good Things

 

What is the Yule Blog Challenge?  Over Winter Break, I'm going to attempt to blog 12 times, sharing reflections of 2020 and what I'm looking forward to in 2021.  I would love for you to join in the blogging fun - read more about the challenge by clicking here!

3 Good Things from 2020

It's New Year's Eve 2020 and I'm sure I'm not alone when I say Good Riddance!

But even in one of the weirdest years of my lifetime, good things have still happened!  I've already posted about some success stories and some favorite memories, but 

Good Thing #1 - Hello Josie!!

In November 2019, we lost our eldest cat... we knew it was coming but that didn't make saying good-bye any easier.  We weren't ready to get another and honestly, we didn't know how our now-oldest cat, Kenzie, would take to another cat as Kenzie is very territorial and dominant.  But in January, hubby decided he was ready.  We started looking and he was drawn to a kitten at the animal shelter, so we welcomed Josie into our lives....

Josie is a most-unusual cat.  You might notice the curved tail in the photo and to be honest, her tail is never "straight" - it's always curled up like that and usually over her back, as seen in the second photo.  I started researching it and apparently she's a "ring tail tabby".  Another trait of ringtails is their playful nature and that's definitely true... EVERYTHING is a toy!  We often wake up in the middle of the night where she's brought plastic silverware or a stuffed toy to bed...

Good Thing #2 - The Class of 2020

One of the best things about teaching is that every year we get a new, fresh start.  But I'll admit that every August brings some anxiety as I wonder if I'll be able to build the relationships, if I'll ever remember all the names, if I'll ever have the connections that I had with the previous group of kids.  I hate that my time was cut short with the Class of 2020 because they were just a fun group of kids.  I know I've already posted some about my trip to Portugal and the memories I'll treasure forever, but this deserves its own spotlight.....  

 When we went back to school in January, I had shared with my students that my word of 2020 was "Courage" and I explained that I had never travelled internationally and that I would be travelling alone to Portugal in February.  So my students decided they would help me out and promptly started a "How not to die when out of the country" list on the whiteboard.  When I got back, they had erased the board and changed it to the "Congrats" message.  Little did any of us know that we would only have a few short weeks together in person after I returned.  On a positive note, one of those students came back to see me in December to say "Hi!" and to thank me for all of the hard work during our swift change over to Distance Learning.  That group of kiddos will always have a special place in my heart.

Good Thing #3 - Snoopy and the Red Baron

So, we've not been out shopping this year - I haven't been in a Target or Wal-Mart since March and as a result, Christmas 2020 was a bit spartan.  Typically, hubby and I stash away little trinkets for the stocking but that tends to require stores :)  When Christmas morning came, I was shocked with hubby told me there was something in my stocking (and I felt horrible because nothing was in his....)

No, I'm not a vintage game person, but as a kid in the early 80s, the Atari was all the rage.  I remember sitting in my room staring up at this little 10" black and white TV and Snoopy was my favorite game.  Fast forward about 20 years from that and my parents decided to sell their house, auction off all of their belongings, and hit the road in their RV.  They gave us fair warning so that we could get the things we wanted - I took my dollhouse, my Tupper Toys, and a few other things.  Then came the day of the auction and seeing your life laid out on the yard is an interesting experience.  The toy box my brother made me... a keychain with a photo from when I was a toddler... my grandmother's hideabed sofa that we all took naps on... and my Atari with a half dozen games.  Honestly, when I had gone through my room, I never even thought about the Atari - it was a 20+ year old system!  But listening to the auctioneer share the contents of the Atari storage unit, I remembered Snoopy.  After the sale was finalized, hubby and I went up to the new owner,  I introduced myself as the little girl that grew up in the house, and asked to purchase the Snoopy cartridge, only to be promptly turned down.  Apparently, the new owner had purchased the entire system just for that one game, which unbeknownst to me, was a fairly rare title.  Fast forward another 20 years and I find Snoopy in my stocking.  Hubby had finally found it at a reasonable cost on eBay.  We (obviously) don't have a working Atari system, but I finally have Snoopy back... ♥️♥️♥️