ad a laugh just now when I looked back at my Retrospective entry from last year, and the expectations I had for the first year of the 20’s. Well, THAT certainly didn’t turn out as planned…for any of us. The H at the beginning of this post really sums up the entire year of 2020 for me. The terrifying split that is defining my birth country, the polarization of politics, the crisis of the global pandemic, the destruction of all our plans for the year. And personally, the passing of my grandmother in July and the sale and packing up of my mom’s house in Michigan, neither of which I was able to go home for. There were good things about the past year, too, namely the turnout of American voters and their overwhelming desire to stop the madness by electing a new President, thank God. Even though I know the aftermath will continue into the new year, I hope 2021 is an improvement over the start of the decade and honestly, how can it not be?
Family & Personal Highlights of 2020
- Karin’s ski trip week in Austria with a friend and then in Italy with Anders
- Continuing to keep myself diabetes-free
- Beauty & the Beast at Malmö Opera with Debbie
- Renovation and enlargement of our deck and porch
- The addition of solar panels on our garage
- Creating a logo and marketing materials for my friend Emily’s business
- Martin getting a new, better-paying, job in Detroit
- The birth of my new niece to my brother John in October
- Completing a 5K walk with Karin to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment
- Karin getting a job at Flyinge School
- Voting for the winner in the US election #BidenHarris2020 #VotedBlue
- So far, a COVID-free family
Once again, I had a low number of books read during the year, only 78, down just one from 2019’s low of 79. Even though I’m always reading. I seem to be doing it a slower pace than I used to, and of course, as you’ll see below, I spent much more time than usual watching movies and TV series. I do find it amusing that three of the books in the list below have “Notes” in the titles, as if they were just something jotted down. Note to authors: stop it.
Best Books of 2020 (in no particular order and not including re-reads)
- The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett
- A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher
- The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman
- The Lightest Object in the Universe by Kimi Eisele
- Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia
- The Lady’s Handbook for her Mysterious Illness by Sarah Ramey
- Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West
- Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World by Suzy Hansen
- A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
- Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
- This is Major: Notes on Diana Ross, Dark Girls & Being Dope by Shayla Lawson
- The Voyage of the Morning Light by Marina Endicott
If it weren’t for my son’s Christmas gift of a brilliant playlist, I’d have almost no new music to list at all since I once again spent more time looking for artists and enjoying their art on Instagram this year.
Best New Music Artists of 2020
- Rina Sawayama
- Rilo Kiley
- Caroline Polachek
- Allie X.
- Holly Humberstone
- Denai Moore
- Sabina Ddumba
- Jenny Owen Youngs
- Elizabeth & the Catapult
Like everyone else this year, we watched a LOT of TV and thanks to having multiple streaming platforms, both movies, short-format mini series and television series were plentiful. There was a lot of good stuff to watch. I watched 63 movies (a lot of old ones!) and 27 different series. In no particular order:
The movies I enjoyed the most were: 1917, Jojo Rabbit, Bombshell, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Hamilton, Enola Holmes, My Octopus Teacher, On the Rocks, and Bad Education.
The series I enjoyed the most and recommend were: The Man in the High Castle, The Queen’s Gambit, The Flight Attendant, Cheer, Crashing, The Morning Show, Killing Eve, Community, Run, His Dark Materials, Lego Masters Sverige (though I couldn’t stand the hosts), and Hanna.
Some manageable goals for 2021
- Shed the pandemic pounds; get back down to a reasonable weight
- Walk a 5K every month and continue on the treadmill
- Renovate the kitchen
- Trip to the US for family time
- Celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in some fun way
- Continue to stay COVID-free until vaccinated
There’s a lot to look forward to in the coming year, despite the continuing pandemic restrictions: Martin moving back to Sweden (fingers crossed), Karin starting university, planning travel again, and I just downloaded a pile of books to my Kindle to start off the new year right! Happy New Year!