My Yearly Letters

I wrote my annual letters. There are two sets. For one set, I write a letter reflecting on the year and then write a letter about my hopes for the next year. I get to read the second letter at the end of the year.

The other set asks questions and then is designed to be put away for 10 years before being read. I like that it prompts me to take a picture and include it with the letter.

This is all made possible by electronic calendars. I have a yearly occurring appointment that reminds me not only to do write these letters but also where the document is located on my computer.

More Cookbook Winnowing

Welcome, blurry photo. I did not factor blurry photos into my middle age experience.

More cookbook winnowing! The Enchanted Broccoli Forest Cookbook might have been the first cookbook I ever bought. And the Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book was instrumental in teaching me how to make a loaf of whole wheat break.

As with the other pile, I’ve grabbed my favorites. Now it’s time to send the cookbooks off to Little Free Libraries in my neighborhood.

Our New Year’s Eve Celebration

I went to Fred Meyer and grabbed ingredients for beer cheese fondue, fondue dipping things, and our favorite kind of ice cream. As a bonus, I stopped by a Redbox kiosk to see if the movie we were planning on watching, Tenet, was available. It was! This means we paid $1.80 for it, rather than the $19.99 we were planning on paying.

The result: beer cheese fondue was delicious and simple to make, Tenet was entertaining, and the ice cream was, as always a cornucopia of chocolate flavors and textures.

Photo from the Past

My friend S. North gave me this photo of use taken on the porch of the Leverett, Massachusetts house she was living in in the mid-90s. I’d lived with her and one other roommate (most likely the person who took this photo) for a summer and came back to visit that winter. We lived on 868 N. Pleasant St., though. She had moved by this time.

There are things I love about this picture. The fact that we both now live in Portland and see each other regularly. That I’m still overly reliant on one sweater-type object, bright in color, to keep me warm. (That’s my famous green sweater in the picture. It was given to me by friend Sara because her Great Aunt Hazel died and she knew I would love Great Aunt Hazel’s sweater.) I love that S. North still wears caps like that. That porch sitting was very fun.

However, this is what I wrote on Instagram:

Back in my green-sweater-wearing, porch-sitting days.

The truth behind this photo is that this was one of the hardest times in my life. My connections were few and felt tenuous and it was tough to get through every single day. I’m lucky to still be here.

There were respites, like this trip, and I’m glad to have had those days of light.

Mental health issues are tough. Hard to spot, hard to get treatment for in our health delivery system, and hard to overcome. It’s been a few decades since I’ve felt this way and I still do daily work to keep from sliding back.

While I do pine for parts of that time in my life I know I’ve traded it for something more solid and happier.

If right now is a dark time for you, keep reaching out, keep trying to get help, keep trying different things to make you feel better. The world can seem crappy and not worth sticking around for, but it is. Really

Christmas Present: A Movie!

In the normal world, I don’t go to the movies on Christmas, because I wouldn’t want to go to work in Christmas Day and I don’t think my actions should support other people having to go to work on that day. But this is a pandemic, all the theaters are closed, and Wonder Woman 1984 is opening on HBO Max on Christmas Day!

So we bought our selves a one-month subscription to the channel, and prepped for a Christmas Day treat.

I made a cheesy pizza roll appetizer I’d had my eye on for years, Matt broke out the cheese from the gift basket his uncle sent, I mixed up a colorful cocktail, and we settled in for the next Wonder Woman installment! Here’s my review.

Christmas Morning

This year, due to quarantine, the fam met briefly in my Aunt Pat’s garage so we could do stockings. This year, that meant putting things in a “stocking” that was really a bag with a name written on it. Then we brought our stockings home to unpack.

There were a lot of goodies in the stocking!

Plus, I had a fun present to open, so here’s another view of the spoils.

The stationary says, “Nobody writes letters anymore.” I love it!

These were my winners!

And check out this situation:

Though brief, it was nice to see everyone for a stocking exchange.

Christmas Dinner

Since all the Christmas traditions were up in the air, I decided that 2020 was the year to try a Tofuky. Even in my vegetarian years, I never shelled out the money. Back in those days, it came with a tempeh drumstick, so I guess I should have sampled the product then.

Here’s the Tofurky, ready to go into the pot. I followed the instructions on the label and made a soy sauce/olive oil concoction for the broccoli and tofurky to roast in.

And here’s our final product, dusted with sage. I also made mashed potatoes, because I don’t like to pass up a chance to eat mashed potatoes.

The verdict? Very salty. The broccoli tasted amazing, through, having roasted in that soy sauce/olive oil concoction. I skipped the gravy (because I almost always skip the gravy) and the potatoes were delicious!

While I wouldn’t turn down a slice of tofuky, if one is offered to me, this was probably a one-and-done experience.

The Santas

Since we are quarantining this year, Matt and I will not be doing the usual, which is going to Aunt Carol’s house for dinner and stockings. Instead, we went to find the Bakelite Santas that Chris Willis (@ChrisWillis) has been installing in various Portland locales for 10 years. We pondered the clue he gave us and set out for Westmoreland where we wandered about until we saw a faint pink glow coming from an empty building.

The Santas were marvelous!

This was our first time seeing them. They don’t usually wear masks, but this year is a special year. We got to find six mask variations.

This was a very fun break from our routine. Here’s more about the project.

Decorating Santa Cookies with Mom

Mom wanted to give her neighbors some cookies and, when searching the internet, found someone’s great idea to turn a heart-shaped cookie upside down and make a Santa. Using just the star tip, some frosting, and jimmies, red hots, and chocolate chips, we made these darling little creatures.

These are also historic cookies because while we were making them, I got a call offering me a job as a full-time copy editor.