wow, 7 years of memory jars! I guess I'm getting pretty good at this 'creating traditions' thing...I wonder if it's something my son will carry forward with him when he starts his own family? here's what it is: over the course of the year, my son and I write down good/fun/happy moments we experience, on recycled slips of paper, and put them in our 'memory jar' (an antique Queen mason jar). on New Year's Eve, we open the jar, and read the slips of paper to each other as a way to relive the best parts of our year over again. it's a nice New Year's Eve ritual, and in this year of pandemic, when we won't be joining in any celebrations, it feels especially important, as we made a real effort to find moments in time to be grateful for in our relative isolation.
my son chose to go in to work tonight, so I'm currently home alone (unless you count my incredibly loud and annoying upstairs neighbors), and I plan to spend my evening indulging in an epsom salt bath, followed by lighting candles and reading tarot cards. I considered getting myself a bottle of champagne, but since I renewed my commitment to bettering my health, decided alcohol wasn't a necessary component of my personal celebration, though I may choose to have a cup of hot chocolate, instead. I also stopped at the store to pick up chocolate chips and eggs to make this 2 ingredient chocolate cake - courtesy of The B.U.F.F. Dudes - as a treat for my son when he gets home from work, because it's still a holiday, and a hard-working teen deserves a healthy version of chocolate cake after busting his butt working on New Year's Eve.
here are our good memories of 2020:
him ~
100 in English, lol
getting job at S-----
working
getting bicycleMSI gaming z rtx 2060
getting monitor
finishing PC
finishing gaming setup
getting gaming chair
new mouse
joining Mumutopia
Doom Eternal
Naruto
Hannukah
tricking mom into saying "underwear" by asking "what's under there?"
"Europe Who?" (knock knock, who's there, Europe, Europe who [sounds like 'you're a poo'])
*high pitched* "eeh" "eeh" "mee-EEH"
burgers
so for him, this year was all about getting his first 'real' job (he worked last summer, but that was just doing lift & carry for a local yard sale guy), and enjoying the benefits of what earning decent money (for a teenager) can get him. a new bike, a fancy computer set-up that I don't even know how to turn on, having good times gaming with his friends online - which is nice, since they haven't seen each other in person for forever - and watching shows that he enjoys while managing to keep up with his schoolwork. the holidays were fun and he enjoyed the traditional foods we cooked together, as well as some of the everyday meals we made, and as always, he loves being a little joker and sharing our silly inside jokes, too ("eeh, eeh, mee- EEH" made my list, too).
me ~
D--- came to visit!
birthday buffet/chocolatefest 2020
game day party!
visit from S---- bearing lovely gifts
The Beautiful Bastards in Hunter
(Southern accent) "go to bed, y'all from Shreeveport?"
letting things go/leading with love
the 'rona lockdown, lol...not really.
Geezus Butlers at Oakley's
Teen doing so well at his job
a friend's newborn baby
High Holy Days/Sukkot
completing the Couch to 5k program
my first 5k, and every one since!
how proud I am of the Teen
latkes & suvganiot - it was a wonderful Hannukah
lowest blood sugar reading
art dates with L---
Teen doing well in school despite the terrible circumstances
squeaky peasant!
staying consistent with my goal of improving my health, and losing 40 pounds so far!
for me, I enjoyed spending time with dear friends (when we still could), celebrating my birthday, seeing my friends' bands play live music (when we still could), watching movies with my son that we now have inside jokes about (the one about Shreeveport is from The Princess & The Frog, and the 'squeaky peasant' is from Ladyhawk, which made his list, too), being proud of my son, celebrating holidays and new life, and making the commitment to taking better care of myself by eating better and exercising. so for a relatively crap year, we didn't do too badly...and the hard-working Teen enjoyed a piece of the cake I baked for him when he got home, even though it's a bit weird looking:
it just looked so plain by itself, and I decided it needed frosting, but I didn't have any powdered sugar because I don't tend to keep that stocked in my kitchen. so I put some of the organic raw cane sugar I had in my mortar and crushed it with the pestle. yes, I did. I made just enough frosting for a thin layer over the top of the cake, then used a cupcake liner as a way to sprinkle silver 'shimmer sugar' into a random pattern of circles across the top...I don't know, I was experimenting. who cares what it looks like - it's delicious, and the kid appreciated and enjoyed it! I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday, whether you celebrate the New Year or not. it seems a bit arbitrary to me at this point, but I do like and cling to my own traditions, so I try not to begrudge others sticking to theirs. let's look forward to bright and beautiful new endeavors to embark on, and good times enjoyed with our dear ones coming back into our lives at some point, when it's safe again. I wish all of you all the best in 2021!
check out our 'memory jar' posts from years past, below!
