Very relaxing and good time with my household family. Looking forward to seeing our extended family and friends though as soon as is safe in the new year.
By Saturday I was actually read to come back to work, that is the social distancing rotating in person office hours. Bizarre year that I was glad to see end.
For the first time ever in my lifetime, my wife and I stayed home for Christmas. Very weird and a little sad but definitely the right thing to do at this time. Substituted phone calls and video chats for visits instead.
Also, on the Bears, I only caught a little bit of Sam’s first hour on AM Springfield (1450), but as they neared the 7AM news break they were talking about yesterday’s Bears game. Sam thinks this playoff appearance and their December “comeback” may have saved Nagy’s job, but he thinks GM Pace will be gone after the playoffs. Thoughts?
I had one sib who did a 7 hour drive without stopping to get here. We did a Zoom dinner with friends and our other sib, which was surprisingly pleasant.
If the Bears lose to New Orleans, no matter the score, and Nagy stays what this organization is essentially saying is that mediocrity is just fine.
Meanwhile, Green Bay enjoys a monopoly in an otherwise pathetic division.
- For the first time ever in my lifetime, my wife and I stayed home for Christmas. Very weird and a little sad but definitely the right thing to do at this time. Substituted phone calls and video chats for visits instead. -
Chatham sums it up for me too. I’m in a big family and this social isolation - though necessary - is getting old and depressing. I find out whether and when I get the vaccination this week. Maybe that will brighten things up a bit.
so so so so so so long. At least distance learning gives my kids some structure to the day! Although hassling everyone on to their various Zooms this morning wasn’t my fave either.
Christmas was smaller, just my son’s family; no higher than normal risk since we see the grandkids most days. New Year’s Eve felt weird because we normally celebrate with a small group of close friends … but we all stayed home this year.
Over the break caught up on a few chores. May get out today and take down the few decorations in the front yard. Don’t take the trees down until the 6th.
And thank you everyone for all the nominations / comments.
Quiet. Peaceful. Very different. Humbling. Lots of Facetime.
We’ve lost a couple close family members in recent years, and also have had a few Covid scares so honestly, a quiet Holiday season worked out fine for us.
Lots of time to reflect and appreciate the good times.
We’re fortunate to be warm, comfortable, and able to help others where we can.
Well the Holidays were great. A very small Christmas with our daughter no close contact just some togetherness. Mrs. Club J and I spent our time decluttering our home. Maybe it’s time to downsize a bit. Found an old W-2 from 1988 and I sure was happy back then making less than 20k a year. Thinking back it sure seems times were simpler back then.
Happy New Year everyone…
- Scott Cross for President - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 10:12 am:
Good holiday celebrations, with great food and conversations, some in person, mostly remote.
Our priest has trimmed mass down to 35 blessed minutes.
==If the Bears lose to New Orleans, no matter the score, and Nagy stays==
If he stays I look (and hope) for Nagy to be the NFL coach on the hottest of hot seats in 2021. Winning season and/or at least one playoff win next season, or he’s out.
Ballot lotteries and petition objection period having ended after the 30th, have since alternated Battlestar Galactica with British Baking Show, baking with indoor gardening (potted garlic is up!) and writing with cleanouts, latest project being the linen closet.
Also started buying cryptocurrencies in small amounts through the PayPal program.
Did some of the snow shoveling a couple days ago and it felt so good I am returning to regular exercise, something I’ve been nervous to restart since my bout with the virus. Today is the two-month anniversary of going symptomatic.
Congratulations to all Golden Horseshoe winners, well deserved, all.
Uneventful for me, except for really doing a Baird Whitlock, not just a phony one to fool Thora and Thessaly Thacker.
So many things I’d usually do, didn’t, but still had the “family gravy and meatballs”, even if it was me making it, Zoom calls and New Years Eve (3 course) carry out, “beverage” included.
COVID-y Showed some symptoms, got tested, confirmed on the 16th. Self quarantined for two weeks away from my wife and daughter. Overall, I had medium symptoms: aches, pains, two-day fever, massive fatigue. Thankfully, no respiratory affects. Slowly recovering my taste and smell, but the insomnia is tough.
Over the past several months, I have perfected the art of making to-do lists. I am also quite adept at putting things off. Other things i stretch out. For example, if the sidewalks are messy, I put my dog in the car, drive around the block, pick up the mail, and put the car back in the garage. A productive day.
Put on a Bears T-shirt. Watch the game. Use up a full weeks’ allocation of -CK words in just a few minutes watching Trubisky.
Small Christmas with the 4 of us in the house. Was given The Devil in the White City to read. Mixes true stories about the Columbian Exposition in Chicago with a conman serial killer who operated in Chicago at the same time. Worth the time.
Went to our vac home in Iowa. Stayed in. No personal contact with relatives, though zooms. Played my clarinet, worked on my German by binge watching Tatort, reading “Hineingeworfen” a book about WWI and started a German language mystery (”Show White must Die” in English) that has read much faster than the WWI book. Some new vocab and slang though. Cooked some great low carb meals. Made a fried “rice” out of riced cauliflower that was pretty darned good.
Also did some review of the Spanish with a text, got through the Preterite vs. Imperfect chapter. I am much more comfortable in the German than I am in the Spanish but the advantage of Spanish is it’s a local language to me.
In the end, Bears losing was in their best interest. If they won, they would be playing the Packers again. By losing, they at least have a shot at winning a playoff game.
I’ll make a prediction for 2021 as it concerns the Bears later this year:
Nagy remains HC, and Pace miraculously stays GM after the “December miracle.” Then the Bears crap the bed out the gate in the 2021 season with embarassing losses to teams (e.g., Lions, Giants, Bengals, however the schedule ends up). To the point both Nagy and Pace are fired after an embarrasing Halloween Day loss.
Have been dropping off food and supplies (and praying for) two households of relatives for the last week so far who have covid and who both had previously expressed their concern for me sheltering so much and “not living my life.” I am also blessed not to have the covid.
No especially sparkly. Contracted kidney infection that kept me in and out of ER for IV fluids and meds. I have to wonder if not for COVID would I have been admitted? My old lab became critically ill and also required daily visits to vet for IV fluids and meds. He’s still seriously ill, but starting to see some slight improvement. I learned my husband is a saint. He has done nothing since the 23rd but haul sick me and sick dog back and forth and take care of both of us.
Sad. Going to greatly miss Mike Mills at the Illinois State Fair and seeing him at 17th Street in SIL.
Time got one of the real good ones. The thing that always impressed me was how others in the BBQ world talked about Mike; he always offered help when asked, shared tips and tricks. He never saw others getting better at BBQ and being an expert pit-master as a threat to him.
He shared his love of the craft with anyone who was willing to ask. That says a lot about the what a person is cut from. Mike was USDA Prime.
Quiet Christmas and New Year. A relative had hert surgery and complications during recovery. A few dicey days with a platoon of family prayers and friends sending strength. Home now and recovering. All contact was via zoom and phone. We are profoundly grateful for the successful surgery and our continued escape from Covid.
Please let me know if you’re searching for a writer for your site. You have some great articles, as well as I believe I would certainly be a great writer for you. If you ever before want to take some of the load off, I ‘d like to create some material for your blog site in exchange for a web link back to mine. Please shoot me an email if interested. Thanks.
- Anon E Moose - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 9:26 am:
Cold and lonely.
- Centennial - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 9:28 am:
Quiet and nice. But based on my Facebook feed, I am one of the few who didn’t throw caution to the wind and go to Florida.
- Dysfunction Junction - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 9:29 am:
Pretty good until the 4th quarter of yesterday’s game…
- DownStateR - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 9:31 am:
Very relaxing and good time with my household family. Looking forward to seeing our extended family and friends though as soon as is safe in the new year.
- Give Me A Break - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 9:32 am:
By Saturday I was actually read to come back to work, that is the social distancing rotating in person office hours. Bizarre year that I was glad to see end.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 9:32 am:
Unobjectionable.
- Chatham Resident - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 9:33 am:
For the first time ever in my lifetime, my wife and I stayed home for Christmas. Very weird and a little sad but definitely the right thing to do at this time. Substituted phone calls and video chats for visits instead.
Also, on the Bears, I only caught a little bit of Sam’s first hour on AM Springfield (1450), but as they neared the 7AM news break they were talking about yesterday’s Bears game. Sam thinks this playoff appearance and their December “comeback” may have saved Nagy’s job, but he thinks GM Pace will be gone after the playoffs. Thoughts?
- JoanP - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 9:41 am:
Other than missing CapFax?
I had one sib who did a 7 hour drive without stopping to get here. We did a Zoom dinner with friends and our other sib, which was surprisingly pleasant.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 9:43 am:
If the Bears lose to New Orleans, no matter the score, and Nagy stays what this organization is essentially saying is that mediocrity is just fine.
Meanwhile, Green Bay enjoys a monopoly in an otherwise pathetic division.
- Suburbanon - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 9:45 am:
- For the first time ever in my lifetime, my wife and I stayed home for Christmas. Very weird and a little sad but definitely the right thing to do at this time. Substituted phone calls and video chats for visits instead. -
Chatham sums it up for me too. I’m in a big family and this social isolation - though necessary - is getting old and depressing. I find out whether and when I get the vaccination this week. Maybe that will brighten things up a bit.
- Suburban Mom - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 9:54 am:
so so so so so so long. At least distance learning gives my kids some structure to the day! Although hassling everyone on to their various Zooms this morning wasn’t my fave either.
- Cheryl44 - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 9:55 am:
Let’s just say family is very often overrated.
- Keyrock - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 10:01 am:
Pandemicky.
- RNUG - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 10:02 am:
Christmas was smaller, just my son’s family; no higher than normal risk since we see the grandkids most days. New Year’s Eve felt weird because we normally celebrate with a small group of close friends … but we all stayed home this year.
Over the break caught up on a few chores. May get out today and take down the few decorations in the front yard. Don’t take the trees down until the 6th.
And thank you everyone for all the nominations / comments.
- zatoichi - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 10:03 am:
Stayed home, zoomed family, and made some great soups that did not last long. Pretty quiet.
- XonXoff - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 10:07 am:
Quiet. Peaceful. Very different. Humbling. Lots of Facetime.
We’ve lost a couple close family members in recent years, and also have had a few Covid scares so honestly, a quiet Holiday season worked out fine for us.
Lots of time to reflect and appreciate the good times.
We’re fortunate to be warm, comfortable, and able to help others where we can.
- Club J - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 10:10 am:
Well the Holidays were great. A very small Christmas with our daughter no close contact just some togetherness. Mrs. Club J and I spent our time decluttering our home. Maybe it’s time to downsize a bit. Found an old W-2 from 1988 and I sure was happy back then making less than 20k a year. Thinking back it sure seems times were simpler back then.
Happy New Year everyone…
- Scott Cross for President - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 10:12 am:
Good holiday celebrations, with great food and conversations, some in person, mostly remote.
Our priest has trimmed mass down to 35 blessed minutes.
I lit a candle and prayed it’s permanent.
- Chatham Resident - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 10:16 am:
==If the Bears lose to New Orleans, no matter the score, and Nagy stays==
If he stays I look (and hope) for Nagy to be the NFL coach on the hottest of hot seats in 2021. Winning season and/or at least one playoff win next season, or he’s out.
- yinn - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 10:38 am:
Ballot lotteries and petition objection period having ended after the 30th, have since alternated Battlestar Galactica with British Baking Show, baking with indoor gardening (potted garlic is up!) and writing with cleanouts, latest project being the linen closet.
Also started buying cryptocurrencies in small amounts through the PayPal program.
Did some of the snow shoveling a couple days ago and it felt so good I am returning to regular exercise, something I’ve been nervous to restart since my bout with the virus. Today is the two-month anniversary of going symptomatic.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 10:46 am:
First;
Congratulations to all Golden Horseshoe winners, well deserved, all.
Uneventful for me, except for really doing a Baird Whitlock, not just a phony one to fool Thora and Thessaly Thacker.
So many things I’d usually do, didn’t, but still had the “family gravy and meatballs”, even if it was me making it, Zoom calls and New Years Eve (3 course) carry out, “beverage” included.
Here’s to a better 2021 for all.
- Proud Sucker - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 10:48 am:
COVID-y Showed some symptoms, got tested, confirmed on the 16th. Self quarantined for two weeks away from my wife and daughter. Overall, I had medium symptoms: aches, pains, two-day fever, massive fatigue. Thankfully, no respiratory affects. Slowly recovering my taste and smell, but the insomnia is tough.
- Langhorne - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 10:50 am:
Over the past several months, I have perfected the art of making to-do lists. I am also quite adept at putting things off. Other things i stretch out. For example, if the sidewalks are messy, I put my dog in the car, drive around the block, pick up the mail, and put the car back in the garage. A productive day.
Put on a Bears T-shirt. Watch the game. Use up a full weeks’ allocation of -CK words in just a few minutes watching Trubisky.
- Last Bull Moose - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 10:51 am:
Small Christmas with the 4 of us in the house. Was given The Devil in the White City to read. Mixes true stories about the Columbian Exposition in Chicago with a conman serial killer who operated in Chicago at the same time. Worth the time.
- Steve Rogers - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 11:04 am:
Since I’m an atheist, I just binged watched a lot of tv–and had Chinese on Christmas.
- Dog Lover - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 11:25 am:
Well…it had it’s ups and downs. My father passed away. He was 92 and in a nursing home. He got Covid. He was ready to go, but still tough.
We got a new puppy so we have been very busy with him. I’m thankful that I had him to occupy me during these last few days away from work.
- cermak_rd - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 11:30 am:
Went to our vac home in Iowa. Stayed in. No personal contact with relatives, though zooms. Played my clarinet, worked on my German by binge watching Tatort, reading “Hineingeworfen” a book about WWI and started a German language mystery (”Show White must Die” in English) that has read much faster than the WWI book. Some new vocab and slang though. Cooked some great low carb meals. Made a fried “rice” out of riced cauliflower that was pretty darned good.
Also did some review of the Spanish with a text, got through the Preterite vs. Imperfect chapter. I am much more comfortable in the German than I am in the Spanish but the advantage of Spanish is it’s a local language to me.
- Nick Name - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 11:46 am:
I read some good books and binged some good TV series.
- robert lincoln - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 12:01 pm:
In the end, Bears losing was in their best interest. If they won, they would be playing the Packers again. By losing, they at least have a shot at winning a playoff game.
- DuPage - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 12:05 pm:
Stay home in quarantine. More of the same for 2021 until this Covid-19 thing is gone. When warm weather comes back will do lawn visits again.
- Chatham Resident - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 12:29 pm:
I’ll make a prediction for 2021 as it concerns the Bears later this year:
Nagy remains HC, and Pace miraculously stays GM after the “December miracle.” Then the Bears crap the bed out the gate in the 2021 season with embarassing losses to teams (e.g., Lions, Giants, Bengals, however the schedule ends up). To the point both Nagy and Pace are fired after an embarrasing Halloween Day loss.
- rabble - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 12:37 pm:
Have been dropping off food and supplies (and praying for) two households of relatives for the last week so far who have covid and who both had previously expressed their concern for me sheltering so much and “not living my life.” I am also blessed not to have the covid.
- @misterjayem - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 12:50 pm:
“How was your break?”
Oh, I’ve had better.
– MrJM
- Chatham Resident - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 1:01 pm:
In typical Bears fashion, their game is the winner of the Nickelodeon playoff telecast sweepstakes:
https://www.bleachernation.com/bears/2021/01/03/the-bears-will-play-the-saints-at-340-pm-ct-on-sunday-in-the-nickelodeon-game/
- DownSouth - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 1:43 pm:
No especially sparkly. Contracted kidney infection that kept me in and out of ER for IV fluids and meds. I have to wonder if not for COVID would I have been admitted? My old lab became critically ill and also required daily visits to vet for IV fluids and meds. He’s still seriously ill, but starting to see some slight improvement. I learned my husband is a saint. He has done nothing since the 23rd but haul sick me and sick dog back and forth and take care of both of us.
- Dotnonymous - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 1:49 pm:
Stayed home with my Sweetheart…hoping for the best.
- Cool Papa Bell - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 2:11 pm:
Sad. Going to greatly miss Mike Mills at the Illinois State Fair and seeing him at 17th Street in SIL.
Time got one of the real good ones. The thing that always impressed me was how others in the BBQ world talked about Mike; he always offered help when asked, shared tips and tricks. He never saw others getting better at BBQ and being an expert pit-master as a threat to him.
He shared his love of the craft with anyone who was willing to ask. That says a lot about the what a person is cut from. Mike was USDA Prime.
- Froganon - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 2:20 pm:
Quiet Christmas and New Year. A relative had hert surgery and complications during recovery. A few dicey days with a platoon of family prayers and friends sending strength. Home now and recovering. All contact was via zoom and phone. We are profoundly grateful for the successful surgery and our continued escape from Covid.
- Etown - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 2:45 pm:
People lijke to call Bears Pack a rivalry but it really isnt a rivalry anymore when one team only wins once every 10 games.
Northwestern Illinois in football used to be a rivalry as well but Cats have won six in a row
- Chatham Resident - Monday, Jan 4, 21 @ 3:11 pm:
==By losing, they at least have a shot at winning a playoff game.==
Drew Brees might have something to say about that.
- Augustus Mefford - Wednesday, Jan 20, 21 @ 7:59 pm:
Please let me know if you’re searching for a writer for your site. You have some great articles, as well as I believe I would certainly be a great writer for you. If you ever before want to take some of the load off, I ‘d like to create some material for your blog site in exchange for a web link back to mine. Please shoot me an email if interested. Thanks.