Oh, hi. Right. I have a blog. A blog I used to love with all my heart and post on multiple times a week and that led to my entire travel writing career and that I still rely on for a bit of ad money so that I can buy diapers. And yet… the last post I wrote was a review of 2021?! And I’m writing about a post about 2022… in June of 2023?!
So here we go. In 2022, I had a baby.
I’ve been meaning to write this year in review for three months now. And as the calendar is just about to flip over to April, I figured I should actually sit down to write it. And it’s quite fitting that I am writing this on my baby’s due date; I’m in bed, Dottie curled up beside me, as my nerves and excitement aren’t allowing me to sleep.
Today is the 11th anniversary of This Battered Suitcase. I’d be lying if I said that I felt OK about it all, and that I still have the confidence that things would go back to “normal”. It hits me like a ton of bricks a few times a day: the dream job I worked for for almost two decades is gone, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get it back to where it used to be. The last year has brought with it massive waves of anxiety, and on some days, I can’t even turn on my computer, let alone try to write anything meaningful or coherent.
I’ve been a huge fan of Spotify for around five years now. In the last year alone, I listened to nearly 50,000 minutes of music (that’s the equivalent of about 35 days of nonstop music). I like to think I know Spotify well; I look forward to my Discover Weekly every Monday, I’m always checking our their suggestions, and I make many playlists. But somehow I have remained in the dark about audiobooks on Spotify, as I only recently discovered just how many books you can listen to with a Spotify account!
I’m not quite sure where to begin with this year in review. It doesn’t help that I am nearly three weeks late in publishing it; like 2020, 2021 seems to already be passing by in a strange vacuum of time. I wake up, I don’t really do anything, and then it’s dark outside. I don’t do anything, and yet time goes by and I’m always tired.
What a great way to start a review, eh? I’m sure you’re just chomping at the bit to read more!
In a recent blog post called “Here Are All the Things I Haven’t Accomplished this Year in Self-Isolation”, I reflected on all the yoga I didn’t do. All the canning, the crafts, the reading and the writing I thought I’d tackle and then just… didn’t. The one thing I did do consistently… other than watch TV, eat two-bite brownies, and watch IG reels of cute dogs? Make limoncello. That’s right, I learned how to make limoncello at home.