2022 recap

© Emily John Photography

I was feeling really reflective at the end of the year, but as usual I did not prioritize this blog entry high enough to write it during a time when it actually made sense.

Being too busy was kind of the theme for 2022. For R and I, there seemed to be an increased focus on our jobs. I don’t like to write too much about work here on the blog, but I moved up to a new role with more responsibility, something I wasn’t necessarily looking for, and the parts of life I am more interested in took a back seat. It’s hard to turn down opportunities, and I find myself wanting to take advantage of these prime money-earning years. R worked really hard on her spin-out company while maintaining her old job too. She was finally able to leave the old job at the end of the year and now officially works for the start-up. That has been exciting, and we are very curious to see where that leads in the next few years. All I can say is we are now the people who are stuck in the office (or basement, for me) working late on Friday afternoons.

... And thus, it was a slower year for my creative pursuits. I did make two Cottage Cheese videos and took a couple of 35mm film walks (which I call "going fishing" because I never know if I'll get any bites or if a big one will get away), but much of my creative energy went toward a concert video that wasn't even finalized until 2023 (I'll wait until the next recap before providing a link). Mostly, I’ve just been reviewing movies on Letterboxd, which gets me to think critically about the media I consume and is great practice for meeting some future writing goals of mine.

Our spring break was spent on the beautiful island of St. Lucia. R and V took a Memorial weekend trip to Santa Barbara. We all attended a family reunion in Colorado in June. We spent a week off screens at Camp Du Nord near the end of summer. R and I had some romantic weekends away in Red Wing and Willow River. I appreciate all the planning R does to make sure we all get away from the grind and see some of the world.

We attended concerts by three of my favorite bands: Beach House, Spoon, and The National.

Omri turned 8 and started tennis lessons. Both kids participated in cross-country skiing and began learning the piano. Veronica, 12, also started playing the flute and took a theater class at the Children's Theater which met two nights a week down in Minneapolis for most of the fall. It wasn’t worth driving home after dropping her off, so I just stayed down there and walked around the city, once in a while dropping in Spyhouse Coffee near the Minneapolis Institute of Art for an evening tea. It was not a bad situation, and it helped shaped my memory of the fall. And it was great that V got deeper into acting and bonded with kids having similar interests to her.

The month of December was particularly crazy for me. Aside from the usual Christmas season ongoings/shopping, I traveled to Philly for a work holiday party. Complicating matters, my Grandma passed away the same week. I delivered a eulogy at her funeral and drove back home in a snowstorm. I really appreciated Christmas vacation, even if it probably only boiled down to about one day when there wasn't much going on. I find myself yearning for more days like that--a quieter life. I want to watch movies, read novels, and take some long walks. That sounds like the perfect retirement to me.

Obviously, there were more things that happened over the year. My Four Peas blog should give you an idea, although I don't post as much there as I used to either. The kids don't want their photos taken all the time, and I've become more careful about what ones I share. This is part of them growing up, and I'm doing my best at respecting their wishes/privacy while still trying to document my family life. As difficult as the juggling of everything can be sometimes, I know that one day I will miss these days. It has been striking me lately just how fleeting the time with young kids really is.

Let's call this good for another year. Spoiler alert: 2023 is looking similar in many ways so far. For better or worse, time is flying by and without these records, there's no way I would remember what happened when.