Wishing you a Covid Free Holiday!

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! And most important please continue to be vigilant and stay safe and healthy as best you can. 2020….the year we will never forget.

This pretty much sums it up wouldn’t you say?

I love lists so I made two. All the things I did less or zero of in 2020, and then all the things I did more of. Surprisingly the list of things I did more of was longer. And here they are:

Less or Zero List -

Travel - cancelled 3 big fun trips. It’s definitely more fun to plan trips than to cancel them😣
In person time with family and friends
Happy hours
In person church
Working out at Orange Theory
Attending theater, ballet, movies…..basically ANYTHING!
Restaurants
Shopping

More List-

Sleep - usually a solid 8 hours a night
Reading - my goal was 40 books and I’m at 45 and the month is young
Cooking - think large pots of soup NOT sourdough starter😂
Netflix - SO MUCH NETFLIX
Zoom - before March who ever heard of it?
Online church and Bible study
Running and walking - trained and ran a half marathon in October in honor of RBG
Talking on the phone - not texting…talking. Thanks to everyone that called to check on me💕
Online classes, lectures, virtual art and architectural tours etc. I learned things!
New friends - met so many wonderful people through these online activities that I now call friends.

Yes 2020 has not been what any of us planned. And it’s been very hard and terrible for so many people. It’s not over yet unfortunately but we do have some light at the end of the tunnel with the great news of vaccines coming. I never lose sight of how fortunate I am, and I have tried to do my best to help where and when I can. My kids remind me frequently that the best thing I can do is stay healthy since I am in the “at risk” group. When did that happen??

A few highlights of my year that do not include the pandemic are the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl in February for starters. The celebration parade went right by my building and our view could not have been more perfect and warm since it was a really cold day. Definitely didn’t stop the fans from camping out to get a good spot.

Top left is Patrick Mahomes on the back of the bus! Hosted a party for good friends that was a blast and Keeley came down for the game and parade making the whole thing even more special.

I left for a few weeks in Arizona the day after the parade and had a great time. Amazing weather, great hiking, excellent food and time with family and friends.

I finally made it to the Grand Canyon, conquered Camelback Mountain and Fat Man’s Pass at South Mountain Park.

In August I joined Tom and Anna and the Spence’s at their lovely beach home in South Carolina. It was heaven. We stayed very safe cooking all our meals and getting take out, but so wonderful to be able to sit and walk on the beach and pretend Covid didn’t exist for at least awhile.

My daily morning walk. Just me and the beach.

Then very recently I joined Tom and Anna for Thanksgiving on Sugar Mountain in North Carolina. Again super safe adventure with us cooking all our meals and hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Such a beautiful area.

A quick update on the kids. Tom and Anna left Manhattan in early March when Covid was taking off in NYC and thanks to the Spence’s stayed in South Carolina at the beach house. Originally they thought it would be just a few weeks but needless to say they stayed for months. Luckily they could work from anywhere. In June they decided not to go back to New York and made arrangements to pack up their stuff and put it in storage until they decided what their permanent residence would be. They are now in a beautiful home on Sugar Mountain and will eventually relocate to Chicago when Covid improves and both work out of Chicago offices.

From the city life of Manhattan to the Blue Ridge Mountains! These two are resilient!

Keeley and Matt are staying strong and healthy in Chicago. So proud of how they have been so responsible in taking the virus seriously and following all the guidelines. I got to see Keeley twice this year. She came down for the Super Bowl as I mentioned and then again for a week in Sept to keep me company. She also can work from anywhere so it was wonderful to have her here. She is a much better cook than I so that was a bonus! It’s been a year since I saw Matt so this is a picture of the two of them post Chicago Marathon that Keeley ran in 2019 - but they look the same😊

All 5 of us were at the Marathon and she did great! So proud!

My big news is that I am moving back to Chicago this spring! I’m excited about it but it’s also going to be hard to leave Kansas City. When we moved here in 1992 the plan was to move back in 2 years so I’m 27 years late, and in those years it has become a place I love. I have made terrific friends, raised the kids here, spent countless hours volunteering at places that matter to me and found a church I absolutely love. But with both kids being in Chicago in my heart I know it’s what I really want. Covid has been bad, but for me and many of you I think it has clarified what’s most important - so Chicago consider yourself warned! Probably late spring since I’m not crazy enough to move back in the winter🥶

While I am moving back to Chicago, my traveling days are definitely NOT over! When my group is up for the vaccine I will gladly get in the queue to receive it and then will feel confident that I can continue checking off all the places I still want to see, and revisit some of those I love so much. In the meantime stay safe and remind yourself that we can do hard things. We already have. Sending all best wishes for a holiday that connects you with those you love most either in person safely or virtually if that’s the best way to keep everyone safe.

Patti💕