Patti Part Two — Patti Part Two

It’s one of my favorite days of the year! January 1st. A clean slate. A new beginning. A brand new calendar to fill with the things that bring you the most joy. If that’s not what you’re doing then today is a great day to start. Since my favorite way to spend New Years Eve is home with a pizza watching TV and getting a good nights sleep, I was up in plenty of time to start the year running on a gorgeous day with great friends.

A big crowd for the annual free run in Overland Park with Jenn and Cheryl. Couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day!

Now on to my annual recap of the year. 2019 was a good one. Retirement and travel continue to bring me much happiness, so I did more of that in 2019. Not quite to the extent of 2018 but still one third of the year. January through April I worked for a friend of mine in her accounting business so most of those months I was here in KC. I really like numbers so that was enjoyable for me. Here is the list of my trips:

February - a long weekend in NYC
May - Paris, Normandy and Belgium
June - Chicago and Lake Geneva
July - Chicago and Lake Geneva
August - NYC and Lake Geneva
September/October - Portugal, South of France, Provence, Paris and Giverny
November - Seattle, Nashville and Chicago
December - Denver and Raleigh, NC

You can read more detail about any or all of those trips in the archive of this blog - except for Raleigh which I just returned from over Christmas. What a beautiful place! I was invited to join Tom and his girlfriend Anna and her lovely family at their home in Raleigh. They were all so welcoming and went out of their way to include me in their traditions - most of which included making and eating incredible food!

The Spence crew celebrating Kim’s birthday on Christmas Eve at Mandolin Restaurant. Amazing! I had my hands full with the girls - Penny and Millie - so cute! Tom and I and Tom and Anna. A special Christmas I’ll never forget. Thanks Spence’s💕

You can see a pattern developing of the places near and dear to my heart - because I keep returning! In a 12 month period I spent almost 3 weeks in Paris. And don’t be shocked if I go back again this year. France please get your strikes and protests under control! On my last trip in October Julie and I actually experienced tear gas during a protest march - so I can now add that to my list of travel stories. We survived and check out my last post dated October 12th for the details.

I love you Paris! I will keep coming back until I know every arrondissement by heart❤️

My most favorite trip of the year though has to be the weekend of the Chicago Marathon. Keeley trained for it all year and ran for Erika’s Lighthouse charity, so not only did she do all the running but she also raised close to $2000 for a great cause. So proud of her, and of all the people that supported her by being out on the course to cheer her on. Tom and Anna flew in from NYC to be there, and that made it all the more special. Being with Keeley, Matt, Tom and Anna for the weekend was the BEST! Matt’s family - his mom Marion, Aunt Sue, sister Laura, brother-in-law Brad and nephew Owen were a huge support as well, and made multiple appearances on the course which I know made a huge difference and helped Keeley finish the race with an awesome time. Congrats Keeley! You made us all proud!

The year wasn’t all great. In early June I hurt my back and thought for a few weeks life as I know it was over. One of my favorite sayings is “jump while you can” and that made even more sense to me while this was all going on. I spent two weeks flat on my back on a yoga mat in constant pain, and had many moments where I wondered if I would improve. Happy to report that physical therapy is an amazing thing - big shout out to the miracles they can work , and now I would say I’m about 95% back to normal and obviously back running and lifting weights. I have a new appreciation for chronic pain and how quickly your life can change. So if you have things you want to do and you can do them don’t wait!

Every year I pick a theme instead of a resolution, and my back injury was the impetus for my 2020 theme. At this stage of my life long term goals aren’t really my focus. I’m going to make a bigger effort to enjoy all the moments - big, small, happy hour with friends, seeing a movie, talking to a family member, reading a good book, getting a great donut (going to eat more donuts this year for sure).

My theme a few years ago was READ, and I have continued that since by setting a goal every year to read more and watch less mindless TV. My goal for 2019 was 40 books and I fell a little short. I read 37 books, but in my defense the time I spent in Europe which totaled 41 days was a total loss from a reading standpoint, but totally great from a fun travel standpoint! There are so many wonderful books to read - I have a list I keep compiling. I like to pick my top three - but this year there was a tie so I will share my top 4.

“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens
”The Great Believers” by Rebecca Makkai
”Resistance Women” by Jennifer Chiaverini
”The Flight Portfolio” by Julie Orringer

I waited months to get “Where the Crawdads Sing” from the library, and then read it in 2 days. I’ve never talked to anyone that read it and didn’t love it. My most favorite genre is World War 2 historical fiction so lots of the other books I read are that, but in reviewing my list I had a good mix of others too, and enjoyed them all. One of the many great things about retirement is having more time to read.

The start of a new decade! Or is it the end of a decade and the new decade starts next year? I’ve read a few articles defending both stances, but since I prefer beginnings to endings I’m going with it’s a new decade. It reminds me of the color of the dress debate that rocked the country. Is it blue or gold? Who cares! It is whatever you want it to be. I haven’t spent a ton of time thinking back over the last decade, but I know that a lot of things in my life have definitely changed - the vast majority for the better. I’m excited about this next decade and entering it with a positive attitude. I’m grateful that I have such a great extended family, and friends that are the best in the world. Who has it better then me? Well I hope you feel the same about your life! The Best is Yet to Be! 2020 here we come😘