5 Things That Made 2024 Special (or Different from Other Years)

1. Learned how to knit properly

I learned knitting when I was about 16 years old from Mama, but never really learned how to do anything beyond a longtail cast on, and the knit and purl stitches. Around then, I also tried to make a 2x2 rib stitch scarf, that I never completed. Then around 2017, I knitted a mini 'blanket' for Saffron, and a simple garter stitch scarf. Somewhere during Covid, I got the idea that I could learn to knit a sweater for E, but that never amounted to anything. Finally this year however, I decided to learn how to knit properly, especially because I love the look of knitted items vs crocheted items. I visited my new local yarn store (Anne-Marie is the name of the owner, and she's a hoot), got my first circular needle, and made a little pot-holder. Since then I have made scarves and socks. I am now working on a sweater each for E and M.

2. First family holiday

We went on our first family (of 4) holiday! We drove through CT and MA, and then ended the trip with a quick visit to my in laws in Long Island. It was enjoyable, but tiring.

3. Learned yoga

Started doing regular exercise for the first time in years, and decided to start with yoga because I thought it wouldn't give me a heart attack at the very least. Well it didn't, but it is decidedly kicking my ass. That being said, I am definitely a lot stronger than I am before. I can even do a side plank now!

4. First warfare reenactment (American Revolution)

One of the things I wanted to see when I first came to the US was a battle re-enactment - any sort was fine. Finally after a decade of being in the US, Jon and I went to one with the girls in New Milford. We had coincidentally been driving by the area the previous weekend and had seen the advertisement for it. Jon and I really enjoyed it, the girls not so much because they found the gunfire to be too loud.

5. Probable ADHD diagnosis

For years I always wondered why I seemed to always be more easily frustrated most people, and why I am always distracted and fidgety. I also used to joke that the only reason I didn't have ADHD was because I not hyper, instead I am low energy and tired all the time. Well, I ended up seeing a random meme-like image randomly online a few months ago, and things started to line up. I ended up talking it over with my psychiatrist, and he agreed that the ADD side (which had been subsumed into ADHD in the medical field, in the past it was it's own diagnosis) definitely explained a lot of my school and education experiences, and my current experiences. Anyway it doesn't change very much for me right now, as a stay at home Mom, but it does help me think about things and my own behaviour in a useful way.