My 2019 Year in Review

As December comes to a close, I look back over the year and review all that has happened. It serves as a learning tool as well as a chance to remember all that we accomplished during the year. The year 2020, in late 2019 I called the year 2020, the year of perfect vision. Looking back, the year is going to be one that many people will dread to recall.

For me by late December 2019 I knew I would be changing jobs. Ending a career of 18 ½ years with a company that I felt no longer cared about the people that it employed yet alone, little ole me. Jan 6, 2020, I began my new position. Leaving my comfort zone of what I knew and when into a bigger store with more employees and a much faster pace. This company does their inventory in Jan and my first two weeks schedules were open to closes. Being salary, I wondered if this was a good decision. Coming to the end of the year I believe this was the right move for me.

By Feb I was beginning to wonder about my training. My training manager seemed to be saying one thing, doing another, and then mad when we did as he said. This went on till mid-March when the higher ups decided it was time for him to move on. I was put in charge for a couple days while we wait for our new manager to arrive.

Our new manager just happens to be someone that I knew of, she and I worked for the same company before we both changed and started for the current company. She made the jump about a year before me. She was one of the reasons why I decided to jump. She dove in with both feet only to have a pandemic stop us a week into her new position. She and I worked for a week together while the store was closed and then everyone from my position down was furloughed. I was off for 5 weeks before coming back to work. Like everyone else I applied for unemployment and was back to work before I received my first payment. The unemployment benefits was less than what I was making working and I’ve been playing catch up for the rest of the year.

Since back to work I’ve been learning more and beginning to feel like I know what I’m doing and why I am there. It’s a whole different role than the one I had before and I’m liking what I am doing. Time flies when you are having fun and believe me the time has been flying.

Our dogs have all be doing well this year. Gabe is showing his age more and has been slow to move. He still steals my chair and sneaks’ snacks, but the best part is how he has bonded with Merry and helped with her. Ramona is very much a daddy’s girl and makes it hard to get good pictures of her because she always wants to be at my side. Merry is our miracle child. This was a very tough year for her as she has been growing and adjusting her medication became a challenge. Not realizing how much weight she had gain made us wonder if maybe it was time to put her down. Her medication wasn’t working, and she was having a ton of seizures. Talking with the vet, we decided to try some things, got her in for some blood work and found that her dose wasn’t strong enough. I’m happy to say that since then she has been a very happy girl.

Once my work schedule settled down, we decided to take some day trips to visit Lighthouses on Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. I’m thinking we’ll continue checking out check out different lighthouses in 2021. Been strange with a lot of restaurants not being open for inside eating. Of course, Merry had to travel with us and she now has had her paws in Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and in the Straits of Mackinaw.

The biggest thing I think we all will remember will be this pandemic that we all have been dealing with. Wearing a mask in public places, many businesses closed and lots of people not able to work. The election of our president, all the arguments and how divided we all are. I don’t see an fast end to the pandemic, nor do I think the arguments will end soon. I’m ready to put 2020 behind me. Let’s hope that 2021 turns out to be a great year.