Well, it’s been quite a while. My last post was May 2019 and, wow, have things changed. Although not that long on the timeline of life, it seems like it’s been 100 years. I think we all can all agree that 2020 seemed like the longest year, until 2021 came. And yet also it feels like it was just 2020. I’ve lost all sense of time and I have no idea if something happened a week ago or a year ago.
I started a completely new career, still in healthcare but not in nursing, as an account executive in telehealth. I got my MBA. I started a business called Nurse Career Consulting to help healthcare professionals with their resume, cover letter, LinkedIn, etc.
I survived a pandemic (thus far) without getting COVID, and getting vaccinated and boosted as soon as I could. I went from traveling for work every week and for leisure as often as I could to not leaving my house for weeks. I learned how to cook and bake, something I never thought would happen. Baking has even become my favorite stress reliever (well, maybe second favorite after Prosecco). I went paddle boarding in the mornings and watched the wildlife all day. I became a birder! I’ve seen 135 unique species as of today.
I experienced the hardest thing of my life up to this point, the loss of my grandmother. She was one of my best friends, my travel companion, my inspiration. She was the funniest, wittiest, and most generous person I have ever known. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you’ve probably been entertained by her. She passed away at home at the impressive age of 94. I’m still very much grieving but only time will help.
She also made me realize that, even at 94, life is too short to waste not doing things we love. Writing has always been my outlet, whether it’s blog posts, short stories, or working on a novel, and I have been neglecting that part of me. Just like when you take a hiatus from working out, I need to slowly build my writing muscles and the only way to truly do that is use them as much and often as possible. While this will be a food and travel blog, there may be some random things thrown in there.
Life is so unpredictable, so I may write every week, every month, or every year, but I am going to write. Things are starting to safely open (I live in FL so things have been open basically the whole time, but I wouldn’t call it safe) so I’m hoping to be inspired by making up for all the restaurants, experiences, and travel we missed out on.
If you decide to stay here and follow along, thank you. I will try to be entertaining and only a little annoying. If you decide to leave, thank you for staying for as long as you did, and I hope to see you again soon.
XPatti
Your Grandmother was an amazing woman. You have some of her great traits. She’ll be surely missed.
Kelli & David