Happy New Year and welcome to Make the Lemonade.

At the very end of last year I found myself wanting to write again and started thinking about maybe blogging again. I didn’t want to go back to The Occasional Nomads though; I couldn’t go back – I was done with it for a variety of reasons. I eventually decided I’d try something new and hopefully this new blog will work out for me and for readers. The focus of Make the Lemonade will be finding satisfaction and fulfillment in living simply, saving, making goals and achieving them, and staying positive in an often not-so-positive world. Recipes will of course make an appearance now and again.

I will only be posting once a week as I start out. At the time I stopped writing last tear I was overwhelmed by just the thought of having to write anything at all, so I think a slow start will be the best way for me to get back into this endeavor again. I’m also having to learn new things about using WordPress as it’s no longer as intuitive as it once was so things may stay bare bones for a while.

I loved The Occasional Nomads and its community, and it was extremely difficult to shut it down last year. It was a necessary step though as writing had ceased being the joy it usually was and had instead become an obligation, a chore, that grew more and more difficult to do over time. It’s taken these past months off for the desire to communicate and connect once again to return, and with this new blog we’ll see how it goes.

I was very depressed last fall and into the end of the year. I rarely suffer from depression, but when it arrives it comes on hard. Besides giving up the blog I stopped reading, and almost never left the apartment except unless necessary. Taking a shower and getting dressed became a major effort. I just didn’t feel like doing anything and spent most days sitting in a chair doomscrolling through the daily news which of course only made things worse. I eventually gave up all social media except for my Instagram accounts. Things began to slowly turn around in early December but I made a point of not pushing myself to do anything because I realized that was what I had been doing all last year and it had made me miserable. Enough of that! I don’t feel completely back to myself yet, but I can see the end of our time in Tennessee arriving and that’s making a big difference.

Through all of this Brett has been my rock. He never demanded or asked anything of me but picked up the slack and kept faith that I would move through whatever was going on and eventually come out ahead.

Our family Christmas this year was a three-ring circus but still a lot of fun. Our daughter-in-law left for a week’s visit to Japan on December 20 and our son took our granddaughter with him to New York for the holiday. Our grandson however wanted to stay in Tennessee and celebrate with us which his parents okayed. Meiling, her husband (K), and WenYu arrived in Tennessee on the 22nd but sadly YaYu could not come this year – she had to work on Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas with no time to get here and back. WenYu’s husband could not travel either. So, our smaller group celebrated Christmas morning, and then we had a second celebration when our DIL returned and our son and granddaughter were back from New York. I spent most of my time in the kitchen getting everyone fed which was honestly exhausting. The schedule was crazy, the apartment was always crowded and a mess, but it was wonderful to be together again.

Brett and I announced before everyone left though that this would be our last year to host Christmas, that it was time for us to pass it on, and WenYu has volunteered her (big) home in Massachusetts for future holidays. We’ll celebrate “Christmakkah” (the portmanteau a good friend shared ) as WenYu and her husband also celebrate Hanukkah.

Brett and I shared a quiet New Year’s Eve, our 48th together (he was deployed in 1991 for Desert Storm so we missed that one), and we finished off a bottle of sparkling wine to welcome in 2026 at midnight. There are going to be some big changes this year and we are as ready as we can be for now to face each of them. There will be much to accomplish as well as look forward to. 2026 will most likely also be a slightly slower year for us overall though as Brett moves closer to 80, and I enter my mid-seventies. We are still healthy in mind and body and grateful for that.

It feels good to be writing again, and I’m hopeful many of my readers will find me. Here’s wishing all of you a happy and prosperous new year (well, as prosperous as one can be in these times)! Happy New Year!