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I seriously think my most significant achievement of 2021 was making it to the other side. I mean, seriously. An insane amount of beautiful things happened, but there were definitely a lot of struggles, too. In some ways, I think 2021 was even wilder than 2020.
I think 2020 was a trigger for an abundance of changes that were to come in 2021. After everything just abruptly falling apart in 2020, the year 2021 gave us (at least me) a new chance to rebuild and reprioritize after seeing so many things crumble all around us.
Here’s a little month-by-month breakdown for those I didn’t get to see or catch up with.
The 2021 Year-In-Review
January
I was still in the thick of the Indiana Contact Tracing and 211 Vaccine Project, so I was working from home for the insanity of January 6th. It reminded me of watching other significant events of my millennial life flash across my screen – Columbine, September 11th, etc. It was weird. Luckily my life was flexible enough at the time so that I could be home with my parents while my mother recovered from major surgery, so that was a blessing in a challenging moment. I learned so much about many things that I had never experienced before in January.
February
My life WAS BOOMING in February of 2021. The vaccines were finally being released to individuals in Indiana, so I got A LOT of people squared away for that and trained many other people to do the same. Other than work and family needs, I have nothing new to report.
March
After a year of no theatre gigs, my calendar slowly returned. When everything had shut down, the same school I had been working with was finally getting back to putting up a spring show. Of course, plans were amended for Rona, but it was so exciting to get back at it with that same crew. Mid-month, I was able to get my first dose of the vaccine since I was working with kids. I completed the DIY project of putting together my own living room furniture (not my favorite thing).
April
BIRTHDAY MONTH! My friend wrote a book that I had to buy and read – way to go! I spent many hours in rehearsal – mixed between Zoom and in-person – with middle schoolers. I got my second dose of the vaccine to be considered fully vaccinated by my birthday. I purchased my first fiddle leaf fig that is still thriving. I joined “Team Air Fryer” and haven’t looked back. I took myself on a birthday trip to a prison to see the filming location for The Shawshank Redemption at the Ohio State Reformatory. I even braved a snowstorm to drive out there, but I did see my friend from camp, Molly, on the drive back through to Indy.
May
Celebrated more spring birthdays and met friends’ babies! I wrapped up my kids’ show to start getting ready for camp. Getting ready to leave for a couple of months requires a lot of planning sometimes – lots of maintenance was done, cleaning, hauling out, etc. The usual spring cleaning.
June
Packed the car up for an earlier than usual departure to the East Coast. Drove 12 hours to NYC, where it took me 2+ hours to park my car. That story still makes me cackle. I decided to fly over the city in a helicopter the next day. Drove on to Maine for camp.
July
This month always flies because my days are so full from AM-PM. Then, I’m still busy catching up on biz stuff on my days off. FLIES BY. I even put myself away in a hotel by myself to get things done because this month was hard. Went to Portland a couple of times. Rode a horse into the Saco River. Went in the ocean. FULL MONTH.
August
I taught fellow midwesterners how to crack a lobster. I said goodbye to my campers and staff. Went to Harvard – did not see Elle Woods. I came home from camp very tired. Saw Eva Noblezada in concert. I did some IndyFringe-ing!
September
Still fringing into September! I actually got to take a fair amount of this month off from “working.” So that was a nice change. Sang in an opera concert. Got surrounded by a Porsche parade around my building. Fall finally decided to show up. Did lots of pet sitting! Saw Megan Hilty in concert. I booked a gig at the Indianapolis Zoo for Halloween.
October
I was witching it up like a crazy person for Halloween. Supported friends in seeing The Color Purple. A little boy made my day by saying, “You pretty. I need my mama to take a picture of me with the pretty witch.” Got boosted and adjudicated some FFA events.
November
Faceplanted right into Yuletide season. Saw the hanging of the lights on Monument Circle. I made a lot of copies and got millions and millions of steps in. I ordered a lot of coffee. Stephen Sondheim – enough said. Bestie came to visit before jetting off to the West Coast.
December
There was A LOT of holiday magic in my life, thanks to Yuletide. I sent out the epic holiday “plants & me” card. I had the craftiest Secret Santa for Yuletide – ran me all around to some of my favorite spots. I filmed a lot of TikToks for fuzzy characters and popped backstage for a few runs of Yuletide. Made it through Christmas. I did a lot more pet sitting.
I always like reading short recaps of other people’s years, but I know that these are never complete stories. These are the Spark Notes versions of a whole existence, but I’m always curious about how others spend the year. I hope you enjoyed my short version of a 2021 recap!
