Ice Cream, Black Eyed Peas and Collards

Hello January! Hello 2021! I welcome you into my life with arms so open that it hurts.

Flashback to ALA 2018. I was waiting in line to grab coffee, a muffin, some hard unripe melon for a seat for the Geisel/Sibert/Batchelder award ceremony when I met Jacquelyn from Alabama. We chatted a bit, sat together, exchanged cards and that was it.  I had no idea that we would keep in touch as strongly as we have and that she would be one of a few colleagues to get me through the past spring and beyond. The random personal connections gained from attending in person national conferences are so powerful and long lasting. Will we be able to meet again IRL in 2021? 

Flashback even farther to ALA 2015. Carole, from LA, had an empty seat at her table during a reception for Ashley Bryan. I sat down and the rest is really history. It was lovely to wish her a happy new year last night (and I won't complain that I got to admire a cloudless, blue sky behind her when we FaceTimed). It's Carole's Sabrina who will be competing against Trenton Lee Stewart on Monday in our Face-Off.

Today: Jacquelyn was wondering about our New Year's food traditions. Uhhh, ice cream? She eats black eyed peas for good luck, collards for money and cornbread for gold.  Since I can't resist luck, money and gold, I stopped at Hannaford on our way home from getting our annual sweet cream treat and I made the soup and corn muffins.  Because of our exchange today, my phone actually thought I was having dinner with Jacquelyn.  It was sort of right?

I chose The Lion of Mars as my first book of 2021. Perfect. Chocolate cake. Carrot cake. Ping Pong. Friendship. Family. First love. Grief. Toilet paper. A virus. Scrambled eggs. Mascara. Board games. Ahhh...Jenni Holm has yet to disappoint me.* Happy almost book birthday!

Took my first leap of the year at Schodack Island State Park on the banks of our beloved Hudson River. The sky doesn't look like Carole's did last night and the sun really wasn't shining, but that didn't stop us (and a whole lot of other people) from getting outside and taking our #ForestFriday #FirstDayHikes #AdventureNY of the year.  So with fresh air in my lungs and good luck in my belly, I'm ready for ya, 2021. Bring. it. on!

 

 

*ICYMI: Here's our Author Fan Face-Off with Jenni

 

 

A New Year's Like No Other

 

Every NYE we hop on the Mass Pike and head east to my cousins' annual party. We are merry and happy as we catch up with the Watertown crowd. 

I always try and convince my husband to leave work early so my cousin and I can hop over to Zia's. There I will find super cool things like my favorite sweatshirt cape I love to leap in or that funky scarf I will still wear to dress things up a bit.

So what's happening this year? Instead of Zia's, I handed off Newbery 2021 contending books to some fifth and sixth graders who just couldn't wait till Monday to start reading.  I don't blame them. Who can refuse a guaranteed good read this NYE weekend? 

I'm finishing up Monday's "Author Fan Face-Off" challenge book, The Mysterious Benedict Society. Back when we first started our show, I reached out to my friend, Carole, in LA to see if she had any star students who would be up for the challenge.  Months later, we get to meet Sabrina "in person"! It will be then that I will thank her for giving me the opportunity to revisit the world of Reynie, Kate, Sticky and Constance.  Having not read the book in over 10 years, every detail except for maybe that the kids are gifted (and that is easily found on the back of the book), was completely erased from my memory. I'll be curious what Trenton Lee Stewart remembers. Stay tuned...

Back in the spring my friend, Dawn and I, walked 25-30 or more miles a week.  Every week.  We are still walking but since I'm closing my move and exercise ring with my .5 mile walk to and from school and pushing my library on wheels up and down the hallways, our walks are much shorter. But today we closed the ring and then some with a 6.5 mile walk reminiscent of March (and April and May and...)

And I'll probably eat some cheese, a few cookies, watch the ball drop and welcome the new year with open arms. Fantastic to meet you, 2021. We've all been waiting for this day for a long time!

My friend Alicia always posts about her last and first book of the year.  Mine? The last one could very well be Benedict Society, unless you count an essay, poem or conversation from Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of Covid-19 Edited by Jennifer Haupt. My first of 2021? It's a toss up--I could be catching up on my 2021 Newbery contenders (currently my students and I are intrigued by the Adrianna Cuevas's debut, The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez), looking ahead to 2022 (Jenni Holm has a new book coming out Tuesday!) or prepping for future Face-Offs.  Whatever it is, I will try not to be too sad to miss our annual New Year's Day send off back west of ice cream from Rancatores or JP Licks. I will swap ice cream for a soothing cup of tea (yes, you read that right, Alicia!) and escape to another world via the written word.  Happy New Year and HELLO 2021!