I know I’m not alone in saying that 2020 has been an absolute shit show of a year. In spite of the shit show, some pretty dope things have happened in my life. Some pretty not dope things have happened too, but I want to take this time to acknowledge the good ish & not the foul.
First major event occurred in April and that was me finishing graduate school. I officially have my MLIS (Master’s in Library Information Science) from SJSU (San Jose State University). It took me three(ish) years to earn my MLIS and my program at SJSU was entirely online; which had a ton of pros and cons. I focused most of my coursework on library services, programs and policies that aim to help those experiencing homelessness, rehabilitation, and drug/alcohol addiction. I also focused heavily on diversity and ways to make collections more diverse across the board. Let’s not forget that diversity goes way beyond just skin color!
Second major event happened on Juneteenth, which is probably going to forever be one of the happiest days of my life and that was me finding out that I’m pregnant with my first child! I had my IUD removed in February and due to my almost constant reliance on birth control since I was 14 (with very few breaks) both myself and my medical provider thought that it would definitely take a while for my body to “bounce back” into it’s natural rhythm. My now (*spoiler alert*) husband and I weren’t hardcore planning on starting a family this year but after a month or two we kinda just went “Fuck it, if it happens it happens. If it don’t, it don’t.” Obviously, it happened and we couldn’t be more excited that come Pisces season 2021 we’ll be having a mutha effin’ baby boy!
Third major event happened mid-August and that was getting married to my cutie! Of course, due to the pandemic our wedding plans drastically changed. We ended up getting married in our backyard with a few of our closest friends and family present and masked up. SF City Hall was (still is?) doing virtual weddings over Microsoft Teams so we booked our date and kept our fingers crossed that our occasionally janky internet would work in our backyard. It did and everything pretty much worked out exactly to plan! We’ll be doing it again on our one-year anniversary because our original venue offered to move our reservation to next year. I’m looking forward to hopefully celebrating with all my friends and family next year.
& that’s where life has me during this pandemic. Of course, it hasn’t always been good times. There’s been some straight bullshit that’s occurred but that’s a post for another day. Right now, I just want to sprinkle some positivity onto the internet. Eventually I want to write about the burnout, fears, exhaustion, and just despair that’s been occasionally kicking my ass but not today.
What’s new, or not new, with you? Have you picked up any pandemic hobbies? Learned anything new either about yourself or the world? Slept and cried far more than usual? Let’s chitchat about it!
Cheers,
Rae Of Books 