* Just so you know Peyton Manning is one of the NFL’s 2021 Hall of Fame finalists! * This is so true of me. I don’t do and never have done Snapchat or Tik Tok, but I can write complete sentences with correctly spelled words in cursive, and tell time on a clock with hands.

Recently I sat down and brainstormed with three of my weirdest friends — Me, Myself and I — and made a list of things that happened in the past year, not necessarily related to or because of the coronavirus or the 2020 Election. What follows below, in no particular order, are the events or situations that we came up with. And while my thoughts are in no particular order, the order of the categories is intentional: I want to get “the ugly” over with, and end with “the good.” I don’t care whether you agree with me or not; this is my list, and I’m sticking to it. So here goes.

* I read an Instagram post asking about when you were growing up if you went to bowling alleys, skating rinks or drive-ins for fun. Yes! I did! In fact I can do one better than just saying I went to these three places for entertainment since my parents owned 183 Lanes in Stockton in the ‘60s, so I have wonderful childhood memories of that place. We still frequent it often when our family has something to celebrate like birthdays or get-togethers, or just because we are hungry. As for the skating rinks, who remembers skating on Saturdays at Stockton City Hall and participating in the Limbo contest? And let’s not forget Saturday nights at the Park Drive-In Theatre! Whether you watched the movie in a car or sat by the concession stand with your friends, it was a great night out! Or how about those $1.00 family nights on Wednesday evenings in the summer when the movies were the “oldies but goodies” like Ma and Pa Kettle? Sometimes Dad would back in the station wagon and open up the back door, so we could lie down and snuggle up with our pillows and blankets to watch the movie.

Last year at this time, we were all telling each other “Happy New Year!” Little did we know what was to come in that new year. I know I had looked forward to the year 2020 because it just seemed like a really fun, cool number. But lately, as we neared the end of 2020, I have been looking forward to 2021 with full hope and prayers that it will be better than 2020. Actually, just about anything will be better than 2020.

THIS AND THAT * If you haven’t watched the TV series “Yellowstone,” I highly recommend it. And if you were fortunate enough to find out in time to record all of them, the entire three seasons were shown continuously on the Paramount TV station during the Christmas weekend! * As always, we had an AWESOME Christmas with lots of fun, presents and food! My kiddos put a lot of thought into what they got for me and were so excited when I opened up my presents! * Not going to lie, I love watching all the Christmas Hallmark movies— some over and over again—but once Christmas is over, and I mean that very day, I am done with them! That is until next year! * The bags under my eyes are Prada.

Dear Senator Pat Roberts: This letter began as a sincere, succinct and timely thank you for providing passes to this autumn’s Preview event surrounding the dedication of the new Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Probably most of us think of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” as a novelty song. A lot of people even link this old Christmas carol with other nonsensical numbers such as “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” or “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” However, even though “The Twelve Days of Christmas” makes little sense to us now, it was once one of the most important teaching tools of the Catholic church.

* “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’” is one of the first country songs that made it on my all-time favorite music list. Country music star Charley Pride had such a melodic voice and now he can sing to all the angels in Heaven. My Mom will be right up front for that concert.

Even though “Silent Night” has been recorded more than any other song in history, the fact that we know it at all is a miracle. Created out of necessity and performed in a tiny village on Christmas Eve by two ordinary Austrians and a tiny choir, this incredibly beautiful and simple carol owes its debut to an organ that wouldn’t play and a priest who wouldn’t hold a Christmas mass without special music.

“And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn. And there were in the same country Shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.