Sliding one box flap over the other, I heaved a loud sigh of relief. Another pile of stuff on its way out of the house.

Filled to the near bursting with bits and bobs of plastic, a half dozen dress-up outfits that hadn't been worn in nearly a decade, and who knows what else, it was bound for a friend's home where her kids could rip through the treasures that had once kept my own daughter entertained.

Another pile of stuff gone. Another box filled and destined for a brand new home.

Finally, progress after months of stalling.

Like half of America, I started the pandemic strong, convinced I'd finish off all the long deferred projects in just a month or two of being stuck in the house. By some estimates, as much as three quarters of homeowners in America tackled at least one home improvement project in the days and weeks after COVID-19 brought our lives to a screeching halt.

We were scared then, working on pure adrenaline.

We were hopeful too, I'd wager, convinced this would all be over in a few months time. But as 2020 wore on with the very 2020-ness of it, the shine of spiffying up the place was worn away. At times I wondered to myself “if we are going to stare at the same walls day after day, does it really matter what they look like?”

I stopped caring what the house looked like. I stopped clearing out the old toys and games, left paint cans unopened in the office, brushes balancing on their lids.

The best intentions of March and even April 2020 had given way to something more like despair.

We all went through this in our own way. Maybe it wasn't home improvement projects for you. Maybe you convinced yourself you'd finally learn to make that sourdough bread and cut your dependency on the grocery store in half or you were intent on bringing back family dinners.

And maybe you did better than I, or maybe you were worn down by 2020 too.

It's OK.

It was a year that felt like a century.

It's over now. Even the month-long extension of 2020 that was the month of January is over.

And now that we're nearing the year mark since our global nightmare began, I dare say some of the hope is back. Vaccines are being administered right and left. Treatment regimens are getting better, people more inclined to wear their masks.

COVID-19 is still here. We don't know when it will leave.

But some of the energy of a year ago is back. I'm sorting again, organizing again, improving again.

Progress is happening, and I'm sighing with relief.