Hawaii - April 24th Wedding Day!

Sunday April 24th - The Day of the Wedding!

Sunday morning we packed up and left our Airbnb and moved to our hotel for the wedding. We hoped for an early checkin, and we got it. Sarah and I had hair and makeup at 11:45 in Kelsey’s  room. Their room was crazy! Dan said it was as big as their apartment and it certainly was close.

Joanne Getting Her Makeup Done

We hurried over and it was very nice. We had something to eat, a little champagne and then got our makeup done. She gave me false eyelashes and I’m still not sure what I think of that. I guess I’ll have to see what the pictures look like. They feel weird at first but then I got used to them, mostly.

The woman that did my hair said I had a good haircut. I’ll have to tell Jacquie! Sarah went back to their room to help put the boys down for a nap but I stayed until Joanne’s makeup was finished. It was after 2 by the time we went back to our room, but we had a little while to decompress before it was time to get dressed and head back across the street for pictures at 3:45.

As part of getting our pictures taken, Jeanne, me, and Joanne all got flower leis. I was delighted; I've never had a lei before! Lee and Craig also got leis, with red flowers and leaves instead of the big white flowers that women get. They looked pretty cool.

After pictures it was time to go over to the venue. All our guests sat down, and we all lined up to get ready to go down the aisle. First Lee and I led the way, then Daniel, the groomsmen, and the bridesmaids. Then it was time for Leo and Kirby. Sarah led them to the aisle, pointed to where they were supposed to go, and scurried around the side to her seat. They were on their own. They looked down the aisle saw all the friendly faces, held each other’s hands and did it! I can’t tell you how proud I was of Leo, and Kirby too. It was a big deal for Leo. It took a lot of courage for him to do that. They were incredibly cute and I can’t wait to see the pictures.

Leo, Kirby and the Flower Girl

Then the flower girl, tossing the rose petals, and then Kelsey with her mom and dad. Kelsey’s dress was so spectacular. She looked incredibly happy and her parents were a little misty eyed. So were we.

The ceremony was pretty sweet. They explained the Japanese, Hawaiian and Jewish symbols, said their vows, kissed. Husband and wife! Gosh, Daniel has found himself such a wonderful girl.

We were herded outside onto the patio for the cocktail hour. They had wine and beer, and several different cocktails available. And lots and lots of hor droves. Every time I turned around something different was going by. I tried a lot of them, but I’m sure I missed some.

Leo, Kirby and the flower Girl were busy cleaning up the rose petals

Then it was time for the reception, in another part of the hotel. Kirby insisted on walking down all three flights of stairs, which held us up including all the people behind him and then the people in front of us had disappeared and we weren’t positive where to go, but we figured it out. 

A very large room with big tables. We sat at a table with all our family members. First there was a salad then the main courses, either fish, meat or a vegan option. It wasn't as good as Roy’s but it was still delishous. The dessert was REALLY good, however!

Amy, Lee, Daniel, Kelsey, Mark

Then it was time for the toasts. First a speech by the maid of honor and then one by Daniel Tse, Daniel’s best man. Wow, Daniel Tse’s speech was pretty amazing, very complementary to our Daniel, as a friend and as a person. They have known each other since daycare at the CDL, so that is just really special. Then the MC got us all in the mood, waving our napkins in circles above our heads. 

Mary, Cathy and Sam

Next came the bonszai toasts by two of Kelsey’s Uncles, a Japanese-Hawaiian thing. They are short toasts in Japanese, one to honor the parents (us) and one to honor the bride and groom.

Then Daniel and I danced, to James Taylor of course. Daniel said “I may fall asleep,” and it took me a second and then I laughed. And he was a nice dance partner, very easy to dance with. Then Kelsey and her dad danced to a Hawaiian song, and then the party really began. But first Kirby and Leo had to warm up the dance floor to Lizzo. Ha.

There were lots of fun activities, including a photo booth, 

a guest book with a Polaroid camera. They had the skyline of San Francisco made with the 1001 golden cranes that Kelsey folded on display.

The younger folks were dancing to songs I hadn't heard before, so I spent my time talking to family and friends. Eventually it was time to go back to our hotel room.  It was 11 before I turned out the light. So crazy, and so wonderful!

Coronavirus Diaries Mid to Late October and All of November

October 13

This morning Leo and I went to Gale Woods Farm. It’s a working farm that is part of the Three Rivers Park System. We went there about a year ago for a toddler activity and picked strawberries and watered plants, but this time we just went on our own, to see animals and hike around in the woods and fields.

I didn’t think there would be many people there but we brought our masks, just in case.

When we got there, however, there were bunches of people and school buses! There was a Cross Country meet going on! At first I though oh we’ll have to leave and go do something else. But Gale Woods is a pretty big place, so we just headed away from the area where the meet was being held and walked over to see the sheep.

There were sheep, goats, and even a llama in a big field. We watched them for awhile, butting heads, eating, pooping. Then we walked over to the barn and saw the chickens. The rooster crowed, cookadoodledoo! That was entertaining. We wandered by a greenhouse and down a road to a cow. One of the workers told us it’s name was Aurora. We talked to Aurora for quite some time but couldn’t convince to come closer so we could pet her.

We saw the racers from afar, but I found that a lot more interesting than Leo did. He did like the race cones, however! Most of the adults watching the meet were wearing masks; very few of the teenagers were. I thought about putting mine on, but I could remain socially distant easily and it was cold and windy I really didn’t think there was much to worry about,

We sat at a picnic table and had a snack, grapes and apple bread. We walked over to see another cow but it wasn’t nearly as friendly as Aurora. Then it was time to walk back to the car and go home for lunch.

We walked about a mile and enjoyed ourselves. Maybe we’ll go back sometime when there isn’t a meet going on and we can explore more of the farm.

October 14 - Crochet and bladder update

So I had my 3 week checkup with the pelvic floor PT person yesterday. She says I’m doing well. I need to do the kegel exercises with more frequency, and I really need to try to drink more water, because believe it or not, diluted urine is less irritating and reduces the urge to go. Other than that just be patient. I’m up to waiting an hour and 50 minutes before I pee. Today is weird. I really haven’t had a big urge to pee today. But some days it seems like I spend most of the day wanting to go to the bathroom. Once I get to say 2.5 hours between pees, I’m going to start not timing myself every single day. 

The crocheting is going well. I need to work on making my stitches a bit tighter so that my squares are closer to the correct size but most of the time I’m not that far off. I’m on block number 4, which is all half double crochet. I decided to make two Afghans at the same time so I’ve bought yarn in blue and gray shades and I’m making 2 blocks at a time. I need the practice, and I’m a little obsessed right now, so it helps fill the time until the next kit arrives. It’s exciting when they come, I can’t wait to see what stitches I'm going to learn next!

It’s going to drop down into the 30’s every night this week and by the weekend we might even see some snow. My dormant bare root plants are supposed to arrive today, which means I’m going to be spending the next few days getting them in the ground. Solomon seal in the back shade garden, columbine in the sunny Buddha garden, Monarda in the wildflower garden and maybe some in the rain garden too. I’ll have to mark them carefully so that I can find them in the spring and make sure they survived. 

I also dug up the rosemary and thyme and potted them. Maybe I can get them to survive the winter indoors. It usually doesn’t work but I’ll give it a shot.

October 17

I’ve been thinking about this for several days now. It’s the way in which Covid has become one more thing I use to make judgements about other people, and about myself. Some people I know are being more careful than we are; some people are being less careful. So when I talk to a friend and she tells me that they quarantine for 14 days after any doctor appointment, I wonder if I should be doing something similar. And when I talk to another friend and she tells me how much they enjoyed having visitors at their lake home this summer I wonder if that’s a safe thing to do?

I make my judgements about what is best for me and for my loved ones on the best information we have right now and how much risk I am comfortable with and also to be frank, just how badly I want to do something. It’s a balancing act for sure. 

So going to a store for a brief amount of time wearing a mask seems relatively low risk. But I have a gift card to Total Wine that can only be used in the store, so I have to figure out a way to reduce the amount of time it usually takes me to pick out wine before I go use it.

I really miss racing, and there are a few small races showing up now locally. But it makes me uneasy because I’m just not 100% sure about maintaining the proper social distance during the race, and whether I can trust all participants to wear masks like they’re supposed to. So I’m sticking to short virtual races for now. I’m supposed to sign up for Grandma’s Marathon now, but I just don’t have any confidence that things will be much better by next June, so I’m waffling. Note: I did sign up. Leap of faith!

Do I think it’s necessary to self quarantine after a doctor’s visit? I don’t think so, not for us, not in Minnesota. Everyone is masked and screened here, and their ventilation systems are good. But the friend that does that lives in a state where there isn’t a mask mandate and people are less careful, so I understand her concern.

As for the friend that had visitors this summer, I really shouldn’t judge. We had visitors, it’s just that I was sure that our visitors were following the same procedures as we were. Maybe her visitors were doing the same. I don’t know, and you know what? It’s none of my business!

But this winter when (if) we take the RV to California there are some things we will do, and some things we won’t. When we are traveling south, through states that are careless, we will keep to ourselves as much as possible. As much as we would love to, we won’t be visiting friends in California, we will just hang out with Daniel and Kelsey at the Airbnb. 

Some day this will all be over, and hopefully the members of our bubble will come through it unscathed. And that’s the biggest thing. Whatever decisions we make about risk don’t just affect ourselves, they affect our entire bubble. So when I think about racing it’s not just that I don’t want to get Covid, it’s that I don’t want to expose anyone else to it either. In some ways this makes it a lot easier to stay safe, cause it’s not just about me.

October 21

Yesterday we had a massive snowstorm. On October 20th. This is not normal, even in Minnesota. It snowed hard all day. We have Leo on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and by mid afternoon on Tuesday it was looking like he might have to spend the night. The roads were terrible, and we didn’t mind, so that’s what we decided to do.

When he woke up from his nap it was still snowing. We decided to go outside and shovel the driveway and the sidewalks. Lee found a small snow shovel that he used to keep in his car for Leo to use. He didn’t have snow pants, and his boots were too small, but he had a warm coat, hat and gloves so he was set.

He had a great time moving snow around and bossing us around too. When it was time to come in he didn’t want to stop and had a fit, but that’s just part of the trials of being almost three. His pants and socks were soaked and his feet were blocks of ice but he didn’t care. It was just so much fun being out in the snow.

He helped Lee make a frittata for dinner, and he ate a lot of it too. After dinner he had a bubble bath and then watched a little TV before it was time for bed.

Like some of the rest of us Leo sometimes has a hard time settling down and going to sleep. At first he was upset because his room was too dark, but we turned on the bathroom light and left his door ajar and then he was ok. But he sang and talked to himself for a long time before he finally drifted off.

In the morning he was raring to go. He loves breakfast and had oatmeal, part of a bagel, half a banana, and orange juice. Then he helped Lee take the dogs for a walk. Since then he’s been playing, sometimes by himself, and sometimes with Lee. He really loves his grampa right now. I don’t think Lee minds it much at all, although I know he would like me to take over sometimes, if Leo would only allow it! I’m not as much of a pushover as grampa, however, at least most of the time.

October 29

Leo and I carved pumpkins today. Since it’s too cold to carve them outside I cleared off the island and put black plastic on the floor. Then I put aprons on both of us and got to work.

First we chose the best side for a face. Leo said to make the first pumpkin a happy one. He helped me draw the eyes, nose and a smiley mouth. Then I welded the knife since it is very sharp.

First I cut the lid. Leo lifted it off. Then we scooped out all the stuff in the middle and put it a bowl so we could roast the pumpkin seeds later. We took turns scooping out the stuff, first with our hands and then with a spoon. Then I cut out the eyes nose and mouth. Leo helped me pop each one out after it was cut.

We did two pumpkins. The second one had a frowny face. 

Then it was time to roast the pumpkin seeds. We separated the seeds from the goop in the middle as best we could, putting the seeds in a colander and the goop in the trash. Well mostly in the trash! Turns out that black plastic was a good idea!

Then we headed to the sink to rinse the rest of the goop off the seeds. Leo loves to play with water so he directed the spigot and I picked the remaining goop out of the seeds. We rolled the seeds up in a dish towel to dry them. Then we put them in a clean bowl.

We preheated the oven to 350. We added olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika to the seeds and stirred them. Then we spread them out on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven. I stirred them every 5 minutes, and let them cook until they were brown and crispy. We sampled them, they we pretty good! They will make a good halloween snack!

Lee has been attending a conference online this week so he hasn’t been able to hang out with Leo as much as he would like, and I’m tired. But the conference is over today so I’m getting a break.

October 31

So Halloween. We were going over to Sarah’s for chili and to see Leo and Kirby in their costumes. Before we left we put a bowl with plastic bags with candy out by the street, with a couple of pumpkins and a sign that said Happy Halloween. Then we were on our way.

Leo was dressed as Fireman Sam, a popular children’s cartoon character. Kirby was Sam’s little dog Radar, dressed in his dalmation costume. Leo’s costume was pretty amazing. Suzanne made him a Fireman Sam’s jacket. Sarah got him a fireman hat, a toy walkie talkie, a plastic axe and a toy hose. Erik  made Fireman Sam logos to stick on Leo’s jacket. He really looked wonderful.

Kirby was adorable in his black and white spotted PJs, with a little white cap that Sarah and sewn floppy ears onto, and cut out felt spots and stuck them on.

Leo was really into his costume.  Various adults would find “fires” and Sam would carefully put on his hat and put them out with the axe and the hose. Then he would take off the hat, and sing the Fireman Sam song, just like it was the end of the show.  Multiple times.

Kirby was tired, and hungry. He is trying to give up his third nap which is a difficult transition. We mixed up a little oatmeal and baby food and stuck him in his high chair. He opens his mouth just like a little baby bird. But he also sticks his thumb in his mouth while he’s eating so things can get a little messy sometimes. And he was so tired! He started yawning and crying as he was still eating. Poor baby! 

As we were getting ready to go outside and get candy from a few of the neighbors the lights flickered, and flickered again, and then went totally out. At first Leo was pretty alarmed. He didn’t seem scared but he was pretty agitated, talking a blue streak about the electricity. He was picking up on what the adults were saying but not really understanding what was going on. We looked at the outage map for Xcel Energy and there were like 300 houses in Plymouth that were affected so hopefully they were on it and it wouldn’t be out for too long.

We went ahead and went outside to get pictures of Fireman Sam and his little dog. While we were outside I told Leo to look up at the electricity lines. I told him that somewhere one of those lines had broken and that the men that fixed that sort of thing had to find the broken line and fix it. Then he had a way to understand what was happening and he stopped fixating on it.

Sarah put poor Kirby to bed and we ate dinner by candlelight. The chili was delicious and so was the cornbread. Before too long Lee and I decided we want to go ahead and get home since it was time to feed the dogs.

Fortunately our neighborhood’s power was on. Unfortunately someone decided to stead all our candy, including the bowl. Just another example of how much 2020 sucks. Note: the next day Lee found the empty bowl down the street. We'll never know if it just blew away after someone took all the candy, or someone tossed the bowl away. 

November 8th

Last night we had a celebration. We had planned this for a couple weeks, not knowing that it would take so long to get the election results, or knowing what the results would be for that matter. We were looking at the weather, which has been uncommonly good for November in Minnesota. Warm temps and sunny skies made us want to do one more picnic outside on on the screened porch, and one more marshmallow roast around the fire pit.

All of our quarantine pod came over except for Kris, who had a previous engagement. Sarah and Erik brought a cake and a bottle of champagne. We had hot dogs and potato salad. Suzanne brought a fruit salad. We were set.

The back door was open, and Lee and Leo went out to start a fire. It was pretty windy so we were careful. Sarah poured us all a glass of champagne and we toasted the new administration and the end of Trump. We sat on the porch and ate our hot dogs and watched Leo’s shenanigans and passed Kirby around until it was his bedtime. He is learning to eat cheerios and its pretty hilarious to watch him seriously gumming them up.

Leo and Erik found a wooly caterpillar trying to make its way into the house. Somehow Erik got the caterpillar to climb onto Leo’s hand and they carefully took it outside. Then Leo spent about 20 minutes climbing in and out of the dog door looking for the caterpillar. We tried to determine if it’s stripes indicated that winter would be a hard or easy one but the results were indeterminate. It will be easier in one respect, however. By January 21st, Trump will no longer be president. Thank God!

November 15

The rise in Covid cases is alarming. Several states are putting shelter in place and/or quarantine orders out. I’m sick at heart thinking that Daniel and Kelsey may not be able to come for Christmas. We won’t do anything unsafe, and we won’t break the rules either. Right now they could come, but they would have to quarantine when they returned to Cally. Note: We made the decision and they aren't coming. They will join us via zoom for Christmas, and I will be sending Daniel some Christmas ornaments.

And as for our trip to California in February/March, we’ll we’ll just have to wait and see. Right now we couldn’t go; we couldn’t even travel through New Mexico, let alone quarantine once we got to CA. But things could change, that’s 3 months off.

It’s cold here, and snowy. I’ve run a couple of virtual 5ks, just to have some goals and something to focus on. They are pretty slow, I’m not sure why. I’ve been slow in general ever since the virtual marathon back in July. Oh well, I’ll just keep plugging away. 

I’m still hunting for a fat bike. No luck so far finding one my size in my price range. But I’d still like one, I just need to keep looking.

Thanksgiving

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I made the pies, cherry, pecan and a vegan pumpkin that’s just as good, if not better, than the regular kind. I decided to make vegan sourdough rolls too. I’d been trying to bring my sourdough starter back to life for several days but it was really slow to get going, even with using the proof box Lee made me, so when I mixed up the dough Wednesday afternoon I added a little bit of active dry yeast to it as well as the starter.

Thanksgiving morning I ran a virtual 5k Turkey Trot. It was the 3rd virtual 5k I’ve run this fall, and it went a lot better than the first 2. I’ve really been struggling with running but I had my head on straight for this run, focused, and left pretty good about it.

The dough for the rolls sat in the fridge overnight. After the turkey trot I brought it out and formed the rolls. I put them back in the proof box and let them rise for about 4 hours. The rolls turned out great; the vegan recipe we found is definitely a keeper.

Thanksgiving was quiet, just our bubble. Way too much food, of course. We had Sarah and Erik and the kids come over early so that Leo could take his nap here, and we could eat as soon as he woke up. He knew something was up, but not exactly what. He was mainly confused because BOTH his parents came to peepah’s house! Sarah put him down but at first he was playing and yelling loudly. I went upstairs to tell him to hush. “I want mommy.” “oh, you’re ok,” I said. “Lay down, its time to take a nap.” I shut the door, and he lost it. Sarah had to go upstair and comfort him. He’s very sensitive right now; any little thing can set him off! Its hard being almost 3! Its also hard only having a bunch of old people to play with.

When Leo and Kirby woke up from their naps we sat down to eat. Kirby has 2 little teeth and is VERY interested in any and all food. Anything you put on his tray goes in his mouth. Any baby food you place on a spoon causes his mouth to open like a little bird’s. He’s also taking a bottle without any trouble AND he’s still nursing! He has lots of beautiful chubby folds in his arms and legs, and a continuous happy smile. He is trying to sit up, and he can for a little bit as long as someone is nearby to catch him when he starts to list….

Leo ate the cranberry sorbet, of course, just like last year, then wanted to go straight to the pies. He had 6 grownups urging him to eat, kind of ridiculous. Of course eventually he got some pie and scarfed that right down. He liked them all!

The next day we made lep cookies. We only made a 1/2 batch, so about 350 cookies total. I don’t know if Lee and I have ever made them without Joanne or Cathy there to help, but Suzanne came over and she was a big help. Sarah, Leo and Kirby came over too. Leo “helped”. We got out his little rolling pin and his toddler knife, and he made a spectacular mess of minced lep cookie dough. It was impressive. 

By yesterday afternoon Lee and I were both tired. We both just sat around and didn’t do much of anything. I ran 6 miles this morning and generally have a little more energy.

Coronavirus Diaries - September

 

Did I really think back in March that we would still be in the thick of Covid-19 in September? Its hard to remember, but here we are.

I could split September into several posts, I guess, but I'm not going to. Just one big post with several events.

Here we go!

September 3rd

On Tuesday we took Leo to Zumbrota to play with his cousins. (2nd cousins? Third cousins? Cousins once removed?? Don’t ask me! Lee’s sister’s grandkids, whatever they are!) We had to do it before they all went back to school because who knows what kind of exposure they will have once they are in a classroom.

It takes about an hour and 15 minutes to drive down there. Leo was very good in the car, only getting restless for the last 20 minutes or so. They have a very long driveway to get to their house. We told Leo that we were on the farm once we started up their driveway, but he misunderstood. He thought the driveway WAS the farm! We’ll have to clear up this misconception later.

Cathy, Kate and all the kids were already there when we got there. Two 8 year olds - Ada and Henry, 2 4 year olds - Owen and Arlo, one 2 year old - Grace, and baby Jack who was born the day before Kirby. 

Leo had an acute attack of shyness when we walked in the door. So many kids! He didn’t remember them since the last time he had seen them was when we made Lep cookies before Christmas. He sat in grampa’s lap for awhile, but eventually ventured into the playroom. They had built a blanket fort in there which he found a little scary at first, but after one more retreat to Lee’s lap he was off and running. 

They played with toys. They went outside and jumped on the trampoline. Why didn’t I take pictures? I was having a great time talking to Cathy and Kate, and I guess I just forgot. I did take a short video of them on the trampoline. Leo had never been on one before. It was pretty funny.

We had pizza for lunch. Leo sat with the big kids and refused the high chair, even though the table came up to about his nose in a regular chair. He ate two pieces of pizza and a few veggies and a lot of grapes.

After lunch they went out to play on the big rock pile. Henry was very careful to make sure Leo was safe. Leo found a garden spade and it became his “shovel”.  That might have been the highlight of his day. When we were reminiscing about the farm yesterday I said, “and you climbed on the rock pile...” and he said “I found a shovel!” So you did funny boy.

He fell asleep in the car on the way home of course. I wish we could do this more often but with school, and Covid, I’m afraid it won’t be safe for a long time. That’s the trouble with saying, “oh I’m not scared. I’m willing to take that risk.” The thing is, you’re not just taking a risk for yourself, you’re taking it for everyone you might come in contact with after you’ve been exposed. 

One other thing. I’m going to start spending an hour here and there with Kirby. I went to visit him on Monday morning. He’s getting to be so much fun. He was very into sticking out his tongue so we did that for awhile. We did tummy time, which currently involves a lot of airplane-like moves. We walked around the house and looked out the windows and had a short conversation. It was nice and I plan to do it again sometime soon.

Sept 5

I’m learning to crochet. I needed some sort of project. Nobody is having their first baby (that I know of!) any time soon, so no baby quilts are in the offing. I was searching around online and came across something called Annie’s Kit Clubs. Its basically a fiber craft subscription service. There are a few different options but I chose the Block Afghan Sampler. They send you 3 blocks to crochet every 4 weeks or so, and in the end you join them together and end up with an afghan. They were pretty, and they send you instructions plus videos, so how hard could it be?

The first three blocks came at the beginning of this month. I’m not sure if I have ever really crocheted or not. I’ve done plenty of knitting, but I think in the past I shied away from crochet because it was so hard to find left handed instructions. But with the interweb I was in luck.

Only trouble was, at first I couldn’t find the videos online that came with my membership. In my impatience I searched for other instructions online and I thought I was good to go. But no. My first attempt was too tight and the gauge was way off so I ripped it out about halfway through and started again. I completed the first block but it just didn’t look right, at all. What had I done wrong? FINALLY I found the video and started watching the left handed one. OH! I had done the entire block wrong! I put it away, slept on it, and in the morning ripped it out and started again, this time following along in the video as I went. MUCH better! 

I’ve completed the first block and I’m halfway through the second. The first one is all single crochet and the second block is all double crochet, if you are a crochet person. The third block looks more complicated. I’m sure glad I found the video! Its like having my own personal instructor right there.

Sept 19

RBG died last night, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. I am heartsick. If Trump gets to pick her replacement we are screwed. Three Republican senators are saying they won’t vote to confirm her replacement, we need at least one more, preferably two, and for all of them to stick to their guns, but I have no confidence that they will.

I actually got on Zoom and watched part of the Erev Roshanah service at CRC, my mother's synagogue in St. Louis. It was nice, a mixture of prerecorded stuff, video from last year’s service, and some live broadcasts too. I didn’t watch the whole thing, and I didn’t watch the morning service because I was running and now I’m busy making a challah and getting ready for a New Year’s dinner with the Herbergs tonight, but maybe I will watch it later. I’d like to hear the shofar.

Sept 20th

So we had our Rosh Hashanah dinner last night. I made 2 challahs, noodle kugel, brisket. Sarah brought a fruit salad and asparagus. We lit the candles, said the blessings and ate. It was so yummy! I don’t understand why people are afraid to make a brisket. I’m not much of a cook but I’ve got this down. Sear it, add the veggies, wine and tomatoes, but it in a dutch oven, turn the oven to 325 and cook it for 3 to 4 hours, until you can stick a fork in it easily. I made it the day before, because it’s better if it’s sat in the fridge for a day. Then on Saturday I went for a run, made the challahs, set the table, made the the kugel. Took the brisket out of the fridge and had Lee slice it, then warmed it back up. 

It was chilly, but not too cold so I had an idea. Lee bought some wood and after dinner we made a fire in the fire pit and roasted marshmallows and made s’mores. One of Leo’s favorite shows is Fireman Sam, so having a real fire was very exciting! He understood that this was a safe fire so we didn’t need fireman Sam to come. He roasted his own marshmallows with a little assistance and happily ate a s’more. I had a s’more but ended up taking out the milk chocolate cause I’m not a fan, so I really had a marshmallow on a graham cracker. Not sure what I should call that!

We took the boat out of the water today. That truly seems like the end of summer. Also the hummingbirds are really gone for good and the pollinators are going crazy. And the leaves are turning too. Fall.

Sept 22

I have developed a shin splint in my right leg. It kind of came out of nowhere. It took me a few days to be sure what it was, but when I went for a run today there was no doubt, and it got worse as I ran. I was fine when I ran on Saturday, but sometime since then it started bothering me. They can turn into stress fractures so I’m not going to mess around. No more running until it feels better. NSAIDS, biofreeze, lots of stretching, warm up before exercising, consistent strength training. 

At least I don’t have any big races planned, just some personal goals for a virtual 5k or two. 

Walt Disney World’s Marathon Weekend has been cancelled. I feel so bad for my friend Paula, who was really looking forward to doing it again this year. But I think Disney made the right choice. I don’t see the point of a Disney race without character stops, and running through the parks. That’s what makes them special (and expensive). Without that why bother?

I wonder where this will all end, and just how long it’s going to take. Another year before a vaccine is widely available is my guess, and even then how effective will it be?

Sept 23

Continuing to think about the cancelled Disney races. I wasn’t planning on doing any of them this year, although I’ve harbored fantasies of doing the Dopey Challenge again after I turn 70, in 2023. But I’m still sad. In the great scheme of things running isn’t that important. It’s just a big part of my life, and I know there are so many people out there that were starting to do their training for the Dopey Challenge, wondering if they really could do the 4 races in 4 days. So it’s just sad. I’ve just been a little down I guess....there’s so many things we can’t, or won’t do, until we’re sure that it’s safe. Lee says he doesn’t miss going out; I do. I miss going to concerts. I want to take Leo out for activities, to a museum, to a kid’s concert or show, heck to the grocery store! Well actually we’ve been thinking that we could take him to a grocery store if he wears his mask. But we'd have to get his parent’s ok. Note: we have started to take him into stores occasionally. 

I know part of the wearing down is not knowing just how long this will go on. How long until a vaccine is generally available? How effective will it be? How long until the general case load gets to an acceptable level? How long until the US government starts to really take Covid seriously and uses science to help keep us safe? 

And really, with our expanded bubble we are really really lucky, and I know that. We are financially secure, in good health, not very isolated at all. But still sometimes its hard. It just is.

Coronavirus Diaries - July

July 3rd

Daniel and Kelsey arrived from California. They flew on Delta. The plane was only 60% full, and all passengers wore masks. They took off their clothes in the garage and and took showers before we even saw them. It’s strange, but it’s what you have to do nowadays. The dogs are had a total fit because PEOPLE ARE HERE! But they were not allowed to greet them  until they had finished their decontamination routine.

July 8th

Daniel and Kelsey have been here since Friday. Its really nice, they are working during the day remotely, and because of Covid no one has any expectations that we are going anywhere or doing much of anything. So we are mainly just living our lives, but I’m doing it with my son and his girlfriend right here. Its great.

On the 4th we took the boat out on Minnetonka for a little while. It was really hot, and busy, but that’s to be expected. We found a quiet spot behind a little island where we could drop an anchor and jump in the water and get wet. It felt great.

Leo had some nap struggles earlier in the month but now he seems to have settled down again. He was a mess on the 4th; fell asleep in the car on the way to our house, then couldn’t fall asleep later until Grampa took pity on him and laid down with him. THEN he had to be woken up and didn’t fall asleep until almost midnight! Poor guy….and poor parents too.

The last two times he’s been over they forgot Elmo. But a nice clean and soft Westie blanket made a pretty good substitution. The trick is to catch him right when he’s tired, not too early, not too late when he’s over-tired either. Right now that’s right around 1:30 PM. Hopefully it will stay like this for awhile, before things change again.

We got Leo a Strider bike for his half birthday. We wanted to get him one for Christmas but he wasn’t tall enough for the littlest Strider then. He’s barely tall enough now, even with the seat at the lowest setting. Its very interesting watching him get the hang of it. He’s very gung ho to learn, but its harder than he thought, or that we thought, to figure it out. Even with two feet on the ground balancing a two-wheeler is a challenge at first. But in just two days he’s getting the hang of it, starting to glide just a bit. He’s not sitting on the seat yet, but they say that will come and he sits on the edge of the seat sometimes. Its kind of fascinating to watch the process.

Its been so hot and humid. I get up crazy early to run but the lows are still in the 70’s with 80% humidity. Well one way or another I’m going to be done with this training cycle in another week. I wonder what I’m going to do at the end? I really have no idea.

July 15

I’ve been really tired the past couple of days. I slept til 6:30 am this morning. I’m not sure I will even bother to do the 3 mile shakeout run tomorrow. It’s more important to carb load, rest, and hydrate.

Leo is doing better on his Strider. He is now sitting on the seat! Lee took him to the playground yesterday. He’s so happy to be able to do that again. We figure it’s safe as long as other kids aren’t there.

Our yard looks so nice this year. I love sitting out on our back porch, listening to the birds. Someday even the rain garden will look nice.

The wildflower garden is amazing. After the primroses were over several different varieties of Susan’s have been blooming. There’s a little monarda, and some milkweed and Joe Pye weed too. And now the old fashioned balloon flowers are coming up in droves. I was wondering when the phlox would start blooming and guess what, it’s just starting. I know that later we’ll see purple asters and goldenrod. And of course the tiger lilies. The roses are still only blooming fitfully but I’ll keep weeding and giving them more space and maybe eventually they’ll come back.

We were going to take the boat over to Wayzata on Lee’s birthday and get carry out brunch from Bellecour, but they’ve had someone test positive for the virus so they are closed while they deep clean. Bummer. If they aren’t open I guess I’ll make him brunch instead. NOTE: Bellecour closed for good shortly after this. Very sad.

July 18

It’s very quiet here today. No Leo, Kelsey and Daniel are over at Sarah and Erik’s. I’m recovering from yesterday, but really I feel pretty good. That was one hell of a challenge. I’m really glad I went ahead and ran my virtual marathon, but I think I’m one and done on that count. It was incredibly hard, mentally and physically. 

July 23

Leo and I went to the Arboretum this morning. They have worked out a method to be open but keep people safe and socially distant. In order to enter you have to buy tickets in advance for a 1/2 hour window in which you are allowed to enter. Once in I believe you can stay as long as you want, but we only stayed an hour.

Once inside they had paths marked with arrows so that you could walk without running into people going the other way. It was easy to stay socially distant and find a walk that was appropriate for a 2 yo.

Once we parked the car, we left the parking lot and walked toward the main building. There was a lady sitting at a table, masked, able to answer any questions and point us in the right direction. Usually Leo is kind of reticent with strangers but not this time.  “Hi! We’re going to see flowers!” The lady was charmed and they proceeded to have a little conversation.

He really enjoyed it, taking a walk, following the arrows on the paths, looking at the flowers, smelling the herbs. He is a child of the coronavirus and has been well taught, at only two and a half, that he has to stay away from people he doesn’t know. When other people would get too close I would have him take my hand, and as we would decide which way to go he would look down a path and if there were people on it he would say, “oh no, people” and we would either wait or choose a different way to go. It was kind of sad and kind of funny. He’s not afraid, and he doesn’t really understand about the virus, but he knows that’s the rule.

We went through the herb garden and smelled the herbs. He said they were “spicy” and started making a game of smelling things and going “yuck!” A person that worked there overheard him and said, “is he saying yuck?” I said, “yes he’s making a joke. He’s playing. He’s 2!” But I think the worker's feeling were hurt, lol.

Leo’s car seat has been turned around so that he is now facing forward. It is seriously a whole new world. We talk about stoplights, what I’m doing as I drive, the bigs trucks. He’s enchanted!

July 29th

It’s Wednesday of week number two of watching Leo full time. Lee has had to work a lot this week so it’s mostly been me doing the watching, although Lee has been free around nap time each day so far.

Monday was a good day, we had fun popping plastic bags, playing, making bagels. I was able to entertain him by letting him help with whatever it was I needed to do. I was tired yesterday and struggled a bit, I didn’t really want to play with bubbles, and it was hot down by the sandbox. 

So today I made sure we had some good activities. We went directly from his house to Freeman Park and spent a good hour at the playground. Another two year old and his mother were there, so I talked to her. They were being careful so we agreed that as long as the two little boys stayed socially distant it would be ok. And it was. All they really wanted to do was say hi and stare at each other anyway.

Leo climbed a ladder (with me right there) and either slid down a slide or a pole (with help) over and over again. He got into the little kid swing and I pushed him for a lonnng time. He went down little slides, big slides, and crawled through tunnels. He picked up rocks and put them in holes, and saved one rock for his “collection”.

Then we came home and filled up the wading pool. And enjoyed the cold water until lunchtime. He’s had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches two days in a row. 

I also sat down with him and picked out some toys and activities to have at our house. Little fire trucks, simple puzzles, refrigerator magnets, blocks, construction paper, washable markers, blunt scissors. He was intrigued by shopping online. At first he thought it was a video and wanted to watch the trucks. Then he didn’t get the concept that this was an AND process and was very fixated on making sure we got the fire trucks above all else. And finally he had a little trouble grasping that none of these things would come until tomorrow. He wrinkled his little brow trying to figure all of this out.

Apparently he had a bad night last night again. Sleep issues...he still needs a nap, but it’s pushing his bedtime pretty late. He’d still be a bear in the evening now without one, but I bet sometime in the next couple of months he’s going to give it up. NOTE: by the end of August his parents have just given in to a later bedtime for now. Whatever works!