Election, 1st Communion, Macrodactyly

     In my last post, I hoped my next blog post would have a brighter outlook in terms of COVID and the election outcome.  The best day of 2020 happened to fall on my Birthday.  11/07/2020 was when Joe Biden & Kamala Harris were declared the winners of the 2020 presidential election.  My vote for sanity, science, equality, and compassion won by a staggering 6 million votes and a very comfortable electoral college margin.  I didn't realize just how much I missed hearing a president speak with compassion to what so many American families are struggling through this past year.  The other new bright spot was multiple vaccines coming out in record time (a year compared to a decade in the past - just wow).  Unfortunately, COVID cases have continued to rise all over the world dimming those bright spots.  I read somewhere that the US has 5% of the world's population but almost 20% of COVID deaths.  Experts say we are in the "densest" part of the pandemic with more than 1000 COVID deaths per day in the US.  Hospitals are once again stretched thin even though they are better prepared to treat the patients compared to the spring.  We are again in a lockdown-light aka a freeze.  The freeze feels messier now with pandemic fatigue impacting the actions of many and the restrictions not being consistent.  I do believe our Governor and her team of experts are doing the best they can.  

    The other big news from November was Paul and Elise's rescheduled first communion.  Because of the freeze, it was suggested to pick a mass and they would just make it work.  So, on a rainy Tuesday evening, Paul and Elise accepted the Eucharist for the first time with an audience of 20 people in a cathedral that can hold over a thousand.  No music and everyone masked. The 6 month delay and not attending mass these last 6 months definitely didn't help make the occasion as special as it is intended but it was memorable nonetheless.  One's relationship with God is a lifelong journey and however this milestone plays out for them over the course of their life, Nate and I hope they see the value in a spiritual path.  

Sunrise on 11/3, election morning

                                                                

These two know how to calm our hearts

                                                                                

Happy Dance after hearing the election results

Opa's 83rd Birthday with steak of course

                                           

Macrodactyly appointment with Elise at Shriners Hospital.  Monitoring 3 things. 1. X-ray on leg length difference increased from just under 2cm to just over 2cm in the last year and change.  Over 2cm is when surgery option is on the table - but not until she's probably between 12-14.  2. Measure and monitor soft tissue growth and how it impacts shoe fit and comfort. That is up to us on whether or when to do surgery.  Little return compared to the surgical risks. 3. Big toe bone is growing and rate needs to be monitored.  If it's growing too fast, might have to go in and destroy the growth plate before a possible leg length surgery.  The emotional relationship Elise is having with her special foot is getting more complicated and I see her getting a bit more down about it than I'm used to.  She's growing up.  

Oma's Birthday - kids helped make her favorite - a BLT - for her lunch

Walk with Oma near Reed College. even with masks, they can make silly faces.

First communion

Glad we could at least do this with our dear friends.  

I can see us now pulling out this crazy picture decades from now.

Thanksgiving 2020 meant takeout and taking the usual family picture except this time Opa covered up his bald spot

A hike I've been doing alone weekly for months now up to Pittock Mansion.  First time I got my whole family to hike with me.  No view at the top this time but still worth it.

Fall 2020 News

 After 9 days of wildfire smoke, mostly blue skies and mild temperatures thankfully returned these past 8 weeks.  The kids continue to do online school full time from home.  It's far from fun and regularly frustrating.  Screen time is a necessary evil and I feel like I am far from keeping the screen beast under control in our house.  Sometimes getting Lily or Elise out of their pj's and outside for a walk around the block is a victory worth celebrating.

We managed to escape for a long weekend to the Mt. Hood National Forest with Oma and Opa.  Mountain fresh air, a change in scenery, and some aggressive air hockey duels felt good.  I took Paul down to central Oregon to visit his buddy for some boy time as well.  Even though mountain biking and building forts with his friend made him happy, being away from his sisters probably made him happier.  I didn't mind having him to myself either at all.

2020 keeps serving up plenty of challenges for us from a health perspective.  Lily's headaches had gotten bad enough that an MRI was justified. Her results were a-ok so we can focus on helping her migraines.  I have had a series of iron IV infusions to combat a battle inside my own body that feels like a never ending war.  Elise has her next macrodactyly appointment coming up in early November and her next surgery timing is starting to crawl onto our radar.  There was one challenge that has now come up that's different from the others because I completely willingly chose to take it on.  I accepted a full time job offer back in the semiconductor industry starting in December.  The craziness of it is real to me but the excited kind of nervousness is even more real. The desire to give it a go is strong. We will see how it plays out.  Watch out work - I'm back.  

COVID cases seem to be rising all around the US and in Europe.  Election day is in 3 days and I'm so over it.  Love the record breaking voter turnout and hate how ugly the election is and how it truly feels like so much is at stake.  The near future feels a bit ominous but I'm hopeful that by my next blog post,  the outlook will be a little brighter.

Getaway to Welches Oregon

Lily out for a hike with Oma and Opa (yes, Opa actually went for a hike)

Our Halloween front yard decor

Paul hangin' with his buddy Alex in Black Butte

Mountain biking is by far the passion they share together

VOTED!

    

My gut told me Lily's MRI would turn out normal but the power of doubt can rear it's ugly head at moments.  This was taken on our rockin Friday night at OHSU for her MRI.  

Playing in the leaves at Wallace Park

Decorating Halloween cookies with Oma

Lily the two face modernistic purple evil elf, Paul the grumpy businessman, and Elise as a Slytherin

Halloween fun with our dear friends

Instead of carving pumpkins this year, we decided to smash them instead.  Felt like it was a much more 2020 appropriate thing to do.

Here are some videos of pumpkin batting practice. Much more satisfying smashing pumpkins than carving pumpkins this year.

https://youtu.be/EKif713KIkQ (Lily)

https://youtu.be/jAKfH3UpzFo (Paul)

Happy Halloween!

September Wildfires and Online Start to the School Year

If you could really see COVID, I think it would look like the ominous skies we have outside.  Oregon is on fire.  The west coast is on fire;  Oregon has never had this amount of uncontained burning, double the annual acreage average in just the last few days.  The hazardous air quality has forced us inside the last couple of days and we have what looks like at least couple more days to go.  Portland has the worst air quality of any major city on the planet.  Portland has kept us on edge for months now with BLM protests clashing with law enforcement and the continuous impact COVID has on every aspect of people's lives.  Enough already.  ENOUGH.  I know easier days are coming, better days are coming, but to be honest, it feels like we still have a ways to to go to push through all the screwballs being pitched at us.  That's why taking it a day at a time, finding the joy where we can, and supporting our kids is more important than ever.  

You can barely make out the Portland skyline

By day, the last 5 days, snapshot of Portland.

It's mind blowing just how many fires are burning and how many towns it's destroyed and families having to flee with little notice.  So many hearts are hurting right now.  

We just finished a very soft two week start to online school to really just get acquainted with the online platforms and do some social emotional connection activities.  Due to COVID, school is 100% virtual until further notice. The real test starts Monday when school starts focusing on academics.  

Even with all the challenges, we found a good rhythm in August. We made sure our kids were making memories while Nate and I quietly weighed the benefits versus the risks of every single decision every day.  The girls got their ears pierced, individual day dates with mom that they could set up, swim time in the rivers, and biking continued to fill up our summer.  Our 5th annual neighborhood block party was replaced with "come outside and have a sidewalk chat with a neighbor" every Sunday in August at 7pm. It turned out to be personally fulfilling catching up with neighbors and meeting some really delightful new neighbors as well.  

Here are some nice pictures from our August but in truth, overall, life is really weird right now.

Random shot of our Irving Street Social Stroll (replacing the Block Party) on a Sunday August evening

Sunset marine drive bike ride

Day date with Lily

Ears pierced!

Elise paved the way getting her ears pierced first on our day date

Chillin on the river

Elise date with Dad.  To show just how weird times are, as they were walking to the ice cream shop they saw the tail end of a pro-Trump truck parade - the same one which was involved in a guy getting shot dead later that evening, a 10 minute walk from where this photo was taken.

Ping Pong with Opa

This is Elise after just finishing the Harry Potter series.   She came to me crying tears of joy after finishing the last page holding me in the tightest hug for the longest time.  A moment neither of us will forget.  I'm not a Harry Potter fan but I sure am now.  So grateful for the Harry Potter world Elise got to escape to, her love of reading, and how proud she was of herself for finishing the series.

a few random videos catching my kids doing things they were proud of

Paul's bike weave

Paul's balance beam bike trick

Lily's water flip

Summer fun in the midst of summer anxiety

I have been teetering back and forth between two worlds these days: World #1- Focusing on and relishing in the innocence my kids possess on a wide open summer schedule in the era of COVID.  World #2 - Studying hard on information I wish I already had multiple PhDs in so not to be a dumb ass waste of space and actually apply my knowledge and skills to maybe even be of help to my larger community. 

World #1 is full of silly inside jokes and fun family summer memories like after dinner Zoobombs, Rose Garden tennis, George Washington hair, mountain biking, catching air, Paulina watering hole, rope swing, Harry Potter, hair braiding, kayaking, fort building, and fart fork.  

World #2 is full of study topics such as BLM, systemic racism, history, government, COVID side effects both on health and on society, how to build a better school system, police brutality, academic pods, equity, and the blind spots in my white privilege. 

I appreciate the rare moments when the teetering stops thanks to perspective reminders.  It's the moments when life makes complete sense and no sense at the same time and it's somehow calming nonetheless.  Looking up at the night sky can often do that. So can the power of written word. The teetering stopped after recently reading the short story "The Great Silence" in the book "Exhalation." It's one of those stories that invokes feelings at a scale of depth you wish upon all to experience.  It's thought provoking and, like looking up at the sky, reminded me of the miracle and fragility of humanity's and really all species' existence.  It's a true story besides the fact that it's narrated by an animal. I cannot recommend the short story enough.  

Hood River

Surveyors Ridge Mountain Biking Trail

Post Canyon, Hood River

Banks to Vernonia trail

Our one swimming pool session of the summer.  Taught Elise the George Washington hair.

Watering hole by Paulina Falls, central Oregon

Family tennis in Sunriver

Zoo climb.  All worth it for the fun ride down.

Toilet Bowl Trail, Hood River

Timberline Bike Park

Phil's Trail Head, Bend

Annual trip to the golf range

Elise overcame her fear of kayaks and paddleboards thanks to Hagg Lake

Plenty of lounging and cuddling at home this summer