February/March 2021 - April Changes

Life moves fast enough.  The speed dial cranked up a few notches these last two months.  It's been really tough to keep up, stay balanced, and hold on to perspective on what matters most.  It's definitely a work in progress navigating this new setup of dual full time work schedules and not letting the other areas important to us suffer.  My lower back and bathroom scale has made it loud and clear that my new regimen sucks and changes need to be made. Even with my back killing me and exercise falling to the wayside, I'm so flippin' proud of myself for going for it with this job and my self confidence in the workplace finding its way back to me.   

Even though we feel incredibly boring these days, glad we captured the memories we were able to make together.  Oma and Opa are completely vaccinated.  Nate and I look to be eligible in early April.  Paul and Elise return to school for 2 hours 4 days a week starting 4/5.  Looks like Lily will go back 4/19 for 3 hours 2 days a week.  With Oma and Opa leaving after Easter to head back to Chicago, the logistics to make the new kid schedules work, and a 3rd floor remodel getting underway, it all feels daunting.  

February winter storm in PDX.  Paul pulling Lily up to Washington Park for some city sledding

Always happy when I see our Munich sled being used

Surgery #2 in February - no issues - pleased to report my 18 month gyno-related nightmare is looking to finally be over or at least on pause.

Celebrating the big 5 year cancer free milestone for Oma.  Sushi and champagne of course!

If I don't have the early mornings to myself, this is the next best thing.  Watching Lily and Paul get 7am tennis lessons while I sit back and enjoy.  

Mochi turned 1!

My kids are growing up - found this on a google search.  

           Lily and Paul enjoying a break in the sun while we were at Black Butte Ranch for a few days over Spring Break.  Elise chose to stay home to be spoiled by Oma and Opa and get the cats all to herself.

Glad Nate was able to take Paul and Lily skiing a handful of times this year, ending the season with a couple outings to Hoodoo by Sisters.  Elise and her snowboarding interest from last year didn't present itself this year.  

Paul & Lily's favorite ski run through the trees, they did it probably 20 times.

I guess the cats missed Nate

    I had asked all the kids write about the 1 year COVID anniversary to share with the family a couple weeks ago.  Elise blew my mind.  Below is what she came up with on her own one afternoon.  I would give up ever playing tennis again if it meant Elise would keep writing. I'd give it up if it meant my kids would see the importance of kindness and compassion, especially with each other, to guide their day to day decisions. I know she has so much emotion and thought bottled up inside her introverted and shy self, not wanting to leave the house most days. She declares herself to be a small, quiet town type of girl. She has a gift.

 

January Delight

January treated us just fine. I still smile thinking about Inauguration Day. I am quite pleased with the new tone, communication style, and competent calm energy that is back in the White House as well as celebrating the arrival of our nation's first female VP Kamala Harris.   

Indoor tennis opened up again in limited capacity after an over 2 month hiatus.  It gives us an indoor option again for something we like to do somewhere other than in our home.  A mild Portland winter (so far) has allowed outdoor tennis to happen more than I expected as well as plenty of outdoor playdates.  

I finished month two of working full time from home and all is good there too. Oma is incredibly helpful taking over lunches with the kids.  My parents feel more needed and there is a bit more bonding time happening between them too.  Nate's work from home routine hasn't changed much at this point, just checking in more with Paul and Elise between meetings or trying to get them on task when their horseplay is getting into the ears of people on his conference calls.

Paul really amazed us with sticking to his plan for about a year of saving up all his allowance and extra job money to buy a PS4 console.  I'm proud of him.  Pre COVID, I was a regular in saying how we are a video game free home and intent to stay that way.  Uhhh...not anymore and I don't really care. 

I read this quote by Ross Gay describing parenting (really all adulting) as terror and delight sitting on a bridge next to each other with feet dangling.  January was definitely a month of more simple delights maybe because I chose to focus on them or maybe because delight just won out over terror for a change of pace.

 I'm hopeful February will mark Oma & Opa geting their COVID vaccine and hearing a more concrete plan as to when a school hybrid model will be offered as an option for my kids. We are just weeks away from making it one year since my kids have been inside a school and since Nate has been in his cubicle.

Lily at school

Elise definitely moves around the most and applies the most creativity to her school work spaces. 

                                                                                    

                              Sign on Oma & Opa's door to help remind you know who to mind their manners.

Cleaning day.  They could definitely help out more but happy enough with them doing their chores and a little bit of regular house cleaning help on weekends.

Playing outside mid January 2021 at Willamette Park

Lily was by far the most into Inauguration Day.  So grateful for her interest in it.  

Lily joined her middle school's virtual baking club.  She also took part in a virtual Bday baking "Nailed It" themed birthday party.  

Saturday morning routine breakfast with Oma and Opa.  Now Moxie has regularly been picking a lap to be part of the action.

Random and regular chill afternoon shot in our home.

Paul and his buddy Ben playing tennis at Willamette Park.

Lily learning how to knit from Oma while watching reality TV together.

Lily getting a masked indoor tennis lesson to kick off a Wednesday morning.

Paul holding his brand new PS4

Final 2020 Moments

Goodbye 2020.  We found the silver linings where we could - all being together healthy at home (especially grateful for Oma and Opa's health), Nate very much enjoying the no commute work from home setup, all of us in lounge wear all day every day, plenty of family meals, elite-level handwashing skills, COVID vaccine, each of my kids having a close neighbor friend to see fairly regularly outside, and embracing technology to stay connected virtually with loved ones.

The whole truth of our 2020 was unfortunately more about feeling the sadness, disbelief, and frustration at the state of the world - so much mindboggling selfish behavior, divisiveness, lies, and death. For my kids, it was missing their friends, activities, and learning like they are used to.  For Nate and me, it was more about the mental drain of adulting and parenting in a world with COVID, distance learning, political chaos, BLM, a dangerous week-long forest fire which kept us in true lockdown since the air was off-the-charts unhealthy, and an alarming increase in Portland crime.  It's hard to feel grateful when over 340K Americans have died from COVID in the last 9 months and that corner we need to turn for the better still feels a little far off.    

Yet we will keep going toggling back and forth between treasuring the simple moments of joy and working through the tough moments while we keep our fingers crossed that we'll get back to the people and activities we miss as we figure out what normal means on the other side of pandemic pandemonium.

Furrow Christmas Tree Farm saved the day on a Christmas tree hunt we almost called quits on.

Elise's intricate Playmobil setups never cease to impress us.  We continue to be big Playmobil fans.

German tradition.  Lighting actual candles on Oma and Opa's tree on 4th Advent this year.

Paul and Elise turned 9.  Scavenger Hunt - Pinata - Whole Bowl - Burgerville.  Elise is all about Harry Potter, Chai tea, earrings, and our new kitten Mochi while she is NOT all about getting out of the house, refraining from sweets, and not screaming when upset.  Paul is all about being active outside, playing SO MUCH ping pong, and watching his Dude Perfect and You Tube Mountain biking videos and is NOT all about keeping his emotions in check when school frustrations occur, playing by himself, and hugging his sisters.  

After 10 years at Intel followed by10 years as a stay at home mom, I started work again at Ampere Computing in the recruiting team - all remote from home.  It's a maternity coverage for a few months and we'll see what happens after that depending how it all goes.  Been working for a month - haven't been fired yet. Even though Paul wants me to quit already, I'm personally all good with how it's going so far- embracing the weirdness and craziness of it. My office set up is between the Barbies and the costumes and next to the ping pong table.  

MAC tennis closed down again.  Coach Paul got creative and started masked conditioning workouts in the parking garage.

Traditional Christmas cookie decorating with Oma.

Family tradition of filling up each of the kid's advent calendars with little daily surprises.  Hits this year included personalized ornaments and Paul getting a much needed stick of deodorant.

Christmas Eve Family Zoom 

Opa with his 2 greatest loves: Oma and steak

Right after this picture, Paul and Elise set up camp to try and catch Santa in the act.  Santa prevailed.

Christmas morning.  Obligatory window seat picture.

Paul's Christmas gift to me.  Short and sweet and packed a punch.

Christmas day chill time

Letting lily practice the important life skills

We call our garage the bike cafe - equipped with patio heater.  Enjoying an evening drink with friends.

This view from Pittock Mansion was my most often hiked to 2020 destination.  Fitting it was my last hike of 2020 too.  

A common sight this year was Elise and her friend and neighbor playing on each other's front porches regardless of weather.

Toasting with friends to the end of 2020 and the arrival of our dear friends moving next door.

This patio heater is to me like a body pillow is to pregnant women.  Comfortable, cozy, and must be next to it.

2020 Music Playlist

Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie

    Podcast urban hikes a many in 2020.  Lin Manuel Miranda on Conan O'Brien's "Conan Needs A Friend" was really fun. The song was described as an accidental miracle.

What A Man Gotta Do - The Jonas Brothers

     Reminds me of the Grease Song "Born to Hand Jive."  It's one of the few songs all of my kids liked at the same time.  

     

Haim - The entire album Women in Music. Part III

    Most played album on our 2020 summer car adventures.

      

Boom - X Ambassadors

    Another car song for us this year.  Even Paul joined me for a choreographed shoulder heavy dance routine.

You'll Be Back - Hamilton - Johnathan Groff

    2020 brought us Hamilton. This song just completely blew me away based on Johnathan's performance. Spot on.

Americans - Janelle Monae. 

     My election celebration song. A memorable few minutes dancing to it in celebration with my Girls Night crew on a rainy cold night outside.

Don't give up on Me - Andy Grammar.  

     A song in Lily's 5th grade graduation slideshow.  Her virtual graduation and the disappointment of it hit me harder than expected.

Elise's 2020 favorites

Ms Americana & The Heartbreak Prince - Taylor Swift

I forgot you existed - Taylor Swift

Paul's favorite

Bang - AJR

Lily's favorites

Dynamite - BTS

Mad At Disney - Salem Ilese

Nate's favorites (that I like too)

The Strokes - The Adults are Talking.  Really don't want to like them but it's damn catchy.

Become a Mountain - Dan Deacon

(and that I didn't like) new albums by Deep Sea Diver, Idles, Fleet Foxes and Sufjan Stevens

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.