Hoverboard #2

 

As soon as Nadia rode Oliver's hoverboard on August 7, I knew Nadia also wanted to have a hoverboard. Ian has used Oliver's hoverboard a little bit, but Nadia has wanted to ride his hoverboard almost as much as Oliver. She had enough money to buy one in August because she received $50 when I sold her 24" bike and also had received money for her birthday and for babysitting, but she said she'd just put a hoverboard on her wish list. About a month ago she spent some of her money to buy a smart watch because the plastic watch band was giving her a rash. She selected a watch with a metal band. I didn't do much shopping this week for "Prime Day," but I did notice that Walmart had a hoverboard really, really marked down. Nadia had been planning to use her money to buy another pet - probably a turtle. We have three guinea pigs and two zebra danios, but evidently that's not enough. I told her how much cheaper the hoverboard was, and she decided to buy it and ask for another pet for Christmas. UPS delivered the hoverboard yesterday, and the weather was warmer than usual for this time of year. She and Oliver had fun on their hoverboards. Ian wants a 24" bike like Oliver has, but I don't think he'll ever request a hoverboard. I almost got him a bike over Facebook right before we left for our vacation. Since his birthday is in December, I feel confident that he'll get a bigger bike either for a birthday or Christmas gift in December. I need to do more research about turtles before giving approval. 

I am not minimizing the number of people who have died from COVID-19 in the US this year; it's certainly more than a typical flu. I don't know if we'll ever know the exact number because if someone dies in a car accident but previously tested positive for COVID, their death is included in the number of COVID fatalities. The percentage of people who died of COVID in the US without any co-morbidities is less than 10%. But even if EVERY COVID death was truly from COVID, it still won't be the leading cause of death in the US in 2020. Heart disease and cancer are the top two killers in our country. I don't personally know anyone who has died from COVID, but every year people I know die from cancer. My brother's cause of death was heart disease, and my mother's was cancer. In the last two months two friends have died of cancer. In August Jill died at the age of 50. She was married to Reid, who was one of my closest friends in college. Earlier this month Kim died at the age of 63. We taught at the same school in Annapolis and attended the same Bible study when I lived there. She had been Wendy's French teacher. Her positive attitude during her battle with cancer was very inspirational. My friend Carol's husband is battling pancreatic cancer right now. The number of fatalities is going down for some forms of cancer, but pancreatic cancer is on the rise unfortunately. I am thankful that sometimes, such as in Margie's case, cancer is caught early. Even though I don't have the BRCA mutation, ever since my mom died of ovarian cancer in 2016 I've been very faithful with having my annual mammogram. So right now even though COVID is what it seems most people are thinking about, cancer is on my mind in light of some recent deaths. My dad has had prostate and skin cancer, which thankfully generally have a good prognosis. It would be wonderful if they could come up with a cure for cancer. There seems to have been TONS of money dumped into cancer research - especially breast cancer. Hopefully they will come up with better ways to treat cancer as chemotherapy is far, far, far from ideal! If you would say a prayer for my friend Carol and her husband Denis as he battles pancreatic cancer, for my friend Reid and his two children as they grieve the loss of wife and mom, and for Kim's family and friends that would be appreciated! Kim was never married, but she leaves behind two brothers and other family and friends who will greatly miss her presence in their lives. 

The kids are VERY excited about a play date at our house today. Tab asked me if her boys could hang out with us while she takes their two dogs to the vet. My kids love to play with her boys. Yesterday they did extra schoolwork so they could have a short day today as the boys are supposed to come over at 10:30 this morning. It also is the first time since we've lived here that dogs will be visiting us as Tab will come here with the dogs after their appointment is over. We can actually put our fence to good use for a short while, ha ha! A dog is what Nadia really wants, but I don't know who would walk the dog when we went on field trips, went skiing, went on vacation, went to an amusement park, etc. She wants a pet that likes to be handled. I think if I agree we can get another pet it's going to be on the stipulation that SHE is totally responsible for feeding and cleaning it's habitat as I already clean the guinea pig cage and the fish tank. I already said if she chooses a pet that has a longer life span, the pet must go with her whenever she leaves our home. She agreed to that stipulation. So we shall see what mammal or reptile I can find that likes to be held that could be the next pet....