Thankful Thursday

 

1. If Oliver had to get more sutures on his face, I'm glad they were on his eyebrow, as the scar won't be visible. His new PCP took out the sutures yesterday morning. If he does get sutures again, I'm going to take them out myself. It was just three snips and pulling them out. I could have done the same thing and saved us $50. I'm thankful though we didn't drive back to the urgent care center to have them removed as the PCP is much closer to our home. 

2. We went to church on Sunday which hadn't been true the previous two Sundays because of an ice storm and then Paul having COVID. The kids and I all were at church again last night. 

3. Nadia was able to attend the drama class two weeks in a row at co-op. We still don't know what production they're doing in May. 

4. My friend, Cheri, turned 65 on Tuesday, and I'm treating her to dinner this evening! Paul is coming to from work to the ice-skating rink while the kids are having their lessons so that I can go out to dinner with my friend. I'm really looking forward to it! 

5. We are past the half-way mark in every area of our curriculum for this school year. Nadia will have drama practices for 6+ hours a day the week of May 9-13 at co-op, but I think we will wrap up the rest of our subjects by May 3. 

6. Some audiobooks we listen to are not exactly loved by every member of our family. For example, Nadia isn't a fan of Gulliver's Travels which we are about half-way through. Thankfully most of the time we all enjoy the books we listen to. This week we finished Glitch by Laura Martin, and everyone loved that one. 

7. The kids enjoyed playing games with Pop Pop and having lunch with him at Bonanza on Monday.

8. I joined the Wordle craze about a week ago. Since you only do one puzzle a day it's not a time-consuming past-time. Nadia started a few days after me. I enjoy word games so it's right up my alley!

New Babysitter

Several years ago, after doing some research online, I decided that when our kids were ten years old, they would be allowed to stay at home alone for very brief periods of time and that when they turned twelve, they'd be allowed to babysit and/or stay at home alone for longer periods of time. Nadia ended up with more opportunities to babysit because of COVID because I wasn't allowed to take Oliver along with me when I took Ian to an orthodontist appointment. Because Ian turned twelve last month, he's become the second babysitter in our family. His window of opportunity for babysitting will be briefer than Nadia's because Oliver will turn ten in August. Nadia hasn't had as many opportunities to be paid to babysit lately because Ian hasn't seen the orthodontist since June; his next appointment is in February. Nadia has primarily been earning money through memorizing chapters of Romans and James as I give her $10 per chapter. Ian will be able to earn money babysitting on Tuesday afternoons for 3+ months as Nadia has a drama class from 3:30-4:45, and the church where it is held is 25 minutes from our home. Normally I will do some grocery shopping at Aldi during her class unless the parents are needed to work on the set or costumes on a particular day, but today the parents of the students in drama had a meeting. Sometimes Ian isn't done with his schoolwork by 3:00, but I told him if he wanted to babysit today, he had to be done by that time. He finished at 2:30 although he does need to put some more time into studying for his science test tomorrow.

Yesterday Pop Pop came up and spent about 6 hours with the kids. He took them to lunch at Bonanza as he had some gift certificates that expire at the end of this month, and it's only $1.99 for kids to eat there on Mondays. Ian played a game of chess with Pop Pop. Ian and Oliver both played some Nintendo Switch games with Pop Pop, and we all played Suspend and Exploding Kittens together. Nadia also helped Pop Pop try a virtual reality game with the Oculus. I gave him a haircut. He still has one more certificate so he's hoping to use the last one next Monday.

Stitches again

 

It seems that for every day of the year people have assigned a celebration of some sort - national cheesecake day, pi day, Star Wars day, etc. In other instances, we are encouraged to celebrate or focus on something for a month - Black History month, Women's History month, breast cancer awareness month, etc. Next week is the 12th annual National School Choice week. I'm very thankful that we still have school choice in our country. A majority of children attend their local public school, but some parents choose to send their child to a charter school, send their child to a private school, or homeschool them. I'm not sure what impact COVID has had on the enrollment of private and charter schools, but I do know that the number of parents choosing to homeschool their children has gone up dramatically. The states that have the largest percentage of homeschoolers include Alaska (27.5%), Oklahoma (20.1%), Montana (18.3%), and Florida (18.1%). Although homeschooling is typically quite different than remote learning at home through a public school, a vast majority of parents did get at least a taste of homeschooling in the spring of 2020. I don't think homeschooling is the right choice for everyone, but we do believe it's the right choice for our children. 

On Wednesday night Paul called me and said he was taking Nadia and Ian to the hospital because he thought Ian needed to be seen at the ER due to an allergic reaction to having eaten something with a tree nut at youth group. The other time eating a tree nut caused Ian to have breathing difficulty was in June 2020. Benadryl was enough that time, but the Pediatrician did give him a prescription for epi pens at that point. Paul decided to come home first, and Benadryl was enough. His whole body was shaking for a long time afterward, and his throat was in a lot of pain as his reaction is due to eosinophilic esophagitis. He had asked his youth group small group leader if the food had nuts, and the leader had said "probably not." Ian now understands "probably not" means he needs to definitely avoid eating the food. 

On Thursday night I did take Oliver to an urgent care clinic because he fell at the beginning of their ice skating lessons. It's his third time to have stitches on his head over the last four years. The most noticeable scar is from his sledding accident in 2018. The same physician assistant who sewed him up under his chin last summer is the one who sewed him up above his right eyebrow last night. This time he only needed three stitches. The Lidocaine injection is definitely the worst part of the ordeal. I was torn how long to wait to take Oliver. In the end I let Nadia and Ian stay for about 40 minutes of what would have been a 75-minute lesson. A man at the ice-skating rink who helped clean Oliver up also gave him two candy bars and a bottle of water. Oliver gave one candy bar plus a majority of the second candy bar to his siblings as he felt badly that they had to miss part of their lesson on his account. I was planning to take Oliver to the closest urgent care clinic, but when I called, they said they weren't taking any more patients that night because the current wait time was 2.5 hours. I didn't want to take him to the urgent care clinic run by the same hospital where I had my ankle surgery in light of how unhelpful they have been with my surgery bill. The clinic I took him to didn't have any wait, and it was the best one for Paul to meet me there on his way home from work so that he could take Nadia and Ian home with him. They charged me $90 since we don't have insurance. I'm hoping there won't be an additional bill. When I took Ian to his physical earlier this month, I paid $50, but then I received a bill in the mail for another $190. Thankfully, when I called, they said it was a mistake and they wrote off the rest of the bill. I was told his sutures should come out on Wednesday, and I made an appointment with his primary care physician since I think that they will charge me $50, and I'm guessing it would be another $90 if we returned to the urgent care clinic. Also, the PCP is about 22 miles closer to our house. I hope that Oliver will do a better job of protecting his head and not need any more stitches! Thankfully this scar won't be visible because his eyebrow hair should cover it up. 

Today I paid for a photography membership that I considered signing up for on Black Friday. It was cheaper that day, but at that point I wasn't convinced I should take the plunge. I have taken a very small number of pictures over the last four months; I'm sure it's a record for the fewest pictures I've ever taken in that time span over the past 13.5 years not counting the time I was in the hospital during Oliver's pregnancy. I'm hoping that this membership will #1 help me get back in gear in terms of taking more pictures and #2 help me get off the very long plateau I've been on in terms of growth as a photographer. 

As I read in the news recently, I am hoping we WILL follow the pattern of the UK in at least two regards and will NOT follow the pattern of Canada in another. I was thrilled to see that the UK is now treating COVID as endemic = no more mask mandates or vaccine mandates and such in that country. It is now being treated the same as a seasonal flu. I really, really hope that our country will follow suit in the not-so-distant future. Also, they have raised interest rates in the UK, which is something that needs to happen here to help curtail inflation. People didn't like the high interest rates in the US in the 70's, but it brought inflation down and helped bring about the economic boon of the 80's. As for Canada, they have recently partially done away with freedom of speech and freedom of religion as pastors, rabbis, and imams will now face criminal charges if they speak about sexual topics. Unfortunately, it's not hard to envision that will eventually also happen in our country, but I would love to be wrong. Although there's plenty of things in the news that are disturbing, there are some that are encouraging such as the Supreme Court ending the OSHA vaccine mandate, and the filibuster being upheld in the Senate. The Democrats might not want the filibuster now, but won't they want it the next time the Republicans have the majority in the Senate? I don't actually think there should be a vaccine mandate for employees, but if that was to happen, it should come through the legislative not the executive branch.

Thankful Thursday

 

1. Margie was able to have her fourth chemo treatment, which had been delayed when she had COVID. This means she only has two more to go! She has decided to decline the radiation treatments that were to follow. 

2. Ian and Nadia participated in a Bible quiz on Romans chapters 1-14 on January 7-8. Nadia did better than she had at any previous quizzing event. She won't be able to attend the quiz in Indiana in May because it interferes with one of her drama performances, but she's looking forward to attending the finals in South Carolina in June. Hopefully she'll do even better than she did at the last quiz. 

3. I have really been enjoying the fact that for the first time in my life I have a heated seat in my vehicle. I really, really love that feature! My Aunt Janet has raved about how she loves a heated steering wheel so maybe I'll be able to enjoy that additional feature at some point in my life. 

4. The kids enjoyed their first ice skating lesson since 2020 on January 13. The lessons are longer than they were in the past without an additional charge!

5. Paul didn't have a severe case of COVID, and he didn't lose his sense of taste or smell. He slept on the couch for 6 nights to decrease the chances that I would catch it, but he returned to sleeping on our bed on Tuesday night. Also, it seems that at least Ian, Nadia, and I didn't come down with it. Oliver had a fever for a few hours on Tuesday evening. If he had COVID, he had an extremely mild case. I realize that other respiratory bugs still exist so he might have caught something else. He still has a runny nose. We quarantined for a few days. None of us went to church the past two Sundays first because of an ice storm and then because of Paul having COVID, but I did drop Nadia and Ian off at church yesterday afternoon for Bible quizzing and youth group. I missed my ladies Bible study last night because Oliver hadn't gone 24 hours without a fever at that point. I ordered our four "free" COVID tests. I use the word "free" loosely because obviously taxpayers are paying for them. If I had a test, I would have used it on Oliver last night even though I know it's easy to get a false positive with those. 

6. A twelve-year-old girl who attends the Christian school at our church was finally able to have a surgery to remove a malignant tumor. For many months, her parents couldn't find ANY surgeons willing to attempt the surgery, but finally a doctor in Minnesota agreed, and the surgery was a success! This was the answer to the prayers of many! 

7. Things went smoothly at the kids' dentist appointments on Tuesday afternoon. I'm thankful that so far none of them have ever had any cavities. 

8. Nadia was able to attend her drama class on Tuesday for the first time since September 6. Here's to hoping she is actually able to participate this semester, which didn't happen last semester due to my broken ankle. 

9. It's getting much harder for me to stick to my price points when grocery shopping, but I still occasionally can get a good deal. Recently I bought 3 boxes of Frosted Mini-Wheats (the bigger size box) for a total of $4.50. I submitted the receipt online, and Kellogg's rewarded me with a $5 gift card to Amazon. I like being paid to buy cereal, especially as that is one of Nadia's most favorite kinds of cereal. 

7. I had gotten stuck on a plateau as far as making progress with learning Spanish, but I recently got back in gear and have been making progress. Duolingo has leagues. The highest league is the diamond league. I've been in that league for 25 weeks. Recently the had a tournament in the diamond league which lasted a few weeks. My first attempt in the tournament I only made it to the semifinals, but last week I won in the finals, which according to Duolingo puts me in the top 0.5% of Duolingo users. Well winning that tournament doesn't actually mean anything, but hopefully I can eventually become fluent in Spanish. I have a long way to go before that happens. Conjugating verbs in the past tense is so hard for me! Hopefully I will keep plugging along. 

8. I love it when read aloud books lead to independent reading by the kids. For example, Ian really enjoyed the book, Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians, and now he's begun reading the rest of the books in the series on his own. We listened to the five Penderwicks books a while ago, and Nadia recently just finished reading all of them. Next, she's planning to read the five Vanderbeekers books which we also listened to together previously. 

9. We've seen Paul a lot more over the last five months than usual due to a variety of reasons - our vacation, his back injury, my ankle surgery, and the fact he had COVID. It's nice to have him around more!

10. We got a couple of inches of snow on Sunday night. The kids enjoyed playing in it on Monday. Proof that I am still making progress with my ankle would be that I shoveled the driveway. It was definitely the most cardiovascular exercise I had gotten in four months. 

11. I've made a lot of progress with planning our trip to the southeast in May. I started to put more thought into our trip in September, and then I found out that other cities have enacted COVID vaccine requirements for everyone ages 5+. I'm hoping and praying that these will just be temporary, especially considering that this vaccine is not incredibly effective (Paul's office manager/salesman had all three shots including the booster and still tested positive for COVID last week). I'd hate to think we'll have to avoid a long list of cities for years to come just because our kids haven't had this one vaccine. My kids have had every vaccine their doctors have ever recommended they have except for the HPV. In light of the fact that we'd be very limited in cities like Chicago and Boston, at the moment we're thinking maybe in September we'll go to Texas and Louisiana instead. Houston and San Antonio don't have vaccine mandates. New Orleans does, but it wouldn't interfere with any of our sightseeing plans. We'd just have to eat outdoors or get takeout in New Orleans if the vaccine mandate in that city isn't lifted over the next eight months. Who would have thought you'd need to show your driver's license and a medical record to enter a science museum or a restaurant in the USA?!?! I never would have dreamt this would happen. I remember needing to show our passports when we went to church in China in 2006, but that's the only other time in my life I remember needing to show ID to enter a building. Thankfully, I don't think any of the places we plan to visit in May in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, or Tennessee have a vaccine mandate in effect. 

12. Nadia got an A on her last physical science test! It was on Newton's laws and other similar topics. Yesterday I gave Nadia and Ian a test in history for the first time in their lives. Ian got an A, and Nadia got a B. It's a little tough for her to swallow when her younger brother does better on her when they take the same test, but I was just pleased that they both did well. I'm trying to ease Nadia into the concept of grades since I have to start giving her report cards in the fall when she's in high school.

13. Ian accidentally ate something with tree nuts at youth group last night. Paul called me and said he was going to the hospital as he thought Ian needed to go to the ER. Thankfully some Benadryl did the trick at home. Ian was very shaken up due to the difficulty he had breathing. I'm very glad that he's okay, and I hope he will be more careful not to eat anything with tree nuts in the future!

22 months later

Today the kids had their first ice skating lesson since the beginning of March 2020. They would have had one last week if they hadn't gone skating. Even though they didn't ice skate much at all over the last 22 months, they did go roller blading a lot more, and this has resulted in significant progress for Ian and Oliver on the ice. Ian was promoted to the more advanced class. Oliver was in the lower class today, but he asked the teacher if he could move up next week, and she said he could if he wanted to. One of the reasons he wanted to join his siblings in the other group was they were on the ice for a total of 75 minutes, which was 30 minutes longer than he was. Mostly things seemed to be "back to normal" in the way that the classes were run with the exception that some people were wearing masks, which of course wasn't the case at any other time in the past that the kids had ice skating lessons. 

Nadia thought she'd be doing more ice skating this weekend at Camp Susque. She has wanted to attend winter camp there for years. The first several years that she asked to go, I said "no" because it would have interfered with an Upward basketball game. I told her that she could start going to winter camp once she was in 7th grade because she would be too old for Upward at that time. I signed her up for winter camp last year, but they ended up switching to a virtual event (which didn't interest her at all). I signed her up again this year. The middle school winter camp IS being held in person this weekend, but she won't be going because Paul has symptoms of a bug that could be COVID. I called stores and asked friends and neighbors if they had a spare test, but I couldn't get my hands on a single OTC COVID test. Since we can't prove he doesn't have COVID, she can't go to camp. Thankfully, so far, the kids and I have zero symptoms. We're praying it will stay that way. Time will tell. The winter camp for high schoolers is held a few days after Christmas (end of December). Maybe just maybe the third time will be the charm and Nadia will actually make it to winter camp as a ninth grader in December. 

This was the first time I ever attempted to purchase a COVID test. We realize that they are prone to false positives, but we wouldn't have time to get the results back from a test at a hospital since she was supposed to be dropped off at 6pm tomorrow. Paul was in Baltimore last week at a trade show. Everyone wore masks at the trade show, and Paul, his brother, and Dave are all vaccinated. Dave hasn't been at work this week due to illness, and he is waiting for the results of his COVID test. I honestly didn't realize how hard it is to buy a COVID test right now. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised because the shelves are still bare at times for random items. Last week when I was at a Walmart supercenter, I was amazed at the bare shelves in the pasta section and also with the apples. The rest of my life the only time I would see bare shelves would be in conjunction with a snowstorm, and then it would be things like bread and milk that would be hard to find. For the past two years it's been a much wider variety of things that have been hard to get along the way. 

The bare shelves aren't the only shocking thing about grocery shopping in 2022. The prices are also disturbing. I know they say that inflation is up 7%. Frankly, 7% would sound heavenly to me compared to the actual price increases I am seeing in many aspects of life. Our car insurance just went up 23% (for the premium that begins in a few weeks), our home insurance went up 29% over the last year (and it also went up a lot the previous year!), our garbage bill went up 36% over the last two years, etc. I told Paul it might be a very long time until we have beef stew again. There are food items that I typically buy on a regular basis that I've stopped buying because of price increases. I realize I might have to change the price I'm willing to pay for things. I buy a few things no matter what they cost such as bananas (which thankfully are always pretty cheap when it comes to the cost of fruit), eggs, and milk (which is typically a little under $4/gallon). I've raised the price I'm willing to pay for ground beef by 50% because otherwise we wouldn't have had any for quite a while, and it's still a challenge to find it at that price, but I'm just not sure what to do about the other price increases. Many things have gone up at least 20% and sometimes far more than that. 

We just plan to stay at home the next few days. Last weekend Nadia and Ian were in a Bible quizzing competition at our church that included teams from Indiana and Ohio. They spent the night at our church last Friday night because the quizzing ended late on Friday night and began early on Saturday morning. Our church's boys' team won (not because of Ian although he was on the winning team). Nadia did better than she had the last two years. This quiz was on Romans 1-14. The one in June will be on all of Romans and James. So far Nadia has memorized the first 7 chapters of Romans and the first 2 chapters of James. 

A couple of things are not currently part of our lives that were prior to COVID. First, the kids had been in AWANA from August 2011 until March 2020. AWANA did resume in person this fall, but Oliver hasn't attended. Last night he attended the midweek kids' program at our church while Nadia and Ian were in youth group, and I was in a ladies Bible study on Hagar. Singing in a choir was also the norm for me (for decades) and for the kids since 2012. None of us are in a choir. Oliver *could* be in the kids' choir at church as it did resume this fall, but he said he didn't want to, and I decided not to make it mandatory. Hopefully Nadia and Ian will be in the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale again starting in the fall. I have no idea when I will be in a choir again. Knowing that some things are still on hold or easily cancelled at the last minute, the kids are very appreciative that they can take ice skating lessons. They say it's their favorite type of "gym class. " :)

Thankful Thursday

1. I took four kids skiing at Elk Mountain today. It was the third time my three skied at that resort. It's 2 hours away from our home whereas Ski Sawmill, where they've gone skiing more often, is only 1 hour from our house. However, WVIA (PBS station) hasn't offered free tickets to Ski Sawmill in 2021 or 2022 due to COVID. The only year the kids ever went skiing twice in one year was in 2020, as they skied once in January and February before everything ground to a halt in March. Maybe they will be able to ski twice next year? It depends on what happens with COVID between now and then. It was Jill's first-time skiing; Nadia had her skiing on both the bunny slope and also a slope that came down from the top of the mountain! The last time I skied was in February 2020, and that might end up being the last time in my life because of my ankle surgery. Oliver's skiing ability has greatly improved over the last few years. He is now as confident as Nadia. Ian still prefers the bunny slope. All the times I've been with the kids when they've skied, I've brought my good camera. I didn't today, but I did get a few pictures and videos with my phone. Last year, Paul took the kids to Elk Mountain, and he didn't take a single picture. So, I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do when we go skiing, but I took more than Paul did last year. 

2. Ian went a full year without going to a doctor, which thankfully has been normal for him since he turned three. He saw MANY doctors (psychologist, urologists, gastroenterologists, allergists, etc.) during the first three years of life. Thankfully he didn't need any vaccinations this year, so it only cost $50 to have his annual physical thanks to the self-pay discount the local clinic offers. It was Ian's first time being seen at that clinic. Aside from it being a lot cheaper, it's closer to our house, and we did a lot less waiting than we have always done at the pediatrician's office where we used to go. Ian is 4 foot 9.25 inches tall, which puts him at the 30th percentile for height, and he weighs 77 pounds, which puts him at the 20th percentile for weight. He gained seven pounds and grew two inches over the last year. He's 3/4 of an inch taller than Nadia was when she turned twelve, and he weighs 14 pounds less than she did.

3. Ian and Oliver enjoyed the cookies and popcorn balls activity at the library on December 18.

4. The kids and Jill enjoyed ice skating on December 19, which was Nadia's half-birthday date, and they enjoyed skating with Wendy and her kids on December 26. We paid for the kids to skate on the 19th, but admission and rentals were free on the 26th - even hot chocolate, hot dogs, popcorn, cookies, fruit, and door prizes were free that day. 

5. Paul's dad turned eighty on December 20. He wasn't feeling well on his birthday, so he didn't come up to our house as planned. He's the first of our parents to make it to 80. Since both of our moms passed away in their 70's, we don't take this for granted.

6. Milo had his vet appointment and got his immunizations. Next year the appointment will be cheaper as two of the three immunizations he got this time he won't need to get again for three years. He got a third vaccine this year which means he can stay at a kennel, and we put that to use today. The longest he's stayed in his crate by himself has been a little over 9 hours. I called two kennels and found one that only charges $15 for daycare, which can be up to 11 hours long. This meant the kids weren't able to go to their first ice skating lesson today as we would have been gone longer than 11 hours, but at least they were able to ski. Part of the reason I took him to the kennel today was to test that option out in preparation for our vacation in May. Emotionally I'd rather leave him at someone's house rather than the kennel, but it's nice to have another option when necessary.

7. My dentist appointment went smoothly on December 29. Although we no longer have health insurance, I'm grateful we still have dental insurance through Paul's business.

8. Last night the kids and I attended a Pizzapalooza event at church. I have joined a ladies Bible study on Hagar that will begin next Wednesday night. 

9. Since we didn't see any relatives in December 2020, it was lovely to celebrate Ian's birthday and Christmas with some extended family in 2021. We were able to spend time with Paul's dad, brother, nephew, and sister-in-law plus my dad, Margie, Wendy, and Wendy's four kids. 

10. We're thankful for the gifts we received! The kids finished writing the thank you notes on January 2.

11. Paul turned 52! Considering Maurice passed away at the age of 35, I don't take any birthday for granted. 

12. Margie was able to get a monoclonal antibody infusion. We're thankful that neither my dad nor Margie have needed to be hospitalized due to the fact that they have COVID.

13. Paul had a safe trip to Baltimore on Tuesday. We're praying that the snow that is forecasted won't cause any problems with the drive back home tomorrow. He thinks that the show will result in some new customers.

Fifty-two

 

Paul had recently turned 27 years old when I met him at a ballroom dancing class, and today he turned 52 years old. As Nadia often reminds him, only three more years until we are eligible to join the "Best Years Fellowship" at our church, which is for those who are 55+. Last week we had pizza and I ordered more than usual in honor of his birthday, and yesterday I made rigatoni and meatballs for dinner so that we could have that yesterday and again tonight as that's another of his favorite meals. I didn't bake him any of his favorite desserts because we still have quite a few Christmas cookies that haven't been eaten yet. I got him a very big container of peanut M&Ms, a t-shirt, and a few more of his favorite candy bars. The kids each made him a card. Nadia actually made him two cards as one of the cards was from Milo. Neither of us are much into throwing parties. He's never thrown one for me (which is totally fine that is NOT a complaint), and I threw him three parties over the past 25 years. Two of those times I was rather sleep deprived as his master's degree graduation party was held when Nadia was 5 weeks old, and his 40th birthday party was held when Ian was 3 weeks old. For the majority of the past 25 years, we celebrated each other's birthdays with a date (typically we went out to eat), but that went by the wayside at some point over the past 12 years. The first time I ever attempted to schedule something special for the five of us to do on my birthday was unfortunately in 2020. Naturally all those plans went out the window due to COVID. I've rescheduled it for my 50th birthday in April of this year. Our Sunday School class sang Happy Birthday to Paul yesterday morning, and the kids and I serenaded him today. We hope that this next year of life is a good one for Paul.

Paul would have driven to Baltimore today if his back was back to normal. Thankfully his back is much better than it was a month ago. He's planning to go to Baltimore tomorrow and come back home on Friday evening. The fact that the trade show was cancelled last year was one fallout from COVID that Paul actually appreciated. 

Speaking of COVID, my dad also probably has COVID, which isn't surprising considering Margie came down with it last week. He's being tested tomorrow morning. Margie received a monoclonal antibody infusion this morning, which hopefully will help her. They had both been vaccinated but hadn't received their booster shots, and Margie's immune system has been weakened due to the chemo treatments. She was supposed to have another chemo treatment last week, but that has been postponed due to testing positive for COVID. We're praying for both of them to recover as soon as possible. Wendy's family tested negative. We haven't been tested, but none of us have any symptoms, and it's now been a week since we were with my dad and Margie. Here's to hoping and praying that the pandemic comes to an end sometime this year. 

A New Year

Some years have gotten off to a rocky start. For example, Oliver's lung collapsed on December 30, 2014. Starting the year with my toddler in the PICU wasn't exactly my favorite way to start a year. Similarly, my mom went to the ER on December 30, 2015, because of pleural effusion, which we soon learned was due to stage 4 ovarian cancer. Oliver's hospitalization had a much happier resolution whereas my mom's quality of life was very poor until she passed away in July. Then there have been years like 2020 when everything *seemed* normal on January 1, and then it proved to be a very unusual and difficult year. At the end of 2020 I kept hearing people say how excited they were about the arrival of a new year, but I wasn't sure what was in store for us in 2021. I falsely assumed that once a large percentage of people had been vaccinated, life would return to normal. Life isn't back to normal yet. The good news is that the newest strain (Omicron) thankfully is just like having a mild cold for most people, and in our area, life is pretty much back to normal. We only have to wear masks at medical facilities and inside the visitor centers of National Parks. I have gotten the sense this time around that people aren't assuming that everything will be better in 2022. I think more people have a "wait and see" attitude towards what this year will be like.

As I think about 2022 and the years beyond, I wonder how long it will be until life is TRULY back to normal in terms of supply chain issues, inflation, vaccination requirements, employee shortages, masks not being required, etc. As of today, you have to show ID and proof of vaccination to enter any establishment that serves food in Philadelphia. I had planned to take the kids back to Philadelphia this fall as we haven't been to all the museums and such yet, but I think I'll be postponing those plans in the hopes that this requirement will not become permanent. As a side note, I do not understand why it's considered racist to require proof of ID to vote when it's not considered racist to require ID to buy cigarettes, consume alcohol, fly on an airplane, drive a car, check into a hotel, enter a restaurant, etc. I would think election integrity would be something we could all agree upon - we don't want someone voting more than once in an election, deceased people voting, etc. I digress. I had planned to take the kids to one Broadway show per year. We didn't go to any in 2020 or 2021, but prior to that they saw Aladdin and Lion King. I'm hoping that proof of vaccination won't be required to attend Broadway shows for years on end as we're hoping at some point to take the kids to see Wicked, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Phantom of the Opera. I'm hoping to take the kids to see a production of Matilda in June in Delaware (not an official Broadway production so I don't believe proof of vaccination will be required). Even though Nadia loathes Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and some of Roald Dahl's other works, she loves Matlida. I'm also thinking of buying tickets for all of us to see Stars on Ice in Pittsburgh on Mother's Day as that was another show that I wanted to take the kids to one time before they graduated.

Although I'm uncertain as to what will happen in 2022 with the economy or COVID, I do know Who holds the future in His hands. Some people have traditions for how they celebrate New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, but we really don't. Our church had a service last night, but the idea of a sermon at 11pm just didn't appeal to me. I was in bed at 9:15pm. Paul tried to stay up until midnight, but he fell asleep on the couch at 11:30. The kids all stayed up until midnight. It was the first time we let Oliver do that on New Year's Eve. Paul worked a shorter day than usual on Friday, and he stayed home on Saturday. I organized two closets on Friday. I really know how to party, ha ha! I also made a pie that Oliver had been wanting me to try that included cream cheese, chocolate pudding, caramel, whipped topping, and Oreos. Since we've had three close family members pass away in the last five years, I'm hoping to not need to attend a funeral for a family member in 2022. When things are less than ideal here on earth, it's helpful to remember that this world is not our home; we're just passing through. This too shall pass! We will not be wearing masks in Heaven!