Thursday, September 3, 2020

Really Random Thursday, 9/3/20

Is it crazy that our world has been consumed by COVID-19 for six months??! In some ways, it seems like those six months have zipped by in a blur. In other ways, rather than six months, it feels like six years. Mark and I both kind of feel like we are hitting a brick wall, and that it feels unending. At the same time, in a way it seemed far away in that we didn't personally know anyone who had had COVID. Now the wagons are circling closer. We know four people who have had it. Social distancing and face masks aren't going away any time soon...

When this first began in March, did you ever think that we would still be seeing no end in sight six months later? I sure didn't. I had to cancel a quilting retreat that was scheduled for the end of March. But I surely thought I would be going to my beloved Minnesota retreat in July! *sigh* We have promised our grandkids that on their 13th birthday we would spend three days in Disneyland. A year ago we had the best time with Charlotte. Levi's birthday is coming up in March, and honestly, considering that Disneyland has no opening date yet, we have told Levi that we will celebrate his 13th "half birthday" next September and hopefully things will be more back to normal. Who knows?

Speaking of birthdays, Mark had one the end of August. But the air quality was horrible due to all the fires, so we postponed it for a week. We celebrated last Saturday night. The weather was cooler and the air was quite a bit better. We had such a good time. Aaron had planned to make hamburgers, but since he received a Traeger (smoker) earlier in the summer, he decided to do pork belly instead.




They were SO good. Think candied bacon. We had baked beans, pasta salad, jello (Mark IS from Minnesota, after all, where no good celebration occurs without the addition of some kind of jello). Earlier in the week, Charlotte had asked what his favorite dessert was. He said carrot cake, with NO NUTS. Charlotte went all out, and even made fondant carrots. And what do you do with leftover fondant? Make a bunny butt, that's what!!


Mark has a reputation for wrapping gifts in, um...., unusual ways. One year he wrapped my gift in multiple layers of wire. Another year he cut tree branches in 3" lengths and encased my gift inside what was basically a tree branch "jail." It required a crowbar. He thinks he's so funny...

Jason, Ruby and Amelia got him back by using a roll of clear packing tape and what looked like two rope clotheslines. It took him forever to open. Don't feel sorry for him. He totally deserved it. :)


The grandkids are in their second week of school, all online at this point.  Christa has her own online class every Monday morning, and she works all day on Thursday. So Mark and I have volunteered to have school at our house on those days. They each have their own quiet space, and the first day seemed to work very well.

Charlotte was in the master bedroom, and when I peeked in on her, she was in P.E. class.
Levi used the desk in my office.
Gabe was in the dining room. He looks like he's sleeping but let's just assume that he is concentrating...
We set Ella up in the guest room. She requires a little more supervision to stay on task, so I stayed with her while she was in class, and did some hand sewing. It seemed to work out well.
Here is the update on my beautiful mystery dahlia. It's much larger than the first mystery dahlia. I'm hooked. We are planning an enlarged dahlia garden and I'm already trying to decide which tubers to purchase for next year.
This was the week for "happy mail." On Monday, I received the coolest package from my dear friend, Doris. The bag was so cool--it has a rigid frame so it stays open--perfect for retreats. And she enclosed so many fun goodies--including the latest issue of Quilt Sampler magazine, of which she is the editor.

Terri and I are both fans of pencils. I know, that may sound a bit funny, but if you too like pencils, I highly recommend @cwpencilenterprise. They have a quarterly box subscription. I have had it in and out of my shopping cart so many times, telling myself it is a nonessential purchase. But when Terri told me how much she enjoys it, I signed up. My first box arrived on Tuesday, and it did not disappoint. Some really cool double-ended pencils (metallic and neon), a pencil made in Vietnam, some stickers, a cool brass ruler in the shape of, what else, a pencil, and an envelope with a library card. Fun, fun, fun.
And today, totally out of the blue, a package arrived with cookies and biscotti, and some of my favorite fabric EVER, from sweet Brianne (@baker_brianne).
This is the only thing that captured my attention in the past week. With all the Zoom meetings going on, I venture to say a lot of people could make use of this little notebook.
I also took two virtual quilting classes, but they require their own post. So check back.

Stay healthy.



7 comments:

05 08
Charlotte M. said... #

Well goodness you are so very busy while staying home. Charlotte is so talented at baking. I worked in a bakery for 14 years and she is that good! School looks good to me. The hope chest in your master bedroom looks almost exactly like the one that I have that belonged to my Great Aunt Charlotte. So interesting. Love your random posts.

Needled Mom said... #

I love Charlotte’s cake...especially the bunny! A jello dish is definitely a midwestern thing. Surely glad I did not have to do online school, for myself or my children.

OPQuilt said... #

I love how you always capture the flavah of the times in your posts, and this one is no exception. I wish I could have been there to taste the pork belly--it looks soooo good. And Happy Birthday to Mark! His age is going backwards, right?

Anne / Springleaf Studios said... #

I know I read this last week and thought I'd left a comment. Anyway, can't believe you're hosting school for 4 . . . that's really a lot! I don't know how parents are handling work and school. Grateful that we don't have that worry. Happy belated bday to Mark. Stay safe from fires. I can only imagine the air there as it's been quite bad here.

southcedar said... #

I have not commented before. Love your weekly blogs. Every time I watch Creek fire news I think of you and family. Prayers for safety and improved air quality for you and the whole community.

Robby said... #

Seriously, you could have ended the post after the fondant bunny butt. I mean, does it get better than that?! In one of my previous lives, I sat through a weekly meeting that could have been an email, a really, really long email. OK, it was known as the "meeting of death". Good luck with school, what a challenge for everyone.

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