June 2020

We opened the pool a little late this year, with a new liner coming, we weren't sure it would be in one piece and swim-able when we pulled the cover.  It was, and we had a hot few weeks of June to use it. Nick was huge help in opening this year, we're getting close to retiring Grandpa out from the assignment. Nick still generally struggles to finish his chores and get paid, he'll stop 90% of the way in, or not write it down, and not collect.

A family of killdeer nested in our yard (because they nest in the rocks, and you know, my yard is so awful from the lawncare and crappy topsoil, they figured it was rocks.) They sat on that nest for 28 days, we surrounded them with reflective posts, and we fought of the stupid lawn guys together.  They hatched, and left the nest right away, but I caught the moment on film. Very cool.

Brandi decided to return to work part-time (in the middle of a pandemic), and picked up some RDH days at two offices.  She comes home one evening, and says, "I'm exhausted.  If you're expecting me to provide dinner, your best bet is breast milk." She had a good run and made a little money, now both states are offering her an opportunity to add a nursing degree if she'll help in this COVID mess.  We shall see.

Overall, with quarantine still in effect, we've gotten out a little (went out to dinner with Eric and Deana @ Manhattan's, and I got out to see Becky for dinner, that's about it), still have our private room for breakfast on Saturdays, and got to visit family.

Brandi and Nick made a trip to Atlanta at the end of the month.  You'll see photos of go-carts, fireworks, and paddling on the lake. The kids generally stay to themselves, don't interact much with each other.  When Thatcher gets grumpy with Nick (who is eternally optimistic), they grapple a little, in a struggle for space and dominance, and rumor is that Nick can hold his own just fine (three years of martial arts has helped.)  I asked him how it went, he says "I'll play hardball when I need to."  They cut their trip short, and met me in Cincinnati on the way home where I watched Noah play ball in 14U, and Kiersten took me for a ride in her new Jeep (which I didn't know at the time she's not yet tested for her license, a little detail that got missed.)  With Kiersten, and now Seth, both getting their license, and Nick confidently driving, all the kids are creeping up on adulthood now.  Nick says, "You hope I'm the same chill self I am now."  Yes, I do.

Photos here.

Jason

May 2020

Full lock-down quarantine in Michigan lasted from mid-March to mid-June, then lifted for nearly all services. Inability to get a haircut nearly started civil war in the state (because...priorities; people didn't consider hair dryers spreading a COVID, the reasons are essentially too sensitive and complicated for the average Joe.) So Brandi places the beard trimmer on #6, and attempts to cut my hair.  Nick walks by, looks at me and says "I’m glad you went first," and refuses to have his head touched.  He looks like a mop, but no one sees him, with piano and school all virtual. He watches the world go by from the window in his study. "The old people in the neighborhood are gathering outside," he tells me.  "Are they coming for you?" "I don't think so." "Then you have nothing to worry about." They sit on their lawn chairs and drink wine in the cul-de-sac. I do love my 55+ neighborhood.

So our time outdoors is on Spring chores, from mowing lawn, to tying up tomatoes, and cutting dead branches from the trees. We had lots of clearing needed this year with extending the privacy fence in Grandpa's yard coming soon. Nick was a big help in opening the pool, which was the toughest year, with lots of water and crud, and his effort to save every tadpole.  He's earning money from his work, puts the cash in his 'fee shark' (the name of the bank on his nightstand that holds his cash.)

School finally ended, and he passed every class, with plenty of unnecessary anxiety. They better have a plan for Fall, or we'll be second-guessing the school. With time on his hands, he's usually building/coding stuff on his laptop, or pressed against the window to my home office making faces at me. "I'm just trying to keep my feet off the ground," he says.  I don't know if he's confused or has a self-awareness at his age that I didn't reach until my late twenties. We're starting to slowly get out of the house, Brandi is getting impatient, such as threatening to hurt me with a box of Mac & Cheese (she's running out of possibilities.)

Jason

March & April 2020: COVID-19 Quarantine

We've been inside since March 13, with me working from home and Nick's school forced to online instruction for the remainder of the year. Nick could not leave the house for months and not care, as long as his laptop works and the cupboards are full of food, we forced him into the yard to plant some grass seed at the point we realized he hadn't walked outside the doors for over a month.

Schoolwork is the biggest struggle, Brandi helps as much as she can, and he stays on it for the most part, but the school hasn't made it easy.  Six different teachers on six different platforms, moved him from an 'A' student to nearly failing some classes in only a couple of weeks (assignments we submit but the teachers can't find.) Brandi has been on top of the school to get answers, and in the end, it won't matter, but it's been considerably frustrating.

I spend my days in the office downstairs, while Nick has a space above the garage adjacent to his room to focus on his schoolwork. There's an old table up there, and a TV and beanbags, and of course, a good internet connection. I get to experience his workspace habits when we switch, such as when he has remote piano lessons and needs the piano in the corner of my office.  He doesn't keep his desktop as organized as I do, I need to clear space between the cans and planes and books and empty cracker boxes to function.

Inside we fill the time by tossing socks up the staircase and swinging at them like baseballs with a stick, or polishing cars or working at the train table.  And lots of cooking.  Brandi is trying new recipes all the time, and Nick is heavy into her Chinese run... fried rice and beef-and-broccoli being consumed in mass quantities (when we can find rice in the stores. We do have plenty of TP.)  I needed a TV show that I could stream that would last me the entire quarantine, and most new shows are 6-10 episodes per season, so I had to reach back... been watching the original Dallas on Amazon Prime, for free, which should keep my occupied (350+ episodes.)

Nick's best quotes of the month, those random things he says for no reason that fit into no conversation.
"Can you imagine a life without pose-able thumbs?"
"Beavers invented refrigeration."
"I'm going to take a lap." (He says this when he's headed for the bathtub, because he runs enough water to go for a swim.)
"I lost track of time due to daylight savings time." (When we was scolded for being up until near midnight on his laptop... over a month after daylight savings time switched.)

Jason

Easter 2020

First major holiday under quarantine, it could have come and gone without being noticed, losing track of time.
Family gatherings were held over FaceTime.

Brandi hid baskets for Nick around the house like he's still age seven, which he awoke unannounced at 4:30 AM, found them all, consumed half the candy, and went back to bed. That didn't go over well when she woke up. But not without a Plan B, Brandi advised there were 36 plastic eggs throughout the house, and some had $20 bills in them. Of course, I engaged happily, and so did Nick.

I still got my turkey dinner, and Nick got Chex Mix, which he walked up to the kitchen island and planted himself in the spread face-down, because, of course, they were meant for him.

Quarantine Life

This is what a quiet house looks like when there's nowhere to go.

Yes, Brandi's Christmas tree was still up into April.