lasts and seconds

Since my last post, we celebrated Valentine's Day.  It was the last formal holiday to be celebrated coronavirus style, so now we've had a full year of coronavirus holidays.

There was no date. We did what has become customary and had a household party. I wanted to have homemade cinnamon rolls and Lydia wanted to have fondue. This time, I did a great job of delegating.  Reggie and I took care of the food planning and prep and Brett and Lydia planned games and put up decorations. We had brunch after church (egg bake and cinnamon rolls), then played games.  When Reggie and Bryan got home from wrestling practice, we had cheese and chocolate fondue.  I think the football crockpot and Packer platter added a nice romantic touch to our Valentine's dinner. 😉

Reggie is so happy to be attending school again.  He ended up in a class that is mostly girls.  Most of his sports-playing buddies are in the other class and the "cohorts" are not allowed to mix on the playground. Still, he says, he is happy to be back.   

The days at home are quieter.  School takes up our mornings.  In the afternoons, we do different projects.  Lydia does piano.  They do virtual classes through Outschool or Special Olympics. We bake, do a craft project, play a game, or go to the library.  Wednesday is still errand and eat lunch out day. We had two weeks of very cold weather and now we are having a couple weeks of above average temperatures. Last week, we met Bonnie at Sonic.  I think it's the first patio-eating we've ever done in February!  

Last Friday, we were going to get fish fry from a local restaurant.  When I totaled it out, it was going to cost $73 before tip. Ouch! Now that we can't rely on the kid's menu, restaurants are expensive.  When I texted Bryan the total at work, he said he'd get fish at Costco and fry it himself.

I gave up coffee for lent.

I didn't grow up in one of your more liturgical faiths where you don't eat meat on Fridays during lent.  The tradition of a lent season is pretty novel to me.  However, for the last several years, I've taken hold of the spiritual discipline of practicing self-denial during lent.  I decided to take a break from coffee this year because I'm in the habit of drinking it all day long.

But I'm allowing myself to continue drinking caffeinated beverages.  I don't drink a lot of soda anymore, but I like tea. The tea I drink has a lot less caffeine than coffee though.  It's a decent substitute for a hot beverage in the morning, but I miss coffee!  

I also like V8+Energy, which is basically juice with a kick of caffeine.  I figure it's better than soda and the kids like them, too.

Lydia was drinking a pomegranate one the other day when she said, "Mom, we could drink these for Easter Communion this year." Last year, everything was really shut down at Easter and I barely even went shopping.  Our church suggested having some bread and juice for a virtual communion service.  So I made hot cross buns and we used a Gatorade for our beverage.

To have Lydia casually assume we'd be having another virtual Easter was accurate but nonetheless crushing. Two of her twelve Easters will have been spent in this pandemic era.  Sure, we could attend a service at a church that is open for in-person gatherings. But it would merely gloss over the reality that we're still here in this strange place which is starting to feel a little too normal to my kids.

I told her it was a good idea.

On March 1st, I started my pepper and tomato seeds.  The next day, Brett, Lydia, and I dumped some potting soil in a cracked clear plastic bin, planted a few cold-hardy veggies in it, and set it on the front patio.  I'll let you know what happens.  Spring is when the seeds go in the ground and we start tuning in to baseball games.  It is a time of fresh starts and anticipation. Our governor always uses sports analogies with his Covid-19 updates.  Last week, he said we're "rounding 3rd". 

Now that's something for which to be hopeful.