In other news: Battlebots is back!
Our HS junior daughter had told me the at-home learners were holding back progress of the in-person students as teachers tried to keep the cohorts on the same pace. Which was failing. Today the district notified us at-home learners with poor grades or absenteeism will be forced to the in-person option for the rest of the academic year. Fortunately our in-person kids are doing great. From what I hear the poor performance of at-home learners is widespread.
No real snowmen in sight for our area 🙁
When dinosaurs attack
All sides of the exterior of this building have these large dinosaur outlines. You won’t be surprised to learn they build giant animatronic dinosaurs.
Chillin with a a friend
In the good news/bad news category. Bad news first: several of our son’s cohorts attended a gathering over Thanksgiving and are now quarantining w/1 positive. Good news: the case was discovered before school reopened after the break so they didn’t bring it into the school.
This bark is a long time family favorite. But I’m sure not interested in a “2020” edition of anything. Ready to move on from this year for sure!
The Covid pandemic has reinforced my family’s understanding that our life can be (forced to be) simpler yet still be enjoyable. Yes we’ve missed out on things but in the long run we’re doing just fine.
#mbnov
It was a dreary sky
The cold bade me stay inside
But the food guilt propelled me
Our life this year has been completely pedestrian. Each day pretty much just fades into the next. I’m wracking my brain trying to think of what we can safely do to make Christmas break still feel special. No one even has much of a Christmas list this year.
#mbnov
I really miss seeing everyone’s facial expressions now that nearly everyone wears a mask. Even the quick encounters at store used to bring a tiny dose of joy. I find it is a rare person whose smile can shine even through a mask.
#mbnov
Feeling a bit of a dilemma. Normally we plan vacations well in advance - it’s enjoyable to plan and nice anticipating the travel. But this year that just lead to disappointment due to Covid. Do we hopefully plan something for late next year and risk it again? Or defer a bit.
Another thing I’m thankful for today: the weather this afternoon was warm-ish with no wind so I got to break out the underused tripod and DSLR for some quickly family photos.
Our little friends joined in the harvest. Today they can rest and consume copious amounts of food.
I’m happy my family and I have been able to adjust fairly well to Covid. We have much to be Thankful for today. That said I’m looking forward to getting vaccinated next year and seeing a bit more normality.
#mbnov
Since Covid hit the highlight of my social life has been my Sunday calls with my brother.
#mbnov
With election and Federal gov’t shenanigans fading and vaccines on the near horizon I’m hoping I’ll start feeling more normal. I’m resilient but even for more this year has taken a toll. I’ve felt no single large change but lots of small negative changes in reading, music etc.
With the media noise about virus cases in our area and rumors of “lockdowns” toilet paper is once again a provision that is in very short supply and being rationed. Seems like a purely fabricated shortage at this point.
#mbnov
We got our iPhone 12s today. Project Red for her and blue for me. We like the change back to the squared off case and the colors are great too (small things!). Surprised how much better old photos look on the screens. We’ll capture a lot of new photos with the improved cameras.
I have gone to the dark side… Also wide. Bought an Apple keyboard with numpad to replace my silver one without. I’m excited to have the Control key back where it belongs.
I think we’ve only crossed a state border a single time this year. Normally we’d do around 10 on various trips. I’m glad we have promising vaccines but I don’t know what sort of time frame we’d be able to get them. Maybe we could hope for 5 crossings next year?
#mbnov
If we could get snow this winter it would an uplifting end to the year of Covid. It’s been years since we had a meaningful snowfall.
#mbnov
My and my wife’s iPhone X’s are 3 years old now. The batteries are starting to fade and since AT&T is offering a huge discount on upgrades I think will swap out for the iPhone 12.
#mbnov
Our internet has been down for 7 hours and counting. It has left us all lethargic which seems counterintuitive. Here’s hoping it’s fixed by morning.
Increasingly people are getting severely ill, hospitals are at capacity, people are dying, many are newly without food for their children yet our President thinks only of himself and using any trick possible to overturn a legal election.
#mbnov