Friday, December 25, 2020

Merry Christmas to all of you!

I know we said we didn’t know if there was going to be a 2020 version of this letter but why should you get to skip it just because the year has been hideous? Maybe our rotten year will make your rotten year a little more palatable. Consider it our gift to you this holiday season, or maybe it’s just piling on, but in either case, you’re welcome. Without any further ado, the K. 2020 year in review:

January: T.’s senior season of indoor track was a bust after he injured his leg. We hoped that rest and PT would make for a better spring season. Little did we know. Also this month, we fostered another cat. We are terrible at this as Sammy is now and forever a K.

February: K. was sick. Like sick sick. Was it COVID? Probably not but she didn’t even read for a week so whatever it was was incredibly unpleasant. D. was traveling hither, thither, and yon during this month so he should probably keep his hotel and flight status next year despite the rest of this year. Yes, he’s one of the people who get to board practically before the pilots. Jerk.

March: T. turned 18 this month. Everyone is an adult now, at least chronologically. The statewide stay at home order meant that we had (adult) kids at home again as R. stayed here after her spring break extended to forever and T.’s senior year was just declared finished. K. took the opportunity to inventory the freezers and the pantry. Ask her just how many jars of pickles and varieties of mustard we have. Also, in case you need to know, veggies frozen since 2010 are a little dry once thawed, meat frozen since 2014 is a tad tough, and no amount of partially used sauce from who knows what year in the fridge door will make this dinner taste amazing. But none of the above causes food poisoning. Silver linings, people, silver linings.

April: We had a flurry of activity this month: a pipe burst in the yard, we finally replaced the fence to keep the dog from escaping and visiting the neighborhood when she should have been social distancing, and K. organized field trips to the grocery store for the extroverts climbing the walls while she herself worked on creating a body shaped divot on the couch. She also tried to give the dog a haircut. The result was the doggy version of a mullet. She used the dog clippers on D. with better results. At least he thinks so since neither he nor his Zoom coworkers could see the back. And the culinary experiments continued as we tested the shelf life of Velveeta (less than 3 years, fyi).

May: R. graduated virtually at the kitchen table wearing her jammies, cap, and gown. We hadn’t seen the plumber in a while so it was fantastic to have him here for R.’s graduation (the kids’ shower was leaking onto K.’s car in the garage). And that wasn’t our only water adventure this month. D.’s office in the basement leaked during the monsoon-like rains we had and grew mold on the carpet. D. is allergic to mold.

June: T. had his virtual graduation this month (the wifi died just before they flashed T.’s name on the screen so we just assumed he was listed) and we drove through the high school parking lot to pick up his diploma. It was nice to see he did in fact graduate—see wifi issue above. We practically peeled out of the parking lot to head to Michigan for the summer. W. and his girlfriend joined us up north for a week and life almost felt normal.

July: We spent most of our time hanging out on the island, where social distancing is pretty much our way of life, even in normal years. R. worked at Culinary School up there for another year (all internships having been canceled) while T. didn’t work at all, his job being a COVID casualty.

August: We took R. up to the University of Cincinnati to start her Masters in Architecture this month. Classes were all online but she had access to the studio and shop for her projects. She also got to learn how to parallel park a stick shift on a hill, a dying skill for sure. T. started college from our dining room table this month so Ozzie, like cats everywhere, got to share his backside with yet more classes (he debuted his waving tail and backside in R.’s classes back in the spring).

September: D. lost his mom to cancer this month. Despite that terribly sad happening, we were happy to finally take T. up to Miami of Ohio for a modified college experience. He was thrilled to be in college *at college* while K. and D. were less impressed to hear that he sometimes fell asleep during his classes since he was attending them from the comfort of his bed. They were also baffled by his random corn cob pictures. ::Shrug::

October: T. was sailor of the week for the sailing club and competed in his first college regatta. Mostly they’ve just had practices (and only the one regatta) so we think he got this honor simply for showing up to the lake on really cold days. At home with only pets underfoot, we decided to replace all of the floors on the first floor. Nothing we do goes smoothly and it’s still not entirely finished. Ask about it if you want a rant from K.

November: R. came home this month to bury Needles, her hedgehog. We bought a hedgehog garden ornament to mark his grave and apparently the hawks in the backyard think it’s real because it has moved several times since it was installed. R. did go back to Ohio after the internment and then she and T. drove home together for Thanksgiving. They’ll be home until mid-January when school starts up again. Before they came home, T. got elected Safety Officer for the sailing club’s spring season. It’s exactly the position he wanted—a leadership role without too much responsibility. Aim high kid!

We’ve seen more of the plumbers, painters, HVAC, leak detection specialists, carpenters, and other home improvement people this year than friends and family. 2020 has been an annus horribilis for sure but it’s almost over. Don’t let the doorknob hit you in the a$$ on the way out! As the year comes to a close, we once again hope that you are surrounded by peace, love, and happiness now and throughout the coming year. And maybe in 2021, we’ll get to see you in the wild once again!

3 comments:

  1. As always.... entertaining to read! Hope 2021 goes better for us all!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like a year full of remote learning, loss and plumbing issues. All one can say about 2020,for those of us who got through, is we made it. Hopefully 2021 will be a brighter new year!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This post was such a great read! I'm glad you posted it.

    THIS made me spit out my coffee:
    He was thrilled to be in college *at college* while K. and D. were less impressed to hear that he sometimes fell asleep during his classes since he was attending them from the comfort of his bed.

    ReplyDelete

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