Month: December 2020

Sunday the 1st I wondered if Timothy Olyphant was in all my favorite shows this year – as now he’s shown up in The Good Place, Fargo, and The Mandalorian. Monday and Tuesday Nina had no school; Tuesday was Election Day and it was a good day to watch girls run around outside and read a book about the touring history of Rush (due to the mail in ballots, the presidential election was not called for several days). Wednesday I saw this tweet that said “If anyone wants the most poetic piece of poetic poetry to come out of the coronavirus pandemic, there are three Carnival cruise ships in a muddy shipyard cove in Turkey, slowly being dismantled into scrap. The names of the three ships are Inspiration, Imagination and Fantasy.” Inspiration was the host of Edhead Cruise IV & V, which we were on. My daughter told us about her class election at dinner that night. I thought she was exaggerating when she told us the hearts covered Biden. I wanted to keep on counting them hearts.

Friday we’d already lost Best Buy in Reston, now we were losing Pet Valu. Illa always enjoyed his baths there. Jill wanted cheesecake that night, so we got takeout from Cheesecake Factory. Saturday we took a walk around the lake with Nina’s friends, then the news finally called the election in favor of Joe Biden. There was cheering in our neighborhood, followed by someone playing “God Bless America”. Biden and Harris gave great speeches that night, and I posted this “My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over … Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule. But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy.” – Gerald Ford. And with karma, Sunday brought us this laughfest.

Tuesday the 11th was Veterans Day, and I thought this was appropriate. Wednesday I saw you can get a framed poster and ticket from your favorite show at the 9:30 Club, Lincoln Theatre, The Anthem or Merriweather from 2005 through 2020. Then I just needed to choose from the.. 29 9:30 Club, 3 Lincoln Theatre, 3 The Anthem or 11 Merriweather shows I’ve seen in that time period… Spoiler on my choice (got Beach Boys for my dad too):

Friday the 13th Nina’s school rented out the big parking lot at Wolf Trap with another school and got some food trucks for a socially distanced popup drive-in theater showing “Trolls World Tour”; we parked next to the Grunspans. Saturday Jill had ordered a Solo Stove firepit and it arrived and we had impromptu s’mores. Monday I was that years old when I learned The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme is actually called Yo Home to Bel-Air. We got takeout from Flippin’ Pizza that night as a school fundraiser. Tuesday I read this article and this stuck with me: “Their last dying words are, ‘˜This can’t be happening. It’s not real'” Thanks, Trump. Also, I was shocked that they were already canceling May events and said wear your mask, people. This was a satisfying ending to the year.

Friday the 20th I said breathe in; breathe out after reading this. Saturday there were food trucks at the Reston South Park & Ride, so I recycled our glass, then got platters for Jill and I from Taste of the Pacific. Later we had one of Nina’s school friends over for outdoor playtime and a boat ride.

It was not unusual for us to have Christmas on days other than the 25th of December when I was young for trips to see family, but Thursday the 26th was the first time we had to postpone Thanksgiving. But we were thankful nonetheless, as Nina is now appendix-less. We were also thankful she was doing well, for the hospital workers who were taking care of her in the middle of a pandemic, and most importantly for realizing a week before she had no insurance (We thought she might have an ear infection – she was on Jill’s plan, and then we had looked at my enrollment and put her on mine for next year, while Jill just signed up solo for hers and didn’t consider the rest of the year. So I signed up that night on my company’s site for a “Spousal job change” event and added her to my insurance for the rest of the year). Jill said “We are grateful this Thanksgiving for dedicated Healthcare workers who give up holidays to care for us. I’ve worked my share of holidays and today I get to thank the amazing folks who helped care for Nina today as she got treated for appendicitis. She’s doing well post surgery; eating chocolate cake and watching videos. Please respect the Healthcare and other essential workers who sacrifice their holidays with loved ones by wearing masks and respecting each other. Much love.”

Friday Jill said “What makes a kid feel better? Making selections from the holiday toy catalogue! We are happy to be home but actually enjoyed our time at Fairfax Children’s Hospital; check out the cool viewfinder they installed on the unit! It was a fun surprise while we were taking our walk around the floor. Thank you all for the supportive thoughts, vibes, and prayers. We feel the love”. Friday night we had our delayed Thanksgiving with turkey and all the trimmings, then shared the 4 pies Jill had baked Wednesday evening with Nina’s friends and families. Saturday we got takeout sushi from Sweet Ginger while Nina reluctantly recuperated (already ready to run).