May 2021

 (writing this in November, so once again I’m way behind and working on notes — May seemed busy and full, but not a lot to work with here!) 

Mark Rober telethon
The kids (especially Lukas) are into a former NASA engineer YouTuber named Mark Rober, who does super-cool science-y videos; this month, he had an all-day telethon fundraising for Color the Spectrum, an autism charity (his young son is autistic), and we all got really into it. Lukas made his first pledge (matched by us), and we just kind of kept it on all day, checking in on celebrity appearances, new content unlocked by reaching certain levels of giving as the day went on, etc. This is what qualifies as an event during covid times … but anyway, we had fun and helped do good, so count that as a win. 

Tentative steps back into social life
One weekend between our first and second shots, we were invited over to the Marshalls’ for Tim’s birthday; we accepted with some hesitation, but thought it would be a good chance to ease back into the world a little. It was … stressful. There were more people than we were comfortable being around, and although the adults (about half of whom were fully vaxxed, and the rest halfway) stayed outside, the kids were inside playing video games and then in the pool, unmasked; poor Lukas, conditioned to staying both masked and outdoors, was miserable, and even Annika was uncomfortable. Overall, not the fun time we’d hoped. On the other hand, a couple of weeks later at the Patels’ (around R.’s birthday), once all of us adults were fully vaxxed — THAT was a good afternoon, unmasked out in their yard. It was just the two families, and the kids stayed masked/outdoors, so the slight residual nervousness was fairly easily overcome and made for a relaxing hang. 

Two Shots!
In the first week of May, R. and I each got our second shot of Pfizer — the relief of that cannot be overstated. Just an awesome, awesome feeling. I can’t remember anymore whether it was the first or second shot that made me feel kinda under the weather for a few hours (a little feverish, crazy-tired, but a nap and an ibuprofen had me fine by dinnertime), but R. had no side effects whatsoever and we were DONE! Two weeks later, I had scheduled my first real haircut and color (complete with washing and styling!!!), and a pedicure just because. Mid-month, Annika was among the first of the 12-15 set to get her first shot — now we just wait for her second, and Lukas’s chance …  

Mother’s Day weekend
On the actual MD, we took flowers and cake over to Grandma’s, and I didn’t have to cook, so that was nice. But the highlight of the weekend was the day before: the first annual WTF (Wine Tasting w/Friends) Bike Ride! Ami and I had cooked up the idea while supervising the kids at a playdate in a park, way back in (I think) February, as we idly talked about missing things like going wine tasting: What if we did our own? We decided on the format (biking from house to house, starting with mine and ending with hers, including 4-5 stops); the date (Saturday before Mother’s Day, when many people would have been fully vaccinated and all would have been at least half-done); and a loose idea of content (some type of beverage, plus water and snacks, at each house, and the husbands on standby to collect us at the end). We threw out the invitation to all our local friends (allowing invitees to invite more), and secured the hosts. Fiona made T-shirts. Ami and I biked the route several times (including once with the kids, reasoning that if they could handle it, so could the moms), and yada yada yada some 30+ bikes were on my lawn and wine glasses & beers were in hand. R. poured for us, and after awhile, we were off to Kara’s with me in the lead. She served in a 70s theme (queso and chips from a crock-pot, retro drinks). Then it was on to Brandi’s, where there was a lot more food (thank god, lol) and more drinks, and finally on to the Patels’, where the whole thing descended into happy anarchy — there was a LOT of pent-up social energy coming out, and more than a few bikes had to be left there for next-day pickup. All in all, it was a roaring success — and before the end of the first ride segment, I was hearing people say, “OK so NEXT year when we do this …” 

Skateboarding returns
Several of Lukas’s friends were getting back into skateboarding, so when we discovered that the guys who used to run an after-school program were back, we signed the boys up; instead of once a week, this format was every afternoon Tues - Fri, which really worked a lot better for building skills. And minus his old distraction buddy Lawson — and plus a couple of years of maturity/confidence/capability — Lukas really took to it this time. He improved visibly during the course of each daily session, trying skills and ramps and drop-ins, actually listening to the instructors, and LOVING it! He was joined in various sessions through the Spring and Summer by Manir, Ben, and Sam, and occasionally by Sam’s little brother James and even Amira, but he was really the constant. Worth every penny to see the kid so happy!

Memorial Day Weekend
Another anomalous one this year; no guests, no visiting, and no pool — it wasn’t finished yet. Booooooo! But it was so close to done, we could see the finish line. And in the meantime, the weather was unusually cool, so we didn’t miss it too awfully much; we just hung out, watched movies, played on the Switch, and looked forward to the end of the curséd school year.