Christmas 2022 …finally together again!
After more than two years of watching TV isolated at home (recommendations below!), we finally got to have a real family Christmas again. But, things have changed. Grandkids have grown. Two almost 16 year olds and a 14 yr old have all gained the lower registers in their voices, most of the time. The oldest boys have either topped 6 feet or are about to do so --- Looking down on both of us (one way or another)! We also have two other 13 yr old teen age grandsons, two preteen girls and an 8 yr old girl who wants to be a teen. And then there’s the baby at 16 months. My oh my! Things have indeed changed.
This year saw us getting back to normal, or whatever is considered normal for us. Dinners with friends, restaurants, shopping, massage (YAY!) …some still occurring only with masks, but it IS better! Travels resumed, somewhat. First, we took our newly pretty T@B 400 camping in E. Washington for a friends and 5-6 family weekend at Lincoln Rock. It was a T@B rally, Liesl and Jake fams came, along with two other T@B owners we knew in town, and their families. 50 odd other T@Bs scattered around the park (odd indeed). Lizzie (new 10 yr old rehome setter) had settled in with us quite well but was a bit shy of the crowd. Alfie fit right in and found having all the gkids around quite fun, eating Bonbel cheeses whole, not quite leftover hamburgers and hotdogs, candybars (still in their wrappers), s’mores. potato chips, tacos, taco sauce, more chips. Aaargh. We left Lincoln Rock after the weekend to spend a few days in the mountains at Winthrop, WA. Set up camp there, and the dog corral, only to have Alfie become VIOLENTLY ILL, pooping red melted wax (THAT was frightening), tinfoil and who knows what else. Had to break camp (and clean up the site as well as we could!) and head 6-7 hours home stopping every hour for a potty break. We really thought he would die. He did not. He hasn’t learned. He has remembered how to raid all kitchen counters. Somebody’s got a shock collar on again – for Christmas, right?! The only casualty this season being a roll of mozzarella cheese slathered in pesto.
We had planned some camping trips in Canada once the border lockdown ended. With plans all set, I posted our itinerary in the T@B Facebook page, asking for suggestions. The responses were interesting. “How brave! How long do you have? Where do you keep your spare tire, is it easy to get to?” Hmm, then a kind person commented on how, after all the fires and floods (!!!!!) last fall, most of the roads we wanted to travel were washed out. As were the campsites which cheerily took our reservations but had no usable sites …Change of plans. Then, no, can’t change plans. All the sites we could get to safely were fully booked. Instead, we went to a couple of state parks and enjoyed music at Fort Worden, stopping at Potlatch SP, on Hood Canal to drop the trailer for Nate and Liesl to use. Hoping for better luck planning Canada this year! Time to start planning that!
As always, we spent time in Gearhart. Mark also went back to Pendleton for a day or two of Round-up. While I dog sat, he caught up with childhood friends. The rest of the summer was spent fighting moles, replanting plants that froze the winter before, planting more dahlias and peonies because, well, why not? I also made tons and tons of sourdough bread and found my 50 year old wedding gift meat slicer works well on bread … Wonder if I can find a new “bread” blade for a KRUP slicer? Will have to check on Amazon ... I also decided that making Kombucha was becoming ridiculous since I never quite perfected the extra flavoring process. Now I buy it all, and Mark has decided it isn’t too bad. The laundry room smells better and now has a hydroponic system for growing herbs and lettuce instead of bubbling kombucha vats. Heh. In 1967 you could have been thrown in jail for doing something like this and had much more interesting friends.
The other event this year was our long anticipated trip to Italy. We planned this three years ago! I started teaching myself Italian in 2019 to help facilitate this long wonderful trip in the fall of 2020. Nope, didn’t happen! The Italian work continued daily though for three years straight (as of today) and I proved I could survive there. We finally took the trip in October with the only change in plans being the inclusion of our nephew’s wedding near Siena for three days. We met in Florence and Siena with friends from home, cooking classes, opera events in our hotel (me singing perfectly in Italian from lyrics on my phone – yeah, right). And then off to the wedding, a marvelous event with people from all over the world. A fun time was had by all until the cooking class, the one where nobody wore masks in a small steamy room, raised its medusa -like pasta head? Four days after that class, I and one of our friends had covid, four days after that, Mark was positive. Because we were testing daily at the wedding, we quickly exited the scene when we turned positive. Isolation in Italy was easy for us with a rented car, lovely hotel room with private balcony and exit, open air restaurants, food sources everywhere. We headed south to explore Puglia (heel of the boot). We saw parts of Italy we had only briefly glimpsed in 1973. One horror: Lots and lots of dead olive trees – it’s gonna get more expensive as the climate change bugs further invade. 10 days later we were free and clear on a plane ride home. Added bonus: better able to fight covid in family crowds!
We were lucky enough to have everyone gather for Christmas Eve dinner. Thanks to vaccines and actual Covid infections, we were all able to be together unmasked. On to other stories.
Jake and Rylee arrived with FOUR kids in tow. Mason 15+++, Kale 13, Paige 8, and Aliette 16 months. This may have been one of Aliette’s first full introductions to the family. She was NOT overwhelmed and fit in quite well. No napping for her!!! Jake’s practice is still booming, no changes there. Rylee has yet to return to work, spending tons of time with Aliette and making their garden into a showplace. Mason is learning to drive, sings in the elite concert choir at school (the only sophomore!) and is becoming a joy to have around. Kale is very much into baseball, quite disappointed that the season doesn’t last all year. Paige loves everything Barbie and any puppy that wanders by. Aliette is a happy smiling little girl who very rarely cries. She has been crawling around quite happily for a few months now and is beginning to walk a bit. She sees me and seems to start singing, so we yowl together at times. She has perfected the one finger touch goodbye for Mark, just in time as the other gkids are outgrowing it!
Ian and Candace are well. They just got back from their annual week long trip to sunshine in Palm Desert. That started with a way to travel and still isolate in 2020. This year, Ian joined a new law firm, Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala in Tacoma, as a partner. Much shorter commute from Puyallup. He is very VERY VERY busy but quite happy to have a team of friends to work with rather than operate a small boutique setup in a larger firm. Aidan soon to be 16 is a great goalkeeper with an elite soccer team out of Seattle. He spent a weekend recently playing with his team in North Carolina at some tournament, apparently a preview for college coaches (He’s a sophomore!?). He and Mark discuss all things soccer. Donovan 14 is no longer a budding thespian, but has bloomed. He played a number of roles in plays this past year, both musical and “plain.” Lord Farquad in Shrek, played on his knees because the character is short, was the most memorable for me. Ayana soon to be 12 is also a soccer star. She plays mainly in midfield but is slipping back into center defense. Next challenge this year is also taking on the WA state team. She is a strong intelligent player and person. She plays in orchestra and does very well in school!
Liesl and Nate completed a major rehaul on their house this year, building a deck off their bedroom, enlarging a patio and outside fireplace, and installing many new windows to bring light into the house. Nate is still (!!) with Amazon, having worked from home most of the last three years. Liesl has expanded her work week to 3 days, mainly due to the high anxiety levels in the kids she counsels. Who of us hasn’t joined that crowd?? Cooper 13 is still reading 1000 books daily, has just discovered Dungeons and Dragons, plays viola in the school and city youth orchestra and has been back to rock climbing. Whew. Grace at 11 ½ is continuing with her charming fantastical imagination; she is doing well in school and has a teacher this year who truly appreciates her, is still riding horses, is developing an interest in volleyball and is regularly baking cheesecakes. Finally, she also plays trumpet in the school band. Busy whirling dervish - can’t get a good picture of her!! They enjoyed a Judah family trip to Italy and Greece this summer. Only one caught covid. Heh
Now, a reward (?) for sticking with this letter to the end. Seems like every time we “get together” with friends and family, the conversation always finds a way around to “What did you do last year? Then, following in close formation the following obvious questions: “what are you listening to, watching, or reading”. So here are the BRT (Bauer Racing Team) can’t miss selections. We finally got good internet this year so we can add streaming to the DISH cable service. I gotta hate everything Elon but his Starlink is much appreciated until something else comes along! TV shows we have loved during the past three years of isolating include the shows below. Not necessarily in order of appreciation!
Schitt’s Creek
The Detectorists
Ted Lasso
Resident Alien
So Help me Todd (writer and producer is Scott P, our nephew!)
The Patriot
Slow Horses
The Good Fight
Only Murders in the Building
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
The Kominsky Method
Three Pines
Annika
Magpie Murders
The English (if only for the scenery)
All things Masterpiece Theatre and most PBS
Yellowstone? Not so much except for the horses and scenery
Mark enjoys MSNBC and the podcasts Bagman and Ultra by Rachel Maddow, and The Oath with Chuck Rosenberg
I am sure thre are many many more, but these come to mind first.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good covid free YEAR
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