Monday, May 25, 2020

Lockdown Logs: The Landed Gentry Welcome Summer

Well, dang, Memorial Day? Ordinarily this would have been one crazy Ski to Sea sportsplosion with plenty of partying and child-related logistics. Ski to Sea has been a part of our lives since Andrew and I started dating, with a few breaks here and there. But alas, 2020 is a different kinda year.

 Little strange to observe that official passage into "summer mode" without a ton of ceremony. No grilling. No beaching. No insane husband rides. Just a long weekend for Andrew that feels a bit more like a mid-winter President's Day kind of affair. I won't dally long with talk of "the dead" and comparisons between war efforts and pandemics. Except to say we probably oversimplify everything with historical memory and no "sacrifice" is probably as nice and tidy as a holiday that's mostly come to mean parties and grilling would have it be. Phew, that soap box was made of cardboard and not gonna last any longer.



And on we quarantine. King County remains in "Phase 1," which is basically where we've been since March. There are a few little tweaks here and there that don't impact us that much (fishing! A manly meditation). Phase 2 could start as soon at next Monday, but it's not a done deal. In Phase 2, we could go to restaurants at half capacity (though, I'm not really feeling the urge), go into a store instead of doing retail pick up (though... why?), get our hair done (again... I could use it, but...), bring cleaning services back into our house (not likely), and "gather" with up to 5 outside household members per week. That last one's the money. Since, we are still scheduled to move soon and... I really really want to leave Chaya with my mom while it's happening!

That said, we've been fortunate in a lot of ways and the stay-at-home bit is feeling a little easier. Chaya's still nuts, but she doesn't ask about playgrounds and school as much. She's compensated for the isolation by getting really into Facebook Messenger, and adding two imaginary sisters to her stable. Zoey is now also Momo and Elsie. And Chaya is often Sister Bunny to whom I am Baby Bunny. She takes pretty good care of me, when Dadda Bunny is busy (yeah the full method approach to these roles is not taking its hold).

Speaking of places in which to shelter... we own a house again! Officially on Monday the 25th, but our signing was before that.



It wasn't that different of a signing experience than many others, except that our very friendly notary, Andrew and I had donned face masks, and we were instructed to use our own pens. Well, not entirely true. I did clean the entire table pretty thoroughly to give us plenty of room for distancing (sort of accomplished except catty corner turned pretty close to "right across from each other and leaning in over the table" for the menfolk). And I left all the windows open to add some ventilation. With Chaya's Baby Bus Super Heroes Whatever Show and Chaya yelling excitedly about her show and all the traffic outside it was a particularly clamorous signing event.

But we all survived for now... let ya know in 14 days or so if anyone infected anyone else.

For my part, my white blood count is normal again, so ... shrug. I feel a fair bit better, so... shrug again. I guess it could have been bacterial? I can't imagine viral since we've been locked at home but some illnesses definitely are a lot more about the fomites baby. Anyways, I won't say I feel totally healthy, but what else is new. It's pretty much a matter of time before my weird chronic disease gets a name (smart money's on a weird autoimmune, but sky's the limit! Go watch a ton of House, M.D. and find something extra fun). Meanwhile I'll cycle through random non-descrip symptoms that come and go at their own will. Next month we'll live in a new place and I'll risk the deadly 'rona to get all the medical appointments I put off since September because I didn't want to establish a bunch of healthcare relationships and then have to move again! It'll be a blast! At least my masks will get a little more mileage.

I have got to get more eye makeup.
The last few weeks have been productive.

We did some science:



All child related "science experiements" really come down to vinegar and baking soda. Or alka seltzer just for a change. But mostly vinegar and baking soda. And... it's still magical. Amazing!

Some arts



Even more art.



With lots of glue and scissors. Chaya's preschool expected her to be able to cut out a fairly sophisticated shark shape that really wasn't working for her. I finally consented to help and honestly, I couldn't do it without tearing the paper. I feel like we both failed preschool! But one way or another we did eventually get that sucker out and paint the crap out of it. We are good at painting.



Oh and then Sierra, our realtor gave us a gift explosion - flowers, sparkling cider (brilliant twist on champagne), a home depot gift card and...



A butterfly balloon!!! A mixed blessing. Chaya LOOOOOVED it. It went everywhere with her. Every time she moved it, it got stuck in doorways, continually battered me in the face with its wings and otherwise proved to be a bit awkward. But damn it was sweet.


Chaya immediately started spinning stories about what would happen if she went outside with it. I suggested if she went outside she'd hold on really tight and start to fly. This doesn't turn out to be true, but it tickled her fancy and she elaborated the tale so that she and mommy would fly to Gramma Pam's window, maybe pick up Pam and Zoey (and/or MoMo and/or Elsie but sometimes she's still Zoey). It also spent the first naptime apparently attempting to fly into the sprinkler head in Chaya's room. She naturally didn't sleep at all, keeping a watchful eye on that situation.




Chaya and the balloon were mad in love for about two days. We even took it to the new house, though in the excitement of my getting all the way there to realize I'd forgotten the key and we'd have to do the half hour drive back to the apartment and then BACK to the house and seeing a neighbor in her garage when we drove into ours... it stayed snugly in the trunk. Thank goodness.

The pear cider was a brilliant hit as well. Chaya drank the entire bottle in less than 24 hours. 

The flowers were beautiful. Also fragrant. Lilies - so beautiful. So overwhelming! I started getting allergy symptoms around them within a few hours. When I mentioned this, Andrew laughed and said that just perfectly represented my relationship with our realtor.  What? Just because it used to make me uncomfortable that in the new era of covid-19 panic, she had a historically difficult time keeping a six foot distance and kept moving in for close talk with anyone who was not as skittish as me (id est Andrew)? Or was it that I wrote "Don't snog the realtor" on our calendar (which, to me: good advice) 

Anyways (1) I actually think Sierra's great and have already recommended her a few times, and (2) I put the flowers in the study where he works and about 20 minutes after he started his work day, he came out with the flowers and asked if we could donate them or something. They're on the porch now. they are really beautiful!




As you can imagine, our current busyness is house related. We wanted to get ductles heat/AC multisplit set up before moving, but with the HOA approval process and getting various quotes, I think we'll probably not quite manage that. Still, there's always plenty to do before a move. And after. And in between. God I hope we can leave Chaya at my mom's house by then. C'mon Washington. Just stay chill. Everyone stay home for the next two weeks and don't move so we can open up that little itty bitty bit. For me? PLEAAAAASE???

We also managed to observe a legit holiday with legit cake and ice cream: Andrew's 39 now!! WHOOOOOOO! Climbing up that hill like the mountain goat he is. 



Going a li'l blue! On his actual birthday we zoomed with his family and this last Friday we zoom zoomed with some friends. Discovered the joy of zoom backgrounds and terrifying cat toys. The best thing about zoom is that you can put up almost any random background which is fun on its own, but then the green screen technology is terrible so if you move while there's a background you can disappear! I amused myself for hours vanishing and reappearing.

And a Little Me-Space for the Fans:

I wrote a story last week instead of a blog. It's here and it didn't figure into anyone's Facebook algorithms when I shared it, which is cool, but ... shameless plug, sate my ego. Tell me it's a nice font I chose. I wrote a sonnet just to prove that I don't exclusively throw words against a wall pollock-style and let them take their course (though of course it's preferred). Then it made me want to write a story. So I wrote a story and... 



Meanwhile the Wild Worms did what I think is a darned good new track. Bandlab makes dreams come true - I got to harmonize with myself As a person who contains multitudes, that little feature just gives me a kick. And then other people. And then my bandmates come in and do magic to the timing and smooth the edges and add things and it actually sounds darned good. 



Also this happened.


I know, thank you yes, I have been working out!! So good of you to notice. No, no ladies, back off, I'm taken. Also... that's not me. But you know, very very close approximation (my quarantine beard is much bushier). This is our official band shirt and I'll supposedly have one of my own very soon. Tell me you aren't seething with envy here. I bet if you really wanted one, it could be arranged for a small fee...

I'm just regretting not getting Chaya one, since she actually coined the name in the first place. But one day.

Anyways, hope you are all having a good long weekend however it's hitting you this year. Summer is almost here and camping and beaches are a lot safer than a lot of other places so... rejoice! Execpt you in Washington. Just hang on for a couple more weeks until we've dropped the kid at gramma's hosue PLEEEEAAASE.


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