March 2022

Max came over after school and helped us clean up the backyard. Rog had trimmed the eucalyptus and oak trees and Max hauled them off the hill and filled all three compost bins. He is an amazing worker. His energy is amazing and he works so hard. After he was done, he and Pops had ice cream and discussed the Tahoe Rim Trail schedule for this summer. Speaking of the TRT, Rog decided that he wanted to replace the tent with a tarp and use a bivvy bag. I spent a few days sewing a tarp that will also function as a rain poncho. Rog spent a few days playing with numerous setups. We sealed the seams and now he has to wait for the bivvy bag to test it overnight. The bivvy bag will be another 4-7 weeks before it is shipped.

We got to see a lot of Karissa with a week of minimum days for parent teacher conferences. It has been a long time since we did school transporting, and it was fun to see her when we picked her up each day. Max also had one minimum day and we took advantage of it for his special day, We went to Don Quixote’s for lunch and then walked around Sportsman’s until it was time for us to head to see Batman. We had nice relaxing lounge chairs and it was a good thing. We were there more than three hours. But it was a good movie.

Max reached another milestone this month. He got a new job after one interview. (Sounds a lot like his mom.) He starts at REI in April.

We joined the Nordstrom’s for cards and then headed to the Elk’s Club for their infamous chicken dinner. Later in the month we headed to Debbie and Kathy’s place in Carmichael for dinner and cards. A year ago we had priced a number of options for painting Tess, our Sprinter van. The bids ranged from $30K to just under $3K. It has been a year and we have fixed the dents as much as we can ourselves and will now opt for the $3K option at Maaco. We took her in on St. Patrick’s Day and it was ready less than two weeks later. It looks pretty spiffy, even though the color is nothing like we expected. We spent a day reinstalling the solar panels on top and restoring the plastic door handles, bumpers and wheel trim.

Max had a school band and choir combined concert. Rog was taking the week off from martial arts so he was able to attend the entire concert. It was really amazing to hear so much talent, and the progression in ability from beginning band to symphonic. Great evening.

The Blooms ordered their second meal and we delivered a Bacon Chicken Ranch Casserole with cheesy bread. I cleaned up my hydroponic tank and trays and planted my seedlings. So we are up and running again!

Meanwhile, Rog finished the kanji of "Lloyd" for our wall.