February, 2021

Max’s opened the month with a virtual Court of Honor. He got a whole bunch of merit badges.

Then we celebrated his birthday. His family hosted an outside celebration at Johnson Springview Park with Subway sandwiches for lunch and ice cream sandwiches for dessert.Max got a lot more gear for backpacking as well as a tripod for his photography hobby. I can’t believe he is fifteen already.

Rog and I felt quite lucky to get our vaccines this month. We had an early morning appointment but arrived early with plenty of reading material for what we expected to be a long wait. We walked in early and were out almost before our assigned time, including the 15 minute arm exercise/observation period. They were very well organized and downright cheerful. They made it a very pleasant experience. I was amazed at the relief I felt getting vaccinated. Now maybe my kids won’t worry about exposing me and feeling guilty. The second vaccine, 3 weeks later, was equally speedy and efficient. The craft for the kids this month was cakes in a jar. They each made 2 jars of strawberry cheesecake and 2 jars of red velvet sundaes. Rog and I enjoyed a bowl version made with all of the leftovers.

Michelle joined me for my regular hair appointment and she enjoyed the trim job so much that she plans to come back with me in 6 weeks. Girl time!! My hydroponic system failed completely this month. Not only have I been spending about $150 a month to keep the water heated, but I added too much ammonia and all 10 tilapia died. I have decided that heating the water and raising edible fish serves no purpose. So I will spend March cleaning up the tank and getting the nitrate cycle stabilized. I have started seeds for the summer crop and plan to stock the tank in April with koi that can handle the temperatures year round. Live and learn!! Rog started a new project this month. He is building a buffet style cabinet for the area under the new TV. It will hold all of the audio/visual equipment as well as give me plenty of room for our winter blankets and wraps. I am excited to watch it take form!!

My project this month was to make a custom backpack for Rog. My trusty Viking sewing machine was replaced with a used 1970’s era Kenmore. It works really well. For the backpack, I watched a ton of videos in preparation. Rog decided what he wanted and we ordered the materials. It was a tricky project and I measured everything twice and cut it once. It took me a full week, but I was happy with the outcome and the final product weighed only 2 pounds.

In preparation for the July trip around Tahoe, Rog did his first 10 mile hike with his new backpack. Eric, Michelle, Beth and Max joined him at Folsom Lake on Valentine’s Day. They set a mean pace and were done by 1:30. The backpack survived the trip well but Rog had a flareup of his bursa and was limping around for the following week. The doc thinks maybe it was the shoe he was wearing so Rog will change from his boots to tennies and try again next month.

For Karissa’s special day, we had hoped to go to Quarry Adventures but you have to be 14 to play unsupervised. So we went to Sunsplash and got on the Go Karts. She was quite the driver. Then we headed over to Buca di Beppos for some Alfredo followed with mango ice cream at Coldstone. We had such a fun time with her. She was happy, communicative and a pleasure to be with. Quite the young lady. She came over the next day while Max and Eric were on a scout hike and Michelle was working. She had made a game from scratch and it was quite fun!! We also started doing dance lessons but Gams soon found out that dancing is not on her “can do” list anymore. It took quite a few days to get over strained muscles in my back from a nasty fall. I just don’t have the balance for hip hop!!!