After having a wonderful Thanksgiving with our friends the Lamberts, it was finally time to deck the halls for a 2020 holiday season that will be unlike any other. Living in the time of Covid is still wreaking havoc on our lives. I can't ever remember having a calendar so blank in December. Even if you're a non-musician your holidays are filled with school parties, work parties, holiday gatherings, and I'm sure you even attend a concert here or there. As a musician I generally have a lot of accompanist work for the schools I play for, and have my own concerts to perform in as a percussionist. Then we usually have concerts for the boys and a military band holiday concert to go see Dan in. The ONLY concert we'll have this year is a virtual concert displaying the recordings various high school groups have put together. So strange.
We're also learning that living through this pandemic means things can change at any moment. Last week during the last week of marching band, several of the trombone players had to quarantine due to exposure to someone who had tested positive. Because of that Cade was suddenly section leader and had to (got to!) perform the solo in Malaguena for the half-time show. What a way to end the season!
There was a time this year that Christmas didn't seem to have the joyful anticipation it usually does. But as I put up the Christmas decorations a wonderful peace came through the house. We've really enjoyed just sitting by the light of the Christmas tree.
I made the boys help me decorate this year! They did a great job!
Outdoor lights
Carson with his favorite toy, laying in the sun
My mom surprised my sister and I with these amazing quilted wall-hangings she made!
There hasn't been a lot of live music performances due to the pandemic. Surprisingly a group that Dan likes had an outdoor performance in Helotes. The seats were spaced out and it was COLD! We wrongly assumed there would be patio heaters and got there quite early to get good seats. We froze our butts off, but they upgraded our seats and gave us a few more free tickets so Dan invited an army buddy to join us. The group is called St. Paul and the Broken Bones- and they put on an awesome live show! You could tell they were freezing too as they quickly segued from song to song and stuck their hands in their pockets when they could! The stage wasn't heated either!
Masks + Cold + Glasses = non-stop fog!
Alex recently had a birthday party playing paintball! It was fun until he got shot in the back of the head.
Ouch!
Alex had never made cupcakes, and I've never been terribly good at making them, so we set out to remedy that over the weekend! From scratch, spice cake cupcakes with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Delish!
And in keeping in the spirit of the season, Dan saw that the AT&T center had set up a drive-through light display. We spent a fun evening listening to Christmas music, singing out loud, getting some ice cream and seeing the lights.
Lights displaying each of the 12 days of Christmas
If you know me, you know I love red and white lights. I loved how these trees were decorated and so sparkly!
And a fun tunnel of lights!
While I miss performing, I've always hated how busy this time of year can get. By the time the kids are out of school it's already almost Christmas and you haven't had time to do any of the things of the season together. I'm trying to cherish this unique time and enjoy the calm and quiet. I hope you can find your joy and peace during a holiday season like no other.
Also, for those who have been following my health journey, it's been 8 months now that I haven't felt like myself. I'm done with all the testing. I've started a few medicines that seem to have given a little relief to the pressure in my chest and the chronic pain, but the fatigue is still ever present. I'm hoping that over time this will change as well. Such a long process. What a year, right? I can't think of a time when every single person has been affected by the same thing. I'm hoping this vaccine will make a difference, but I still think it will take awhile.
Here's to keeping our holiday season Merry & Bright!
I can't believe it's been a month since my last post, AND that November is half way through. What a trip 2020 has been so far, sheesh!
Since I last blogged we've had some notable moments in our family. First was Halloween. As with any other holiday this year, Halloween was a little different. My boys are pretty much past trick or treating age and would much rather have a fun party with their friends. With Covid, all ward parties and trunk-or-treat type activities were cancelled. To add to that, I went out of town Halloween weekend, so it left Dan to figure out how to celebrate Halloween this year.
Before I left town we carved pumpkins, while eating homemade pizza and watching scary movies. This year we watched The Village and The Ring. (can I just add that it is so much fun to have older kids who can do their own pumpkins from beginning to end!)
Cade's pumpkin won a popularity contest on Facebook. Good job Cade!
This is my pumpkin. It was a very oddly shaped pumpkin and I actually carved it upside down so it would have that droopy feel that a blobfish does. :)
This is Alex's pumpkin. This is a character he first met in Super Smash Bros.- Lucas. He has since dressed up as Lucas in costume twice and played his original game on his Gameboy Advance-Mother 3.
This is Dan's pumpkin. The pumpkin had that big crease across the bottom already, and he took advantage of it and turned it into a creepy sewn-shut mouth.
While I was out of town, Dan decided to take the boys to a haunted house called 13th floor, and then he dropped Cade off at a small friend gathering while he took Alex to get some rolled ice cream at Farenheit 32. I'd say that's a good Halloween!
Like I mentioned above, I was in Chicago over the Halloween weekend. My Dad's birthday is November 1st, and a perfect marriage of events allowed all three of his children to be there to celebrate. Kevin had planned a week in Chicago that just happened to coincide with when Valerie would be coming back from her family's Disney trip, flying into Chicago. I figured since both my brother and sister would be there that I should use my previously twice postponed Chicago travel funds to come and join in the fun.
I flew into Chicago on the 30th, and arranged my flight to land near the same time as Kevin's so we could save my Dad a trip to the airport.
I was just trying to get a selfie, but the way the sun was shining through the window gave an awesome effect!
View of Chicago skyline as I flew in
Kevin and I at Midway Int'l Airport
After flying all morning we were hungry, and my Dad knows my affinity for Korean food. This Seoul Taco restaurant opened in downtown Naperville and was delicious. Go try it!
On Halloween Day Corrie made us some delicious sugar cookies with these eyeball sugar dots. Fun!
On Halloween afternoon, Valerie and her family had flown in from Florida and we met up at Cantigny Park to try and avoid sharing too many germs indoors. We had a nice fall walk through the park and then decided we were cold (and I was tired!). We did a drive through of Portillo's and were able to hang out in the lobby of Valerie's hotel. It was nice and relaxed and a good time to celebrate my Dad's birthday and catch up.
Sunday we really just spent the day with an in-person sacrament meeting, sunday school at home, and then some chatting and watching football. I'm not gonna complain about a day of rest. Traveling took a lot out of me!
Monday, my last day, we decided to visit Millenium Park, home of 'the bean'. It's actually supposed to be a cloud, lol, but I had never been there. It's free, except for parking, and outdoors, so it was a good option to spend our morning before dropping me off at the airport.
Usually you can go right up to the bean, but it was blocked off. Not sure how that makes it safer, but whatever! They also only had one or two entrances in and out of the park instead of all around. That actually made people pass each other a whole lot more than usual. Go figure.
Also part of the park is a large field/ampitheatre. It would be so fun to hear a concert here!
The fall colors were so vibrant and beautiful. Definitely not like that in San Antonio!
Chicago architecture is pretty unique
I had a really good visit. My Dad has stage 4 prostate cancer and though his health is pretty good right now, you just never know. Especially as a military family who is planning to move next summer, you have to make time to see family, even in Covid times.
I was definitely worn out when I got back from Chicago. I even noticed that I was sniffly, had a sore throat and coughing, etc. If Covid weren't a thing I would've told you I was just coming down with a cold. I promptly got a Covid test since I had just traveled and been around family. Thankfully it was negative. So guess what? Not every illness is Covid! You can still just get regular sick!
Having a cold on top of my Chronic Fatigue has taken me quite a bit of time to recover. I've really been pretty out of it for a full two weeks. I was even out of it when Dan's birthday rolled around and I had planned for his sister Kristina and her husband Brett to fly in from Boise! (Don't worry, I warned them I was ill and they were still all a-go for the surprise!)
They flew in late Thursday night the 5th, and on the morning of the 6th I took Dan out to breakfast at Magnolia Pancake Haus and they were there to surprise him.
After that they had all of friday, Saturday and half of Sunday to just be together. Just like I felt the need to get out and be with my siblings and Dad, Dan too has been missing his family. Covid has definitely made this military family feel a little more isolated from family than usual.
Visiting the Deer at McCallister Park
Brett and Kristina are foodies like us, so we had fun taking them around to our favorite spots in San Antonio. Here we are at Duck Donuts. Brett said they were some of the best he's ever had!
Alex made a Texas sheet cake (family recipe) for Dan's birthday treat! It was sooo good!
Happy 40th birthday Dan! I hope it was a memorable one for you!
And just a few random other pictures and videos to share. First, Alex has continued expanding his cooking repetoire. Here's a few dishes!
Salmon and veggies!
Monte Cristo Sandwiches
He really is a good cook! Yesterday he made a banana pudding for the missionaries, but i forgot to take a picture. It was devoured and he did a great job!
Dan still rides his bike a lot, and I joined him for a short ride out to Lake Medina and back.
I did a sleep study in a continued effort to find any underlying issues that might be causing my fatigue. Still waiting on the results...
Cade had to take off all of his bracelets for Marching Band and he put them on the dog.
When we were out at Duck Donuts we saw this on the window. I'll never understand those who think this is a hoax, but it amused me to see this.
Also when we were at Duck Donuts I got a notification on my phone that Joe Biden had received enough electoral votes to be the projected winner of this presidential race. There are still some recounts to be done before it is official, but it is looking as though Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be our leaders come January.
Lastly, a little bit of marching band fun! Just this week the kids were fitted for the uniforms finally and started adding drill to their marching show. It's not much, but it's something. The kids are all a little more excited now that it feels more official. Better late than never, and there are plenty of marching bands around the country that either never got to start this year, or had to stop. We'll take it!
The mask has an opening for them to play their instrument and he has a bell cover. Cade says the mask is super obnoxious to play with because it easily gets in the way of making a good sound.
Oh, and have I mentioned how Covid is ravaging the country and the world again? San Antonio had our "second wave" over the summer, but now most of the country is seeing huge spikes in cases as the weather gets colder and we all have Covid fatigue. I know of quite a few schools that are going back to virtual because between all the illness and quarantines, there just aren't enough teachers and substitutes to keep the schools running. That hasn't happened here in San Antonio yet, but it just kind of seems like an inevitability. Back in the spring and summer when we were all locked down and Covid was big and scary, the country was getting 120-130,000 cases a day. We've smashed those records with 185,000 cases a day this past week. Texas was the first state to reach 1 million cases. Deaths are soaring. There is hope for a vaccine in the near future, which I think is the only light at the end of the tunnel. Even with a vaccine the effects of this virus will be with us on the daily for years to come, and ripple effects felt for the rest of our lives I 'm sure.
