December 2021

Happy Holidays everyone! It seems we continue to live in bubbles. Still enjoying working from home, especially with the gas prices these days; not to mention the commute time.

Chris and I still work at Green River College. I go in about once a week, while Chris goes in almost every day. About a quarter of the classes returned to in-person instruction this past fall with many offices opening twice a week to the public. Staff are available the rest of the days through virtual Zoom lobbies or by phone. Our college is holding classes remotely the first two weeks of winter quarter. The reasoning is the new omicron variant and knowing lots of people are attending family gatherings, there may be need for post-travel COVID testing or quarantine. I can appreciate the over abundance of caution. Earlier this year, Chris and I were able to get the vaccine February-March since we are parent providers for Vanessa. We received our second dose the day after we learned Chris’ coworker died from COVID. We had Vanessa and Logan vaccinated as soon as we could get them scheduled.

I continue with graduate school. I keep contemplating this life choice, albeit I said in the beginning that this is how I chose to spend my mid-life crisis. A little late to change my mind since I’m almost at the half-way mark. Oh, and I had a kidney stone back in April. Again, painful and jabbed many times by nurses and a lab tech to try and draw blood. A lot of not fun. It seems I am my father’s daughter, as if the genetics weren’t enough with the poor eyesight.

Vanessa is still without a job, although she meets with her job coach virtually once or twice a week. Hopefully, she’ll get some in-person training or a new job soon. She has gotten very adept at taking daytime naps. We had her tested for allergies. She is allergic to many things, but not as severe as me (I receive shots).

Logan was able to go back to school in person for the new school year. He was eagerly waking up to ride the bus, but as all things with teenagers, that attitude wore off after a couple of months. The school district built a new high school, literally. The school district demolished everything on the property and built a new school. All during the shut-down from the pandemic.

Jackie has been living with us in her new apartment. We are very spoiled to have her living with us. While we must fend for ourselves for breakfast and lunch, I think I can count on one hand how many times I had to cook dinner this year. 

We (read: I) adopted a cat in March. Her name is Cora (although Chris likes the spelling Korra). She is mostly black with a gray-ish mane. She is about four years old and has a curious and aloof disposition. She is quite friendly but doesn’t like to be held. She will come to an outreached hand to rub her head against, even if she has to stand on her hind legs and stretch to touch the tips of fingers. She is also quite polite when it comes to being fed. When the kids get fed, she knows she’ll be fed too. She sits where her bowls are and waits for food to come. She has the sweetest “mew” during the day; very quiet. However, like most cats during the night, she can be quite loud: her howling “meow” to find someone awake to pay attention to her; the “zoomies” after using her litter box; or dragging her toy feather wand up and down the stairs. She has fur between her toes, and it took her a while to learn how to safely skid when reaching the bottom of the stairs, or not hitting the wall when turning to head down another hallway.

Our next large home improvement project was to get a roof replacement on the original part of the house and install solar panels. We have excellent south and west roofing and no trees. We started the process in April and managed to have them installed at the end of September. Yup, we missed the entire summer and the 100-degree weather.

We were able to keep the bedrooms relatively cooler from the rest of the house by turning the heat pumps to AC mode and cutting off the main house by means of an old flat sheet and a curtain rod. In case you missed it, we had an extraordinary summer where it reached over 100 degrees. Our kitchen got so hot, that this is what happens when you accidentally leave a stick of butter on the kitchen counter.

My uncle passed away at the beginning of August and he was finally laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on December 9. Chris and I were able to attend. Even though this was a solemn day, it was an amazing ceremony to attend. Two platoons, a band, a caisson pulled by six white horses, a riderless horse, and a twenty-one-gun salute. The ceremony was held on the coldest morning of the week, but it was also the most clear and beautiful morning of the week. Of course, we crammed in tourist stuff with cousins during our trip.

That’s it from the Carlson household for 2021. Y’all stay safe!