Pandemic, Week 23 (Crappy Birthday -- The Next Generation)

This week Joe Biden officially accepted nomination for President. The all-Zoom Democratic convention included speeches from Vice Presidential nominee, Kamala Harris,  Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Jill Biden, Elizabeth Warner, Bernie Sanders, a remote Democratic roll call (whose highlights included a Rhode Island product placement for the state's official appetizer, calamari) and a moving speech from a 13-year old with a stutter whom Joe Biden befriended and mentored while on the campaign trail (having also suffered from stuttering). The President called for a boycott of Goodyear tires after the company announced a policy that workers refrain from workplace expressions in support of political campaigning, including MAGA hats. Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was arrested for fraud through a "We Build the Wall" fundraising scheme. The First Lady revamped the rose garden. And NASA announced an asteroid is headed towards earth right before the November election.

This week the world hit 23.4 million total COVID-19 cases and 809,000 deaths; The U.S. reached 5.8 million and 180,000 deaths. The University of Notre Dame and the University of North Carolina both announced they were returning to virtual classes after numerous outbreaks on their campuses associated with social gatherings. Syracuse announced it was suspending 23 students for gathering recklessly.

For us, this week was mostly about Owen turning 14. Sure, we had a socially distant bike ride (and ice cream) with the Telfair-Chas and Nora had a not-as-socially distant as initially discussed playdate with Harper. Owen continued with Duke Ellington's bridge (Nora's bridge was only a week, so she spent this week reading, familiarizing herself with her new phone and making Owen a present out of popsicle sticks). And Nora made butter thanks to an early present from Grandpa Don. 

But the clear highlight was celebrating Owen. We started with a birthday dinner featuring ice cream cake and a concert from the birthday boy himself. Then we had a climbing party (for both Owen and Nora) with Aunt Katherine and Uncle L at Sandy Springs (where Owen demonstrated his maturity by talking his increasingly hysterical mother down during two situations where we almost had to contact the staff to save me on a blue course) followed by a slumber party at Aunt Katherine's complete with presents and a Hagrid inspired Mom Mom cake.

All is all it was a pretty good week and a not-so-crappy birthday after all.

(To see all of this week's pictures, click here.)