Pandemic, Week 41 (Eyes on the Prize)

On Monday of this week, Congress passed the FY2021 omnibus spending package which also included COVID relief including supplemental unemployment insurance, financial assistance for at-risk renters and a moratorium on federal evictions, an increase in SNAP food supports, vaccine distribution monies, funding for colleges, schools and childcare centers to open safely, and a one time $600 direct payment for individuals and children. On Tuesday, Trump indicated that he might veto the bill unless the direct payments increased to $2,000 per person and "wasteful and unnecessary items" were removed from the bill. He also vetoed the defense authorization bill. He then left to spend the holidays in Florida while House Democrats worked to pass a new bill with the $2,000 payments and both houses worked to override his veto. Trump pardoned an additional 26 people this week, including Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner's father, Charles, and the four Blackwater guards involved in the 2007 Iraq massacre.  On Christmas morning, a bomb exploded in downtown Nashville. The President has yet to respond.

The world reached 80.7 million COVID-19 cases this week and 1.8 million deaths. The U.S. hit 19.4 million cases and 340,000 deaths. More people were vaccinated this week including front line workers and some members of Congress. A new variant of the disease that is as much as 70 percent more contagious has emerged and is resulting in travel bans from the U.K.

But we were in our Christmas bubble at the beach and were largely oblivious to all that. Once we were finally free from work and school obligations (though Owen, who has a lot of late assignments, may never truly be free...), we were able to focus on more relaxing endeavors: Allen and I had contemplative walks on the beach; Nora recorded what is likely her final Camp Shenanigans Podcast, The Forest Mansion (she plays Mother Nature); and Owen worked on becoming something of a pool shark. His new skill set (plus some bonus points for cello performances) resulted in Owen winning the highly contested 2020 Pineapple Prize. 

After an extended award ceremony, we packed up our stuff, tried to kick the keg (so close...) and mentally prepared ourselves to return to reality the next day.

We Need a Little Christmas (OBX XMAS 2020)

We generally spend odd Christmas years in Iowa and even ones in DC, but since this was the oddest year of all, we decided back in September that this would be the perfect chance to celebrate the holidays at the beach. In a big, fancy, heavily discounted house. With an expanded pod to include Nancy and Danny and Adrienne. And lots and lots of alcohol. Because, you know, pandemic.

So we looked up big fancy places in the Outer Banks, and after some lobbying by Allen and the kids, selected the Pineapple House (which had the superior kitchen and windows, plus nine bedrooms for eleven people). We packed and baked and prepped for a solid week's worth of meals (which for Katherine included roasting two entire turkeys), games (which for Katherine meant bags and bags of them), and adult beverages (which for Katherine necessitated also bringing her trusty breathalyzer).

We arrived on Sunday and spent most of the afternoon and evening unpacking and getting the lay of the land. Monday the kids had school and we had work, but we all managed to finish early enough to get in character for a game of LARP Clue, where Professor Plum eventually deduced that it was Madame Rose in the Studio with the wrench, while Miss Peach screamed about the murder of her long lost step-uncle/lover (resulting in the loss of Katherine's voice for the remainder of the trip) and Mrs. White talked smack about everyone.

On Tuesday Adrienne arrived and the clouds parted which meant that the fun could really start and we could belatedly catch the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.

On Wednesday we celebrated the Newfoundland tradition of Tibb's Eve, "the day you get drunk and celebrate Christmas with all your friends before having to spend time with your family." Our celebration included ketchup chips and other Northern treats; questionable fashion choices; a Canadien Pandora station; crackers; a zoom call with Adrienne's mom, Brenda, and Nancy and Danny's child, Keegan; toilet paper races; pie cake; and a polar bear plunge followed by a dip in the hot tub. After that it gets fuzzy.

Christmas Eve was a balmy 67 degrees, so Allen and I enjoyed a long, walk on the beach before prepping dinner, which due to Katherine's aforementioned surfeit of turkey, meant changing our planned menu of Rick Bayless's Sweet and Smoky Pork Chops with Tomato-Chipotle Sauce, to "Great After-Thanksgiving Turkey Enchiladas." No one seemed to mind. We had Cranberry Tom Collins for the cocktail hour with entertainment provided by Owen's Instrumental Music concert and Nora's DCYOP concert (her ensemble starts at 12:29). Dinner was followed by White Elephant (and some other non-sanctioned) presents, the traditional Christmas Eve flan, and a number of games (bridge, shuffleboard, pool, marbles, puzzling, etc) as we competed for the Pineapple Prize. Then it got fuzzy, again...

Christmas morning started with a lovely brunch of Virginia sausage and biscuits, eggs, and maybe a few too many Blood Marys. There was a lot of games of bridge and pool during the afternoon, and a number of family zoom calls including with all the Zimmermans, but it was generally quiet before we got dressed for dinner. Happy hour (which was more happy for some than others) included a holiday performance by Owen and Nora (with some interpretive dance from Katherine and Adrienne). Dinner was an amazing beef tenderloin with peppercorn sauce, Brussels sprouts with cranberries, Santa Fe potatoes, crescent rolls, and salad followed by a white chocolate with apricot filling cake that Mom Mom and Nora had made.

The official present exchange, for which we had each chosen a name that was not from our household, was held after dinner. We'd originally planned to exempt the kids but they begged to be part of it, which is how Grandpa Don came to receive a very special gift from Nora – her first (self-published) book. He really, really liked it.

There was a bit more frivolity, but not as much as previous nights (some people enjoyed the Bloody Marys at brunch a bit too much...). And so by midnight we'd wished a Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night (and then took the next day to recover...).

(To see all of our Christmas beach pictures, click here.)

Pandemic, Week 40 (It's a Pandemic!)

On Monday, the Electoral College elected Joe Biden President of the United States. Shortly after, Bill Barr announced he was stepping down as Attorney General effective December 23rd. Joe Biden nominated his former opponent and mayor of South Bend, IN, Pete Buttigieg, for Secretary of Transportation and picked Allen's former boss, Gina McCarthy, for domestic climate czar. Congress is still working to finalize a $900 billion, second COVID stimulus package tied to a funding bill ahead of a government shutdown, with democrats objecting to a republican provision that Federal Reserve emergency lending facilities be terminated by December 31, 2020, and republicans voicing concerns about the debt. The government recently discovered that at least six agencies were breached by Russian hackers back in March, including the Homeland Security, Energy and Treasury Departments. The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed arguing that Dr. Jill Biden, Ed.D, should not be able to use her title because she hasn't delivered a baby. DC had its first winter snow (though it didn't stick).

In this 40th week of the pandemic (the equivalent of a human gestational period), the world hit 76.6 million COVID cases and 1.7 million deaths while the U.S. reached 18.1 million cases and 323,000 deaths. The FDA authorized use of the Moderna vaccine in addition to the Pfizer one. Mike Pence, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell and Surgeon General Jerome Adams all received their first dose of the vaccination. Emails surfaced from this summer with a top Trump's science advisor advocating a policy to encourage kids and young people to acquire the infection in order to reach herd immunity. The Trump administration has denied that such a policy was under consideration.

This week was all over the place for us. It was 60 degrees on Sunday, so we had the Telfair-Chas over for a socially-distant brunch. Later, Nora performed in a remote viola recital and then we had a cookie decorating contest (thanks to Jimmy and Merrily!). Grandpa lost (with Allen as a close second). Nora won.

Nora took her cookie-decorating title to Mom Moms for a marathon baking session (and a sleepover). When she got back, there was some work on Nora's science fair project, followed by a whole lot of work on the house as we had the siding and the back door replaced (soon to be followed by the decks next week). Nora's project was a lot quieter.

Which is why it's great that we're headed to the beach...

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

Pandemic, Week 39 (A Different Kind of Tea)

By Wednesday of this week, all 50 states had certified their election results, formalizing the projection that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. Subsequently, on Friday, the Supreme Court rejected the Texas Attorney General's petition to void 20 million votes from four states (that doesn't include Texas) in order to overturn Joe Biden's win. The Texas case was supported by 17 other state Attorney Generals as well as 106 republican members of Congress. Its loss culminated in another "Million MAGA March" involving a few thousand people protesting the election results. The federal government and 46 states filed anti-trusts suits against Facebook this week, regarding its acquisition of Instagram and WhatApp. Hunter Biden announced that he is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney for tax fraud. Congress passed a Continuing Resolution or CR to keep the government open for another week. The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed objecting to Dr. Jill Biden, Ed.D using the title "Doctor," instead referring to her as "kiddo" and suggesting she instead use "Madame First Lady." Chuck Yeager, who broke the sound barriers in 1947 using an X-1 aircraft, died.

This week the world reached a total of 72.1 million COVID cases and 1.6 million deaths. The U.S. hit 16.5 million total cases and 305,000 deaths. Great Britain began administering the Pfizer vaccine and its first recipients included a man named William Shakespeare. The FDA finally approved the Pfizer vaccine and vaccinations in the U.S. are expected to begin Monday. Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell refused to bring a $900 billion bipartisan COVID-19 relief package to the floor for a vote because republican senators don't support $160 billion in aid to state and local governments.

This week we worked on Christmas cards and Christmas presents and Christmas goodies. We planned our costumes for a Pineapple House LARP game of Clue over the holiday as part of our quest for the Pineapple Prize. We worked on science projects and science homework. We even modeled the official t-shirt for H.A.N.A. (the not-so-secret society of Harper, Anais, Nora and Audrey). But the most important event of this week, was our annual tea with Jacqui. Normally we linger longer and the outing doesn't involve masks, but given this is 2020, we took what we could get (and did so abiding by all safety precautions). While it wasn't quite the same as previous years and it was a little weird eating inside an establishment (we haven't done that since March), it was really nice to be able to celebrate what has become a treasured tradition. 

Now I just need to get tested...

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

Pandemic, Week 38 (It's Beginning to Look...)

President-elect Joe Biden fractured his foot this week while playing with his dog. Biden also revealed his pick for Treasury Secretary – former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. It was revealed that the Justice Department investigated a potential presidential pardon bribery scheme back in August. Separately, Trump has discussed with his advisors blanket pardons for his three eldest children and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Ivanka Trump was deposed by DC Attorney General Karl Racine for an investigation into misuse of inaugural funds in 2017. Trump headed to Georgia for a rally for Senators Loeffler and Perdue, and to pressure Georgia's governor to convince state legislators to overturn Biden's win. Meanwhile, Attorney General Bill Barr announced that the Justice Department had uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election. A new blood test is being released for people over age 60 to test for Alzheimer's disease. Elliott Page, the former star of the indie film, Juno, came out as a transgender man. Warner Bros. announced that all 2021 movies would be released to HBO Max for streaming the same day they hit theaters. David Lander who played Squiggy in Laverne & Shirley, died.

The world reached 66.9 million COVID cases this week and 1.5 million deaths. The U.S. hit 15.0 million cases and 288,000 deaths. Great Britain approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for distribution starting next week. The CDC recommended that Phase 1a inoculations would include front-line health care workers and adults living in long-term care facilities. Both Allen and John received negatives COVID tests (we figured they could be our household representatives to make sure we didn't pick up any unintended souvenirs from Iowa).

But for us, this week marked the beginning of the Christmas season. We decorated the house, drafted our Christmas letter, and started addressing our Christmas cards. Mom Mom and Grandpa Don swung by for dinner and to check out our tree. Jacqui flew in from Texas for our annual holiday tea, complete with her face shield, mask, a negative test result, and a lot of Clorox wipes. Owen recorded his final concert piece for the season; Nora began the the Winter Intensive for DCYOP. We printed out Positive Pineapple Paul and Nora created a prosthetic arm for her GoldieBlox doll.  We even caught up on the latest episode of His Dark Materials. And while it was generally a happy week filled with family and Christmas songs, there was one tragedy: Jaws, our sole remaining neon fish passed away and was returned from whence he came.

Hopefully, that isn't a harbinger of things to come...

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