Anna Grows

Father's Day with Benny  At long last, school ended on June 16.  This year, in what may be a new record, there were no snow or bad weather days used.  None.  Zero.  No one can remember the last time this happened.  Nonetheless, they decided to stick with the regular school calendar.  Students spent the last week going half days and watching lots of movies (we can debate the value of this week).  Anna is now officially a senior in high school.  Where does time go? This past weekend was Father's Day.  Joe had a quiet day and almost went to a car show.  Almost means we drove to the car show only to find a line stretching for a couple of miles of other people trying to take their dad to the car show.  We opted not to do that and instead decided to take Benny for his first trip to the local park.  He was very excited and enjoyed a long walk.  We concluded the day with a grilled chicken dinner and homemade almond ice cream ...

Welcome Benny!  It was a busy kick-off to the month of June.  We began by welcoming Benny to our family.   Since Storm died in March, Theresa & Anna have been obsessively watching rescue sites for possible dogs.  There were a lot of requirements and a last Benny appeared.  Benny was picked up as a stray in Baltimore, so we don't know much about him.  He was at the animal shelter for a couple of months, and no one came for him.  Fortunately, Somerset Cottage Poodle Rescue (the same organization who found Storm) sprung him from the shelter.  He is a cockapoo estimated to be 8-12 years old.  Between the shelter and the rescue, he was neutered, had some minor lumps removed, had a dental treatment with a couple of teeth removed and is up to date on his vaccinations.  In short, he had a traumatic few months.  The shelter named him Zyan, but we decided that name did not fit him.  After an elaborate family voting system design...

It has been a busy couple of weeks with a road theme, including visitors on a road trip, Anna on the road, and Theresa also on a trip.  Anna's first drive We were happy to welcome Aunt Lucy and Aunt Terri who stopped by on their road trip from Massachusetts to South Carolina.  This was quite a trip that involved a furniture delivery effort to Terri's daughter (thus why they were driving) and Virginia was conveniently the halfway point.  They came bearing all sorts of gourmet goodies, including fresh rhubarb for Theresa.  They even stayed an extra day on the return trip and got to spend a day enjoying the art museums in DC.  Alas, all good things must come to an end and their trip home will be unforgettable.  Unfortunately, it is unforgettable as they got caught in an epic traffic jam north of Baltimore.  What should have taken 1 hour took 5.  At one point, they got out of the truck and picnicked along the side of the road.  What should have b...

Anna & Ethan at the Big Jam  May 11 marked the official end of the public health emergency. This means several changes to the healthcare policies, including the end of free at home tests.  There will likely be future changes to vaccines (who pays) and there will no longer regular COVID data as states are no longer required to submit it to the Federal government.  Some of the changes brought about by COVID will stay, such as expanded use of telehealth appointments. It is hard to overstate the impact of the pandemic.  COVID-19 killed more 1 million Americans and sickened millions more.  It is estimated that 1 in 13 U.S. adults or 23 million Americans suffer from long-haul COVID.  This statistic hits a bit too close to home for us.  Whether you look at what happened across the country or how it impacted our own family very directly, it is safe to say we will never go back to the way things were.  Oh sure, once in a while there is something that w...

Anna & her Girl Scout Troop  Soccer Season is in full swing and already the team has played in all sorts of weather, including record highs (the first weekend) and a rainstorm (this weekend).  Most of the fall team is back for the spring season and they are off to a 4-0 start.  In between soccer games, other activities from the past two weeks included the following: Anna started her instructor driver training this past week.  She needs to complete a total of 14 hours with an instructor, who can issue a provisional license if he passes her (no driver's test but rather an on-going evaluation).   Anna's girl scout troop got together to celebrate her friend Maggie's Gold Award.  It was great to see all the girls together and reminisce about all the troop activities.  You can check out the  Troop Video  with some great photos over the years. Anna and Theresa got the compost spread in the garden plot and the new fence ready for Joe to inst...

Anna's first prom was Saturday, April 15 at the  State Theater .  This was the first prom that was offsite following COVID so one could say things were back to normal.  Anna went with a group of friends and started off the evening with dinner hosted by one of her friends.  There was also food and photo opportunities for the parents.  One dad drove the group to the prom and another dad picked them up. The theme of the prom was "The Great Gatsby."  Anna reported that she really didn't notice any decorations beyond some cool lights. Apparently, the group decided to leave early as the dance was packed with shoulder-to-shoulder people.  There was some discussion of hanging out at someone's house, but the dad driver started dropping off the prom goers at their respective houses.  Anna was home by 10:30 and was very happy to take off her heels.  

Grandma, Anna, Aidyn & Grandpa  April 1-9 marked spring break for Anna.  This year was an eclectic week with a few road trips and the grand finale of an Easter weekend visit from Aunt Loren, Aunt Mary & James.  The big theme for the week was driving in that Anna completed her minimum required 45 hours of supervised driving time.  She has been working on this since the end of July, so this was a major milestone.  More on that in a moment. The family started off the week with a long weekend in Ohio to visit Grandma and Grandpa.  It is a good thing the travel day was on Saturday as Friday night was stormy in Ohio, including tornadoes.  We saw evidence of it the entire weekend with downed buildings and trees, including all the trees snapped like twigs in the cemetery where Theresa's grandparents are buried.  This was much discussed at the Sunday brunch, where Uncle Rod, Uncle Tim & Aunt Courtney met the rest of the family to celebrate Gran...