Monday, January 18, 2021
This morning, Ed and I took his old oak bookcase over to the Blue Goose for Marli Klumb, Jason's mom. She had tagged me on Facebook Marketplace when I posted it as available. It felt like an informal act of service. She said there are 170 people in her building and they've only had 2 cases of Covid which is amazing.
Ed worked with Gill on replacing glass in the French door entrance to the side porch + disassembling the front door handle and mortise lock. He and I took a trip to Overland Park to check out options at Lock & Pull. After 15+ years in this old house, we are ready for new locks. The former owners could actually enter this house anytime they wanted to with their old key. It amazes me how much we rely on the good faith of others. (NOTE: I'm struggling to accept that it will take 3-4 weeks for the new handle and lock to come in; in the meantime, we are living with holes in the door and only a deadbolt. I have to stick my finger in the hole where the door knob was to pull the door closed. Does a door knob really make your house safer? Not really. That's what I keep telling myself.)
In Covid news, Kayla and her entire Atlanta household have Covid. Sue is struggling the most which is not surprising given her age. Kayla's husband has had 2 major gastric surgeries in the past 6 months, survived sepsis, and is very thin. I'm relieved to hear he is faring well.
Sadly, Dionne Scherff's father (who lived in Houston) just died from Covid yesterday. There will be no service to mark his passing.
The inauguration is Wednesday and we are excited but worried too. After the riot on January 6, it is said that all 50 states will expect protests, riots, insurrections, whatever you want to call it. Nevertheless, I am ready to celebrate: my work calendar is blocked off, I made "patriotic treats" to eat and share, 4th of July gear has been pulled from the attic (stuff from the Armour Hills walking and bicycle parade), and I have a red, white, and blue tiara to wear. I'm either naive or an optimist.
For family dinner, I made salads with lettuce from our hydroponic garden with salmon cooked by Ed. The kids had air-fried toasted ravioli. Dinner started with a great laugh when Ed accidentally popped a plastic toy into Gill's water glass. It was a really nice moment. In honor of MLK day (we didn't do anything today in his honor which made me sad), I pulled out our un-read jar of gratitudes, leftover from October / November. Here they are:
Gill's gratitudes: boo bags (Halloween), 2nd part of expansion pass released, that Momma planned the Halloween party (I did?), Momma talking to me in the car, video games, for life and the people who make video games, farting bat and owl (dog toys), our two pets.
Ed's gratitudes: resumed pilates, got some important documents out (work), for the way Mad-Eye follows Mama around.
Jonas' gratitudes: big speakers, the Brennan, banana pudding, D&D, scones.
My gratitudes: great camping trip, boys that put up tents, boy hugs, a job that I like, healthy pets, loyal dog, playful cat, that Gill had a good week in school, warm house with strong walls, fires in the fireplace with wood that someone else cut and stacked, that the grandfather clock works again, our patio, two smart boys, sons that are generous, so so grateful to watch a movie all together, husband who understands pipe systems, that Ed likes to cook, beautiful plants, that we don't have Covid.
