Day 2030 | Walkable City

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When we moved to Eau Claire, we prioritized living downtown because we wanted to be close to restaurants, bars, local activity, the post office, etc. Now I’d like to add reliable auto body to the list of must-haves in a walkable city environment. When you wake up to a flat tire, you don’t have many options but to walk over to your neighborhood auto body with a wagon and ask to borrow their air pump.

I added air to the tire, drove the car (and the pump) back to Rick’s and then walked home while I waited to hear about the repair. Is it normal to get excited about this kind of stuff? Very adult, right?

Side note: I started a separate blog for the book donation project. The first day was a big success (thanks to all of you!) so I decided that I needed to document our journey. Join us for our daily progress here (scroll all the way to the bottom).

Day 2025 | Early Christmas

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For the second year in a row, we put up our Christmas tree early (the weekend before Thanksgiving). Last year, we justified it by saying that Thanksgiving was so late that we wanted to have it up for a full month. This year, with Covid sucking the joy out of pretty much everything, we just wanted to extend the holiday spirit a little longer.

And it worked. Christmas tree decorated while watching a Christmas movie and drinking hot cocoa. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Day 2024 | Just the Two of Us

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Since the beginning of September, this guy and I have had two solo days together every week. Before this, we haven’t had any significant time alone together since he was 22 months old. Who would have thought solo time would come back around for us? Leave it to Covid.

It’s hard to say what the rest of the school year has in store, but for now I’ll try to focus on how lucky I am to have an eight year old who still looks up to me and can laugh at all my crazy.

Day 2022 | The Calm Before...

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Today was my last day of kid-free time…for who knows how long. Chase had his last day of in-person school today. Robbe continues on through Friday and then he’s home with us, too. Right now the school district is saying we’ll be back in-person on December 10, but I think that’s probably optimistic when we consider what’s happening in our community (and state) currently. I’m guessing we’ll be remote through New Year’s. But that’s just a guess.

For today, I ran a crazy amount of errands and checked as many things off my to-do list as possible. I tried to appreciate the silence: one thing that will be in short supply in the upcoming weeks. (Notice the pile of abandoned Pokemon cards in the photo above.)

It’s not going to be easy, but I don’t think it’ll be terrible either. We know how this goes. We’ve done this remote learning thing under much worse circumstances and we had fun along the way. Plus, I’m hoping there will be lots of extra time for festive crafts, Christmas baking, and holiday movies. #brightside

Day 2020 | Fall Piano Recital

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Another Covid first—a virtual piano recital. The boys really challenged themselves with tricky pieces and pretty much nailed it. As sad as it is to not perform in person, it was fun to include some folks who wouldn’t have been able to attend otherwise. It was nice to see the other students play as well and still feel connected to that community. We’re so thankful to have stumbled upon Ms. Abby—she has a gift for teaching, that’s for sure.

These are some photos and videos I took before the actual recital, so everyone can enjoy their pieces. If you can’t see the videos below, click here for Chase’s and click here for Robbe’s performance.

Waves in Sunlight
Black Cat Waltz

Day 2016 | President Biden

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My plan for today was to wash windows. It's was a weirdly warm day in WI and I figured this was my last shot before the weather turns. Chris and the boys were off on an adventure so I had all day to complete the task.

About 10 minutes after they left, Biden was announced as the victor of the 2020 Presidential Election. Needless to say, starting on the windows was delayed a bit as I let the news sink in. I called my boys and told them. I called another one of my favorite people and shared the news with her. Several texts later, I turned to the news and listened as folks shared what the election meant to them. I cried. Like, ugly cried.

I know everyone isn't happy about this news. I remember how utterly devastated I felt four years ago (see here) and I'm sure that's how some folks are feeling today, but I truly believe we can bridge the gap and come together to find common ground again.

As I [finally] turned to my windows, I realized it was a very fitting activity for today. Everything looks brighter now.