The Stash

The other day I was in a cleaning mood. I vacuumed all the floors, made all the beds - even Chloe's. And to my surprise, found this behind her bed. You know my brain went wild with questions: Why? Why 4 boxes? Are all the boxes empty? Does she not know how to recycle boxes? Who needs that many cheese-its? When is she eating these? Why am I just now learning about this? Does she have a cheese-it fetish? Also, why ramen still in a bag? Has she read any of those books propping up her food stash? Should I be concerned? At what point do we need to have a cheese-it intervention for her?  I could go on, but I'll spare you because: Chloe. There are no answers. It is what it is. SMH. #facepalm
 

Bennett's Turf

 

This past weekend, while Chloe was off enjoying Florida, Chuck and I road tripped it to The Springs to visit Bennett at school. He has adapted to his new home quite nicely.

Luckily, we got there just in time to enjoy breakfast in one of the most beautiful school cafeterias I've ever seen. And the food was good, too - unlike my memories of college cafeteria food.

And it was a good thing we had such a hearty breakfast because we sure needed it to climb this little formation. This is called Pulpit Rock and it's right in the middle of Colorado Springs. 

 

 

Bennett told us there are three ways up - the boring way, the easy way, or the "fun" way. It was a no-brainer that we would be taking the "fun" way, especially since Bennett was our trail guide. Come to find out, he's only ever hiked this trail at night. This would be his first day time excursion. I imagine the "fun" way to be even "funner" in the pitch dark. 

 

It wasn't a long hike, but it did go straight up, required lots of huffing and puffing and many rest stops (at least it did for me), and sometimes outright climbing up rocks. We are not known for doing things the easy way. However, we made it to the top, with these photos as proof. 

 

 

A pretty perfect day for a hike.

Don't know why we wore out backpacks...there was no place to set up our hammocks. But we are ever ready, just in case. We wear them when we don't need to and forget them when we need them - the story of our life.

My sweet boy.

Right after the first hike, we took a second hike up the bluffs behind the school. We were treated to a set of pull up bars once we reached the top - just what I was hoping for. As if he needed to prove his youth and invincibility to us, Bennett did a set of 10 pull ups immediately upon making it to the top without so much as a huff or a puff or any sweating. I found the nearest thing to sit on and promptly sat my shaking legs down and gasped for air.

But the views sure are nice from the top!

Spring Break Happiness

 

This crazy group of people right here is all I need. This was a special, unexpected treat! We didn't think we'd all be back together again until this summer. Then suddenly, we got two whole days all together this March and there was lots of love, happiness, and laughter abounding again. The house is so quiet nowadays that I welcome the chaos, late bedtimes, noise, lots of groceries, and activity that comes with a full house again.

 

 

Turns out Gavin was able to join us for the last few days of his spring break and was flying into town the exact same day his roommate and friend Collin had already planned on coming to town to visit Estes Park for a class project. The three of us had an awesome day exploring the entire town.

 

The weather was perfect, the company fun, and the town perfectly uncrowded (a rarity).

 

Collin and I even bought matching sweatshirts. We're twining!

The rest of the time was spent in conversation and/or chess competitions. I opted out of chess, but the boys sure did enjoy it.

The following day we enjoyed ice cream in Old Town and the CSU Art Museum (Chloe was at work).

Getting any type of pictures together was like pulling teeth. I just wanted a simple memory of all of us together and it digressed into a complete charade. But what they didn't know was that I treasure any picture together - crazy, posed, or candid - I just love remembering our time together.

These people are my absolute favorite! The older the kids get, the better this parenting gig gets. They are the best! We like each other. We want to be together. They are fun (if not a little crazy and stay up way too late!). Time together is a gift I will always treasure and never take for granted. As they grow and go down their own paths, I take such joy in watching them come into their own and thrive in this world. We are cheering them on from afar, and when we can, close together.

The Blizzard

 

Two weeks ago we were hit with one of the largest snow dumps I can remember seeing. It snowed from Saturday afternoon through Sunday night. We ended up with 17.5 inches at our house. Other towns along the Front Range ended up with up to 24 inches. It shut the Denver airport down for 2 days straight. 

 

The thing you can't see in the picture is the 30 mile an hour winds pummeling us from the north. The snow stung your face as you were getting pelted by it. The wind froze anything wet and exposed. That's why we had to wear ski goggles to go outside and play. 

 

       

We all handled it our own way. Chloe preferred the crawl into a ball and lay in the snow method along with a healthy dose of the disgust look.

 

Chuck and I played. He had better luck fashioning balls that stayed together for our snowman. Actually, I think he pretty much built it single-handedly.

This was the back deck before Chuck shoveled so that Ninja could go out. This was actually on Sunday morning when we woke up. It only got worse the rest of the day. And the worst part of it all was how heavy the snow was. It took forever to shovel!

 

Mission accomplished.

Ninja was made for this. She loves the snow so much. Even though she's an old lady now, she still prances around in the snow, tunnels her nose around, chases snowballs, snaps at the snow. It's so fun watching her have fun.

 

Here was the driveway Monday morning. There was no going anywhere.  The sad thing was, this was supposed to be Chloe's first week back in school in person all 5 days a week since a year ago March when the quarantine started. They ended up having two snow days this week because the snow was so hard to plow.

 

This was my paltry attempt at shoveling for 45 minutes. Did I mention how heavy it was?! That small portion left me exhausted and sore the rest of the day. I have no idea how Chuck endured doing the entire driveway and back deck.

 

 

The Flat

 

A few Sundays ago Bennett called us at 9:30 at night. That's when we usually go to bed. He knows that, so getting a call from him at that time would be an oddity. He's like, "Ya, so I got a flat tire. Don't worry. I pulled into a parking lot. I can change it, I just don't know how. So Dad, you could please walk me through it?" 

So many questions: How did you get a flat? Where are you? Did you run into a curb again? Are any of your friends with you or close by? 

Long story short, he was just out for a lovely little night drive while all his friends were somewhere else. He has a hard time avoiding curbs. He veered into one and popped his tire. This would be the second time this has happened. The first time, Chuck could drive up to where he was and rescue him. The second time, Chuck was two hours away and could only walk him through it over the phone. This is a herculean task.

Luckily for us, Bennett has 70% battery power on his phone. Unluckily for us, bedtime has been obliterated. Bedtime occurs once we know our boy is back to his dorm safe and sound. We ask him if he can call a friend to come out and help him or at the very least hold a flash light for him since he's in a very dark parking lot with no lights. He says he wants to do it all by himself. Great timing for choosing complete independence!

Chuck texts his brother, John, and alerts him to the situation around 10pm. John lives 50 minutes from where Bennett is and can get to him sooner than we can if need be. He's okay with being on stand-by. He offers help in the form of sending YouTube videos to Bennett to watch on "How To Change a Tire." 

Thus begins a 3 hour long ordeal. 61 texts, numerous phone calls and 1 YouTube video later it is finished. It was HARD! It took over an hour just for him to figure out how to get the spare tire out of its resting place in the back of his Forerunner. It also took forever for him to pull the old tire off. It eventually came off but the force of it threw him backwards with the tire landing on him. By the very end he was down to 1% battery. This was the part that scared us the most. If anything went sideways, we would have no idea.

Finally, he made it back to his dorm a little after 12:30am. He did a hard thing all by himself. He persevered. He grew. That's what you hope for as parents.

 

Quarantine - A Year Later

 

So much has changed in a year! Yet, it also seems like March 2020 was just last month. How can that be?! Life is a paradox. A year ago when we were told that it could be at least a year, maybe a year and a half, before we had a vaccine for covid-19 and life could get back to "normal." It didn't really compute. I was almost 100% positive that the drastic measures we were all taking by hunkering down in our houses, closing the world, and isolating ourselves from all other human beings would most definitely bring a much sooner end to this virus.

The initial quarantine and shut down was scary, unnerving, unknown, and indefinite. There was an invisible enemy lurking about outside our houses and we didn't know enough about it. This enemy upended the lives of everyone in the entire world. We all became used to new normals...wearing face masks, standing 6 feet apart, not shaking hands, not socializing with friends,  not eating out or going to movies. We were in collective shock. And those are the people that had it easy. We didn't even get the virus, nor did any of our immediate or extended family members. A few friends got it, but recovered quickly. But so many others didn't. It brought devastation to millions of families with (as of now) over 550,000 deaths in the US. 

But oddly enough, it also brought us closer. We spent lots of time talking, either on zoom, on the phone, or FaceTime. We got to really take time for people and give them our full attention because...what else was there to do? We had time for creativity, more reading, rest, spending time out in nature, games, and binge watching Netflix. We enjoyed time together, yet we also knew when to each go to our own rooms if we needed to be alone. It definitely tested relationships, for good and bad. 

I felt horrible for kids and grandparents during this entire season. Kids, especially teens, desperately need time with their friends. I saw and felt the loss of this and it made me so sad. Also, the loss of time in school and learning. The kids finished the 2020/2021 school year at home with online learning. Which...to be honest, was not a great experience. No education system was ready for something of this magnitude. To overhaul how you teach on the fly is an enormous task for any organization to make. Sadly, many kids suffered the loss of much learning time. I imagine many grandparents felt so isolated and lonely. They were in the most vulnerable age category. This virus seemed to have a preference for the old and overweight. 

So many lost jobs. The number is obscenely high. It will take years for many families and for the economy to recover. However, in the midst of this, I was able to find a job (shockingly) and even one that I enjoyed at that! Amazingly, UCCS allowed their freshman to come live on campus at the start of the school year. Bennett's first year of college was a resounding success. He made incredible friends and memories. Even though he lost so many rights of passage of his senior year, it wasn't all bad. Gavin has been at NDSU now for 6 semesters....3 semesters of in person classes and 3 semesters of on-line only classes. Chloe had a hybrid system since Fall 2020 where she went in person 2 days a week and online 3 days a week. All the kids are going to LOVE going back to in person learning. You can't recreate the energy of a class on line. The teachers and students need that time together. 

Thankfully, Chuck's job stayed in tact the entire time, even though he just started at a new company the month before the world shut down. He went to NJ (where his job is) when he got hired in February and hasn't been back since. He's definitely looking forward to getting back to the office and traveling more frequently. We realize we are the lucky ones, not losing our source of income, still being able to afford our mortgage, our groceries. We definitely found ways to help those who weren't as fortunate. 

As of now, President Biden say every US adult will be able to get a vaccine by May 1st. I can't wait! We've already re-planned last year's vacation to San Diego that we had to cancel. Bennett and I have re-planned his senior trip for 2022 that we had to cancel (even though he'll be a college sophomore). I think having something to look forward to is the most wonderful thing of all. For the past year, everything ahead of us just looked bleak. There was nothing to look forward to, no vacation, no last minute getaway, no work trips. It was just an open calendar of nothingness. There is much to be learned from this revelation, I'm just not ready to unpack that quite yet.

In the end...we made it through to the other side. We collectively kept putting one foot in front of the other every day. One day at a time. So much good of humanity shone through. We all learned so much about ourselves. Was it good or was it bad? Only time will tell. Maybe it was both and we can learn to be okay with holding the tension between the two.