12 Oakdale

This year, my birthday fell on Thanksgiving, and we celebrated with our children, including Mary, who came via video call. We invited them, then vacillated about canceling. Covid is on the rise; our children are careful; we’ve been so good, don’t fall off the wagon now; it is too risky. Back and forth we went, in our minds, and with each other.  We decided to proceed. Molly got sick on Monday, so she and Spaulding would have to miss. That meant Patten couldn’t stay with them to see their new house. Steph zipped to Publix to grab potatoes since Molly wouldn’t be bringing them. Molly’s Covid test came back negative. They decided to come. We will have lots of potatoes. Thursday morning, Patten called from on the road near West Palm. His coworker and buddy just called him: he was feeling like he had the flu. Patten said he felt fine, but his hypochondria was kicking in. Should he keep driving? I said yes. My throat started to hurt in sympathy. Friday Patten learned his pal does have Co...

 We went to the grocery store! The first time since we moved the Windermere. The plan was to be at Publix at 7:00 AM, and checkout ASAP. Almost made it. Arrived at 7:02, which some of us consider on time (Grant), and some of us consider late (me), but the excitement of actually going in a grocery store outweighed my grumpiness. I did have to encourage him to shop the list and not get sidetracked into browsing, moving as quickly as possible.  Our only slowdown was asking where to find mincemeat, which stumped the employees and didn’t appear on their phone app. One year my stepmother made her own mincemeat. Since I don’t have a deer carcass, I’m going to look online. I have been an online shopping fool, with Christmas presents already bought and shipped for most of our children. One left, and I have a meh idea which I can always do last minute. I’ve also ordered fairy lights for the yard, stocking holders, and snowflake votive candle holders. I’m considering a lighted sleigh tha...

It’s day three after Election Day, and we still do not know who our next president will be. Latest results seem to flow to Joe Biden, with 253 electoral votes versus President Trump’s 213. Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes are likely to go to Biden which will clinch the presidency for him. He is calling for patience while all the votes are counted; Trump is tweeting to stop the counting. Meanwhile, I just keep swimming. I bought a wetsuit top which seems to keep me warm even though the sleeves are loose, so water gets in. In any case, whether I need the wetsuit to avoid hypothermia (likely not in Florida), it takes away any excuse of avoiding getting into the pool. Once I’ve flopped in and asked Siri to set the timer on my iPhone, I paddle back and forth until I hear the chime to stop. I know this doesn’t help with bone density, but the exercise helps me sleep. That’s good enough reason to do it. Eventually I plan to push the pace and do freestyle, but for now, I breaststroke over and ...

For the first time in almost two decades, I am not working the election. When we moved to Windermere, I assumed I would continue my career but spending 16+ hours in a room with other people seemed too risky in this Covid era. I did still get up at 5:00 AM, not to drive to my precinct where I was clerk, but to call a friend to be sure she woke up in time to get to her election job. It is her first time volunteering. Dealing with the American public is odd in the best of times; these are not those. I hope she gets a competent clerk who can keep control of the process. I know people are on edge, with poll watchers checking every move. Crossing my fingers for her and for our country. When I clerked, my precinct shared a rec center with 2 other precincts, so we had 20-25 volunteers. There were the good, the bad, and the incompetent, but volunteers are hard to find. Most were even older than I. We were called volunteers, but as clerk, I got $200 for 4 hours of training plus working Election ...