Spring Break 2021

During the summer of 2020 I was super bummed out and planned ahead to book something - anything - for spring break 2021. I found a cabin in Sevierville with a pool table, arcade and hot tub. 

The drive was fairly easy - about 4 hours. The “resort” (community) was new and very nice, tidy, and quiet. We could take evening walks on our small road. 

I was able to set up a Kroger pickup about 4 miles away which was super helpful than eating out or grocery shopping. We did do GrubHub delivery two times which was easy. 

I found a lot of shorter trails in our area. Easy trails in the Smokies are not considered easy here in Cincinnati : )  One small walk was part of Foxfire Outdoor Adventures - the trail had a free-hanging bridge (eek!) and a small waterfall. It was all uphill and a challenge for me to carry Hannah in the backpack. 

We bought an adult cider on our way out - cute fun place! 

Hoping the next time we head to that area we can re-do our cancelled Dollywood + Dream More resort stay. 

Easter 2021

 Easter 2021 was a bit brighter than last year when we were all solidly locked down. This year Tim and I were fully vaccinated and it was a beautiful day so we could still sit outside while some of our family weren’t fully vaccinated yet.

Earlier in the month there was a nice weekend so the Battys also got together outside - it was so refreshing! 

 

Small House Updates

 Over the colder months we made a few home updates - replaced some dated and busted up light fixtures and the bigger project was fixing our back deck - as I’d mentioned earlier, it was built poorly and was drooping quite a bit. It was fixed by our contractor and feels much more safe now! 

Next, Tim and I decided to paint it. It’s not worth putting in effort beyond that since we should be replacing the whole thing in the next few years. I chose a really dark grey and we’re very happy with this Band-Aid solution : ) 

Before: fixture has been here since we moved in - dated and falling apart.

After: classic drum pendant with nice warm light!

Before: industrial low hanging pendant that Tim always hit his head on.

After: flush light fixture. Also converting this area to a work station
as Tim’s office will be flexible with more WFH now.

Before: I’m almost embarrassed at how bad the wood looks.

After: **ahhhhh***

Before: Layers of wear.

After

More Self-Health Discoveries

 Not sure why this is the year of “Christine” health discoveries... 

I had my annual eye exam and each year I pay extra out of pocket for Optomap - traditional eye cameras only get about 45˚ of your eyes, while the Optomap gets a 200˚ picture. It helps early detection of other underlying health issues.

The past two years I’ve had tiny small spots on my retina from minuscule hemorrhages. They’ve been consistent and not growing so my OD isn’t concerned. However - this year a new large one appeared. My OD was concerned and referred me to the Cincinnati Eye Institute and wanted me to get bloodwork to cover off on any other health abnormalities. Great. 

At CEI, I had a full range of tests including a salt water “dye test” where I had an IV of salt water as they took photos of my retinas. This would help them see the blood vessels in my retinas. 

Twice the OD asked if I was born premature - ? Nope - full term! Well, it turns out my retinas never fully developed in utero - !! The OD showed me the photographs of my eyes - the blood vessels don’t reach the edges of my eyes, which is causing lack of blood flow and in turn these tiny hemorrhages! 

He said there’s nothing to do about it and it isn’t going to cause any long-term problems, it will just be monitored every year. 

That’s my latest health story! 

This is not my eye, but the red dots towards the top are what my hemorrhages look like. 

Remote School and Looking Forward

We are now about six months into remote school for this year. We had to decide by the end of October what we wanted to do for the second semester. Because, you know, we had a COVID crystal ball. 

We chose to keep the girls remote. Hannah mainly because she cannot wear a mask terribly long and she’s actually doing better than I think in person - because she has a dedicated caregiver for 100% one-on-one instruction. 

Nora, however, I wish we’d sent back – but she loves her remote teachers. She is extremely distracted at home by everything. We’ve tried multiple desk locations, all the tricks... She’s consistently missing assignments and rushes through them. We’re always butting heads. 

Four more months of remote school. 

Summer camp registration was already this week - ! The girls loved it last year and they are capping enrollment at 150 kids. We are sending the girls - they will have been secluded from their classmates 15 months... It’s time to release them with their masks on. Which is a worry for me - Hannah wearing a mask all day at Summer Camp. I hope the exemption note from the pediatrician continues to work for us. 

We have chosen safety as a priority for our family, but I can see now that being in the classroom and somewhat with peers may be worth the risk. I couldn’t rightly predict that back in October. 

Pandemic Christmas 2020

Whoops - way behind here. 

Pandemic Christmas was... quiet. We got outside as much as we could. We’ve definitely used our Cincinnati Nature Center membership the most this winter season than anytime we’ve ever had in the past seven years!

We did manage an outdoor visit with my family as temps reached 50˚ a couple days after Christmas. And we were away from our caregiver long enough that we were able to visit Nana & Papa around the New Year. 

We made another large, lovely meal together. 

Luckily we already had a tradition of going to Coney Island’s holiday light display as well as driving around to see lights in other neighborhoods. One house even had a walk-through display! 

Our good friends set up a video chat for New Years that included some snacks and a beer flight for the grown-ups - such a fun and thoughtful idea!

Hoping Christmas 2021 will look a little more normal... 

Next House Project

I know I’m skipping over Christmas, but really, how much can you share about a pandemic holiday? Answer: not a lot. I’ll cover that another time. 

This 1980 house has a lot of decking. A lot. There’s unnecessary wood walkways that I want to replace with concrete. 

There used to be a hot tub on the lower deck - because who has just one? :: sarcasm :: It’s been covered with wood slabs since we moved in. I know, trashy. 

But the big freak out was this summer I noticed the main deck was starting to sink at the far corner. Like big time. Before we moved in, we negotiated that the deck needed better securing to the actual house. We live on such a hill that the living room slider walks out to the main deck which is elevated one story up. This summer I went to sit in a chair and felt it leaning back - no bueno. I can also visually see it’s not level anymore. 

The far left corner is sinking.

Friday evening our contractor came over and inspected the deck. Overall, he said he can fix it for us to get another 2-3 years out of it. The wood is still in okay shape, but whomever built it did it cheap and a poor job. Which feels like the story of our all our homes’ lives. 

Additionally, he recommended taking out all the steps to the lower deck, replacing them with stone slabs, tear out the lower deck and just putting in a small retaining wall, and a gravel area with a firepit. SOLD. And maybe Tim and I can even do the demo - ?? 

I’m more worried about replacing the larger deck - $$$. I guess we’ll have a few years to save up - !

Homeownership, am I right??