A Blanket Statement

At our house, there is no comfort equal to a Grandma Martin Blanket. 

She made me two. A blue and white one when I was newly married:

And one with a floral pattern when I was diagnosed with cancer:

Grandma Martin blankets have been a source of comfort throughout our lives. Sometimes I lend them out when the kids are sick and they need a little something extra:

They are the perfect weight, size, and softness. Just a simple piece of fleece with a crocheted edge.

So you can understand why, when Emily's plans to volunteer at the library this summer were sidelined by COVID, she thought of donating her time to share some of Grandma Martin's love with people who need it most. 

She made eight blankets to donate to Soldiers' Angels, an organization that provides support to soldiers all over the world. She attached a note to each that thanked the soldier for their service. 

I am proud that she chose to do some good with her time this summer. I think Grandma would be proud, too. 

Jane is Feeling Humerus

Jane's humerus side is back! Yesterday she had her final appointment with the orthopedic doctor and she can go sans-sling! Pictured here, after a small hail storm because I forgot to take a picture of her after her appointment and because this is what we do here. We document the size of hail balls.

She is thrilled to have two functioning arms again!

Here is her humerus halfway through healing...

And this is it yesterday. I think this is super cool. I wish I was 11 and could make new bones so quickly. 

Despite the fact that she said she would never ride her bike again, I got her a new helmet today. You're supposed to do that after a helmet's been in a crash. And since broken arms are easier to fix than broken heads, I thought we should heed that advice. 

She likes the new helmet. She says she thinks she'll ride again... soon. But not fast and not downhill... not just yet. 

The 4th

We tried to make the 4th of July as normal as possible this year. It's tough in the middle of a pandemic, but I think we almost achieved it. 

We always go for a hike on the 4th, but we decided to go on the 3rd this year since we had a day off. We went up to Happy Jack, where we had a lovely hike except for the fact that the mosquitoes actually stung us through our clothing. I think they were mutant mosquitoes. 

Jane didn't even have to carry her own water. Something about a broken arm. Cry me a river, Jane. 

After the hike, we went into Laramie and ate at McCalister's. It was so nice to have someone else make us lunch after the exertion. 

And we walked around UW campus, which was a ghost town. We really wanted to take the girls through the Union and maybe see the inside of the new engineering building but we knew that was all a long shot on account of the virus. So we weren't too disappointed when the buildings were all locked. But the virus couldn't stop us from taking the obligatory picture in front of the dinosaur. 

The virus also didn't stop us from going to see all the places we lived in Laramie. I am happy to report that White Hall, the apartment on Beaufort and the weird little house on Harney are still there. Unfortunately, the apartment on Bradley has been razed to make way for something new. That was sad since it was our first apartment as a married couple. 

The next day we went out to my parents' house to set some stuff on fire. The kids had fun. (I looked but I couldn't find any pictures of my parents. There are also no pictures of me, so they shouldn't feel bad.)

We visited with my uncle and his wife, who had come up for the holiday. It was a nice visit. 

After that, it was on to the City fireworks display. 

It was so close to normal, we almost forgot for a minute that nothing is normal. 

Next year, I'll have antibodies from the vaccine swimming around in my blood and everything will be normal. In the meantime, we'll keep trying to get as close as we can. 

Of Broken Arms and Promises

First off, I have to say something about "the hill". Last fall, one of the facebook neighborhood watch biddies decided to let the whole neighborhood know that Jane and her friends were bicycling down "the hill" at a reckless pace and turning the corner wide at the end. After that we grounded Jane from her bike for a week forbid her from going down "the hill" and told her she needed to take a safer route to her friends' house. 

A few days ago, I was sitting at work, prepping for a meeting when Chris let me know that Jane had fallen off her bike and she was hurt... badly. Emily had been taking care of her and our angel neighbor had gotten her home. 

The second we walked through the door, her first words were "I wasn't even going down the hill!"

It took almost 24 hours to break her and discover that she had been going down "the hill". 

Two x-rays later Jane was diagnosed with a broken arm. In case you can't tell, it was the big arm, not the little arm. Punishment enough for disobeying. 

I know having a broken arm is a rite of passage, but it's slightly more challenging for Jane, who has had to adapt. 

The early days were rough. The first night she had a bad trip on Tylenol with codeine and ended up in the ER thinking she couldn't breathe. After determining that she could, in fact, breathe she was sent home. 

The next day, the orthopedic doctor told us that she had broken her arm too near the shoulder to cast so she was going to have to be VERY careful and wear a sling for a month. She was very fortunate to have not had any displacement with the break. Since then, she has needed a lot of help. We've hired Emily as her home health care worker during the day and I take care of her needs in the evening. The pain is less every day. She says she's never riding her bike again. As much as I don't want to see her get hurt again, I hope that's not true. After all, she's a kid and kids ride bikes. Just not down "the hill". 

Girls' Camp

We kind of got to do Girls' Camp in person this year!

We didn't "go" to camp... rather we got together for activities for three nights. 

Emily and Jane decided to really get in the spirit and try camping in the backyard. They made it an hour, as kids do, and then came in. 

But look! It's my kids with other humans!

We went to Vedawoo the last night and had a hike and a campfire and a testimony meeting. 

It was a tiny spot of normal in our new bizarre world. 

Don't tell anybody, but I actually liked this more than normal Girls' Camp. I hate sleeping out of doors. For me, it was the perfect camp. I would do it this way every year if I could. 

Last Day of School.... Maybe?

We think today was the last day of school. We're not sure. Both the kids have been to pick up their belongings from school and report cards are final. I guess that's it. We're all praying that in-person school returns in the fall. The kids are rudderless. 

Down with Zoom!

I've had it with Zoom. 

I went back to work at the beginning of May so I could have a shot at figuring out my job. A couple of coworkers are back, but most of them are at home. We interact via Google Meet since WYDOT has the professional suite. Meet is better than Zoom, but I've also had it with Meet. 

I meet with my Young Women group (14-15 year olds) via Zoom and they are dropping like flies. 

Jane meets with her Young Women group via Zoom. Here she is doing "spa night" on Zoom.

The efforts of everyone trying to meet virtually have been admirable. But we are all so sick of Zoom. 

If the introverts in the house are sick of this lockdown, I can only imagine what Jane is going through. This must seem like the apocalypse to her. She's starting to talk to her stuffed animals. 

Part of me is wondering if it's worth it. A big part of me. 

Only history will tell.