Aunts E and L were going to visit this weekend and bring cake. Our Family Pack was planning a carnival so we presented our carnival at their birthday party here on Saturday.
Through a series of bad communication on my part, I was gifted with dinner for my family tonight. The sister that made it for us has been very loving to us all these years. It was so nice to see her in person with no mask and accept more kindness. The meal was meant for another family, but they didn't need it after all, and I didn't communicate that in time. We are not in a dire circumstance, but just busy and tired and it was so nice to accept this kindness from a friend. It renewed my appreciation for human connection and the value of service, seriously!
Today we went to Gtowne. We bought an oboe then dropped it off at the music store to get fixed. The shopping complex where the music store is was having an outdoor festival. P and I are fully vaccinated so we were not masked. Most people at this courtyard were also unmasked. We went into the store unmasked. It was my first time in a store without a mask. It felt so rude to not provide some proof that I was being conscientious of those around me.
We met up with grandparents and went to the park to eat lunch together. It would probably have been a better idea to eat at their house as there were no tables available at the park. We went to the science museum we never went to before and had fun.
P talked to S and I talked to C. C offered to get us a membership to the museum since it was already going to be very expensive for everyone to go. I thought that was a great idea but then when C talked to P, P said he was going to get a membership to the other museum. It's like C thinks P and I talk or something... oops. So we didn't get a membership, but we did have a great time.
We went to the fancy playground we hadn't been to for a long time. I followed L around and P went to pick up the Sam's Club order. The teens were over it pretty soon and found a shady place to rest.
My girls were agitated about children disobeying the "Do not climb" sign on a concrete tunnel. They are my girls. Ironically, my children climb on things they probably should not, all the time. They are strict and loose constructionists. If something says "Don't climb" they don't climb, but if it doesn't say not to, they do.
We drove home watching Tangled and had a chill evening at home. I talked to a sister from church and she got me thinking of what I would do if I knew I was going to die soon. I think I'm pretty fortunate that I do actually get to do what I would do if I were dying soon, every day. I spend time with my family, love them, and try to instruct them for life without me.
Our stake president sent out a letter that we could stop wearing masks if we are vaccinated. Children below 12, not eligible for vaccine are not expected to wear masks. P and I did talk about this. He felt we should not wear masks since they only protect others, not our children. I tend to feel that if it's all I can do, it's all I can do. But he is right. My children wearing masks does not protect them. Going to church, where people are unmasked does not protect my children.
It is true that they are low risk. I have showed up weekly for outdoor gatherings with unvaccinated and unmasked people and "graciously" had my children wear masks. I have sent my children to activities in the church where masks were expected even if some wore them on their chin. I have showed up to clean the church weekly. I have done my best to not not let others' choices keep me home.
I went to church 2 weeks ago, when G and I were fully vaccinated. I went to church last week but didn't get there in time, so the seats I wanted to sit in were taken, and B didn't have a mask on so we hastily retreated and zoomed from home. I had planned to go this week, but will stay home. The people who hate masks, hate the vaccine. It makes no sense to me, and I don't want to be in the building with a lot of unmasked people until my kids are vaccinated. I don't know how long that will be.
The council to let children below 12 go unmasked is not because they are immune, but because the vaccine is not yet approved for them. I appreciate that this policy puts the onus of masking onto the people who haven't gotten vaccinated. So now we'll probably not do any more youth activities indoor either. Just when I thought I could go back, things change.
I was up at 5:30 so I got up and did a core work out and walked 3 miles. P and M were up at 7:45 and departed at 8:00AM. The rest of the family would trail them and meet them a few times on the big ride.
P and M arrived close to 5 and we had a nice family dinner with his parents and Lois. The kids wore masks inside and ate outside. L was so happy to see the toys he hadn't seen in a long time and to have grandpa read a pop up book with him. G was happy to show his grandparents a launch of Falcon 9 on the TV. lP and B had a blast with water guns. Ok all the kids really liked the pump up water guns they got to play with.
It was a beautiful day.
P and M will make the big ride to Gtowne tomorrow. We'll play tag, meeting them at 2 stops along the way, then celebrating with them at the end. This is an epic journey and I'm so glad P takes the kids on it. I don't feel comfortable riding on the road so I don't know that I'd ever aspire to 80 miles on road and trails.
We'll meet them at 10:45 at a playground after the big bridge. Then we'll meet them 18 miles down the road. Then we say goodbye to them and hope they show up in Gtowne 3 hours later.
We've been riding scooters and skateboard around the neighborhood lately. It's a fun way to get out and enjoy the gorgeous neighborhood.
What if we let people get training in the field they were interested in and let them progress as they showed competency? How many Doctors and Lawyers would have chosen to get that training if the paycheck had been merely two times the average income? When you have people training to be Doctors because they will make 5-10 times the average income, and you make it so expensive to get the training, are you getting the best doctors?
Some jobs are nasty and nobody wants to do them. But some jobs are nasty and require skill. Would anyone really study Urology if the financial incentive wasn't so steep? Maybe if interest was the deciding factor, you would only get creepy people studying Gynecology, but what's to keep creepy people out of the field now?
If we had more dentists, would they have to lower their costs and more of the population would get dental care? If we paid teachers more, would more talented men and women choose to do what they love?
I'm reading "The thread that runs so true". Jesse Stuart teaches in rural schools and is able to have a tremendous impact on the children, families and community. Teaching is awesome. Teaching is also incredibly undervalued in America.
A child spends 86,400 hours in the care of a teacher up to age 18. They hopefully spend 0 hours in the care of police, lawyer, or military personnel. Over the span of our lives maybe we spend 3 hours with doctors or dentists per year, 300 hours total if we're lucky. I've been pretty lucky so far.
Sometimes I hear people claim that teachers have to be low paid so only people who love it will do it. Shouldn't that be true of Police, doctors, and any field where you work with people? If teachers made more money, there might be people who tried to go into the field for the money, but there would be competition from people who were good teachers, who hadn't left the field to support their families, that would drive bad teachers out of the field.
We need a lot of teachers, because children spend more time with them than any other professional. But we don't have to lower the standards to get more teachers. Increase the incentive, and you will get more teachers, and the competition to be part of a great work, that supports a family, will drive the profession to excellence. I believe almost anyone can teach, and if they don't teach well, they loose the job.
We live in a gated community and the drama with the board is ongoing. There is always a group of people against what the board wants to do. A few years after we moved in there was a campaign to recall the president. I got drawn into that and made calls to neighbors encouraging people to get involved and let their voice be heard. For a few years we had a board that was really friendly and then someone was nasty to our neighbor F. So F didn't continue on the board, and now the person who was nasty to F is involved in the new board that ran on a platform of transparency. They have held 2 meetings in the last year and didn't publish their budget.
There are some things about the neighborhood that make it harder to get things done. When the neighborhood was built, they did covenants for each road, so there isn't a unified covenant document for the whole neighborhood. The boards keep trying to get the documents united, but they can never get 60% of residents to turn in a ballot. Also, the neighborhood is 46 years old and has private roads, so certain conflicts over roads, budgets, speed bumps keeps coming up.
I like to attend the meetings when I can. I served on the board at our old condo. I try to be a good neighbor.
My parents owned some fine carved, Chinese furniture. A screen and coffee table were kept by my mother after they divorced and are owned by my brothers now. A bar like the one shown below was kept by my father. Unfortunately it was stolen from the house he left vacant, with the roof falling in and raccoons taking over. There is something so symbolic in the situation.
I came across a similar bar at a friends house today. It was a similar design, but not carved on the whole panels. I wanted to post about it because it's a memory I wanted to share with my children.
