This January, omicron has had us hunkering down again like it's original COVID/Delta times. Although on this go 'round- we were willing to take the risk of seeing family, and of Ryan continuing to see his tiny social bubble of friends. Now that we are two years in, we realized we need to learn to live with this virus, and to stay sane- we take a few calculated risks.
Having said that- things could be a lot worse, so I'm grateful to be where we are, yet anxious for it all to end. Too many events/sports/practices have been cancelled for Ryan, and that concerns me as much as protecting my parents/the elderly.
- Rich has his improv bubble of friends and his weekly podcasting sister from another mister, Kerry.
- I have my weekday coworkers, and my outdoor walk/run buddies of JoJo, Rosie, Aliah, Stacey, Deanna, Ragni and Yuri.
- Ry has his two BFFs of Sei and Momo, and weekly karate classes and a piano lesson.
- Plus we all have my family...so we're very grateful to be doing well, psychologically speaking. (If we're talking health and fitness...um...well, let's not. Cause that's not going so well.)
And yet...although we are still reasonably busy, we are also a little bored, of course. Boring is not a bad thing (for me especially), but I'd love to be planning an adventure. Depending on how cases go this spring, we may be planning a late spring trip for our 25th anniversary to where ever is safe.
Since my last post, there is not much to report. But I will, because why not.
I am pleased to report that Chief Hoarder Jolene has acquired two more 9 x 13 glass pans for my annual mochi-baking day.
Pan #1 - I had $10 of Macy's Rewards I had to use, so I figured I'd use it on Pyrex pan if they had one on sale. Sure enough, they did. This pan was priced at a rather obnoxious $22, but I think it was marked down about 30%, bringing it down about $16. So with my $10 rewards, I paid about $6 for the pan. Victory. My cheap-heart rejoiced.
Pan #2 - My dear friend is leaving the island, and since I borrow a pan from her each year (even after she gifted me with one!)...she gave me hers! With these two added to the 'collection' (sounds better than 'hoard'), I now have six gleaming glass pans to work with later this year. This will allow me to make the five recipes I made this year, plus a sixth that we recently tried out/tested and was amazing- the matcha/green tea.
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| Not too sweet, not to matcha-y...just right. Even I liked it! |
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| We also made another new dessert this month- a friend gifted me with a Brazilian chocolate-making kit. We learned a bit about brigadeiro, and how difficult it is to form them. ;-) |
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| We took my nephews out to eat a few times last month, so this month, it was all about the parents and the nieces... This hot date was to a small, local bookstore, dinner and dessert. |
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We also took the parents out to Huggos and Kai a few times for their anniversary month (#51)...
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| Kai Eats + Drinks is our new fave hot spot! |
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| Look at this bountiful harvest from our tree! We were able to pick a few more fruit and make three bags full to share with three friends so they could each juice away! (We were juiced out.) |
Every Christmas, I post the cards we receive from friends and family (and yes, the one from our banker each year). ;-) Despite cards trending downward over the last few years, this year we got quite a few and I'm leaving them up, per tradition, until February! I love looking at them and definitely want to honor the effort families put into having them made...so they're always on display until we are comfortably into the new year.
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This month, Joey came back for my parent's anniversary, and he did his 'awesome uncle' duties by spending time with each niece and nephew... On this day, he found a shaved ice shop that had diabetic syrup, and the two nieces were able to grind some onolicious shaved ice with he and my mom.
 | | Keni was able to catch an ahi to add to the anniversary feast! |
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Guess whose second nephew graduates this summer? Unfortunately, like his older brother, he gets a pandemic graduation- which means no large ceremony/walking the line/hearing your name on the loudspeaker as you get your fake diploma/no lei from family and friends covering his face. But that last part is not going to be a problem- as we figured out how to resolve that with Keni. :-)
Ry and his sister from another mister enjoying some cream puffs on a chilly evening
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