Social Distancing Journal, Day 288 thru 292

 Welcome to that void between Christmas and New Years! We should be doing our last two presidents. But, I decided I just need a little break, and we can get to those in the New Year. Instead, we're just hanging out. 

Day 288, Saturday December 26

Hayden got a new coffee mug. It's very 2020, it has King George from Hamilton on it, and he's wearing a mask. It says "2020. Awesome. Wow". Since our Hamilton obsession came from 2020, it's perfect! 

Peyton was trying out his new takoyaki pan. 

But we also put out lots of leftover snacks from the holiday. 

He made the balls out of crab, which I appreciated (usually they are out of octopus). 

Turned out great for his first try! 

We also spent the day watching football. The Bucs were playing on a Saturday which is totally weird. Still, they killed the Lions, and secured their playoff spot for the first time since 2007. That's something! 

We also played some new games. 

I don't have the edge on Ticket to Ride, Europe, so everyone is big fans. 

Phenom got himself a little sweater for Christmas, but it didn't quite fit him, so I had to tailor it to him with a little velcroe. It does look nice though, and it's a custom fit. Plus, on cold nights it kept him from waking me up from whining because he's cold. (He REFUSES to stay under a blanket). 

And hey, big TV in the bedroom is great for football watching. 

 Day 289, Sunday December 27

A cold day, but another football day, so good for tucking yourself in on the couch. 

Grandma also treated the boys to some Taco Bell. We'd been trying to get it on Uber Eats for days, but it was never available, so finally we just went out to get it. And nacho fries are back! 

Plus, eating take out in the blanket for is the best. 

And more football in the bedroom. I swear, it's just a temporary situation. 

 Day 290, Monday December 28

With my closet clear of Christmas gifts, I was able to get to mom's buried suit case. She packed one when she was here in February to leave for when she came back to take her cruise in April with Peyton. But, then as it turns out there was no cruise. How sad. But, she's got more bonus clothes now. 

And the last of our games arrived (shipping woes, you know?) So I could take my traditional Christmas picture of all the new games. I added puzzles in this year too. 

Day 291, Tuesday December 29

Misfits box day is my favorite day. 

We get so many goodies delivered right to our door! 

And it was a little warmer, so we decided on our last day of house sitting we would go over and eat by the pool again. 

I made myself a drink. 

But, I wasn't about to go in (I did put my feet in though). 

Hayden was brave enough to get in though. 

Calib made a solid effort, but didn't go much further. 

We took a walk after dinner. 

And spent much of the evening in the blanket fort working on the last presidents and watching The Office. It leaves Netflix on the 31st, and Hayden and Calib are determined to watch the rest of it before it's gone, so they've been watching it virtually non-stop for a week. 

Day 292, Wednesday December 30

Pandemic calendars are weird. 

We also got one more Christmas gift. Asa wasn't thrilled. 

But thanks Nate and Allison! I'm excited about it. 

Hayden and I also played the wall game. 

It's kind of like a combo of the penguin on ice game and jenga. 

We pre-ordered New Years Eve dinner on Uber Eats. 

And apaprently now we're putting the misfits options up on the tv and having people pick. 

We also decided on Wednesday to have 'new oven Thanksgiving' since we didn't get the oven in time for first Thanksgiving like we were supposed to. Plus, we still had one Turkey breast in the freezer, and some more good Thanksgiving pantry food still hanging around. 

Basically we just had second thanksgiving! 

And then we played a Yankee Swap game for our New Years Eve attire. 

That's it from here. I am all caught up and totally current. Goal met! 

Social Distancing Journal, Days 286 & 287: Merry Pandemic Christmas!

 Day 286: Thursday December 24th, Christmas Eve

Some traditions can continue in 2020. We made our annual Christmas Eve Santa Pancakes. 

And reindeer pancakes for those of us who don't want so much whipped cream. 

Asa and I ran out for a curbside Publix pickup. The place was packed, and I told Asa even in non-covid times I'm never going into Publix on Christmas Eve again. Curbside for the win. 

Ellie played with her new toy from her anniversary. 

Mom made her famous homemade rolls. 

Everyone (all six of us!) took an afternoon walk. 

So we could have tons of food for our traditional Christmas Eve spread. 

And of course lots of desserts too. 

And a peanutbutter ball! 

Check out Peyton in the office back there. He was working on his latest English paper. 

I put out our traditional Christmas Eve presents, which are always new pajamas. 

And then we played some minute to win it christmas games. 

There's the hook the candy cane game. 

And then where you put a cookie on your forehead and try and eat it without using your hands. 

Fun to watch, for sure. 

The balance the ornaments on the yard stick game. 

Stack the cups in a Christmas tree form while blindfolded. 

And then shake all the ornaments out of the kleenex box strapped to your back. 

And then, once all the games are complete and everyone has all their Christmas bucks, we held the annual auction. 

Fun as always. 

We also put together a little Christmas Eve Bingo for the extended family Zoom get together. 

We squeezed in one more Christmas light walk before the zoom. 

So we could see our favorite tree one more time. 

And then the Zoom call. 

Hayden kept track of the bingo. 

But we had to leave early because a storm swept in, flipped the fuse, fried a lizard and nearly made us loose our Christmas crab legs. (Also, I loathe Zoom, so I wasn't mad about it.) 

And we never even got bingo. 

You might notice Asa missing from the new pajama picture. That's because his pajamas that I ordered on December 10th STILL are not here (20 days later). They were in Ybor City (Tampa) and THEN went to Virginia, and Maryland. At last track they were in New Jersey. What is even going on with the Post Office? Some Toledo cookies got there yesterday (the 29th!) when we sent them priority on the 16th. 

We also had a traditional Christmas Eve hot chocolate in our santa mugs. 

And finished up the night watching National Lampoons Christmas Vacation

For Christmas Eve we brought all the stockings down to fill. My mom brought hers with her, and I had her bring my dads too (because otherwise it wouldn't have been hung up in 2020, and we hang it up every year!) 

Then the boys helped put the presents around the tree. 

Not bad for all online shopping this year. 

Hayden and Calib spent Christmas Eve night sleeping in the Christmas blanket fort. 

 Day 287: Friday December 25th, Christmas 

And in the morning, we filled the stockings. 

And piled up everyone's gifts. 

And put the Airendale fireplace on. 

Phenom got Porkchop a new bed for Christmas! 

And Asa was less then thrilled with the gift from the Cincinnati Sattlers. 

And this is what I got from Gwen. 

Mom and I both got new slippers. 

And I got my cheese box! Which also came with a bonus magnet!

Calib was amped about his baked flamin hot cheetos. Because that's where we landed for gifts in 2020. 

Peyton got a ton of cooking stuff. 

And then grandma had one last gift for us. 

If you saw my video on facebook, you would know how much the boys lost it upon opening the Xbox. They had no idea, and were shocked we were even able to find one (to be fair, it was really, really hard, and Asa had to work some magic- but we did end up with one off the Microsoft website). 

And then we had one last gift for the boys. 

Because you can't get a new Xbox without a new TV! Otherwise, whats this all been for? 

In some ways though, it was a very 2020 Christmas. Everyone got facemasks! (Calib got Bucs, Peyton got Among Us, and Hayden got Hamilton ones). 

A new headset for Calib. 

A new rice cooker for Peyton (he's showing grandma his upgrade). 

A very 2020 ornament. 

And then the mess to clean up. 

Hayden got lots of baby Yoda and Hamilton stuff. 

And Porkchop loved his new bed. 

We had traditional french toast breakfast. 

And Porkchop spent all day in his bed. 

My gift haul. 

Look at all my finger puppets. 

I got to add them to my collection. 

Peyton really loves his new rice cooker, though. 

And we did get a lot of new puzzles! 

Oh, and check out my Im-peach-mints! 

Still there... 

We did also have to get a new TV stand for the bigger TV, but that meant someone had to put it together. Enter Calib and Asa. 

Still there... 

Peyton also got a new ramen bowl. 

So he promptly made himself some Ramen. 

I got a couple of new ornaments. 

A very 2020 one. 

The new tv and stand all complete! 

Still there... 

Our seafood Christmas dinner! 

Peyton isn't usually the first one at the table. Unless of course you're having crab legs. 

Mom brought grandma's napkins and napkin rings. 

My favorite dinner all year!

And then we had a Zoom with Clint and Jess, Cort and Holly and Gwen and Garrett. 

Ellie was a fan of her new stuffed animal. 

And she was settled in just in time to watch Soul on Disney Plus. Shout out to Disney for releasing it (for free!) on Disney Plus the same day as the theaters. We liked it (though we didn't love it). Still, worth the watch, and it looked so pretty on the new TV. 

And since the blanket fort is up, we couldn't be moving furniture and TVs out in the front room (that's where the old set up is going), so I suggested we just scoot it into our room until the blanket fort comes down at the beginning of the New Year. 

It was also a really cold Christmas (the coldest since the 1990's for Tampa!) So my new onsie came in handy. Luckily, it's starting to warm back up, I don't deal well with the cold. 

So that's it for 2020's Pandemic Christmas. What a year, right?