Chess Tournament Birthday Party

 After we all recovered from COVID, Ethan was able to have a "Covid safe" birthday party.  Now, what he really wanted was a sleepover, but that would not qualify, as safe so instead he opted for.....a chess tournament!   

He has gotten really into chess recently with his friends at school.   So he had 5 boys come over for pizza, ice cream sundaes, chess, and some hot tub time.

They had a blast.   I was amazed at how fiercely competitive they all were--and some of them are really quite good.   Ethan designed a whole bracket system, and we even had small prize for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.   What could be more wholesome fun for a 13 yo party.   Amazing!

COVID sweeps through the Greenberg Family

 Well, we have just finished an extend isolation period in our family.  Jason brought Covid home from a business trip in Texas at the end of January.   H actually got pretty sick, with fatigue, congestion, and a cough (His cough is still lingering!).   Before we realized it was Covid, he had spent a lot of time with us inside.   As soon as we found out, we isolated him to the bedroom and I moved into the office.   We bought his meals to the door and made him wear an N95 if he had to leave the room for any reason.  

We thought we were doing well, until 4 days later when Alaina developed a sort throat....and turned Covid +.      Compared to Jason, her symptoms were pretty mild, and only lasted a day or two.  Still, we isolated her to her room, and started delivering her meals upstairs.   She got pretty lonely pretty fast.   The current rules in our county is that Covid+ kids have to leave school for 5 days.   They can test on day 5 and if negative, return on day 6, if positive, they test on day 7, and return on day 8 if negative, and if still positive they return on day 11.  Alaina was not so lucky and remained positive the entire time--so missed 10 days of school.  Ugh.   Even for someone who doesn't mind being alone, she was very sick of her room by the end of her isolation.   For awhile, it was just Ethan and I at the dinner table, with Jason and Alaina zooming in for dinner:

Until the following Friday, when Ethan came home from school with a sore throat.  Covid+.   His symptoms seemed even milder (which we were very thankful for, due to his immunosuppression), and he did test negative on day 5, so luckily missed less school. 

Then on last Wednesday our au pair developed...a sore throat.  

So, now I am awaiting my sore throat.

We feel thankful that we did not get sicker.   Yuck.

 

Teenager in the House!

 Last Tuesday was a milestone day: Ethan became a teenager!  I honestly cannot believe that I am the mother of a teen.   Where did the time go??

Luckily, Ethan still seems to like hanging out with his parents.   We had 2 birthday dinners--one on Sunday night and one on Tuesday, because Jason was out of town on Tuesday.   On Sunday, the boys enjoyed crab.

   And on Tuesday, Ethan chose crepes...and of course an ice cream cake.

Ethan's favorites right now are cooking, playing chess and skiing.   He has a great group of friends, and we are planning  chess tournament for a birthday party.  He recently had stated to be more academically motivated, which is great to see.   And look at this book my dad bought him as a birthday present!   Love it.

Happy birthday to our teen!

New Hobbies

 Alaina has a new hobby: circle knitting!   Her third grade teacher taught them how to do this with popsicle sicks and a cup.   She really enjoyed it and asked for a proper set for her birthday.   She has used it to make some really cool hats:

I am impressed at her craftiness!

Meanwhile, Ethan continues to be really interested in cooking.   Last week he made dinner for us--an apple glazed pork chop.   I have to say it was amazingly delicious!   (Forgot to take a picture.)  A great life skill for him too.

Jason leaves medicine (!)

 So, big news in our family, Jason has decided to leave medicine and has taken a job as the chief client officer for Ventra Health, which is a healthcare billing company.   Yes, a huge move!   He has been interested in exploring a career in business for many years, because he has felt somewhat burnt-out in medicine--he was taking a lot of call, working a lot of weekends, etc.   Last fall, he was talking to the billing company that his practice uses about this feeling and they told him that due to a recent merger, they were looking for someone like him to fulfill a new role in the corporation.   He found out more about  the position, interviewed, and was offered the job.   He spent a lot of time considering the departure--obviously a huge choice given he has devoted so much of hi life to medicine, but in the end decided that it was what he really wanted to do.

His anesthesia group was sad, but understood his interest, and 2 weeks ago had a nice good-bye celebratory dinner for him.   

For Jason it is all bittersweet--he has spent so much time with his current group, and has so many wonderful friends there.   But he is excited about this new opportunity.  We will see how it goes!

Alaina is 9!

 Yesterday we celebrated Alaina's 9th Birthday!

Over the weekend we had a small outdoor birthday party with several of her friends.   It was a rabbit themed party.  They created personal pizzas, played games like "pin the tail on the bunny", broke open a piñata, painted bunny banks, and made ice cream sundaes.  She had a great time and it was nice for her to get to celebrate with her peers after a covid hiatus.

  

Last night we enjoyed a nice dinner at home with my dad.  Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes were on the menu (again)...and we all had clean plates!

For a present this year, she got a trundle bed (or will get one soon...supply chain issues....!)  so she can have sleepovers soon in her room.

8 was a great year for Alaina.   She has been mostly sweet, has developed a nice social network of friends, and still likes to hold my hand when I walk her to school.   And although she has figured out how to torture her brother, they also occasionally play really nicely together.  So here's to a great last single digit year!

2022

 We brought in 2022 in Tahoe, with our friends the Toma's.   It was a low-key but fun way to celebrate the holiday.   

As a bonus, the weather also finally cleared over the weekend, so we got some great ski days at Sugarbowl.   I am amazed at how well the kids are doing (or maybe by how little I am progressing, lol).   But regardless, we had a lot of fun.