Monday, November 9, 2020

Oh Man, It Has Been A Week!

Whew. What a week! 

Election day, full of hopes and dreams 😎

So many red states and the seemingly never ending vote tallying 😱 

An uptick in Covid case 😫

New mask mandates from Governor Mills 😷 

The cancellation of swim team practices for the next month (at least) due to the two prior items πŸ˜₯ 

Frankly, it's been exhausting and anxiety-producing. 

Thankfully, we did end the week on a high note, after several days of hardly daring to hope and look at the results, wondering if these final few key states were going to turn blue, and finally, the race was called, with Joe Biden as President and Kamala Harris, his running mate, the first woman to be named VP. Woohoo! 

Wishing it could have been less-drawn out and more decisive of a vote versus so much of the country voting red, but thank god! At least reason, and humanity, won out. There is a lot of work to do, inevitably, but for now, we can all take a deep breath and smile and celebrate that we don't have to endure four more years of idiocy and that we have someone in the role of President who will be thoughtful and metered and think of the country and not himself first. And with a kick-ass VP by his side. There is hope for a better tomorrow!

So, with that as the backdrop to the week...

The wind was whipping like crazy Monday afternoon and cold temps had settled in, but bundled up and got out for a walk anyway. Definitely chilly but the colors in the sky just before sunset were quite lovely. (1.8 miles walked)


And then finally, a Tuesday morning when I got out for a run! It helped that I knew I'd have light for the second half of the run. A chilly but windless morning with iced over puddles, spitting snow and one deer seen. Also saw a number of people lined up to vote well before the polls opened at 7:00. Yay democracy! (6.1 miles)


Sam had the day off for election day, as they were using the high school as the town polling place, so I went into work for the morning and enjoyed 5 productive hours in an empty office before coming home for lunch. From there, the three of us headed across the street for a road walk. Once again, chilly and windy but not quite as brisk as Monday. (2.0 miles walked)

After that, Sam and I headed out to Fielder's Choice to get ice cream because why not?! and they have a drive through so you can remain warm and toasty in your car while eating ice cream on a November day! πŸ˜‹πŸ¦Then it was on to Dollar Tree for slime ingredients. Sam was quite pleased with all her purchases πŸ˜ƒ and hey, she makes like three batches of slime a day, so why not get some $1 beads, glitter and paint to make things fun! 

Finished up the day with swim practice and a quiet evening not watching election results. Nice to be able to take the afternoon off. 

Woke up on Wednesday to no solid election results and no running. Too stressed, didn't sleep well, even though I went to bed early in an attempt to avoid both. Sigh. 

Thursday morning, I got up and out for a road run. Decided I really had to run across the connector bridge to take in the glow in the sky and was rewarded with a lovely view of fog rising off the still waters of the river and pastel colors on the horizon. Magical and calming. A nice, balmy, windless morning to be out. (6.0 miles)


Mom and Dad came over in the evening after swim practice to celebrate Dad's birthday with thai and wine and crazy cake. Yum! Happy Birthday, Dad! πŸŽ‚πŸŽ‰ We love you and so grateful to be able to celebrate with you in person!πŸ’— 

Headed over to the Commons on Friday morning after dropping Sam off at school and stopping at the farmer's market for some veggies. Definitely overdressed on what was a rather muggy, warm and overcast morning, but at least I was wearing enough orange to be safe in the woods! Added on a loop on Old Pennelville Road and the newer Westside Commons trail that is a fun addition for a bit more mileage. (8.5 miles)


Another warm morning on Saturday and back to shorts and t-shirt for the morning's road run. Nothing special, just rolling along. Really wanted to be out in the woods, but you know, hunting. (8.0 miles)

Met up with Mom and Dad later in the morning out at Woodward Point for a walk. It had warmed up a lot and was bright and sunny. Felt like spring, not November! Enjoyed a beautiful walk through the fields and out to the edge of the ocean, and came back to the car to discover that the AP had called the presidency for Biden! Hurray! There was much happiness, and what a gorgeous day to be outside! (1.6 miles walked)












Then it was home for lunch and leftover birthday cake and relief at the news for Biden and Harris, before baking some cookies and heading over to Anne's house for an evening of hanging out outside around a bonfire, the girls racing around the yard smashing squash and throwing glow sticks, and the joy of spending time with friends in an appropriately socially distanced way. It was a good day indeed! 😍

Roasting hot dogs over the fire

Glow stick fun!

Sunday morning dawned clear and bright. I headed out for a loop around the Heath and then down onto the powerlines. Quiet trails and warming temps. Definitely sweaty by the time I finished! Nice to be out enjoying this nice, if slightly unseasonable, weather. (12.1 miles)



Later in the afternoon, we headed over to Head of Tides with Mom and Dad for a nice walk in the woods, and then finished up the weekend with tacos and homemade chips and guac. Yum! (2.5 miles walked)





 




2 comments:

Jamie Anderson said...

Big week indeed! I actually relished those few days before they called Pennsylvania and it was pretty obvious that Biden was going to take it. Made for a fine ramp up to the inevitable, IMO. :-) Sounds like some great family and friend time. Hope to see you all as soon as it's safe to do so.

Sparkplug said...

Hope you guys are doing well and hope we can see you soon!