August was a rush, and not always as relaxing as you might expect. We did, however, go to a hockey tournament! Our friend Clara from Manitoulin Island (we went to Iceland with her about a decade ago), was down in Vaughn for her granddaughter's hockey tournament. Quite the unusual thing to do in August, and even more so during a pandemic. This was a completely physically distanced tournament where only the players and coaches went into the arena. Spectators stayed out in the parking lot and caught up on things in the nice weather. No sweaters required! And they won!
Eric finally got a new bread machine (a Breville) and it has worked perfectly for him. The large amount of yeast purchased at the beginning of the pandemic is almost gone!
Our 30th anniversary of our engagement and Wendy's birthday soon followed. Wendy always likes flowers and Eric usually doesn't forget.
Wendy even got the time to do another puzzle. This has happened a lot this summer.
We took a trip to visit our nieces and their families and got to meet a new kitten. Maddy was not completely certain what that "thing" called Mango was, but they seemed to make peace. Later visits would allow them to be less 'cat and dog' about the whole thing.
For our 29th anniversary, we went on date night and had DQ for dinner. Yes, for dinner. Seems to be a thing for us. Good when you don't know what to make for dinner. The blue is cotton candy dipped.
Maddy got her next haircut in August, and seemed OK with the whole thing. Would have been worse to be mostly naked and meeting a new cat, we suppose.
Eric had a few more doctor's appointments, with the ENT surgeon who did Eric's thyroid sugery being next. He was checking out Eric's problem with swallowing and will be scheduling a closer look with a scope in October. An endocrinologist was also one of the appointments, and they seem to have identified the fatigue over the summer to be partly due to the steroids Eric has been on. Getting better, but slowly. You might be able to notice some extra weight - Eric is 40lb heavier than the last time he saw the surgeon in November. The steroids have contributed a lot to that gain.
Parker had his birthday (20!!!) and realized that the amount of 'flame-age' becomes significant from this point on. We may end up putting only one candle for each decade after this. He also was celebrating getting his job back (laid off from Purple Bricks during COVID). He will be working full time from home. He also will begin the online Real Estate course starting in September.
Eric's next appointment was at the Cancer Centre with the medical oncologist, mostly confirming that everything is very good (other than the slowly lessening fatigue and the swallowing). The MRI done was clear and no issues in either the brain or the neck!
September hit and Parker decided he wanted orange juice and peach schnapps. Had quite a bit (plus rum and coke - not a great mixture) his first night. Oddly, the rest of the orange juice has sat untouched for weeks in the fridge...
Wendy received a special puzzle from her friend Carolyn, and it required a little work by Eric getting it from her phone and sending it along for it to be made.
Eric finally stopped working 16 hr days getting ready for the new online term, and was able to settle into his new basement office with lights, cameras, microphones and a green screen. Works very well (especially with his weak voice), although Parker is a little inhibited in his gaming on the other side of the screen. Wendy's desk is near where Parker was standing to take this photo, so it is a little like a call centre when all of us are down there! At least Parker's office for work is upstairs (he works a split shift). Classes are surprisingly less exhausting as preparation for classes, but staring at a screen full of initials (rather than live videos) four days a week sometimes gets old pretty quickly. Getting used to this new environment more each day, and unfortunately, the winter term will also be online (an entire year) as well.
September 12 was a family event day for us. We had Adam come down from North Bay (he started the last course of his program early the following week - for 6 weeks) and all of us went to the London Airshow! It was a physically distanced airshow with reserved parking spots, where we stayed in our 6m x 7m square area and sat with our car during the show. The US Airforce Thunderbirds was the feature act, and all the many US planes flew from their base in Michigan without landing. F35, F22, two Canadian CF-18s, etc. A well organized show without having to lug everything with us to a seating area. We even used the radio to hear the live announcing (which we could actually hear!).
All in all, not a bad way to end the summer!
