Twenty Twenty

NEW NORMAL: How about that! Here I sit trying to play catch up again. Another whirlwind week, and I haven't had much time for logging MPA's goings on. 

One thing that happened this week: We entered a new year. A new decade, in fact.

Somewhat miraculously, all six of us (dogs included) made it past midnight. We tuned in to local TV to watch the Space Needle's fireworks show, but there was none this year due to high winds. So, we settled for the Needle's high tech light show. It was actually quite entertaining. 

In our neighborhood, fireworks were going off all around us. We have a 180-degree view to the south and could see all sorts of pyrotechnics. Fortunately, they died off by about 12:45. Our dogs were not big fans of the big booms.

Like so many others, we have big plans for 2020. CJ will continue his freshman foray into college, and we'll be right along with him. He's taking Japanese, history and good ol' English 101 this coming quarter, which starts on Monday.

This year we resolve to keep going to the gym (such fun, really!), and to use a whole lot less plastic. We want to learn more about our bees, and maybe help in a couple of elections between now and November. 

We're plan to continue our volunteering, and maybe this will be the year we actually start a little business. 

NASA has big plans for 2020. They include launching Americans from U.S. soil once again (finally!), sending a new rover to Mars, and continuing to prepare for human missions to the Moon and Mars. Here's a little video about that.


EIGHTEEN: At the start of the week, I suggested to the kids that they put in for a cake to donate to Birthday Dreams. We checked out the website and quickly found that there was an 18 year old who wanted a galaxy themed cake. 

CJ whipped up a three-layer chocolate cake, while Annabelle crafted an astronaut from modeling chocolate and fondant. She also made some alien faces, molded a moon, and airbrushed the first tier to a galaxy shimmer. 

As I watched them work, I couldn't help but think about the teen who was going to receive the cake. I just can't imagine turning 18 while living in a local homeless shelter. It breaks my heart. We sure hope the cake was a bright spot on his special day, and are hoping he has a stable, comfortable, permanent place to call home very soon.