Resourceful

SHARING IS CARING: One good thing to come from this gawdawful pandemic?

Groups and individuals have been sharing resources far and wide for people to enjoy while they shelter in place/social distance. A number of these are aimed at families who are suddenly facing teaching their kids at home.

Of course, that's no real change whatsoever for we here at MPA. But it's a big darn deal to millions of families when their children's schools are shuttered.

Following are a few of the free educational offerings that have caught my attention. 

First up, the Seattle Symphony is offering broadcasts of live performances (to empty concert halls). They'll be streamed via YouTube. You can sign up here for notifications about upcoming concerts: https://www.seattlesymphony.org/watch-listen/live
(I'm not gonna lie, when I first saw news of this, I immediately thought of the eight-member orchestra playing on the deck of the Titanic as it sank into the icy Atlantic. They all went down with the ship, unfortunately.)

Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb announced that in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the cancellation of performances, the Met will offer a nightly series of free encore-presentation web streams that will bring opera to audiences while the house is dark. The streaming starts on Monday, March 16, at 7:30 PM ET, and they performances will be available to view anytime for the next 20 hours.

Also, lists are going around of museums you can enjoy on a virtual visit. Travel & Leisure has a link to 12 world class museum tours. from London to Seoul.

You can tour our local favorite, The Museum of Flight here and here. 

Ways to engage in artsy opportunities abound. One example is Draw Every Day with JJK. Beginning on 3/16, children's book author and illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka will host live art instruction sessions every weekday at 2 p.m. Eastern time. We'll be checking that out. 


McHarper Manor, an Ohio-based art class outfit, is offering complimentary online art workshops on weekdays at 10 a.m., starting Monday, March 16. They've already published their suggested supply list.  

I've learned that Outschool, a highly-rated online educational program, is offering up to $100 in free classes for families affected by COVID-19 school closures. You can read more on their blog.  Annabelle is eyeing participating in one of their Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. We've been wanting to try Outschool for awhile now, and will definitely be signing up for something!

Scholastic also has resources for families forced into home schooling. They're offering daily learn-at-home projects. 

A number of education-related companies are making their programs free during the pandemic, while school kids are stuck home. You can find one list of them on this Google spreadsheet with a ridiculously long hyperlink: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NUKLZN7hGSu1Hzm70kfzBKs-lsSELaEMggS60Bi2O2I/htmlview?usp=sharing&sle=true&fbclid=IwAR24tOCliF-ClTNup6ohjtQUAxkzSlkLNusq6_74-XWNsehH81qNR6DFrJs

The New Normal

A little photo montage I made to sum up Seattle right about now

DOUSED IN BLEACH: Not sure what your kitchen counter looks like right about now, but here at COVID-19 U.S. Ground Zero in Seattle, this is what we're up to. ...

Our hands, they hurt! So much washing, but it's so important. Here's a quick video with some important, proper hand cleaning tips.


To help combat the dryness from all that hand washing, a phlebotomist friend who works at a hospital clued me in on a hand lotion they use that's really great. It's made by Medline, and the folks who work at her hospital (Harborview, here in Seattle) use it all the time. We ordered some from Amazon, and it's in heavy rotation right now.

We're doing what we can to try to limit exposure to the nasty COVID-19. Measures we're taking include ...

• Severely limiting trips outside the house
• Ditching shoes upon entering the house, and shedding outer clothes after we've been in public
• Using Q-tips like a 'finger' to scratch our faces
• Putting PLENTY of personal space between ourselves and others and doing lots of laundry
• Quarantining products purchased before bringing them into the house (Amazon delivery boxes stay outside, bags and contents from stores live in the garage for a day or two before being brought in and put away)
• Purses and computer bags hang by the front door, they don't enter our living space/sit our our chairs or counters, etc.
• Catching coughs and sneezes whenever possible on the insides of our shirts (you pull the shirt up over your face)
• Washing hands oh-so-often
• Not eating in front of a computer
• Disinfecting cell phones and computer keyboards daily

We even gave the dogs really short haircuts. Canines don't carry the COVID in their bodies, from what I've read, but they could pick it up on their fur as the wander around. So, it's better if their tails aren't dragging everywhere, certainly!

We're doing what we can, hoping for the best, but trying to prepare for the worst. It's going to be a long and bumpy ride, I predict.

FERMENTING: What do you do when life hands you lemons? You make lemonade! What do we do when forced to self isolate and you have cabbage? You make sauerkraut!

Annabelle and I took a basic fermenting class a few weeks back. We threw out the stuff we started there, because I was not wild about the lack of hand washing, etc. on site for the class. 

Today, we watched a couple of videos to refresh our memories about how to get going. First up was this one from Bon Appetite. ... 


And we watched a second, shorter one the affirm the lesson.


Afterward, we got right to the cabbage. We halved it, cut out the core, and then sliced it thinly. The cabbage then went into a big bowl, and we sprinkled salt over it (.02 grams per pound of cabbage). 

We let it sit about 15 minutes, then kneaded it some more. After it sat another 30 minutes, we started stuffing it into jars. 

Then, it was time to tamp it down, so the brine rose above the cabbage.

After that, the jars were capped with some neat-o contraptions Christian got on Amazon.

We're supposed to check it in a week, and then let it go another week. Can't wait to see how it tastes!

IT COUNTS: Meanwhile, some small measures of normalcy continue, like trying to get counted for the 2020 Census. 

I'm guessing Census 2020 workers won't be going door to door to the extent that was planned, given the pandemic. But getting counted, well, counts, because these stats are, in part, what drive important decisions like

April 1 is the official Census Day. Did you know you're legally obligated to participate in it?

Fortunately, you don't have to participate via phone, mail or in-person visit any more. Now, the Internet is an option for checking in. If you don't already, you should soon have something in the mail with a 12-digit census ID. If you go to www.my2020census.gov, click “start questionnaire,” and enter your census ID, you're led to a series of questions about your name, address, who lives in your household, etc. (You will not be asked about your citizenship status, in case you were wondering.) 

If you don’t receive a census ID, you can still fill out the online form. Just go to the website and navigate to the “if you do not have a Census ID, click here” button on the login page. You’ll have to answer a few additional questions about your address, but you should be able to complete the census after that.

The government has come up with a reeeeally detailed video about how to fill the census out online. 

Back from the Brink

POLLS CLOSED: Our lives will return to some semblance of 'normal' now that my intense-but-temporary gig with King County Elections is over.

For the past couple of weeks I've been working at elections headquarters more than full time. First there was training on how to register voters, then it was right out to the front lines doing just that. 

I applied for the job because it was temporary, close to home and sounded interesting. And interesting it was. Wow, I met so many voters of all ages from all over. Many of them were first time voters, and I don't mean just 18 year olds. There were lots of new citizens of all ages, casting their first vote as Americans. They were so proud to be part of the process.

In Washington, you can register right up to the day of the election, and a lot of people did just that. All week before the March 10 vote there was heavy turnout. We worked from 8 until just past 6 registering voters as fast as we could. And election day it was 12-plus non-stop hours. 

In the photo above, you can see a newsperson interviewing a couple. I hear the reporter ask the guy, "Can you tell me how you voted?" 

He responded, "With a pen." 

I thought that was clever.

Cars lined up out to the street waiting to get to the drive-up ballot box. Inside election HQ, people lined up to the point I couldn't see the end of it. A co-worker was a little daunted by that fact and I just said, "To me, the line is right here. The one person I'm helping in front of me." Because really, that's all you can worry about.

I can only imagine how busy it would be in the general election this November. ...

While the work was rewarding and challenging, I'm really glad it's over, at least for now. The kids need my presence at MPA for educational reasons, and I was super not wild about working heavy customer service during a pandemic. Had I known how bad things were going to get, and so quickly, I never would have applied for the job.

I'm holding out for it to be next Wednesday, when I'm a week out from the job, hoping I didn't contract COVID-19 during the process. If you're the praying type, a little prayer would be appreciated. 

COOKING CLASS: Last Saturday night, CJ and Annabelle started a four-part cooking class at a local community center. 

I'll have Annabelle tell you a bit more about it. ...

Just Cooking is an ongoing course at the South Park Community Center that teaches kids 13-19 about food justice and how to cook for a crowd. The first session, on Saturday March 7th, we discussed the basics of nutrition and what parts of food are good for your body. We focused on proteins, carbohydrates, and fats; and what kinds of each are good or bad for you. We talked about how it’s more important to incorporate healthy options than cut out unhealthy ones, and that everything is usually OK as long as you balance them well. After talking among our group about these dietary habits, we moved to the kitchen to do some cooking for the attendees of the center’s free “late teen night.” We got to work learning knife skills and safety, how to quickly mince herbs, and what kinds of seasonings go well together. We ended up making a dish of spaghetti with red sauce, a side salad, and fresh garlic bread. The teens were very grateful for this meal, and we got plenty of compliments on it! I’m excited to see what we cook next time!

I will be shocked if the kids get to go to the remainder of these classes, given the pandemic and new state-mandated guidelines to try to slow the transmission. I was alarmed that during the first class, the kids did not use gloves, and there was no bleach or other disinfectant used on kitchen counter tops, per the kids. That's not cool.

PAINTING PROJECT: I figure with the pandemic and shelter-in-place advice, we'll be getting some home improvement projects done!

One thing we worked on last weekend was painting some groovy stripes down our staircase. 

We first penciled on the pattern (6-, 5-, and 4-inch wide stripes curving down the stairwell), and then taped off the middle stripe, which we painted first. 

Next, the other two stripes were taped and painted.

We have a little touch up to do, but it's mostly done and it looks really great, IMHO.

It's definitely an upgrade from the nicotine-colored painted wallpaper that covered the two-story wall before!

Election in Action

TAKE A TOUR: Regular readers may know that I've taken a temporary job with King County Elections helping out with Washington's Presidential Primary voting. It's a temp job, but full time during the gig.

One thing I've learned is that the public is welcome to come to the elections headquarters in Renton, WA, just down the hill from our house, and they can take a tour of the facility.

If making it there in person isn't in the cards for you, you can take a video tour instead.

My job is on the front lines of election headquarters. It's demanding and intense and it feels like tremendously important work, getting people of all ages, ethnicities, political parties and so on registered to vote, handing them their ballots and giving them instructions about how to vote. I've only been doing that for four days, but I feel like I could already write a book about all of the stories. There are jubilant voters and incensed voters and everything in between. And they all have their own stories. One thing in common with each is that it's democracy in action, and it's pretty cool having a front row seat.

Also, can I just say what TERRIBLE HORRIBLE time it is/was for me to get a front line customer service gig, including contact with people who have traveled all over the world VERY recently. If I don't get coronavirus, it will be a miracle. 

SEA UNICORN: This weekend, we had a cake to bake for Birthday Dreams, a non-profit that provides birthday parties to kids in homeless shelters. The birthday boy's wish was a narwhal cake.

Challenge accepted!

Annabelle and I looked for narwhal cakes online and found some great ideas. We baked four layers of chocolate brownie cake, and stacked them,slightly offset, with vanilla cream in between.

We had to crumb coat the cake, made some fondant, and circled the cake in a rice cereal treat ring.

Here's Annabelle's account of the project. ...

To create our narwhal cake for Birthday Dreams, we first had to bake our favorite chocolate cake recipe from the book ‘Hello, Cupcake!’ We made enough of this recipe to bake 4 layers of circular cake and one hemisphere for the top of the head. Once the layers were baked, we stacked them at a slight angle to create the illusion of a narwhal breaching the surface of the water, which was represented by a layer of rice krispies covered with whipped blue forsting. We covered the cakes with a buttercream crumb coat and laid blue-green fondant over the whole thing as the narwhal’s skin. The face was made of the same homemade marshmallow fondant material, just colored with different food coloring and rolled very thin. The horn is fondant wrapped around a skewer for stability, and curled into the iconic spiral shape. We made fins out of homemade modelling chocolate (melting candy and oil mixed together) and covered them in the same color as the body. The narwhal cake was our first ever try at making a cake like this, and I found it rather simple and fun! 

I think it's so darn cute!

In Bloom

TA DA!: It finally happened! We have a daffodil in full bloom! Isn't it lovely?

It's been such a long darn dark winter. This is a real pick me up!

I promise I'll stop posting about daffodils soon. Probably right after the dozens along our driveway do their thing. :)

IN PROGRESS: CJ is at The Museum of Flight tonight, for his museum apprenticeship program. He's working on a display that launches next week. Here's a sneak preview of just the background and the headline banner ...

You can probably see that it's going to be about how dogs were used in the war effort during World War II. 

It has been fun learning about how dogs were employed in the war effort, and which kinds of dogs were pressed into service the most often. In the photo below, they were still accepting all comers. This changed before too long, as certain breeds proved to be not really cut out for the military life.

Training Daze

FLOWER POWER: Though I've seen fully blossomed daffodils all over town, the ones in our yard seen to be taking their time. 

This specimen seems oh-so-close, but it's definitely not fully there yet. Maybe one more sunrise is all it needs.

NEW MOON: Did you hear the news? Earth has a new moon!

According to numerous articles online, about a week ago, astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona spied a dim object moving quickly across the sky. Researches at six more observatories spied the object, as well, over the next several days.  

Turns out an object about the size of a car has been gravitationally bound to Earth for about three years now. It's been dubbed 2020 CD3. 

The Minor Planet Center, which operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Harvard in Cambridge, Massachussets announced that “no link to a known artificial object has been found,” implying that it is most likely an asteroid caught by Earth’s gravity as it passed by.

This isn't the first mini moon Earth has had. Accourding to New Scientist, the first known asteroid to be captured by Earth's gravitational field was 2006 RH120, which stuck around between September 2006 and June 2007, before it left Earth's gravitational grasp.  

REMOTING IN: With me being at work from 8:30 to 4 or so, its a little bit difficult to ride herd over the MPA student body, but I'm doing the best I can with a smart phone. I am able to use texts, email, and, of course, phone calls to check in and edit work. 

Also, before I leave in the morning, I sit down and make a loooong to do list on the whiteboard that  helps keep us all on track.

Today, Christian was able to get off early and take the kids to the gym (Defy) and to their weekly "Game On" session at the White Center library, so that was nice. 

Tonight, CJ was supposed to have Japanese, but he was in class for all of 10 minutes before he tapped out, citing nausea. I'm really doubtful that he has coronavirus or something like that. I suspect that someone has been making really poor food choices while I'm at work ... 

Super Busy

FEEDING TEENS: It seems like they should feel so far apart, but the fourth Friday of each month  seems to come so close together. That's the date on the calendar we're responsible for helping out in a bigly way with a meal at Teen Feed.

This month we went with a relatively easy menu: Jumbo chili dogs with all the fixings. That means quarter pound franks with options of four kinds of chili, three kinds of cheese (or vegan substitute), onions, jalapenos, Fritos and more as toppings options. On the side, carrots and celery sticks with ranch, plus a cookies and milk dessert buffet. (Regarding dessert, guests had their choice from eight different types of cookies by my count, including all of the favorite Girl Scouts' offerings, since 'tis the season.)

The diners were appreciate, as always. And they were so hungry, as always. As the meal lead/planner, I usually help assign people to serving positions, then hang back and jump in where needed. One gentleman I  helped serve was coming through for seconds - and he walked away with FOUR quarter-pound hot dogs and heaps of chili. These poor young folks are so darn hungry, and so very grateful. One diner, as he left, made it a point to come back up to the counter and put his hands together and did a slight bow and effusively thanked us for the food and our service. It was very thoughtful and much appreciated. 

WORKING IT: So, suddenly I have a full time job. It's a bit of an upset to our schedule, but it's temporary (just for the next couple of weeks) and it's for a good cause (I'm helping with the 2020 presidential election). 

The King County Elections center happens to be at the bottom of our (big) hill. So the commute is a breeze! 

I've been in training all day since Monday, and will be working pretty much full time from here to March 10, election day, I do believe. I learned of the job from an ad on Facebook, interestingly enough. I applied not  knowing where or what  might be doing. Most of the jobs are screening ballot-oriented, but based on my extensive customer service background, I'm guessing, I was slotted to work the front lines, answering voters' questions. So, that will be interesting. This week's all training. I'm really looking forward to the hands on/public interaction part of the job. There's a lot to learn, for sure, but it feels super doable so far.

SUPER SONIC: On Sunday afternoon, the kids went to a move based on a character from a super popular video game franchise. 

Annabelle can tell you more about it. ...

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) pays homage to the original Sonic games that it is based on in many unexpected ways. The film follows a CGI-animated version of the titular character, who has been living in the shadows on our Earth for years, observing humans’ lives and wishing he could be part of them. When he causes an incidental power surge at a local baseball field from running around it too fast, he’s forced to connect with the humans around him much sooner than expected in order to escape the evil Dr. Robotnik that is attempting to capture him for research purposes.

The movie is definitely meant to be a not-too-serious “fun for the family” type movie, not taking itself very seriously at points and making plenty of gags and jokes. That being said, it does have a surprisingly cohesive plot and well-done CGI, especially when compared to the original trailer’s meme-ably terrible designs. It’s a fun movie if you’re a fan of the original games or want an easy, for-laughs movie that can be watched with a large age range. It’s quite refreshing to see the character of Sonic given actual personality and motivations other than ‘being cool,’ especially for long time fans of the series. 

Here's a trailer if  you're at all interested. ...