freshman – Peaceful Reader

If I were to be able to whisper in President-Elect Joe Biden’s ear or lucky enough to have a working lunch with Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris I would ask them to make some changes to the Affordable Care Act to make it more like Bernie’s Health Care For All because while the ACA covers many people and has helped us go in the right direction I just don’t think it’s finished. We need to take it further. Why? Because we have a huge deductible as a middle class family and when we get hit with something our health savings accounts dwindle accordingly. America has such potential and I hope that we are only beginning our true journey toward that; instead of going backward. I listened to a podcast talking about this today as I journeyed home. And this is not to say that America isn’t great already but anything great can always be better. Am I right? Why settle…

I generally flip flop between listening to music on my phone or listening to podcasts. The last few weeks have been filled with a variety of podcasts: Up First from NPR gives me a quick 10 minutes of news every day. I don’t watch news programs ever so this keeps me up on a few major events and we leave it at that. Anything more critical my husband will read me from the newspaper as a good husband should. I also listen to SLJ’s The Yarn and Heavyweight plus I just discovered Teaching Hard History from Teaching Tolerance. I listened to one yesterday and had aenjoyed hearing correct spins on American history. I can’t leave out Brene Brown’s Unlocking Us which always makes me happy.

I spent last night hanging out with Groovy Girl in Iowa City. I felt terribly guilty moving about Iowa because we are such a flaming hot Cheeto for Covid cases. But our plans had been made months ago before our cases surged, we needed some mother/daughter time, and we are both extremely pro-mask. So we picked up Thai food for lunch and ate in the hotel and then we made a quick grocery run so she would have snacks through the next two weeks before she comes home for Thanksgiving. We had a great time cuddling, reading together, watching a couple of things on Netflix (hello New Girl-you still make us so happy) and basically stayed in and away from other people. My hope is that her sophomore year may be filled with the joys of college as it’s meant to be. I don’t want to get used to this as a new norm.

The two cool bookstores in town are both open only for curbside pickup so we couldn’t wander any exciting aisles for books, which we do totally understand and appreciate yet scratch our heads in confusion as people stream to sorority or fraternity house functions, and the bars-all open! The idea is to get over this not just live with it but I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir. Take care of yourselves, take care of your people, and be kind.

(First trip to NYC)

which is a major celebration! This girl has been featured on this blog almost her entire life. I started Peaceful Reader when she was in kindergarten and now she is a freshman in college. We celebrated this major birthday with dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant and there were gifts and delicious vegan desserts. She’s not vegan but her brother is and everyone wants to share in birthday treats. Because I spent part of the weekend visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Deephaven, MN I had the opportunity to visit a cool vegan bakery/restaurant Vegan East, and purchased a box full of treats to bring home. They have 3 locations and I stopped by the Uptown shop which took me through some familiar neighborhoods. I passed by Lake Calhoun, Lake Street, and Hennepin Avenue, and my favorite Walker Art Center; all places I loved hanging around when I lived in Mpls/St. Paul.

She is enjoying her freshman year even with it’s unusual Covid-19 restrictions. It’s a long list of negatives yet she is making it work and smiling! G.G. and her roommate spend a lot of time in their room and luckily they don’t seem to be getting on each other’s last nerve, which is fantastic. Most classes are on Zoom but she has two dance classes that meet in big studios. This is great as she is very used to being active and dance + Zoom is not a good combo.

(Dad ride)

All of our children are unique and inspiring and Groovy Girl, as the baby of the family, brings a level of happiness that is often infectious. She gets very excited and we love her enthusiasm for life. She cares about the world, is empathetic toward others, and will continue to make a difference as she grows. I appreciate that she loves many different styles of food, can cook a great meal, and is willing to experiment with spices and sauces. I’m surviving the empty nest but only because she and I talk at least every other day. She texts me when she needs to talk and we FaceTime when we need to see each other. Communication is so different now. My husband and I compared our experience of having one dorm phone on each floor! We had to take turns so I talked to my parents maybe once a week if that.

(Groovy Girl now (r) w/ her roommate Laurel)

When I began this blog I didn’t want to use her real name as it is unusual and over the years she has had readers call her “Groovy Girl” which made her feel a little like a blog celebrity. Even though she is a beautiful 18 as of last Saturday she will always be my Groovy Girl!

Tag: freshman

Travel Time

Groovy Girl turns 18…