A Martin Minute

 Well, this was quite a year . . . a year of first (and hopefully some lasts).  A year that took us by surprise and made us ALL re-think about EVERYTHING.  A year that drove us all HOME and sitting around the table with the ones we love. My sweet babies blossomed this year.  They all learned hard things and kept on going.  They all learned the value of a game of Rummikub.  They all learned that momma was not meant to teach math - history is my jam!  They learned the value of a big family. They learned that biscuits are AWESOME! They all handled 2020 like champs!  Yes, there were hard decisions, but they were understanding. Nobody is perfect, but they got pretty close this year, of all years I am appreciative. What did we do? We got a rescue puppy - Charli Mae.  (Yes, I said no more puppies, but the vote was 5 - 1) We went to the beach on a "work trip."  Then we took off for the mountains!  Both of these amidst soccer try-outs - he made the team he wanted!  We love our mountai

Well, not sure where to even begin . . . I was not planning on being at home for 6+ weeks straight.  No carpool, soccer, choir concerts.   No school, church or outside responsibilities.   No grocery stores, or any stores for that matter. No extra people in our house. No grandparent hugs or cousin time. No knowing what day it is???? How did this all happen? How did we get here? What did we do????   Well, one day my grandkids will ask me questions for a school project & ask about these crazy times, so here we go . . . . We did NOTHING!   Okay, so everyone had to do school at home, but 99.99999% of that was on the computer & the older kiddos were managing a lot of that on their own.  Lee-Lee & I were usually done with his work by 10 AM.  They participate in Google Meets/Hangouts. ZOOM calls are a new thing.  . . . . continued . . . ."ZOOM Fatigue" is a real thing . . . .  We were home for 3 months before we ran to the beach for 2 days & then