January 2023

Apart from an inch or two of snow this month, winter still seems to be on backorder this season. There were enough mild days to still get outside a bit as you'll see in the photos and videos from January.

Used Car Shopping (Rob)

The insurance money finally arrived in exchange for our totaled 2013 Prius: $6200. So the search continued in greater earnest for a replacement. Our strategy was to find either something equivalent in that price range (not likely), or fork out a bit more something with more life left in it. A couple of seemingly good deals fell through before we got to them, and we did drive out to Paramus, NJ to look at a used car being sold out of a back lot from someone who only accepted cash. It had some rust though, among other concerns. And so the search goes on. More on that next month.

COVID, The Sequel (Rob)

Usually Alex is the patient zero when we get sick, but Becky appears to have picked up a virus from one of the kids she treats. The at-home test confirmed it was COVID, so that put us in isolation for about a week. Becky's symptoms were the usual things, but lagged a bit. Alex had sniffles for a few days but was hardly slowed down. I had no symptoms and tested negative. All three of us had the most recent bivalent booster this winter. So that's our anecdotal report of having COVID for the second time.

Outings (Rob)

When we weren't out with COVID, we did enjoy a few activities this month. New Year's Day was mild, so we got out to a local park with a cool mural (see photo above) and watched parachuters from the nearby airfield. Since that was on a Sunday, I had the next day off work and so we went for a little winter hike to a waterfall at Minnewaska state park - always a favorite destination. For additional entertainment this month, we made trips to the mall arcade, the church gym for scooter and crazy cart action, Barnes & Noble for some new books for Alex, and IKEA in Paramus since we happened to be there to look at the used car.

Freelance Writing (Rob)

A while ago I reached out to a local non-profit (ScenicHudson.org) that has done a lot of conservation work in the area to ask if they accept freelance submissions for their newsletter. They said they did, and looked at my portfolio and asked if I'd like to write a story for them about the lack of snow in the Hudson Valley region lately (not just this year, but the past decade or so).  They pay well, and expressed interest in giving more writing assignments. It's a fun way to make some money on the side while sharpening my writing skills and learning about the area.  Here is a link to the article I wrote. Next, I will be working on a piece for them about hobbyists who search for the biggest trees in the state, and it's been fun to talk to some of these people and put some words together.

Potty Training, Continued (Rob)

Alex has still been wearing a diaper at night for a while, as that aspect of potty training wasn't going well when we tried it about a year ago. For whatever reason, while we were visiting Arizona over Christmas he mostly stopped peeing in his diaper at night. And when we decided to use a diaper to hold him over on the long flights, he didn't pee in that either. So when we returned home, we decided to let him try sleeping in his underwear again. He seems to get it now, and has had a few accidents at night but overall has done really well with without a bedtime diaper -- so that's progress. 

What Else is New

Rob: Since we are studying the New Testament in church this year, I thought I'd refresh my study approach by reading a different Bible translation. I got a NRSV translation  Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible after talking to someone at church who had it. It is basically written in standard English rather than the medieval King James English, but more importantly it is full of useful historical context written alongside the verses. It's been informative.

Alex: Alex got a small trampoline for Christmas that he bounces on. We hope he'll get the idea of jumping from it.  A favorite thing of his lately is going around the house closing the heating vents. Then we have to open them again when he isn't looking -- it's a game we play.

Becky:  My favorite thing this month has to be taking Alex to the bookstore or libraries.  It's just really cute to see him get excited about whatever type of book occurs to him in the moment. He has been into the finger puppet books, Sandra Boynton books, Karen Katz books, ones with flip through pages,  and sometimes ones with pictures of things he knows and can say.  He's also really into puzzles.  He has his fussy moments, but he basically remains a little ball of sunshine.