2020 in Review: Happy New Year!

Well, 2020 certainly wasn't what we were expecting! The year started off normally. We rang in the new year at Heather and Vladimir's house, with family and gifts in the Russian New Year style.

In January, we had an impromptu reunion with some of Leo's friends from graduate school, and it was wonderful to see everyone.

Gregory's college schedule wouldn't allow him to come for the usual skiing week, so he joined Bepa (Karen's Dad) and friends for Utah skiing during week 1, while the rest of us did the usual week 7 in February. Utah is always a place where Karen's mom is missed most because of all the many years of memories there. Making cookies with her there was a cherished tradition, so it was nice when Grace and Julia made the chocolate chip cookies together. For the first time in many, many years we skied further afield than Snowbird and Alta when we went to Solitude. Karen's Dad took a wrong turn on one slope and we went down exactly the horrible, rocky cliff that we saw from the chairlift and had pitied anyone who would ever end up there. It was terrifying and funny in equal measure (Utah album).

Another highlight of February was when Leo and Karen were able to attend the wedding of our friends Kevin and Jean on Valentine's Day at Jay Peak, Vermont! We were very moved by the vows at the intimate ceremony and also had a blast at the indoor water park! (Wedding album)

Some of our last moments of normalcy were at PAX East at the end of February. Sporadic COVID cases were starting to appear in the US along with a feeling of unease, but PAX mostly went on as usual. Gregory came home for Spring Break on March 6th and that's about the time that everything changed. We found out that Greg was going to simply stay home after spring break, so we had to figure out what to do with all his stuff. His roommate and family saved the day on that front, packing up everything, shipping the important stuff to us, and finding storage for the rest. We really appreciated their help! Carnegie Mellon switched to a virtual model relatively seamlessly after just a few days, and Greg was able to successfully complete his spring semester from home. Julia's school went virtual mid-March as well. It's hard to imagine now, but at first, it seemed like they were hoping to reopen in just a few weeks. In part, because it wasn't clear how long it would last, the public schools in Massachusetts did not do a very good job in the spring. There was about a month with no new material taught, and then several months of the teachers doing the best they could given that there were no regular class times.

Our life began a new sort of normal, with everyone working or doing school from home. Our main trips out into the world were shopping for groceries and taking walks or scooters around the neighborhood. We started out with a single scooter, that hadn't been used in about 10 years. However, it was so fun that we bought more and more scooters until we had enough for everyone, plus a guest or two. It was also funny how a whole new category of highs and lows emerged from the pandemic. For example, that ecstatic feeling when you were actually able to buy toilet paper or paper towels. Our hand sanitizer drama is representative of pandemic life:

Another theme of the pandemic was fostering kitties for the Medfield Animal Shelter. We fostered for them once back in 2015 when we were looking for our own kittens, and adopted the mom (Bliss) and two kittens (Momo and Rosie). Then in the early spring of 2019, Karen reached out to multiple shelters to see if any were looking for fosterers, but it seemed all of them had enough. Karen checked in again with Medfield in February 2020 and lo and behold this time they were expecting a pregnant cat and were looking for someone to foster her! And that is how we welcomed our first foster of 2020, Mina, into our lives. She was a darling, affectionate kitty and it was so fun to see her belly getting larger and larger, and watching the kittens kick from inside. Leo urged Karen to "not count your kittens before they're hatched," but Karen and Julia did plenty of speculating about the number of kittens anyway. Finally, near the end of March, we were present for the birth of her four spectacularly adorable kittens! We spent eight weeks doting over Mina and her kittens and watched with both joy and a tinge of sadness as the kittens went to their forever homes. Luckily, Mina stayed as part of the family, as she was adopted by Leo's mom Galina, who had sadly lost a beloved long-time cat family member, Rusty, in the spring.

Ever since, we've had a series of foster kitties staying with us, providing endless entertainment and distraction. There have been plenty of challenges, with pills and liquid medicine to give, picky eaters, roundworm, ringworm (not a worm, as it turns out!), kittens that won't stop nursing, hissing/spitting/scratching, and picking at spay stitches, but this has been FAR outweighed by the cuteness, the amazing progress and healing we were able to witness, the cuteness, the snuggles and belly scratches, the cuteness, knowing we're making a difference in these kitties' lives, and the cuteness. If you want to see even more foster kitty pictures, look here!

Everyone stayed home for the summer. Greg took a Probability class through Carnegie Mellon and taught two online courses for middle schoolers for the Russian School of Math. Julia was trained to answer calls for a suicide hotline and has been volunteering weekly ever since. Both kids also did some paid work helping Karen with Salesforce projects. We expanded our bubble over the summer to include our niece Grace, who stayed with us for multiple week-long stretches, and Julia spent some time at Grace's house.

Karen also learned how to give everyone haircuts. There were a few mistakes made along the way (tips: when using the razor to define sideburns, only go down, not up, lest your "sideburns" accidentally eat into the regular hair, and if the razor doesn't seem to be cutting the hair, don't try making the attachment shorter and shorter to see if that helps).

We didn't do our annual cousin camping trip this year, but we did manage to get together for a rousing game of mini golf followed by a brunch in the park. Not long after, Karen's cousin Jimmy and his husband Thomas moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where they are opening a bed breakfast named Country Hearth B&B. We will miss having them close by, but are looking forward to the day when we can start trying out their amazing new place!

Halloween was a decidedly low key event, but we did manage to carve some fun pumpkins (Pumpkin carving alubm).

One advantage of the pandemic was that it encouraged us to explore and appreciate local outdoor parks. We definitely spent more time outdoors this year than ever before! (Albums for Fells, Borderland, and our Sunset hikes). Like many others, we spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what our bubble should be, and how to sensibly balance safety with mental health needs. We saw no one through June, and then would periodically include Leo's mom and sister and Karen's sister, niece, and brother-in-law in the bubble, as long as no one had been in any high-risk situations. We saw several other friends and family only outdoors, with masks, and generally kept at least a 6-foot distance. This included a few fun fire pit nights that did much for our sanity and happiness. It's a hard thing to balance.

We had an intimate Thanksgiving with Leo's Mom, along with a multitude of fun Zoom meetings with Karen's family for talking and games.

Hanukkah was also a Zoom affair. Nathan made his usual delicious latkes and was kind enough to drop them off at our house!

The final few weeks of the year have meant a lot of family time. We went hiking and disc golfing, went to see pretty holiday lights (Winterlights album), played board games, watched movies, made cookies, and generally tried to find happiness together. We brought in the New Year watching "The Irony of Fate" (a classic, Russian New Year movie) and then joining a big Zoom with Leo's family.

Holiday fun!

Leo continued his work on Game of Thrones: Conquest with WB Games Boston, although all virtual starting in March. He misses being able to go into the office and spend time with his work friends, but the pandemic did have the benefit of increasing the time people spent playing video games, so at least their game is doing well. Leo has enjoyed continuing his weekly bridge game (virtual since March), as well as adding another weekly Zoom bridge session with Gregory, Karen, and Karen's dad and sister. Leo and his bridge partner Jay qualified to represent District 25 in the March Bridge Nationals, but sadly the event was canceled. This year he's enjoyed playing online games like MTG (Magic the Gathering) and Animal Crossing, taking walks to watch the trains go by with our friends Alison, Tom, Hunter (the five-year-old train enthusiast), and Brian, spending time with the parade of foster kitties, and playing regular disc golf. Overall, it's been nice to have lots of family time with Gregory at home.

Leo with Julia and Bliss (and no, she's not allowed outside!)

Karen was busier than ever this year, splitting her time between Salesforce consulting work for nonprofits, arranging and caring for a plethora of foster kitties, and acting as treasurer for the Unitarian Church of Sharon. She's managed to continue her streak of over 100 hip hop classes in a year, by participating remotely or outdoors when the weather cooperated (she always went WAAAYYY in the back when the class was outside, much to the amusement of the other class members). She also started some fun tap lessons through the Sharon Community Education, but they were canceled in March. She spent far too much time reading articles and research about COVID-19 but was at least able to put some of that to good use by becoming a moderator for the Facebook group, COVID-19: Scientific Sources and Reputable News, a group started by her friend Liza Lilly. Karen also spent a lot of time fretting about the election. In late November, she and Julia volunteered to put together absentee ballot packets for voters in Georgia for the Senate runoff election. Too much Zoom has sometimes been a strain, but she's also greatly enjoyed being able to have so many meaningful conversations with both family and friends. In fact, in many ways, the pandemic has increased family time. We've had weekly Zooms with Karen's dad, sister, and aunt, with Leo's mom, sister, and grandfather, and played online games weekly with Karen's cousin and husband. Finally, what would a pandemic be without some TV binge-watching! Various members of the family got involved with each series. Some favorites were The Expanse, Buffy, Angel, Queen's Gambit, Sex Education, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Upload, and The Crown. We were also all pretty obsessed with listening to Hamilton this year.

Family time with her sister and mailing letters to Georgia voters

Gregory has survived the year! Pros for this year included more time with family (including our wonderful three cats, of course) and playing video games like Rocket League with his friends. Cons included just about everything else. He missed being at college, especially badminton, fencing, and in-person classes.

A typical scene for Gregory

Julia finished her junior year remotely and, unfortunately, schools were abruptly closed a few days before she was supposed to take the SAT (which she ended up not being able to take at all after 5 canceled SATs), one week before she was supposed to compete in the MA Science Olympiad Tournament with her team, one week before her tennis season was going to start, and two weeks before she was supposed to host the 6th annual SMST (Sharon Math and Science Tournament) as tournament director. Despite what she missed, she found comfort by spending a lot of time doting over the foster cats and staying connected with friends through Zoom. In the fall, she started her senior year remotely and is continuing to have classes through Zoom. As senior year arrived, so did the dreaded college application process. Thankfully, the process is now over and she is excited that she will be attending the Tufts University School of Engineering as a part of the Class of 2025! She's hoping for the best in 2021 as she finishes high school!

Foster cat Isabelle attends school with Julia, and ready for Tufts!

Bliss already found her way into multiple pictures above, so we want to give a little shout out to our other two cats, Rosie and Momo. They seemed to greatly enjoy having people home so much. Rosie spent part of every day napping on our legs, and Momo continued to insist on jumping up and plopping himself down on Karen's lap for a good scratch every time she sat down to eat. Some people have asked how our cats get along with the fosters, and the answer is that they never meet them. We have a dedicated foster room, and some fosters also spend time in Julia's room.

Our other two adorable forever cats, Rosie and Momo

We know it's been a rough year for many, and we're very grateful to have survived 2020 relatively unscathed. We're wishing all our friends and family a happy and healthy 2021 (and hoping that this wish works better than the one last year)!

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