December 2020

 December always goes by very fast.  This year felt so different.  There was no Black Friday shopping.  Not that I normally go but I do go to Goody's and get CJ clothes.  This year Goody's had closed down. CJ has been watching the show "Riverdale" she liked the show and asked if I would make a jughead hat for her.  After I finished the hat she just loved it and wore it everywhere.

CJ had her annual piano concert early this year. This year it was outside because of the COVID. I was so worried that it was going to be so cold but it turned out to not be that bad.  CJ did an amazing job with the song "Let it, Snow." Ms. Nancy gives out trophies for points earned from practice.  Everyone looks forward to seeing who won the biggest trophy.  This year it was CJ who got the biggest trophy.  I said that was because she was bored at home this year and did not have anything else to do but to learn songs she liked and play the piano.

At school, there were no secret Santa or Wednesday treats.   I complained that we needed to do something to bring joy to the holidays at school.  I thought that it was funny that the Jew was complaining that the school had no Christmas spirit. The last week of school before the break they decided that they needed to do something if I was complaining.  So we had treats and got to dress up.

Hanukkah started on Thursday Night.  I had gotten some Dexcom stickers for CJ for the first night because things were going to get really big this year.  She loved the sticker.  She had been asking for them since she found out that you can decorate your technology.  

Friday night they were going to have Hanukkah on the hood at the temple.  I thought that it was going to be an outdoor service but it was not.  They just did some Hanukkah songs and prayers, but it was good to see people so I did not mind driving to Greenville.  Then Kym came up to CJ and asked if she could stay and help her with the virtual service.  Rabbi's mother had gotten COVID and Rabbi was being quarantined and could not do services.  He had asked Kym to do it and she was freaking out about having to do the Zoom call thing and sing all the prays.  CJ was so happy to help.   It was so nice to sit in the temple and hear CJ sing the prays.  It felt so good and Kym was so relieved to have CJ there to help with the technology as well as the prays.  After services were over CJ said that it felt so good for her to be singing the prayer for the temple again and that maybe America's Got Talent or The Voice do not want her but other love to hear her voice and it makes them feel good.  I told her that maybe G-d gave her that voice to make those around her happy and to sing his praise.  It was the best Shabbat that we have had this year.

On Saturday, we got invited to ride on the Type 1 diabetes float in the Williamston Parade.  Last year CJ was in the parade matching with ROTC.  This year we were together to support her and others with diabetes.  CJ was so shy and uncomfortable.  She was getting upset because she did not know where to stand, what to help with, and was not share about talking with the other kids.  So she just stood by me getting upset.  Some of the other teens asked her to walk with them on the other side of the float from me.  I think that she was glad that they invited her in.  It was funny to watch her be such a rule follower. The lady putting together the float asked that we did not start throwing candy until after we had gotten halfway so that the kids at the end would get candy.  As the parade began everyone started throwing candy anyway even the float organizer.  So since the kids were all throwing candy I asked CJ if she wanted her bag.  She told me no, not until the halfway mark because that is what was said.  CJ and I did not ride on the float we walked the whole way.  We were both surprised that we did it and were able to make the whole walk.  CJ said that it was much easier than last year when she had to wear really uncomfortable shoes.

That night for Hanukkah we gave her a small mic for use with her phone so that she could record some new youtube videos. She has enjoyed trying it out.

Sunday, Chabad had their annual Hannukkah candle lighting.  It was not downtown like normal, it was in a big parking lot.  But they did not skimp out.  They still had almost all the fun activities that they always have.  They had all the music, speeches, gelt drop from the fire truck, latkes, donuts, and a fire show at the end.  We stood in the parking lot and talked to friends that we had not seen in almost a year and got caught up on what has happened with them.  It was the best night.  We had so much fun and it was so good great to see and talk with old friends. We even got to see Ms. Margy which warmed our hearts so much.  I did not think that I would ever get to see her again.

That night CJ got a dress that looked like piano keys at the bottom.  The next couple of nights were just laid back as we had school to worry about.  It was the last week before the break so it was very busy.  CJ also had dress-up days at school but she did not participate in all of them because she wanted to wear some of her new outfits.   She also got a Stranger Things bracelet and Star Wars earrings.  CJ had made me some beautiful earrings as well.

The last night of Hanukkah we surprised CJ with a Jeep.  Her first car.  Jay and I had been looking for a vehicle for her since Jay's white truck died.  We wanted to get her something and give it to her for Hanukkah.  Jay had been spending hours on the computer and calling, looking for a vehicle that would be nice and in our price range.  We thought we found one but it was about 45 minutes away.  So we asked Milly's mom if CJ could spend the night at their house so Jay and I could go look at this car.  We dropped CJ off and went to look at the car.  When we got there, the car looked nice enough but it would not start.  I was so upset that we drove all that way and it did not start.  We left with not car prospect.  My disappointment grew as we drove around looking at other dealerships.  We came home and decided that we would not let this time go to waste.  We would go out and have a nice date night dinner.  On our way to dinner, we stopped by 3 more dealerships. One we did not even get out, the other Jay said the guy was fishy, and the 3rd no one was there so we just looked.  We saw this Jeep that looked nice, but it was already on hold for someone else.  Jay took a chance and left a message on the answering services saying that if the Jeep deal follows through to give him a call we would like to look at the Jeep.  Two days later the dealership called Jay and told him that the other deal fell through and he could come to look at the Jeep.  It all worked out we got a good deal on the Jeep and just in time for Hanukkah.  We stashed the Jeep at my friend's house and I made a big blue bow to put on the hood of the Jeep.  The last night of Hannukah we surprised CJ with the Jeep. She loved it.

It could not have been a better Hanukkah.  The last 2 days of work were fun and it so nice just to work with and enjoy the children. CJ got to volunteer at the museum on Saturday.  She said that there were only 2 guests, so she got lots of reading done.  She has become infatuated with the trilogy "Divergent." On Monday we went to the library to try and get the rest of the trilogy with in the next 2 days CJ finished the next book.  I told her that she had to wait for our trip to start the last book.

CJ spent the next couple of days just relaxing and getting ready for our camping trip.  Thursday we got up and started on our trip to the beach.  We always stop at Chick-fil-A on the way, but because of COVID they only have a drive-through, and we can not get the camper through a drive-through.  So I told Jay about using the app to order and just wait in the parking space.  I think that it was confusing to him because he was not sure about doing it.  Finely, he changed his mind and we tried the app it worked out well, and we all got Chick-fil-A.  

After the little rough start with Chick-fil-A we started on the road we saw lots of blue buckets which is like our thing that proves we are on a trip when we see blue bucks on the side of the highway.  We were halfway to the beach when Jay said that the truck was losing power all of a sudden. He looked out the window and saw that we had blown a tire on the camper.  We got out to look and Jay was worried about putting the camper up on jacks with the trucks going by and blowing the camper around.  So we noticed that we were right at an exit and we could limp the camper up the exit and away from the traffic.  We changed the tire which was no problem.  It had been a long time since we had blown a tire, so I reminisced about changing a tire in the snow in Minnesota because Lydia's ex-husband did not know how to change a tire.  This time I did not have to change the tire Jay did the whole thing in the rain instead of snow.

We got to the campground and the weather was not bad.  It had even stopped raining, but we started to hear thunder in the background.  Normally, we let CJ just play while Jay and I set up the camper.  We told CJ because we knew the storm was coming in that it was all hands on deck and that she was to help us today.  She did not even question it, just asked what she needed to do, and if she could help with the slideout. In minutes we had the camper set up and were off to the store before the storm hit and things closed for Christmas eve.  I was worried that things would close early, but they did not so we were able to get everything that we needed with no problems.  While we were shopping they had tornado warnings and the rain started to come down really hard.  Jay was very worried about the camper, but when we got back the storm was over and the camper was just fine.  We decided to go for a walk on the beach because the weather was not bad.  It was so beautiful on the beach.  There was seafoam from the storm that was fun to play with and there was no one but us on the beach.  We had fun taking pictures and goofing about social distancing.  We then went back to the camper and finished setting up the inside while Jay cooked us Oster stew for dinner.

I think that Jay was very agitated by the weather being so cold and the fact that we could not get out of the camper.  We also forgot the hookups for the TV so we could not play movies and the internet was really bad.  Being Christmas everything was closed so we could not go anywhere and it was so cold that we could not even sit outside to get away from each other.  I did not have a problem with being stuck in the camper and I do not think that CJ did either because she had new fun things to play with from Christmas morning.  We tried to make sure that we did not bother Jay too much but he just seemed to not be happy.  CJ loved all of her presents and really was excited to get an apple watch.  

That afternoon we tried to get out of the camper and go for a walk on the beach.  It was so cold with the wind that we came back pretty quick.  Jay made fish tacos for our Christmas dinner which were so yummy.  There is nothing like fresh fish at the beach.  The only problem was that we could not cook outside so the whole camper smelled of fish. 

That evening I did not care how cold it was I wanted to go for a walk and see all the Christmas lights in the campground.  By that time the wind had died down so it was not too bad.  I really enjoyed looking at the lights.  I know that CJ was just cold but she did have fun using her new phone to take pictures.

The next day we got up and decided that we had to get a new tire for the camper before we left.  Jay also wanted to get new cords for the TV so that we could watch movies if we were going to have to be stuck in the camper with it being cold.  We found everything that we needed at Walmart very quick and it really changed Jay's mood.  He said that it just took a big weight off his shoulders.  I was glad to see him a little happier.  We decided not to go back to the campground and go into Myrtle Beach.  Jay wanted to go to the Bass Pro shop.  On the way there we saw Broadway at the Beach and the New Balance Shoe outlet, so we decided that was how we were going to spend our day.  While Jay was at Bass Pro, CJ and I walked the mall and found a piano store.  CJ sat down and played music for a good long time because I told her that we had to go. We then went to the shoe store where Jay and I were able to found a new pair of shoes.  The last stop was Broadway at the beach where we walked around and just had a good time looking in the stores.  Jay thought that it would be fun to go on the Ferris wheel ride before we left.  We know that CJ is afraid of rights but she wanted to go on it because one of the characters in her book was on a Ferris wheel.  CJ was a little nervous but she was so glad that we went and it was so cool seeing the whole city from the top of the Ferris Wheel.  

On the way home, we saw a sign for Duck Donuts.  CJ's best friend's family always talks about going to Duck Donuts so we decided to stop and get some.  At Duck Donuts you got to customize your own donuts.  We had fun creating how donuts and picking out ones that they had also designed for you to try.

When we got back to the campground CJ want for a nice bike ride and found out that the Nature center had been rebuilt since the fire several years ago.  She had fun taking pictures.

That night we had a low country boil for dinner.  One of my favorites when we come to the beach.  The next day the weather was so much better and we decide to keep up the tradition of going to the movies during our Christmas beach trip.  We went to see Wonder Woman 85.  It was a good action movie but very cheesy, but that was ok we had fun as a family going to the movies.  We then did our tradition of going to Family's for an early dinner.  CJ was happy to see that they had no sugar added ice cream.  On our way home, we decided to stop in Murrells Inlet to walk the boardwalk.  By that time the sun was starting to set and it was the most beautiful sunset over the inlet.  Jay and CJ had so much fun taking pictures and trying out the panoramic features on their phones.  It was not too cold and so relaxing.  I was so glad that we stopped and got to see the sunset from the pior.

The next day we had to pack up and leave.  Before we left CJ took us to see the new Nature Center.  Jay thought that it looked bigger. I just think that it looked that way because they did not have much in it yet.  They had just reopened it in September.  We then packed up and headed out.  Jay thought that it would be fun to stop for lunch instead of just making sandwiches.  So we stopped at one place to eat but they had drive though only and no app to help us so we had to leave.  We then stopped at a truck stop with a Wendy's.  CJ did not what to eat at Wendy's so we told her that she could just get something at the truck stop.  The truck stop would not take her cash so she had to eat at Wendy's with us.  When we went to order they were out of everything.  Finely we found something on the menu that they had.  We seat down to eat.  CJ pulled out her chicken sandwich and it was missing the bun and her fries.  We just had to laugh and Jay took the chicken without a bun to the counter to get a new one.  The rest of the ride home went smooth and we got home at a decent time.  We decided to just unpack some of the stuff and clean the camper and truck in the morning because Jay took an extra day off work.  The next day the camper still smelled of fish so we had to air it out even after cleaning.  Overall the trip was really great, just a rough start.  

For New Year's eve CJ is having friends over to spend the night and have a party.  She is so excited about it and I hope that they all have a great time.  I just am hoping that in the new year things get back to normal.  The crazy world of 2020 was really hard on those of us that are always so busy and love talking to people.