Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Best wishes for a wonderful,
COVID-free 2021!
Love,
The Elia Family
Zack graduated from college this year with a degree in computer science, summa cum laude. He accepted a full-time job offer before he began his senior year so that was nice to not have to worry about! His girlfriend, Sarrah, came to visit in March right when the world locked down... Lucky timing! We were so fortunate because she decided to quarantine with us! Imagine living with the Elia family 24-7 for a few months... sounds heavenly, right? Well, she fit right in, was so fun to spend time with, and spoiled us with delicious homemade treats. In return we taught her colorful Italian words and roped her into all of our nonsense. We also got to celebrate Sarrah's college graduation - her degree is in Cyber Security.
Zack's start date ended up being delayed by 5 weeks - not bad given the circumstances - and we thoroughly enjoyed the extra time we got with him, and the opportunity to get to know Sarrah so well. He started his job in July. Unfortunately it's in Maryland so we miss him terribly, but we are thrilled that he is doing something he loves.
Zack started his master's degree in computer science at Johns Hopkins University in August. He also took a 2.5 month course through work which he enjoyed, but he was happy to get back to his regular job when it was over. He picked up a side gig tutoring various programming languages which he does on the weekends and some evenings. He reminds me of Peter at that age - seeking out opportunities wherever he can find them.
Jackie is 17 and a senior this year! Our district gave families the choice of in-person or virtual learning this year and Jackie chose virtual, for many reasons. She decided to take six AP classes - some people may call that insane - but she was sure of her choice. The format of teaching herself is very different, but she rocked the 1st semester. Thankfully she has the inner drive and determination to pull this off. There are many perks to virtual learning - she doesn't set an alarm and just wakes up naturally, gets most of her work done within 3-4 hours a day, does more work when she feels well and less when she doesn't, and enjoys spending time with her favorite classmate: our new cat Misty.
Jackie's college applications are all submitted and the decisions are rolling in. She plans to go to school locally and at this point anticipates attending the University of Cincinnati. She saw the great benefit Zack got from the co-op program there and is interested in it as well, possibly with a major in business. She's keeping her options open in terms of living on campus but has started talking about commuting instead.
We had to finally put a bullet in her beloved Trent, a green Volkswagen Bug that was putting us into the poor house. He began randomly accelerating on his own which was more than a little terrifying (think Herbie, but more evil) and required several thousand dollars to try and fix yet the latest in a long string of expensive problems. He was replaced with a less fun, unnamed non-descript 4-door sedan, but this car actually goes when you press on the accelerator and stops when you press on the brake, so that is good news!
After long-term constant pain and numbness in his leg and foot, Peter decided to schedule back surgery for an old spinal injury which was getting worse and worse. Originally planned for April, the surgery was delayed until July. He was in the hospital for a few days. It turns out that a 5-hour surgery where they repair the spine from both the back, as well as the front by pushing all the organs out of the way, requires a lot of recovery! He's about 5 months into his recovery and has seen a great improvement. He has been able to resume most tasks around the house, but still has restrictions.
Not one to sit around doing nothing, Peter has been finding ways to keep himself busy. All of our tank-dwelling pets have been relocated to the finished basement, where Peter spends a lot of time caring for them and making sure their habitats are perfect. Additional tanks have been added and we have officially become that weird family with an excessive number of pets. He dreams of having a whole wall of tanks one day!
COVID made this an interesting year to be a teacher! My school needed several virtual teachers this year and I volunteered. I really had no idea how it would work but I was determined to make it a great year for our students who were learning from home. I am partners with Dawn, another 1st grade teacher, and we team teach our combined 77 students. Thanks to her, my dream of teaching math all day has finally been realized! Virtual teaching has been a huge challenge with many obstacles I could never have anticipated, but it's been very rewarding and I'm glad to be part of this new, exciting option. Who would have ever thought you could teach 1st grade from home??? The fact that I can teach barefoot in shorts makes it even better. I am very thankful for this opportunity and am excited to see what awaits us in the spring semester.
This year I inherited Jackie's old AirPods and they changed my life. I know that sounds like hyperbole, but it's true! I typically resist “new” technology, mostly because I'm cheap, but these little darlings are nothing short of amazing. How will I ever go back to wired headphones? I won't! I love being able to freely walk around listening to podcasts without being tethered to my phone or computer. Speaking of technology - between Peter and our friend Kyle, they had enough spare technology to create a mission control of sorts for my virtual teaching. I regularly use 4 screens, several fancy Bluetooth devices, and a lot of other tech magic to pull it off. I tend to think I'm pretty techy, but I have learned a ton over the last few months making this all work.
Zoey was diagnosed with cancer in April and lived out the rest of her days being spoiled rotten. We lovingly referred to her as Jackie's “emotional support cat” and she is missed greatly. We had adopted her as an adult cat so we only had 8 years with her, but we enjoyed them all. She was a very sweet cat, loved by all.
Our new furball is Misty, who was just under 1 year old when we adopted her. She still has a lot of kitten tendencies which entertain us to no end. The last time we had a kitten was back before Zack was born so this is all new for Jackie. Misty gallops through the house like a maniac, vaults over the couch, races up and down the stairs, and has endless energy to play with the ridiculous amount of cat toys we now have all over the house. Most evenings, once she has exhausted herself, she can be found sitting with us on the couch and then sleeping on Jackie's bed at night. She even puts up with us bringing her out for walks in our cat stroller. She is a great addition to the family!
This section is quite different this year for obvious reasons. As you can see we had a lot of family togetherness, but we are that odd family who really enjoyed quarantining together! Zack and Sarrah got over the wall in July but Peter, Jackie, and I have literally been together 24-7 since March. We have committed to remain virtual through May and we'll see what hapens after that!
