Some Good news

Sometimes I forget just how nightmarish this pandemic is. I mean, who can blame me when I’m stuck at home with FIVE BOYS and no end in sight. If you don’t feel bad for me you have no soul. The real salt in the wound is when people tell me about how their daughters bake delicious recipes to pass the time, or organize a closet just for fun. I don’t even know what to say to that. I’m just thrilled when my boys shower or throw away their candy wrappers that are strewn all over the floor while they binge-watch Netflix.  

But it’s not all bad and some good memories are being made. Good like when they are all getting along and bad like when I arrive home after a long-overdue grocery trip to find them all sitting around the table eating food from McDonalds on their lunch break. Food that was bought in my absence with my credit card and without my permission. That episode proved I really can’t leave my house during remote learning or the consequences are severe. 

But the really good news is that Marcus finally got to take the ACT and the best news of all is that he got a 30!!!  Wahoo!! Hard work paid off! He has studied for countless hours with and without tutors and taken multiple practice tests so he could get his score up to where he wanted. This all seemed like a good idea when remote learning was minimal but as the summer wore on, he was ready to be done.   

Taking the ACT ended up being quite the adventure as well.  I was able to get him standby admittance to a testing center in Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula which is about two hours away with a ferry ride as well. Since he wasn’t guaranteed admittance to the testing center we knew he’d need to be there early to grab the first spot if someone else didn’t show up. I booked a hotel so we could get there the night before so we wouldn’t have to catch a 6am ferry. Since we were driving through Seattle we thought it would be a good idea to pick up take-out from The Shake Shack. We ended driving right up to a bunch of protestors blocking the one-way road.  We could hear them yelling as I threw the car in reverse and backed down the street and quickly turned down a side street to get us away from the danger.  We got our dinner and were headed to the ferry when we ended up on the other side of the protestors and looked over just in time to see them running into a store to loot it.  Seattle has become Gotham City but there’s no Batman to save us.  I couldn’t believe how empty the streets were, both of cars and people.  In fact, the only people we saw were protestors and rows of tents with homeless people gathered around them.  It’s so sad and so disturbing.  I’m glad we don’t live near Seattle and can avoid it like the plague. 

Here's Marcus on the ferry posing for a picture with the Seattle skyline behind him that you can barely see through the smoke from all the wildfires.  

The smoke hadn't improved the next day on our trip back.  

After our Seattle adventure we enjoyed a quiet night in Sequim.  I did some shopping in the town center while Marcus took his test and then we met up with my Aunt Barbara for a delicious lunch at the marina.  Marcus is still talking about his huge burger and the best fries he’s ever had so if you’re ever in Sequim, make sure you eat at The Dockside Grill.