Happy new year from the ClarkenSteins! This year was odd, but we were very lucky to be able to re-arrange work and school and stay isolated. Dave was asked to co-lead Enrollment Management at UWM, just in time for the pandemic and the weirdest enrollment cycle ever. Natalia continues her work in Biophysics at the Medical College, heading to the lab primarily on Fridays and weekends so she can help the boys with school during the week.
Family Fast Facts
Getting outside. Since we couldn’t go most indoor places, we were outside more than ever this year and stuck close to home.
House shit. The basement flooded in April and became useless for several months; we had to throw away tons and tons of stuff, and then bought this fancy hole out front for only $10,000.
Music. Dave continues to “play bass” for Iron Monocle, making the most of both the E and A strings, sometimes playing multiple notes in the same song. IM played only virtually this year; here’s a shot from our socially distanced concert:
Misha and Lev also developed their love of music, and can I just say that virtual piano recitals are the single greatest thing to come out of the pandemic? No dressing up, and the total time from login to “bye, everybody!” is 45 minutes.
New hobbies. Never satisfied with a more focused mediocrity, we spent the pandemic becoming mediocre at even more things. Dave is learning to be an aggressively unimpressive chess player. Misha learned to code in Python, shoot “let’s play” videos, and create stop-motion videos. Lev’s actually gotten pretty good at school stuff and at Smash Bros, which he calls “Mr. Smash Brothers on the Bintendo.”
Hair. Hair was an ongoing issue in 2020, given our concerns about going to the barber. Case in point:
In which Dave learns that his hair really requires pruning, not styling:
Lev
Lev likes to punch and wrestle, especially with his brother. He also insists that he is hungry non stop, sometimes while eating a meal. He is somewhat jealous that his brother gets to go to school upstairs.
Misha
Misha has been in virtual school, and it’s been ok. The district has made a significant effort to make it work 100% virtually, and we have a lot of respect for the teachers. Misha misses his friends a lot, and his usual activities like rock climbing and martial arts.
Our best to you and yours and hopes for a happy 2021; how bad could it be?