Number one grown up

My baby turned eighteen this week! Legally an adult, for what it's worth at the moment i.e. not much. I don't think spending the day quietly with his family at home was exactly what he had envisaged, poor thing. But we scraped together a few presents, bacon and hash browns for breakfast, Brad made an exceptionally delicious chocolate mud cake, and his favourite takeaway was open for dinner, so not a complete loss. 

We had cake at afternoon tea time and video chatted with the aunts, uncles and cousins in NZ. Technology was a bit of a challenge (especially with my family; video calls work best when at least one person is NOT talking) but in the end it was lovely and at least some social interaction. We ate the cake in front of them, telling them how awesome it was. Haha.

Of course we could have done this at any time in the past five years - it's not like they were going to pop over for cake even if we weren't all in lockdown - but we didn't, until now. Same with work, all these ways of operating we didn't really bother with because we didn't need to, and now we're realising it actually works quite well. There could be some long term changes, or I hope so. Here they are crammed into my iPad.

I am really enjoying my week off and not having to think about work (I do anyway, but I don't have to). Yesterday I popped in for my flu shot but just went to the nurse's office and didn't go near the team at all, which was a bit mean but hey, they might want to ask questions. Then I went for a run but just couldn't be bothered, so slowly walked around the lake. Clockwise, as suggested for reasons of social distancing, which doesn't work at all when people travel at very different speeds, for reasons of maths. I might write in to the newspaper ("Outraged Mathematician" or "Euclid's Ghost" perhaps).

Number one son is taking a gap year to work and travel, which has gone completely disastrously really. He is an even tempered person who generally looks on the bright side, but I do feel for him. And it could be the whole year sitting at home.... which is not at all what he had planned (I will tell you what he had planned after I check with him it's OK).