We’ve always tried to pack a lot of life into weekends, but with COVID, we find that our weekends are more important than ever. Joy must be found, tackled, and wrestled to the ground these days. You just can’t sit back and wait for it to come to you.

Steve and I like to go places, so we’ve raised kids who like to go places. My friend, Claire, loves to sit on beaches on comfy chairs for an entire day (my personal definition of hell), so she raised kids who are perfectly content to sit by a pool all day long. Parenting is a very convenient way to create your perfect companions. Admittedly, it doesn’t work for everyone, but for us, this social experience has met with success.

We continued our COVID-sanity game, where we travel within a one-hour radius to a new town to enjoy a local pub and a nice hike. This week, we went to a nearby town that we frequently visit, because the snow is still piled up everywhere. We weren’t sure which trails would be open or not. Pictures on Instagram.

This morning, we took Ian to a local ski slope. It’s a Jersey-level mountain, so it isn’t very high or large. One of the local moms organized a trip for teenagers with special needs to do its rather nice tubing hill.

Ian was a little nervous about it, because our last trip — about ten years ago — didn’t go so well. He was so afraid that he jumped off his tube midway down the hill and walked down the rest of the mountain. A few minutes later, Steve’s tube went down too fast, and he crashed into a hut at the bottom of the hill. We had to take him to the emergency room. Since Ian never forgets anything, he was understandably a little nervous about today’s adventure.

But it was worth the drive through the snow storm, because he had a marvelous time. He tubed down the mountain five times and felt so brave. We were proud of him.

We’re getting ready for the Super Bowl. Jonah’s gone down to school to watch it with a couple of friends. Since we can’t socialize with anyone, it’s just Steve and Ian and myself tonight.

I’m not a football person. I don’t even know which teams are playing. But I do enjoy the food and the commercials. I’m making some Sirloin Chili. Steve and Ian will make some pigs in the blanket.

What on your menu for tonight?