Holy moly, we have a teenager in the house. Anya is 13! This year, for obvious reasons, she's having a toned-down celebration. Two classmates are coming over tomorrow and doing a (socially-distanced) backyard sleepover in separate tents. Last Friday, her buddies Eva and Owen treated her to dinner, junk food, and a movie on the deck, and tonight we're getting Italian takeout and an ice cream cake, so she's been feeling the love.
12 was an interesting year. And 2020 itself has been a time of disappointment and flexibility on her part. We are in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has affected everyone. Back in early March, we eked out a fun trip to Disneyland with the Jackys before everything shut down. But since then, so much has been canceled. School went remote a week later and has remained that way. We missed our big trip to Iceland/Denmark in June, all summer camps and school camps were canceled, and the trip to New Zealand this Christmas with Lynn, Steve, Dondon, and Grangie is no longer, as NZ's borders are closed (and who can blame them?).
Even though so much that she had been looking forward to this year has been canceled, Anya has been quite resilient through it all and we've managed to find fun where we can. In July we made a last-minute trip to Glacier National Park. While Glacier itself was incredibly crowded/half shut down, we had a wonderful time exploring the surrounding area and spending time with Dondon and Grangie. In August we spent a week with the Jackys in a house just north of Manzanita, OR. We got daily hikes, lots of rock painting, and beach time in, and very much enjoyed the week with our friends.
School: As previously mentioned, school is still remote. While it isn't ideal, St. C. has done an amazing job with it and we feel fortunate to have Anya there. Anya is learning and is challenged (as evidenced by her occasional frustration), and handling online school quite well. She is, of course, itching to be back in person and returning to a normal routine.
Favorite subjects according to Anya: "Science, ELA (English Language Arts), Social Studies, and Spanish. I guess I like everything except PE".
Social: Well, Covid sure has put a damper on everyone's social lives. Before our stay at home order started in March, Anya hung out most often with Eva or Eloise on the weekends, plus various classmates. She spent a lot of time with her volleyball team as well and goofed around a lot during carpools and before/after practices and tournaments.
These days, though, we have to keep the social circle pretty small. For the past several months she's spent most of her free time together with Eva and Owen. They play frisbee/run around at various parks and hang out in each other's backyards. We've also set up a Thursday "study group" with Anya and 4 other classmates. They have been meeting up at the school and riding bikes/playing while the weather has been decent. We hope to have them continue through the winter in each other's backyards. Anya and Eloise, while on friendly terms, are no longer close like they were their whole lives.
Activities: Last fall, Anya played CYO soccer. And in winter/spring, she was part of both her club volleyball team and the school's team. Covid cut the volleyball season short, unfortunately. It's a real shame because Anya was becoming a solid player and seemed to genuinely enjoy her practices and tournaments. Her school team dominated in the games they played and seemed well on their way to a first-place finish. But everything stopped in March. She can finally start a modified season this coming December but said she no longer wants to do it (which bums me out way more than her, mainly because I don't understand her decision). She might play a bit of indoor recreational soccer, now that the county is starting to open that up a bit.
Her main exercise these days is dog-walking/running. This summer she put up flyers in the neighborhood and got 3 clients. This schoolyear she has two and is walking dogs for about 90 minutes almost every day after school, plus occasional cat-feeding/dog-walking gigs for friends and neighbors. It's been great for her - she loves the animals, gets plenty of exercise, earns some decent spending money, and is learning some life skills with communication and responsibility.
Likes: The usual: running around and harassing animals. She rides her bike around, goes to Greenlake, and out to dinner (takeout during covid) with friends. Her beloved beardie, Sage, had to be put down last month due to an intestinal mass. Anya was understandably crushed. But she quickly saved up and got a baby bearded dragon, Dashiell, Dash for short. He's got a good disposition, like most bearded dragons, but is otherwise quite different from Sage. He's high-energy, very curious, and prefers greens. A baby bunny ended up in our yard this spring and has stayed. Anya patiently worked with him (her?) to the point of it sitting in her lap and eating out of her hand. Although, he's now more wary of humans in his adulthood. Surprisingly, Copper hasn't bothered the bunny and he lives a pretty cushy life in our yard. We've also got a squirrel who occasionally eats out of her hand and can sometimes be spotted outside the open kitchen door, curious as to what's going on in the house. And of course, the crows are always keeping us company.
She's also taken a lot more to drawing. Mostly dragons these days. A voracious reader, as always. Oh, and a fair amount of baking during her schoolday breaks. She won't take direction from me, though. She likes to find recipes on Pinterest and make them, rarely asking for help or input. While I used to fantasize about us merrily working together in the kitchen or sewing room, her gratefully eating up all the knowledge I impart. I've given up on that. She has her own interests and wants to learn on her own. As long as she has some of these skills by the time she leaves the house, I'm happy enough.
Music: she's getting more into pop songs and makes playlists based on songs she picks up on youtube or with her friends. A current favorite is "Shut Eye" by Stealing Sheep. I also hear Sia, Sam Smith, and other artists I'm not familiar with.
Media: She's been getting into scary/dark shows and movies as of late. She loved Stranger Things and the movie The Sixth Sense. We just watched The Lost Boys (two enthusiastic thumbs up) and started Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We've also been watching Community, The Good Place, and Avatar the Last Airbender, so it's not all spooky stuff.
Future job: I just asked her and she said either a veterinarian or an ornithologist.
Happy Birthday, kid!
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