Pandemic Summer - Week 11

Pandemic Summer

Week 11

Day 70 - Sunday, May 24, 2020

It’s officially Pandemic Summer now.  I did very little yesterday.  I went to Aldi for lunch items to hold us through until the next regular shopping excursion.  They are back to switching out your cart at the checkout, even though you get a freshly cleaned cart when you walk in the store.  I’m not sure I understand.

I did five loads of laundry, folded my clothes, and passed baskets of clean clothes to the kids to fold.  

I read an entire (short) book, Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey, and I was so sleepy while I read the last page, the iPad almost landed on my face.  I never got into the Pern novels, so maybe I will read some of those this summer.  

My garbage disposal stopped working, and I need to go pick up a new one.  I know the one I want, and I want Lowe’s to install it…. I just need to get over to the store.  I figure it’s the original disposal and 20 years old.  Last week an HVAC system was being replaced across the street, the next-door neighbor had his replaced last year.  Mine is still working…. For now. 

If I’d realized that it was going to be perfect grilling weather, I would have thawed and marinated some chicken breasts, but I didn’t.  We had spaghetti and meatballs instead.  It was a little too warm to have the oven on though.  I will have to start menu planning for summer, keep-the-house-cool meals.  The air fryer will certainly come it handy.

Today, I “slept in” until 6:30, and lounged around for a couple of hours.  At 9:00 I watched the church service from The Turning Point.  I played Animal Crossing for an hour, and then ate lunch.  I finally got around to vacuuming, and I put a load of towels in the washer.  I think I’m going to start the last book in the Harper Hall trilogy, Dragondrums.  It should be an uneventful, restful day.

 Day 71 – Monday, May 25, 2020

Yesterday was a very low key, relaxing, even lazy day.  I played Animal Crossing in the morning & in the evening.  I read half of my book.  Dinner was very simple, pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches.  I watered my plants and called my mom.  

This morning, Oliver refused to let me sleep in, which was actually a good thing.  I got up and did Sh’bam aerobics, cooled down, showered, and had breakfast.  I made a menu of summertime dinners that won’t heat up the kitchen too much.  I’m taking Leah to Target to get a new swimsuit since both of her BFFs have put up backyard pools.  

Looking at FB memories is making me miss the beach, not that we were planning a beach trip this summer. Sunday is the day we were supposed to get on a train in Chicago and head to Seattle.  

Day 72 – Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Yesterday, I took Leah to Target.  There aren’t a lot of girls’ XL suits to choose from, but the junior’s suits wouldn’t really work either…. Leah finally picked one, and there was another she liked that wasn’t in her size that I was able to order online.  She got some shorts as well, because she’s grown so much.

I went to Lowe’s to buy a new garbage disposal and pay for the installation.  They are supposed to call me to schedule today (I guess).  That’s not what I wanted to spend money on.  I looked at refrigerators, and I’m longing for the one I bought for my old house.  They are on sale for 33% off which is a great deal, but still more than I should spend right now. 

I grilled chicken and made a foil pack of zucchini and tri-colored mini peppers (what was in the fridge that needed to be consumed), and it was delicious!

I got up early and did yoga before heading to Walmart.  In a bit, I can go pick up a tie dye Reitz shirt from the print shop that Leah won from her math teacher for “being dedicated” during Pandemic School.  I also need to call the salon and see if Elijah and I can get appointments for haircuts.  Three months is a long time when you have short hair!

Day 73 – Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Yesterday, I got hair cut appointments for Elijah and myself for Thursday.  We can’t wait to have less hair on our heads!  His is truly out of control…. And the stylist completely scalped his curls the last time (nearly 3 months ago) when I said, “take and inch off the curls”.  She took at least 2 inches off the curls AND thinned it out, which is does not work for curls.  Tomorrow it will be, “use a #2 guard on the back and sides, and trim 1/8” off the curls if needed”.  

I got a text with information for my garbage disposal installation, and that was super weird.  I guess they get better response from that.  It got set up for June 1^st, which is fine.  

Elijah had requested shrimp a while back, and I found some frozen, battered shrimp at Aldi that looked pretty good.  I finally remembered to put them on the menu this week.  Hannah suggested we make hush puppies, which I love, but had never made.  I had a box of Jiffy cornbread mix, but no regular cornmeal, so I looked up a recipe using that.  I had planned on making the shrimp in the air fryer, but since I had to pull out the deep fryer for the hush puppies, I deep fried all of it.  It was delicious and reminiscent of our beach vacation meals.  While I liked the hush puppies, they weren’t quite right, so I will have to find a more traditional recipe.  These were a little too light, fluffy, and crumbly.  

My good friend Karen called last night.  She misses extroverting.  Even this introvert understands.  The few (small) social events I’ve gotten to go to lately have made a world of difference in how I feel.  

We are supposed to go swim with our friends the Harpers today, but it’s going to rain, so we will try again tomorrow.  Leah will definitely be bummed.  

Elijah’s body clock is SO out of whack.  He had insomnia last night, and just never went to sleep.  He’s been having terrible dreams when normally he rarely remembers any dreams.  He needs a schedule that involves a LOT less video game time and some physical activity wouldn’t hurt either.  Now that the YMCA is open, maybe I just need to get him there to run on the treadmill several times a week…

The store Hannah works out is supposed to open back up on June 1^st (the owner has been doing curbside pickup only), so she might actually go back to work.  

Day 74, Thursday, May 28, 2020

Elijah and I will go get haircuts this morning, then we are all planning to go swimming with friends.  The weather forecast looks a little more promising today.

I worked on sewing masks yesterday.  They are getting close to being done.  I should not have done 15 at one time.  Four or five at a time would have been better.  

I finished two books yesterday.  One was almost done, and the second was much shorter than I expected.  I got another to start today.

Hannah drove to her boyfriend’s house yesterday afternoon and made it home without incident.  She did arrive before it was fully dark, which is generally helpful.  

I spent a little time on the deck last night enjoying the weather since it cooled off a bit after the rain. 

I checked my school email last night, and I was invited to an IEP conference for the first teacher workday in August.  I’m glad to get it on my calendar, but it was unexpected.

I woke up early (the cat helped with that) and did some yoga.  

While I am excited to get a haircut, I don’t have much to write about this morning.  

Day 75 – Friday, May 29, 2020

Yesterday was good to great on a personal level and gut wrenching on a national one.  I truly don’t know how we get past police brutality, racism, and hatred as a nation.  I’m sure that strong leadership, justice, and empathy would make a huge difference.  A comment on a friend’s post was impactful to me “I remember a training I attended for Conscious Discipline where it said that if we see harmful behavior with words, the message the child is saying is "I don't feel loved." If it's with their actions the statement is, "I don't feel safe."  For those of us who feel safe, rioting doesn’t make sense.  For those who don’t feel safe… their actions are making themselves heard.  I hear you.

In my own quiet, safe corner of the world, we did have a good day.  Elijah and I got haircuts, and it really did make a huge difference.  Seeing Elijah’s hair kempt and curly again was delightful as well.

After haircuts we headed home for lunch and to get ready to head to the Harpers for some backyard swim time.  It was only 75 degrees, and apparently the water was cold, but Leah and Elijah along with Penny, Truman, and Jacinda spent the better part of 2 ½ hours in the pool.  The rest of us spent the afternoon chatting.  Once the twins got up from their naps, Hannah was eventually able to coax a few smiles out of Indigo and Violet.  

We had tacos for dinner, and I told Hannah to have Dylan come over because he likes tacos and I didn’t want leftovers in the fridge that wouldn’t get eaten.  Might as well feed an extra, hungry teen boy.

Trent has his annual vet visit this morning.  I’m not sure what that looks like for a dying cat.  He’s stopped cleaning himself, and he won’t let us clean him.  He sits in my lap occasionally.  When he sleeps on the carpeted stairs (99% of the time now), I have to check to make sure he’s still breathing.  Anytime he thinks I might be preparing meat in the kitchen, he meow-screams as me (sometimes they are silent meow-screams which is its own kind of sad). 

Day 76 – Saturday, May 30, 2020

It became apparent yesterday morning that I have no more resilience left.  It’s gone.  I’m holding it together by a thread.  That was surprising to me because I’ve had so much more focus lately, I thought I was out of the woods.

On Wednesday, I received a text from the vet to confirm Trent’s annual appointment for Friday.  I texted “C” for confirm and received a text saying that his appointment was confirmed for Friday at 10:30. We still go to the vet across town, near our old house, so it’s a 25-minute drive.  I loaded Trenty up at 10am and headed out. When I got to the vet, there were signs for “curbside pickup”, but I thought that was for picking up Rx and food.  I walked in was told I had to step outside and call.  I apologized and did.  I could barely hear due to the traffic outside, but after several minutes I was told that the appointment had been cancelled, but maybe they could fit him in somewhere.  I told them it didn’t matter because he was dying anyway, and I left.  I cried all the way home.  Logically, I know I’m not that upset about the appointment.  Miffed, yes.  Sobbing uncontrollably seems excessive.  But that’s where I’m at.  

I did want to talk to the vet about when to know if the time had come to have him euthanized.  He’s no longer cleaning himself, but he does still use the litter box.  Somedays he sits on my lap, but not every day.  

Reading the news all morning wasn’t helpful but being informed is important.  That’s a hard line to walk.

I finished another book yesterday, Today Will be Different by Maria Semple.  It was good, but a little too true to life in places.  I decided my next book would be more fantastical, so I’m starting the Dragon Riders of Pern series, that I somehow never read as a young adult (I’ve read just about everything else Anne McCaffrey has written).  

Leah was invited over for a backyard swim date and pizza with her Westside BFF, Libby (she has a Newburgh BFF, Penny as well).  She came home beaming to have been gone for 4 hours.  That poor kid fared worse during quarantine than I expected she would.  

We ordered pizza as well, and had a relaxing evening.  

Pandemic - Week 10

Week 10 of Pandemic

Welcome to Pandemic Summer (almost)

Day 63 - Sunday, May 17, 2020

Yesterday, I went to Aldi when it opened at 9am.  It’s been quite a while, maybe 8 weeks, since I’ve been to Aldi.  They have really changed their system since I was there last.  Back then, you still got your cart with a quarter, but they had just started letting you keep your own cart when you check out and they toss all your groceries in.  Now, there are only 60 carts available, and they are cleaned before you are allowed to take one.  One cart = one person, in theory at least.  Sixty people in Aldi is a lot.  The vast majority of people were wearing masks, close to 90%.  I was the person that didn’t realize that the aisles were one way until I was nearly done, but I think I only went the wrong way one time.  They had tons of toilet paper, and they had the Italian breadcrumbs I haven’t been able to find at Walmart for two months.  

This morning, I went to Walmart at 7am to finish the shopping.  The only toilet paper was Great Value brand.  I think it’s so weird that Walmart never seems to have multiple brands at one time.  I guess the shipments come in on different days.  I’m going to have to keep an eye out for good brands…. Even the early morning crowd at Walmart is down to about 50% mask wearers.  I do understand the disease fatigue, I have it too.   Oh, Walmart finally had Leah’s croutons, so I bought two packages.  After I loaded the car and was about to put my cart in the corral, and older gentleman, who had just donned his mask, came up and said he’d take my cart…. I think that negates the purpose of all that cart cleaning that’s going on.

For two years I wore bifocal contacts, and I loved them.  However, according to the optometrist, I had to give up a little far distance for close distance.  I got tired of not being able to read street signs when I was driving, so last year I went back to single vision contacts with cheap reading glasses scattered around the house and office.  I also enlarged the font on my phone, iPad, and laptop, so I really didn’t notice.  Well, the presbyopia is growing a bit stronger, and I’ve been reading some paperbacks with tiny print, and cheap readers aren’t fantastic.  Since I still had 3 months’ worth of bifocal contacts, yesterday I decided to wear those.  I can read the tiniest print on labels, and it’s amazing!  However, the far vision is 1-2 “clicks” less than what I really need.  I’m planning on going to a different optometrist in the same practice when my next exam is due and see if he thinks prescribing the correct far vision is possible.  The other guy has some weird ideas sometimes.  Even though my eyes need different correction (-3.00 & -3.25), he prescribes -3.00 for both because “it’s better”.  The last time Hannah saw him, he wanted to not correct her astigmatism (it’s just in one eye) and order the same type of contacts for both.  Last year, Hannah saw a new guy, and he went back to correcting the astigmatism…. 

Day 64 – Monday, May 18, 2020

O!M!G! I have something to do today!  Somewhere to go!!  At 8am I can drop off Leah’s Chromebook & charger and pickup whatever was in her locker.  Then I get to head to Daniel Wertz to help with pick up and drop off for the elementary school.  I have a WebEx in the middle of the day, but if I want, I can video conference FROM MY OFFICE!  This is the most exciting day I’ve had in a really, really long time, lol. 

Things I have to remember, that I have in my car already:

A piece of paper with Leah’s name, grade, and homeroom to hold up to the car window;

Leah’s Chromebook & charger, in a plastic bag with her name on the outside;

My school ID;

My own pen to sign in with (it’s a requirement);

A mask (there will be some provided);

My 30 oz insulated cup of ice water.  

Last night was bookclub via Zoom, and it’s always nice to get to chat with bookish friends.  We read a quick, easy read, Dragonsong, by Anne McAffrey.  I enjoyed it immensely, and I read it in 24 hours.  It was nice to be able to really dive into a book.  I got to choose the next book, so I went with Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, because it’s such a fun read, and a fun movie.  

At dinner last night, I was trying to explain to Elijah that running air conditioning is EXPENSIVE.  He just can’t understand that.  I have the thermostat set at 78 degrees, and it was 78 degrees.  During dinner, the AC clicked on.  He was super grumpy because he was hot, which I understand, but I really cannot tolerate much complaining right now.  

I got up early this morning and did a 30-minute Sh’bam work out before getting ready.  I’m not sure if that’s something I could manage more frequently or not.  I think I’ll try.  It certainly is nice to get the exercise out of the way first thing.

Day 65 – Tuesday, May 19, 2020

I woke up at 5am again, mostly because I was in bed at 8pm last night.  Boy was I tired after a FULL day.  Yesterday was a lot of fun, and I got to chat with several of my teacher friends all day long.  The student pick-up/drop-off stuff process was surprisingly slow.  We have approximately 350 kids (Wee Care and preschool included) who attend Daniel Wertz, and all their stuff was bagged up by classroom teacher in the cafeteria.  Each grade was assigned a time to pick up and 4-6pm was for anyone.  The 4-6pm time was by far the busiest, and we had a near constant stream of cars at that time.  I estimate half of it still remains in the cafeteria.  

I picked up Leah’s stuff yesterday which consisted of four unused math workbooks and a 3-ring binder.  She also got a certificate for “A Honor Roll, Citizenship, Media Assistant, & Virtual Learning”.  We had a good laugh over that last one.  Did everyone get that?  I’ll have to go back for her gym clothes since she didn’t know her “basket number”.

Hannah goes to Reitz to pick up her yearbook (her locker just had one textbook in it) and turn in her Chromebook.  She’s sad that people can’t sign her yearbook yet, but hopefully over the summer she’ll get to see some people.

We haven’t heard when Elijah can pick up his yearbook.  Signature School doesn’t have lockers, but I assume they will want their textbooks back…. Having kids at three schools and working at a fourth is interesting.

Today, I’m going to work in my office where I will shut it down for the year.  Plenty of printing to update physical files and organizing will go on.  Then I’m going to help deliver yard signs to two of my 5^th grade students.  That will be fun!

I will be glad to pack up this school year!  It’s been weird, lol.

Day 66 - Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Yesterday, I went in to work to finish my paperwork and wrap up the school year.  Well, I got started.  In my head, I thought I had about ten IEPs that needed to be printed and put in physical files.  I don’t know why I thought there were only ten.  Unless, I’m the teacher of record (that only applies to my speech/language only students where that is their primary disability), I tend to forget to print the IEP after a meeting.  Since I’m only TOR for 10 of my 70 students, I had 60 IEPs to print and put in files.  That took the entire morning and 700+ sheets of paper.  Sometimes our network allows printing double sided pages and sometimes it doesn’t. Yesterday was a single page day, and each one was in reverse order.  It was a blast.  I went home for lunch, then came back to stuff IEPs into Daniel Wertz files.  I have a giant stack for Reitz, but I have no idea what building access looks like (I don’t get their emails…), but I think you have to sign up for a time.  That stack will be okay sitting in my office cabinet over the summer.  After that, I went with one of the self-contained teachers and her paras to deliver yard signs to a couple of 5^th graders.  It was nice, but heart-breaking to see those students.  By the time I got back to school, it was 3pm, so I went home.  I still have plenty to do at school, and I have a feeling I’ll be there all week.  

Today, I have my last IEP meeting of the school year, and I’ll be happy to finally wrap that up.  Also, Hannah has her AP Language and Composition test today, so I want to be home during that.  So, I will spend at least the morning in my office, and I set up WebEx on my school computer, so I can have my IEP meeting from my school office, which seems weird, lol.  I have a feeling I’ll be back in the office after Hannah’s test is over.  There’s just a lot to do, and teachers aren’t sure if our building access will disappear next week…

I imagine that I’ll get the weekly email update from Camp Carson today.  After reading what the American Camping Association said, I think they will probably have camp.  If so, I’m sending my kids…. 

Day 67 – Thursday, May 21, 2020

Yesterday afternoon ended up being the crappiest we’d had in a while.  I got the news that the adjustment to my workload that was going to make next year doable isn’t going to happen.  Then I got the weekly Wednesday email from Camp Carson that broke the news about no camp.  They basically said that all the adjustments they’d have to make to camp would make it “not Camp Carson”.  Because food is my only coping mechanism, we got Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.  I’m sure I’m teaching my kids great things.  Sad? Anxious? Bored?  Just eat something tasty!!

This morning, some photos from my high school graduation popped up in my FB memories.  Is there anything that makes you feel older?  So, it’s been 28 years since I graduated from high school, 24 years since I graduated with my first Bachelor’s, 22 since my second, and 20 years since I graduated with my Master’s.  OMG!  That means, come August it will be 20 years since I started my first school speech therapy position…. I just finished my 10^th year (I took 10 years off when my kids were little) and my 6^th with EVSC.  When I was in school, there was NO online component, not even our grades were online, lol.  We did have email starting in 1996…

Today, I’m going to clean my office at school, it’s a mess.  Hopefully, I’ll get that done in the morning, and I’ll mow the lawn in the afternoon (it’s been almost two weeks because of all the rain lately…).  Tonight I’m going to hang out with some teachers on a backyard deck (I have to break that to my children, and I will probably order them pizza).  

Day 68 – Friday, May 22, 2020

Today is the last day of school, which is almost completely meaningless.  Leah was done with schoolwork two weeks ago, Elijah took his AP test last week, Hannah took her last AP test on Wednesday, and I finished all of my work including cleaning my office yesterday.  Here’s to a better summer!

I mowed the lawn yesterday (boy was it lush!), and nearly missed my last WebEx meeting of the school year.  I was only 5 minutes late, which is pretty good considering I’d completely forgotten about it.  We had an end-of-the-year speech therapist meeting, and the general vibe was “be ready for anything next school year”.

EVSC’s superintendent put out a video for teachers, and they are coming up with multiple plans because they don’t know what the governor will say we have to do.  The governor isn’t planning on announcing what schools will do until the end of June…. It’s crazy not to know.  

Today, Indiana moves to Phase 3 of “Back on Track”, even though it’s earlier than initially planned.  This allows for gatherings of 100 people (yikes); retail moves to 75% capacity; gyms, pools, and campgrounds can open; non-contact sports (and practice) can resume; and day cares can open.  I guess we’ll see if that curve stays flattened.  Our harder hit counties will wait until June 1^st to move to stage 3.

I spent the evening on a backyard deck with four teachers, and boy was it a fabulous time!!  I ate the best burger of all time and had the best conversations I’ve had in… a long time.  I had told my kids I’d be home around 10pm, but it was 10:45 before I knew it. 

Elijah is trying to reset his body clock, so he stayed up all night the night before.  By 2pm he was hurting.  I guess he fell asleep around 6pm but got up around 11pm when I got home.  He got some water and went back to bed.  I should probably wake him up, and see if it worked…

Leah and Libby have planned a picnic and walk at Burdette Park for lunch today.  So, we have a little fun planned.  

Day 69 – Saturday, May 23, 2020

Yesterday was the weirdest “last day of school” ever, lol.  It was a great day, don’t get me wrong, but it was nothing like a normal last day of school.

Leah and I met Libby and Tiffany at Burdette Park for a picnic and hike.  Leah was unprepared for the length of this hike!  We walked nearly 4 miles.  It was so beautiful and green.  We saw the prettiest birds; I saw the first bluebird I’ve ever seen.  There were frogs (toads probably), lizards, and plenty bugs.  It was quite warm in the sun, so Leah and I stopped at the gas station for drinks.  I was unsure how the soda fountain would work under Pandemic, and I hadn’t been inside a gas station since February.  It wasn’t as restricted as I thought it might be, you just have to ask for a cup instead of pulling one out of the dispenser. 

I played Animal Crossing for the first time since Sunday… I’ve been busy getting ready for the end of the school year!

Hannah drove for the first time in two months.  There is so much road construction right now (it’s that way every spring and summer it seems) that when she headed home, the only way she knew was closed.  So, I went and got her, and she followed me home.  We did have to go through some back roads since the one way was blocked and the second way had a large police presence (not sure what was going on, but lots of flashing lights).  This is why I pay for the Life360 app.  If It wasn’t dark, she probably could have used GPS to get home on her own.  

Since it’s supposed to rain for the next ten days, we grilled burgers and corn on the cobb last night.  It was perfect weather to eat outside, so we did.  The sun was behind a cloud, it was still, and the temperature was pleasant.  Those things rarely happen at the same time.

Today’s activities include laundry, vacuuming, and going to Aldi for lunch necessities.  

This wraps up week 10, and is the official start of #PandemicSummer

Pandemic - Week 9

Week 9 of Pandemic

Welcome to Pandemic Summer (almost)

Day 56, Sunday, May 10, 2020

Happy Mother’s Day!  I talked to my mom yesterday, and she and my dad will be having dinner with my siblings.  Most everyone is working from home, so the thought is that it should be safe enough.  She has been trying to stay busy and has been working in the yard and planting flowers.

My plans for today are to continue with laundry and to vacuum.  For dinner I’m grilling corn on the cob and ribeyes and we might have salad as well.  It’s a good thing that Leah doesn’t care for steak and is happy with a hamburger because the store only had three ribeyes, and I bought all three.   Leah said she was going to bake a surprise for me, so that should be interesting.  

In yesterday’s mail, Leah got the supplies to make another stuffed frog from my mom, and I got an unexpected book from my dear friend Vanessa.

In the next week, we should hear some information about summer camp, and maybe some idea of what school will look like in August.  I know we’d all like to make plans…

Day 57, Monday, May 11, 2020

I had a lovely Mother’s Day.  I took the girls to JoAnn’s to buy fabric for masks.  I let them each pick out two fabrics and I bought ¼ yard of each.  JoAnn is pretty strict on limiting the number of people in the store.  I was a little surprised to find out that it was only 25 people at a time, and I felt a little guilty for having three people.  An interesting note:  EVERYONE at JoAnn was wearing a mask.  During my trip to Wal-mart Saturday, I noticed that while only 30% of the people in the store were wearing masks, 90% of people in the produce section were mask wearers.  

After JoAnn, we went to the Harper’s to drop off a few things, and we hung out in the backyard for about an hour.  Leah, Penny, and Jacinda were happy to get some play time.  The twins who are about 20 months old just stared at us like they’d never seen non-Harper people before.  I’m sure they don’t remember non-Harper people since they haven’t left the house in two months.

On the way home, we stopped at Sonic for drinks, and they were super busy.  When we got home, I looked for a mask pattern that had all of the requirements I was looking for.  I wanted a pattern that was cup shaped, contoured, and tied with one long tie.  I decided to make a test mask with some scrap material I already had.  I was impressed with how nice it turned out.  I did end up needing to make the tie longer than it suggested, by 50%.  I think it’s honestly the best bit of sewing I’ve ever done.  I went ahead and washed, dried, and ironed the fabric that I had bought so I can cut out masks today.  

For dinner I grilled corn on the cob and ribeye steaks, and a hamburger for Leah.  The steaks were AMAZING, and the corn was great as well.  For some reason, I haven’t gotten corn on the cob for the past few years, but I will have to start getting it more often.  It is delicious.

Hannah made me an adorable card with TurtleDucks on it because that’s what she does.

Today, I have to get started on my progress monitoring for my students.  My goal is to do ten students a day for seven days.  If I tried to do all 70 any faster, well, it wouldn’t be pretty.  I will likely prepare for a conference that is at 9am tomorrow as well.  I still need to vacuum, but that cat hair isn’t going anywhere.

Day 58 – Tuesday, May 12, 2020

I did a 30 minutes Sh’bam workout yesterday instead of a 45 minute one, and I’m less sore and my heartrate recovered much faster.  I’m going to try to do that three times a week until I get my heart back in shape, and then go back to the 45-minute ones.

Last night for dinner, I made salmon patties in the air fryer.  They were okay.  One recipe said to spray with PAM, another said not to.  I didn’t and wish I had. 

Elijah kept coming and talking to me last night, which is cool, so I did nothing else.

This morning, I got up at 6am and got up a ready right away because I wanted to get my work done as early as possible.  I did “paper” work for two hours, then I had an IEP WebEx that was 90+ minutes long.  By the time I was done with that, it was time for lunch.

Leah joined me for lunch in the dining room, which rarely happens.  She was excited for the delivery of a phone case she had purchased…. And she ordered the wrong size.  So, now we know that Amazon returns are easier than ever.  You can drop them off unboxed, and they scan a QR code on your phone.  I believe she has found one that will actually fit that she wants to order.  

Elijah is currently writing practice DBQs (document-based questions) in preparation for his AP US History test on Friday. He did one on Monday and plans to do two more before his teacher’s deadline tomorrow afternoon.  He may be a procrastinator, but his last push is generally successful.  

Day 59 – Wednesday, May 13, 2020

I’m back to not knowing what day it is…. Which honestly, is an issue I struggle with even when I go to work.  In some ways, I know it’s Wednesday, but I also occasionally think it might be Tuesday.  I just marked a few days off of the calendar hanging on the fridge, and I went back to see if I had marked Tuesday off.  Nope.  

Last night we got some exciting/stressful/kind-of-sad news about work that I can’t share until tomorrow.  In the email I read right before that one was from one of the teachers I work with who was letting me know that I wrote the wrong kid’s name in his progress monitoring statement.  OMG!  Two blonde boys in two classes who remind me of each other…. I got his name right the first time, but not the second.  Thankfully, I was able to go in and delete it, and put in a correct one.  Thank goodness for copy & paste.  That’s one reason that I’m only doing 10 per day.  I can’t imagine the mistakes if I tried to do more.  My typical mistake is to forget to enter the date which means when you hit “save” it doesn’t, but it doesn’t notify you.  I have been EXTRA careful to put the date in first thing.   Now, I need to proof read the 20 I finished.  

Last week, Elijah had been explaining a reveal from the anime, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, that he’s been watching.  My response was, “Have you SEEN Fight Club?”.  Of course, he had not, so I told him we should watch it sometime.  That turned out to be last night.   Even though I’d kind of given away the twist, he only started to see it coming a little earlier than it is revealed in the movie.  He had a lot of questions after.  That was the second time I’ve seen it, and I didn’t remember many details.  The last time I saw it, was 2000 and we rented it on VHS from Hasting’s in Stillwater.

Today was not a hop out of bed when the alarm goes off kind of day.  I’m going to get some work done, and then get ready for the day…. Some Pandemic days are like that.  

Day 60 – Thursday, May 14, 2020

Hannah and I watched the movie “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” last night.  We listened to the audiobook on the drive to Oklahoma last summer, and we really enjoyed it.  In fact, it was a major reason why I planned our now cancelled trip to Seattle.  In the middle of the movie, the characters are eating dinner in the Space Needle restaurant.  Elijah happened to be in the room at the time, and comments, “I really want to go there.”  I nearly burst into tears.  We were supposed to leave in about two weeks.

Yesterday, when I checked the ten progress monitoring reports I had done on Tuesday, I found SIX significant errors.  So much for getting up early and getting right to work.  I’m going to assume that my brain was not yet fully functioning.  I didn’t find any mistakes from Monday…. Yesterday, I double checked after the fact and found one less significant mistake.

Today, we are going to picnic with Leah’s BFF Libby.  I’m not sure if my other two are coming along or not.  It probably depends on if I’m offering to buy fast food.  I haven’t decided yet.

Today is my last IEP conference for which I am a teacher of service (they have speech therapy, but that’s not their primary disability).  I still have one speech-only IEP to conference, but I’ve had to re-schedule it twice.  I’m ready to be DONE with those for the school year.

At the beginning of the school year, Elijah was convinced that a low(er) tech device called AlphaSmart was going to BEST thing for his class note taking.  He’s one of those boys who HATES the physical act of writing, but has been able to type fluently on a keyboard since 1^st grade.  He has a laptop, but it has issues since it got dropped off of his loft bed at one point.  The AlphaSmart is basically a keyboard that is able to store text documents.  It has a tiny LCD screen where you can see two lines of text at a time.  It’s slightly more advanced than the word processor my college roommate had in 1993 (a typewriter that could store text documents).  The AlphaSmart can plug into a computer or printer to output documents.  Elijah recently decided that the AlphaSmart was NOT the end all be all of note taking, so I’m looking into getting him a nicer Chromebook.  He has a SWEET desktop computer for gaming… but it doesn’t transport well to school, lol.

I did another 30 minute Sh’bam workout yesterday, and I only have one more pound of Pandemic weight to lose… then on to the rest.  I’ve been very good/strict with my food intake until dinner, then I eat a normal dinner.  No sweets…. I’m happy with my progress so far.

Day 61, Friday, May 15, 2020

Today will be quite a day.  At 12:30 my two high schoolers will log into their College Board accounts and wait for their AP US History test to begin at 1:00.  All of our anxiety is a bit high.  

This morning, our PTA is putting on a wave parade for students.  Teachers will stand in front of the school as parents and student drive past.  It’s also predicted to rain, but it might hold off until the parade is over.  

On Monday I will pick up Leah’s belongings from her school and drop off her Chromebook, then head to my school and help with that process.  The whole thing is very upsetting.  I think we had hopes that at some magical time in July teachers and students could gather to do this in person…

Yesterday I took Leah to an outdoor picnic with her BFF Libby in the parking lot of a nearby park.  It was nice, and I’m clearly dying for conversation with other adults because I don’t think I stopped talking to Libby’s mom for the entire hour.  I’m sure I let her get a few words in, lol.  It was warm, a little humid, and WINDY.  The girls were out in the sun, and got hot, but moms are smart and we stayed in the shade.

Hannah and her boyfriend, Dylan went to Starbucks for the first time in forever.  They even borrowed masks to do so.  

We had Taco Thursday.  Then Elijah bought a new Switch game called Overcooked 2 that he thought would make a good group game, and he convinced all of the youngsters to play with him.  They all four played for over two hours, on a collaborative game, without fighting.  Amazing.

Day 62 – Saturday, May 16, 2020

We are wrapping up week 9 of Pandemic.  Yesterday was an anxious/good day (which must be like chaotic-good as opposed to chaotic-evil) with a school Wave Parade for teachers at my elementary school quickly followed by at-home AP US History testing for my two high schoolers.  Everything went well.

I headed to school an hour earlier than I had initially planned because I was too anxious to sit around at home.  At school, I proceeded to chat with my teacher friends the entire time I was in the building.  Apparently, I miss interacting with people I’m not related to.  It was a rainy morning, typical of Evansville, any time of the year, and I realized as I was driving in the rain, that I had not driven in the rain since March 12^th (that was a flash flood).  That is a LONG time to have not driven in the rain in Evansville…. Twelve days without rain once made the news…. So, for the wave parade, the teachers stood in front of the school, socially distanced, in masks while parents drove their kids past, waved, honked, and some threw candy.  It was very sweet!

The APUSH test went off without a hitch.  Both kids were able to log in at 12:30 (30 minutes before the test started).  Hannah was in my bedroom at a card table with my laptop so she could have an ethernet connection.  Elijah was in his bedroom with his sweet computer set-up.  Both doors were shut.  They ended up with different test prompts (expected), though after the fact, both found people who had the same as them among their friends.  Both wrote for 45 minutes, uploaded, and walked out of their respective rooms within 30 seconds of each other.  Elijah’s prompt covered the time period he was most familiar with, and Hannah thought her’s was pretty easy as well.  In July we’ll find out their scores.

The rest of the afternoon was spent decompressing, and we followed It up with take-out from Lin’s Asian Express.  I made Dylan and Hannah pick it up.  It was fantastic, as always.  

The kids tried to re-create the video game extravaganza from the previous night, but people were not in the best moods.  They are going to try again on another night.  

This morning, I’m going to head to Aldi around the time it opens.  I haven’t been there in quite a while.  I’m hopeful that they will have a couple of things that Walmart doesn’t ever seem to have.  Also, it’s laundry day, which is always fun.  If the grass ever dries out, I need to mow, but I think it’s just going to rain again… 

Welcome to Pandemic School - Week 8

Welcome to Pandemic School

Week 8

Day 49 – Sunday, May 3, 2020

Holy Smokes!  Week 8?  Tomorrow, Phase 2 of Back on Track Indiana starts.  The only real differences are that we can social distance at more stores and restaurants.  While we are planning a Target trip tomorrow to get Leah out of the house, I don’t think we’ll be sitting in any restaurants just yet.  I might be okay with outdoor seating, maybe. 

I did a Walmart run this morning, and they are still out of some things.  It’s better, to be sure, but it’s kind of weird what they are out of or low on.  I was unable to get Italian breadcrumbs (for making meatballs), salted butter, whole wheat rotini, or tri-color rotini.  My guess is Aldi has all or most of those things in stock, so maybe a trip to Aldi is in order.  Even though, it’s cheaper if you go to Aldi, then go to Walmart for whatever is left on your list, I have only been going to one store when possible.  Of course, I have to go to Schnuck’s either Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning to pick up an Rx.  Maybe I’ll throw an Aldi trip in one morning as well.

It’s was downright warm this morning.  I got home from Walmart around 9am, and it was already 75 degrees outside.  It’s actually getting cloudy and rain is predicted.  I think it’s supposed to cool off a few degrees as well.  

The kids have eaten more of the school lunch/breakfast MREs than I thought they would at this point.  We may very well get through most of them in two weeks.  The girls found pizza MRE’s which was a bit unexpected, and the pizza was on par with frozen pizza.  There was an interesting one that Leah was unsure how to put together, flour tortilla, cheese sauce (like nacho cheese), beef stick, and salsa.  She ended up eating the beef stick and breakfast items, and leaving the tortilla, cheese, and salsa for later.  My guess is to spread the cheese on the tortilla, wrap the beef stick inside, and dip in the salsa.  

I think Trent, is heading downhill.  He hasn’t been sitting in my lap for the past few days and has just been sleeping on a towel I put in a chair for him.  He has vomited three times this morning, just water.  Poor guy!  He begs for people food when I’m in the kitchen, and if it’s plain meat, I give it to him.  He’s never been a cat who wanted human food, or even cat treats.  He usually keeps the meat down, and I only give very small quantities.  Poor kitty. 

I have given up waking up Elijah in the morning, even though he wants to get up (his body just rebels). Yesterday, his ELO “Mr Blue Skies” alarm on his phone went off for 4 hours.  He has twelve alarms set, lol.  When he finally got up, he told me he was disappointed that his alarms didn’t got off…. I told him that he needed to set his real alarm clock if he really wanted to wake up in the morning.  He doesn’t like being startled by the alarm, but clearly that’s the only thing that works.  This morning, I heard his real alarm go off at 5am, and lo and behold, he got up…. Amazing.

Day 50 – Monday, May 4, 2020

May the Fourth Be With You! 

Today’s the day Indiana starts opening up, for better or for worse.  I noticed yesterday that it looked like people had already started on a personal level…. 

Leah and I are going to Target today, but we will be wearing masks and social distancing along with hand sanitizing and washing before and after.  Lucky for us, we have Star Wars masks to wear today, lol.  Thanks Mom!

We had chocolate protein pancakes for dinner last night.  Grilled chicken had been on the menu, but rain was predicted all day… but it didn’t rain.  Hannah requested the pancakes, so that was fine.  Grilled chicken got moved to tomorrow, but now rain is predicted then.  I suppose I’ll get it marinating and grill it when possible.

I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning.  Oliver was actually a good cat and didn’t get me up at 2-3-4am as usual.  My alarm (and Elijah’s) went off at 5am.  I opted out.  Then my 6am alarm went off, and I opted out again.  Around 7am, I decided the time was right.  Now, I’m trying to rouse the younger two at nearly 9am. Elijah only has AP US History class now, and he’s assuming it will meet at the end of the school day as normal.  I’d like him to check on that.  I want Leah to get done what she can before we head to Target at 11:30.

I got my work done yesterday afternoon.  I suppose there is something to be said for a flexible schedule.  No meetings for me today.

This morning is a beautiful, sunny morning with a temperature of 64 degrees.  It’s practically perfect out there!

Day 51 – Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Leah and I had our Target outing yesterday.  While we fully enjoyed seeing the Harpers, the rest of the shopping trip was less fun than we’d hoped.  Leah wore a mask for the first time.  We both wore Star Wars masks that had been washed, but they must have shrunk a bit because it was hard to keep the elastic on our ears (that wasn’t previously the case).  Leah is at that awkward stage where she really wants to shop in the kids’ section (especially at Target), but she is just big enough that she needs to shop in the juniors’ section.  We headed to the toy section because Leah still loves to look at the toy section.  I noticed that there NO BIKES.  I had not considered how much in demand bikes would be.  Neither of us bought anything which was good because the store was kind of crowded and all the lines were pretty long.  On the way home, we stopped at Sonic for drinks.  Of course, the drink Leah wanted (ice cream slush) is no longer on the menu and we were ordering from the app.  She ended up with a slush and we blended in ice cream at home.  While I will probably take Leah on some necessary shopping trips, I don’t think we’ll have any Target-for-no-reason trips for the foreseeable future.

We ended the day with carry out from Los Bravos since Pete sent some unexpected “teacher appreciation” money for that purpose.  It was good, and we’ve missed Mexican food.  However, take-out just isn’t the same.  Elijah attempted to alleviate some of that by asking Alexa to play Mexican music.  I don’t know what station she chose, but it wasn’t quite what we’d hear at Los Bravos.  Nice try though.  

I have an early afternoon WebEx conference that I need to prepare for, and I’d like to take a long walk this morning.  It stormed all night, but it looks like we won’t have more rain this morning.  

Once again, Oliver did not wake me up in the middle of the night, so maybe he’s turning a new leaf.  Either that or he’s finally figured out that I just close the door to my room with him on the outside of it.   

Day 52 – Wednesday, May 6, 2020

I got up early so I could pick up an Rx at Schnucks when it opened at 7am.  Unfortunately, they are only open at 7am on Mondays and Thursdays, the rest of the time they open at 9am.  I suppose I’ll just rearrange things a bit.  

I feel like absolutely nothing happened yesterday (my FitBit would agree), but I did have an IEP WebEx that lasted an hour in the early afternoon. I helped Leah with math and ELA.  I did read and I did play Animal Crossing.  In the evening I attended a 1^st grade WebEx that was fun to be a part of. 

Yesterday was cold and rainy.  Today, so far, is cold and cloudy.  I think it’s supposed to clear up.  I’m planning on grilling tonight, so clear would be better than rain.

I have an Annual Case Review IEP meeting that I’m in charge of at 10am, it’s my last one for the school year, unless I have to reschedule it.  

Oliver was back to his obnoxious self at 4am, and he’s still going strong at 7:30 just looking for trouble.  Elijah actually got up with his 5am alarm today, hopefully he’ll get some studying for his AP US History test (that’s coming up soon!).  Hannah has been good with all the practice sessions that College Board has put out, Elijah, not so much.  

Day 53 – Thursday, May 7, 2020

Not to be a cliché, but it’s amazing what a little exercise can do for your mood and outlook.  I’m feeling committed to getting back on track with my weight…. Yesterday, I got Les Mills On Demand so I can do Sh’bam workouts at home.  That’s the class I enjoy most at the YMCA but is never at a good time for me during the school year.  I feel kind of bad about wanting to cancel my Y membership, but I probably will.  Elijah likes to go after school (it’s just down the street for him), so I will probably keep his membership, and pick him up from there a few days a week assuming we ever get back to a normal routine.  I did a 40 minutes aerobic workout yesterday, and survived, lol.  I was about to stop early, but they started the ‘cool down’ at that point.  Happy I made it through!  

This morning, I got on the scale (AACCKKK!!), and I’ve gained 4 pounds since I last weighed myself.  I suppose that isn’t as bad as it could be… but I was already in a bad spot.  I did all my measurements and hope to track them once a month or so.  I don’t know how often I’ll weigh myself.  I do find it super motivating when it’s going down, not so much when it’s at a plateau.

I had to go to Schnuck’s to pick up an Rx yesterday, and I got bread, Grippos (spicy BBQ chips that Walmart doesn’t carry), and 2 bags of chopped salad that we like (on sale!).  

My WebEx IEP meeting had to be re-scheduled…. Not shocking

I was able to grill chicken for dinner and it was delicious!  

My friend, Jean, left cupcakes on our porch for her birthday, and they were VERY good.  

I slept extra well last night, and the cat was only slightly obnoxious at 4am.  

Leah is currently working on her LAST two virtual assignments of the school year.  She’s almost a 7^th grader, Elijah’s heading into his Sophomore year, and Hannah her Senior year…. How did they get so big?  

Day 54 – Friday, May 8, 2020

Today is a big day for the girls.  It’s the last Virtual Day of the school year, and they are excited.  They would much rather have spent the last eight weeks going to the physical building, which is probably a shock to Leah who never wants to go to school.  Hannah and Elijah will continue to prepare for their AP exams, US History is next Friday at 1pm, and English is the following Wednesday.  I will still have to do progress monitoring for my 70 students which I’m going to break down to ten students a day.

I have several WebEx conferences today, so many in fact that I won’t be able to attend all of them.  I have a staff meeting, show & tell with my younger kids in self-contained class, IEP meeting, I’ll miss the 1^st grade virtual field trip to a farm, I’ll likely miss an IEP for a new student who is transferring to one of our self-contained classes, and I’m running the show & tell for my older kids in self-contained.  The last one should end by 1:30.

I did another Sh’bam dance workout yesterday, and I found one that I already knew.  I think that’s something I should be able to keep up with 3-5 times a week.  

We are under a freeze warning tonight.  Hello, polar vortex!  I will need to bring my potted plants back indoors.  I just put them out a week ago.  Crazy.  We didn’t have much of a winter, and I only wore my winter coat twice the whole season.  The rest of the time, I just wore a sweatshirt or fleece jacket.  

I’m going to have to change my hashtag.  I’m thinking about #PandemicSummer

Day 55 – Saturday, May 9, 2020

I slept in until 8am this morning, and it was fantastic.  Then around 10am I decided that I probably needed to go to Walmart because we were running out of some staple items like milk and bread and lunch meat.  Oh! My! Gosh!  Please remind me to only go to Walmart on days when I can be there close to the time it opens.  It was busy.  There was not a line to go in when I got there, but it must have been close to capacity.  And guess what, people that shop late in the morning on Saturdays are a lot less likely to wear a mask.  I was unable to get the croutons Leah likes, Italian breadcrumbs, or steaks for Mother’s Day (but who wants Walmart steaks anyway, I got the last three ribeyes at Schnucks meat counter).  The lines, oh my goodness the lines were LONG to check out.  As I left Walmart there was a HUGE line to get in.  Next time I will get there at 7:15am on a weekday… 

I’m also doing laundry (just like every Saturday) and I mowed the grass which was getting ridiculously high.  I think I’d gone a week and a half without cutting it.  

Last night the polar vortex moved through and Evansville got down to 35 degrees.  When Oliver got me up at 2am (maybe it was 4am) I put on a sweatshirt before crawling back into bed.  

Elijah just realized that his AP US History test is going to consist of exactly one essay.  I’m not sure where he has been for the past month, but clearly not really paying attention to things.  That boy…

We are wrapping up week 8 of Pandemic.