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 1st, 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 1st (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.
