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 5th 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 5th 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 10th year (I took 10 years off when my kids were little) and my 6th 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 1st 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
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