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 1st 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 7th 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 1st 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.
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