Pandemic At School
Week 35
Day 237 – Sunday, November 8, 2020
COVID, COVID, COVID… make it stop!
My friend’s daughter’s test came back positive, which was no real surprise with all of her symptoms. Then mom spikes a fever, then her brother…. They will get tests tomorrow. Another family I know has it, though mildly. It’s too close for comfort right now.
I took my car to the gas station to fill up the tank, and I took the scenic route. Leah had left her door ajar yesterday, and I wanted to make sure the battery was okay. That was the extent of my time out of the house today.
I did more laundry and vacuumed the floor. I recently made the discovery, quite accidentally, that the vacuum canister has a notch to hold the floor attachment/hose while not in use. Today, I realized there is another notch to hold it while the canister is in another position. I doubt I read the instructions when I bought the thing, but I wonder if those features were even noted. It certainly makes storing the whole thing in the closet much easier!
I read some, and I made chili for dinner, turkey chili since ground turkey was in the freezer. My kids aren’t huge fans, but I’m not bothered by that fact.
I had Evansville/Wichita Zoom book club tonight where we talked about Howl’s Moving Castle. Even though it was Karen’s turn to choose the next book, I essentially chose it… A Study of Scarlet Women (Lady Sherlock #1). I recently started book #5 since it just came out. They are fun, and since I’ve never read Sherlock Holmes, the plot is new to me. Win, win.
Thinking about Thanksgiving travel since we are supposed to visit my parents. If we don’t get infected prior, I think I will get us tested the weekend before Thanksgiving for a little assurance that we aren’t taking COVID to OKC.
Day 238 – Monday, November 9, 2020
My day was pretty normal. However, the same can’t be said for everyone.
The 1st-2nd grade self-contained teacher was vomited on by a student. She went home, showered, and changed clothes before coming back to school. I’m not sure I would have come back.
One of the teacher’s assistants is out for 14 days… so kindergarten dismissal was “all hands on deck”, but it went really smoothly.
Leah’s middle school had no internet or phones today. I guess the remote learners were just out of luck today. Leah had another unannounced after school band practice. I’m starting to expect them, though it would be nice to know in advance.
Central Library finally opened up to the public, so Elijah was able to go there after school instead of the YMCA. He said someone that he couldn’t see had a horrible cough. Fantastic.
I got home just after 4, and started getting dinner ready in the Instant Pot. Tortilla soup was on the menu, but I used the last can of Rotel in the chili last night. So, we had Chrissy’s chicken and noodles instead. Tomorrow, I will run to Aldi for hamburger buns and Rotel since they did not make my shopping list…
My friends with COVID are feeling better, but those tested this morning are still waiting on their results.
I am surprisingly excited about the vaccine trial (not yet peer reviewed) that came back 90% effective using RNA and nanotechnology. I want to read all about it!!
Day 239 – Tuesday, November 10, 2020
We have Veteran’s Day off school tomorrow, so it’s Faux Friday; therefore, I didn’t do the dishes.
Today, was a pretty normal day at school with just a little bit of craziness. I had a screaming, crying, gone-boneless, hitting, scratching first grader for the first eight minutes of their session, who then settled down and worked extremely slowly for the next seven minutes, and didn’t have enough time to play a game. Sad day. I helped a kindergartener “find their lost” music class. (The class wasn’t lost. The child had run.). I was novel to the situation, so they were perfectly willing to come with me…
Hannah’s boyfriend got a negative COVID test result, so I guess he really did have a stomach bug.
Friends have been waiting 36 hours for test results.
I talked to my financial planner, for my annual meeting. He also, has COVID. Tonight, I tried to get all my EVSC retirement accounts linked to Edward Jones… NO LUCK.
After school, I made a quick stop at Aldi for a couple of necessary things I forgot. I guess 3:30 is a super busy time, but I was still out of the store in five minutes.
I broiled hamburgers for dinner. I considered one last grilling session since it was 70 degrees, but it was raining.
45 and his cronies are acting like he won’t leave office. Annoying. Sure, file your lawsuits. Do the recounts. If we are a democratic republic, then he will go, kicking and screaming if necessary.
Day 240 – Wednesday, November 11, 2020
Having a Wednesday off is weird and messes with my sense of time. Tomorrow feels like it should be Monday, not Thursday, though I’m happy for Thursday.
Indiana’s governor finally decided that counties in orange (most of the state) are not allowed gatherings of more than 50 people, and counties in red are capped at 25. He did not limit restaurants and bars to take out only, which probably needs to be done.
This morning, I went to Walmart at 7am and stocked up on paper supplies. I shouldn’t need any toilet paper or paper towels for several months. The chip on my credit card would not read, but my debit card did, so I blamed my credit card not the chip reader. When I got home, I ordered a new card. At 9am I got an oil change, and when I paid with my credit card, the chip worked…. Oh well, I’m getting a new card this week. While I waited for my oil change, I sat and read (while masked, of course) for an entire hour without interruption. It was magical. Even though my kids are big, they still interrupt my reading time. Heaven forbid, I close my eyes for a quick doze, alarms must go off in their heads because they always wake me up.
Elijah had me watch a Scottish show today. Not only could I only understand about 25% of the words coming out of their mouths, it wasn’t funny. It’s kind of an SNL/Studio C type of show. I don’t think it would have been funny if I could understand it either…. I generally enjoy BBC shows, so this was underwhelming. Don’t let your Zoomer children pick the shows.
Leah was BORED so we took a trip to Michael’s for her to buy more supplies for making earrings. On the way home, she remembered that her jewelry making pliers are in the art room at school for a project they are working on…. At least she got to spend some money.
Also, Leah wanted me to teach her how to crochet. I’m not fabulous at it, but she did manage a couple of short rows. Somewhere I have a kid friendly how-to book on crochet, but I couldn’t find it.
Once again, we had shepherd’s pie, this time with ground turkey because that’s what was in the freezer. Leah likes it even though she doesn’t actually like mashed potatoes…. It was still good with turkey, and I added some beef gravy to give it some flavor and keep it from being too dry.
My principal sent out an email saying we can wear jeans tomorrow and Friday (typical). I think we are getting to the time of year when he generally calls every day is a jeans day to boost morale. I think the whole school year should be 180 jeans days, but that’s me.
My friends’ COVID tests came back negative, but with a positive case in their house and a mom with mild symptoms… I think at least one of those was likely a false negative. The teen with COVID lost her sense of smell yesterday, and today has weird, new pustules on her ears. It’s the weirdest virus.
Day 241 – Thursday, November 12, 2020
The “feels like Monday, but actually Thursday” started off pretty good. Our principal got the teachers new spirit shirts, and they are ¾ sleeve baseball shirts, which are my favorite.
I was deleting some random photos off of my iPad (some kids take screen shots during games), and I found some photos of some of my students from 3 years ago. So, I had to show those around to some teachers.
My virtual student, who almost always shows up, didn’t today.
Our high maintenance kindergarteners were high maintenance today. It all kind of went downhill from there. Our principal is now “out for 14 days”, we have a teacher’s assistant “out for 14 days”, our music teacher was out today as well. That made dismissal interesting, since there were three spots to be filled by others…. During dismissal, a kindergartener, who has no business having a pair of scissors, cut the loops off another kid’s mask out of jealousy and spite. Then, as I was leaving at 3:20, there was another significant issue with another student. I decided it was well above my pay grade and after my contract day, so I went home.
I went home, tossed some chicken in the Instant Pot for tortilla soup, then went and picked up Elijah from his speech team practice. He has his first meet next weekend (it’s a virtual meet)! He’s doing a radio broadcast…. I volunteered to be a judge. Should be entertaining.
The middle school is going to try for a Guinness Book of World Records record for the most people spinning fidget spinners. One of the teachers found a large stash of them in a closet, and decided to put them to good use. A couple of years ago a got a fidget spinner at a professional development, so I brought it home for Leah. Elijah and Leah were fighting over it (Elijah is one of those who is only interested in toys other people are using), but both were impressed with the quality. I suppose, I’ll never see it again, lol.
Day 242 – Friday, November 13, 2020
This Friday the 13th was thankfully, quite uneventful. Things ran smoothly at school. Several “high need” students were out for various reasons.
Neither of my virtual students showed, but that just seems to be par for the course any more.
Elijah came home obsessed with a contraption he’d seen in physics class, a “centripetal force board”. He made one so he could impress Leah by not spilling a cup of water while spinning it upside-down.
It was pizza night, then Elijah hooked up his ancient Wii to the TV so he and Leah could play Rhythm Heaven.
Day 243 – Saturday, November 14, 2020
We had a great day. I did my grocery shopping at 7am, there were a couple of things Walmart didn’t have so I’ll check Schnuck’s tomorrow.
Leah wanted to meet Libby at the mall, and I needed to get Elijah a suit for his speech meet next week. Hannah decided to go too, so we made a family trip. After looking at Macy’s and Dillard’s, we ended up getting a cheap suit at H&M. We went back to Macy’s to get a nice tie. We got Chinese food in the food court, which was pretty tasty.
We all just did our own thing which included a lot of laundry for me until dinner. We ate leftover pizza. I guess I’ll have to get to the dishes tomorrow.
Elijah talked Hannah into playing Rhythm Heaven, and she is a natural. She’s on par with Elijah, leaving Leah and myself in the dust…
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