Pandemic at School Week 46

Pandemic at School 

 

Week 46

 

Day 313 – Sunday, January 24, 2021

 

I feel completely back to normal today.  My arm feels fine, and I have my normal level of energy (not much!).

 

When I woke up, I could hear sleet, so I decided that a 7am trip to Walmart could wait a couple of hours.  I didn’t need a whole lot since I ordered a box from EveryPlate (hope this one gets delivered!).  The chip reader didn’t work and I tried 3 different cards before I swiped the regular one and it worked (normally, it doesn’t swipe since it has the chip…).  I told the employee supervising the self-checkout, and she assured me that she was aware.   

 

I did the rest of my chores for the weekend; washing towels & sheets, vacuuming, etc.  I ate too many snacks.  I finished a couple of books that I had been reading for a few weeks.  

 

I made scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast for dinner, and I figured out how to get Trent to take his medicine easily.  I crushed the pill and mixed ¼ tsp of bacon grease into it, and he gobbled it up.  

 

My mom called to tell me that she got the birthday card I sent to her.  She asked my nephew to try and sell some of my dad’s stuff, and while he hasn’t had much luck with the people he’s asked, he has had calls from people he hasn’t seen in years asking for those items specifically.  God is good!

 

Day 314 – Monday, January 25, 2021

 

Sample conversation between middled aged teachers:

 

Teacher A – My spouse and I got our second COVID shots over the weekend!

Teacher B – Oh!  I got my first shot on Friday.  How did you all feel after the shot?

Teacher A – Not too bad, a little tired.  We got the Moderna

Teacher B – I got the Pfizer.  I was tired too, and my arm hurt a little.

 

I’m glad some teachers have been able to get vaccines, and I hope that all are soon eligible.

 

All of my Monday morning students are in quarantine, so I saw my Tuesday students (I have several meetings tomorrow morning, so it works out well for me).  

 

Neither of my virtual students logged on today…. Later, I had an IEP meeting where I was not the host, but I couldn’t hear anyone, so I ran around the corner to the host’s classroom and participated from there.  When I got back to my computer, I thought to check the mike and speaker settings…. WebEx had switched them to my headset that I never use.  I should probably just unplug it since it wasn’t as great as I’d hoped for school (the announcements on the intercom still get picked up).

 

For dinner, I made buffalo chicken pasta (penne, alfredo sauce, chicken, and topped with a small amount of buffalo sauce).  Leah just eats plain pasta and chicken….   There were no leftovers.

 

I got Hannah’s senior tribute ad submitted for the yearbook.  I actually missed the deadline on Friday, but they extended it due to website issues.  I lucked out.  

 

Then I watched another SLP Summit continuing education video with “Speech Dude” who is way to excited, lol.  I do get lots of good ideas from the videos, but mostly they just make me feel like I do a crappy job.  I don’t know who has time to plan that much?  With 90 students, I sure don’t have the time.  

 

The spike in cases from Christmas and New Year’s definitely looks to be on the downward slide for Vanderburgh county.  That’s great news.  Looking at Daniel Wertz specifically, there are still <5 students, <5 staff, & <5 teachers total who have tested positive, ever.  Perry Heights and Reitz aren’t as low…

 

Day 316 – Wednesday, January 27, 2021

 

I didn’t write yesterday because I went to bed before I remembered, and then I couldn’t think of anything important enough to get up for.

 

Today, we had a snow day! We all got up at the regular time, I had made my lunch and was getting ready to make my breakfast when we got the text, call, and email.  It was after 6am!  Normally, they call between 5:00-5:30.  Nasty weather was predicted for the dismissal time frame, and having an early dismissal is really tricky.  EVSC had been wanting a snow day, they had already petitioned the state for a waiver to use the extra minutes we go to school every day to count toward a make-up day.  We don’t have to make up the day at all…. Snow season is getting close to being over, and I think they felt like this might be as snowy as it’s going to get.  

 

It didn’t start snowing at my house until after 1pm.  Elijah still had to school because his school doesn’t cancel for weather very often.  It actually has to be bad outside since they don’t have busses.  By the time I picked him up at 3:30, most of the snow was done.  We got about a quarter of an inch at my house.  I’m sure the northern part of the county got more.  

 

Since we had a snow day with no snow, I was able to take Leah to buy a shirt she wanted, and stop at Chick-Fil-A on the way home to pick up a Chicken Mini freebie I had on my app.  

 

The rest of the day I spent reading and sipping hot tea.  It was pretty amazing.

 

This week’s EveryPlate box arrived yesterday.  I got Pepper Chicken Stir Fry (we had that tonight), Chicken Fajitas, and Pineapple Salsa Pork Chops.  So far, everything has been delicious, but they are a little more labor-intensive meals than I’m used to making.  

 

On the COVID front, Sanofi’s vaccine trial was a bust, but they have partnered with Pfizer to manufacture Pfizer’s vaccine.  Johnson & Johnson are due to release the results of their single dose vaccine before the end of the month.  If its efficacy is anywhere near Pfizer and Moderna, it will be a game changer for sure.

 

Day 317 – Thursday, January 28, 2021

 

A few minutes before I left for school, I got an email from our principal that we could have a Red for Ed jeans Thursday since we missed our normal Red for Ed Wednesday.  So, I changed into jeans and a Daniel Wertz shirt.  A good start for the day.

 

I had an IEP meeting that wasn’t at 8am that I’d forgotten about and then thought would interfere with my morning students, but it ended up not.  That was okay with me.

 

My morning students were all fresh from an extra-long quarantine.  They did much better than I expected.  My afternoon went south fairly quickly…. With some behavior issues with a couple of my students.  

 

Elijah was supposed to have speech team after school, but didn’t tell me otherwise when I texted him at 3:15 (his dismissal time) to check.  I drove home to get some vegetable prep done for dinner.  As soon as I got home he asked me to come get him…

 

Tonight’s EveryPlate meal was Easy Chicken Fajitas.  They were pretty good.  

 

Day 319 – Saturday, January 30, 2021

 

I did laundry today like every Saturday.  

 

I read and read and read The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follet.  It’s a page turning for sure.

 

Leah is spending the night with Aubrie tonight.

 

I made the last EveryPlate meal for the week, Pineapple Salsa Pork Chops.  They were pretty tasty.  

 

Elijah wanted to watch The Wolf of Wall Street, but Hannah and Dylan didn’t.  They are trying to decide what to watch…

 

Heather got her first dose of vaccine, Pfizer.  She had a bit of a fever today.  

 

The variants of COVID are pretty worrisome, since the vaccine isn’t as effective against some of them.