Pandemic at School
Week 27
Day 181 – Sunday, September 13, 2020
More laundry (towels and sheets). Another trip to Walmart for cat food. I normally buy a 15 lbs bag of cat food. I could see several 15 lbs bags shrink wrapped together on the top shelf. If they had been separated from each other, I might have scaled the shelves. I ended up buying the 25 lbs bag instead. The particular cat food I buy was the only one that wasn’t stocked in its normal spot (there was a giant hole); however, at 7am there are very few employees to get help from.
Hannah’s boyfriend, Dylan, turns 18 tomorrow, so Hannah wanted to make a cake for him. His favorite is red velvet… so that’s what we made. I don’t really understand the point of red velvet, but then I’m not all that fond of Red Dye #40. We made a layer cake, and this time (unlike Elijah’s birthday cake), I cut the layers flat before stacking them. Leah and Elijah were happy to eat the excess cake.
Leah wanted to take a trip to Michael’s today with a stop at Starbucks to use a gift card she’s had since Christmas. She got a blended strawberry lemonade at Starbucks and some Fimo/Sculpy clay at Michael’s.
For dinner, I grilled a pork tenderloin, and made a sweet kale salad. No complaints there. I think I’m going to grind the leftovers in my meat grinder (attachment for mixer) for BBQ pork sandwiches tomorrow.
After dinner, I had to mow since I put it off all weekend. I skipped the backyard, but no one sees that.
I’m not ready for a full week of school… well, I guess it won’t be a full week because I’m getting my carcinoma removed on Thursday, and I was advised to take off the whole day. Elijah has a half day on Friday, so I have to pick him up and take him home during my lunch.
Day 182 – Monday, September 14, 2020
Today was actually a pretty good day for a Monday. I got to see all of my students who were on my schedule (2 were absent). It was a day where two assistants were out because their children had fevers, and a third assistant had to wait until her child’s test came back negative before coming in….
After school, I got to replace the “canister seal” on my kids’ toilet. I thought I’d be replacing a good ol’ flapper on Saturday when I bought one at Walmart. Stupid Kohler toilets have nothing standard about them. It’s a great toilet, but it had to have a special plunger… and I had to order the seal from Amazon (I didn’t feel like going to Lowe’s). It was easy to replace, so that’s positive.
I pulled out the meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer and ground up last night’s pork tenderloin to make BBQ pork sandwiches. They were delicious. My kids had no idea I had a meat grinder because this is only the second time I’ve used it. (It’s ridiculously fun to grind meat, so I don’t know why I haven’t used it more). However, Leah’s comments about it were “it looks like cat food”, “it tastes good, but I don’t like the texture”, “it looks like cat food”…. So, I will take the rest of it for lunch for the next couple of days, and I will fully enjoy it.
Day 183 – Tuesday, September 15, 2020
My first entry was Monday, March 15, so I’ve officially been writing this thing for six months, every day. We are getting to the point where I actually know people who are sick, so sometimes, I have to cut chunks out of my journal before posting it to Facebook.
I had a couple of web conferences this morning, so I didn’t get to see the morning part of my schedule.
We have a “Secret Eagle” (like Secret Santa) at school, and I got my first snack yesterday. A “sharing size” peanut M&M’s and a 4 servings bag of Doritos. I ate the M&M’s yesterday, and the chips today. I wasn’t hungry for dinner, lol (we had chicken tacos).
Hannah’s SAT scores are supposed to be available on Monday. At that point she can decide if she wants to apply to schools with or with out test scores. She has over a 4.0, and she did very well on her two AP tests. She’s just not a great standardized test taker. Hopefully, there is an Indiana school who wants to give her a big scholarship.
Elijah went to a business club meeting after school, and since they talked about stocks and entrepreneurial endeavors, he enjoyed it.
Day 184 - Wednesday, September 16, 2020
I’ll start off with my funny mask story, since I alluded to it hours ago on Facebook. I went to get a 2nd grade boy for speech. They were just coming in from recess, and he was super hot and sweaty. I had him wash his hands and we went to sit in the hallway. When we sat down, I realized he didn’t have his mask so I told him to go back and get it. He said, “Oh, I have it, right here”. He was reaching toward his hip pocket, so I replied, “Oh, it’s in your pocket”
“No, these aren’t real pockets”. Instead of reaching into a pocket, he reaches into his pants. He comes up with no mask. He reaches down the other pant leg. No mask. At this point, he’s starting to get upset that he has lost his mask. I told him, “it’s okay, we have lots of extra masks”. Then he smiles, pats his knee and says, “There it it!”, and he proceeds to pull out his Superman mask. I was dying laughing. I told him, “Your back pocket is a real pocket, you could put it there”. He was very happy with that suggestion, lol. Only a little boy would stuff their mask down their pants to keep track of it!!
It was a crazy day, with a trip to Perry Heights Middle School to see two kids, a short group lesson (a game) in a self-contained classroom, a virtual case conference for a student, a quick lunch, a trip to Reitz High School for a group lesson in the Life Skills class. (On the way out of the building, I realize that Hannah is the student assistant at the welcome center) back to Daniel Wertz to finish off the day. I did enjoy the fact that our faculty meeting was via Google Meet, and I listened while driving in my car to pick up Elijah from school. I’m all for that kind of tech.
On the way to school, I was worrying about some of my older relatives. I’ve clearly hit another stress threshold. This year, we may lose people we didn’t think we were going to lose just yet. I know that that is alway a possibility, but it all seems more likely these days.
Another person that I know has tested positive. Our community is hitting a big upswing in cases. It’s not surprising in the least, but I hate not feeling safe.
Tomorrow, I get the rest of the skin cancer taken off my cheek.
Day 185 - Thursday, September 17, 2020
This morning, I had the basal cell carcinoma removed from my cheek. After, I dropped Elijah off at school, I had about an hour to kill before going the half a mile to my appointment. I spent some time at the river playing my Harry Potter game.
The clinic sent directions to park in a certain parking garage, cross the pedestrian bridge to the new building and go to the 3rd floor. I’d never been in this parking garage, so I accidentally passed all of the patient parking thinking it would loop back around. I didn’t mind walking a little more, but then I got to the “reserved parking”, and the loop was blocked off… so, I parked down in the basement with one other car. I figured even if I was parked “illegally” no one would care.
The new building is SO NICE! My last appointment was during the last week they were in their old location. I got checked in and waited for a few minutes. I ended up with the same nurse, Mel, as last time. She is super nice. Turns out her daughter is in 5th grade at Daniel Wertz…. Small world.
She put on some 90’s music for me, lol. The doctor came in, peer at, poked, and prodded the area on my cheek, then marked off the perimeter with his purple pen. After that, Mel spent a good 20-30 minutes injecting my cheek with lidocaine to make it super numb. She continued to chat me up which did make the whole thing better.
After, I was all numbed up, the doctor came back in and draped my face. I was actually quite glad to have my eyes covered. There was a lot of tugging, then some burning flesh smells (Laser? Cauterizing tool? I have no idea.). Then there was a lot more tugging. Then the doctor said I would feel some tugging… I’m guessing that was when he was putting in the stitches. Mel cleaned me up and applied the dressing. I did not faint afterward, so all the precautions we put in place worked out. The bandage is so fat that I barely got my mask over it!
I got checked out and requested some extra paperwork for insurance. As I was heading back to the pedestrian bridge, I saw the sign reminding you to get your parking validated. I had to go back and do that!
The bandage tugs in weird directions and wearing sunglasses was weird but barely doable. When I got home, I decided I needed a snack, of course. Opening my mouth wide enough to stuff food in was difficult, and drinking with a straw was necessary.
Around 4pm the lidocaine started to wear off. It’s a little achey, but not terrible. I’m taking Tylenol every 6 hours.
Tomorrow morning, I can remove the bandage (!!), shower as normal, and I’m supposed to cover the area with Vaseline or Polysporin. I can cover it with a bandage if I want to. I will have to cover it, or wearing a mask would be impossible. I bought some giant Band-aids… I may need two to cover the area.
I spent the rest of the day sitting in my recliner doing a lot of nothing. I’m glad I spent the afternoon at home since the ordeal was draining.
Day 186 - Friday, September 18, 2020
Taking the bandage off my face did not go as well as I’d hoped this morning. I got the tape off easily, but the gauze got caught on the sutures. I thought the gauze was stuck to the wound, and I had to lay down on the bathroom floor (TWICE!) to keep from passing out. As I was laying there, I wondered if I should stay home another day. I had to get the kids to school, so I persevered. I cut all of the unstuck gauze off before I put in my contacts and brushed my teeth. Eventually, the last square inch was swinging freely on one suture, and I removed it before getting in the shower. After the shower, I had to clean and dress the wound. It’s much bigger than I expected, but thankfully, the length is exactly the diagonal of the giant Band-aids I bought. A thick layer of Polysporin on the bandage, and I was ready. My mask covers the entire bandage, though it does put a little pressure where the “nose wire” sits. I adjusted that outward as well.
I saw 8 kids in the one of the self-contained rooms today. They are such great kids! I love them!! I was also glad that I didn’t have to explain a giant bandage on my face eight times :).
During my lunch, I got to pick up Elijah from school (he had a half day) and take him home. It was the perfect day for a protein shake lunch, lol.
After lunch I had a case conference for a middle school student that I’ve never met who is enrolled in Virtual Academy. That’s the story of my life these days! After that, I had my first ever virtual speech therapy session with another middle school student I’d never met. It went perfectly! I couldn’t be happier about that.
My Friday afternoons are scheduled a little lighter (by design), so I went out to recess with two of the self-contained classes. The weather was PERFECT!! When they went inside, I went to help kindergarten with dismissal. We are getting pretty good at that, but today all the boys needed to poop right at 3:00, lol.
When I got home, I took Elijah to GameStop to pick up the “new” Super Mario game. It’s three old games repackaged for the Switch, but it’s pretty cool.
We got our typical Domino’s pizza for dinner, and the kids were pretty chatty.
As I re-dressed my Frankenstein scar tonight, I had another “sit down” moment. It had bled a little more than I thought, and I just don’t do all that well with my own blood…. I have vasovagal syncope, so basically when my Vegas nerve gets irritated, it shuts down my blood pressure, heart rate, etc. If I don’t take evasive action (laying down, or at least getting my head lower than my heart), I will pass out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflex_syncope
I self-diagnosed this, but it’s been an issue since I was in kindergarten. I smashed my arm in my desk and passed out. My pediatrician was on vacation, so I saw his partner. He told my mom that “some little girls just pass out”. My mom (a nurse) was livid. However, turns out he was not entirely wrong, but it had nothing to do with being a girl. If I listed all the times that I passed out, they all have something to do with blood, pain, or stomach irritations.
Pandemic at School
Week 27
Day 181 – Sunday, September 13, 2020
More laundry (towels and sheets). Another trip to Walmart for cat food. I normally buy a 15 lbs bag of cat food. I could see several 15 lbs bags shrink wrapped together on the top shelf. If they had been separated from each other, I might have scaled the shelves. I ended up buying the 25 lbs bag instead. The particular cat food I buy was the only one that wasn’t stocked in its normal spot (there was a giant hole); however, at 7am there are very few employees to get help from.
Hannah’s boyfriend, Dylan, turns 18 tomorrow, so Hannah wanted to make a cake for him. His favorite is red velvet… so that’s what we made. I don’t really understand the point of red velvet, but then I’m not all that fond of Red Dye #40. We made a layer cake, and this time (unlike Elijah’s birthday cake), I cut the layers flat before stacking them. Leah and Elijah were happy to eat the excess cake.
Leah wanted to take a trip to Michael’s today with a stop at Starbucks to use a gift card she’s had since Christmas. She got a blended strawberry lemonade at Starbucks and some Fimo/Sculpy clay at Michael’s.
For dinner, I grilled a pork tenderloin, and made a sweet kale salad. No complaints there. I think I’m going to grind the leftovers in my meat grinder (attachment for mixer) for BBQ pork sandwiches tomorrow.
After dinner, I had to mow since I put it off all weekend. I skipped the backyard, but no one sees that.
I’m not ready for a full week of school… well, I guess it won’t be a full week because I’m getting my carcinoma removed on Thursday, and I was advised to take off the whole day. Elijah has a half day on Friday, so I have to pick him up and take him home during my lunch.
Day 182 – Monday, September 14, 2020
Today was actually a pretty good day for a Monday. I got to see all of my students who were on my schedule (2 were absent). It was a day where two assistants were out because their children had fevers, and a third assistant had to wait until her child’s test came back negative before coming in….
After school, I got to replace the “canister seal” on my kids’ toilet. I thought I’d be replacing a good ol’ flapper on Saturday when I bought one at Walmart. Stupid Kohler toilets have nothing standard about them. It’s a great toilet, but it had to have a special plunger… and I had to order the seal from Amazon (I didn’t feel like going to Lowe’s). It was easy to replace, so that’s positive.
I pulled out the meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer and ground up last night’s pork tenderloin to make BBQ pork sandwiches. They were delicious. My kids had no idea I had a meat grinder because this is only the second time I’ve used it. (It’s ridiculously fun to grind meat, so I don’t know why I haven’t used it more). However, Leah’s comments about it were “it looks like cat food”, “it tastes good, but I don’t like the texture”, “it looks like cat food”…. So, I will take the rest of it for lunch for the next couple of days, and I will fully enjoy it.
Day 183 – Tuesday, September 15, 2020
My first entry was Monday, March 15, so I’ve officially been writing this thing for six months, every day. We are getting to the point where I actually know people who are sick, so sometimes, I have to cut chunks out of my journal before posting it to Facebook.
I had a couple of web conferences this morning, so I didn’t get to see the morning part of my schedule.
We have a “Secret Eagle” (like Secret Santa) at school, and I got my first snack yesterday. A “sharing size” peanut M&M’s and a 4 servings bag of Doritos. I ate the M&M’s yesterday, and the chips today. I wasn’t hungry for dinner, lol (we had chicken tacos).
Hannah’s SAT scores are supposed to be available on Monday. At that point she can decide if she wants to apply to schools with or with out test scores. She has over a 4.0, and she did very well on her two AP tests. She’s just not a great standardized test taker. Hopefully, there is an Indiana school who wants to give her a big scholarship.
Elijah went to a business club meeting after school, and since they talked about stocks and entrepreneurial endeavors, he enjoyed it.
Day 184 - Wednesday, September 16, 2020
I’ll start off with my funny mask story, since I alluded to it hours ago on Facebook. I went to get a 2nd grade boy for speech. They were just coming in from recess, and he was super hot and sweaty. I had him wash his hands and we went to sit in the hallway. When we sat down, I realized he didn’t have his mask so I told him to go back and get it. He said, “Oh, I have it, right here”. He was reaching toward his hip pocket, so I replied, “Oh, it’s in your pocket”
“No, these aren’t real pockets”. Instead of reaching into a pocket, he reaches into his pants. He comes up with no mask. He reaches down the other pant leg. No mask. At this point, he’s starting to get upset that he has lost his mask. I told him, “it’s okay, we have lots of extra masks”. Then he smiles, pats his knee and says, “There it it!”, and he proceeds to pull out his Superman mask. I was dying laughing. I told him, “Your back pocket is a real pocket, you could put it there”. He was very happy with that suggestion, lol. Only a little boy would stuff their mask down their pants to keep track of it!!
It was a crazy day, with a trip to Perry Heights Middle School to see two kids, a short group lesson (a game) in a self-contained classroom, a virtual case conference for a student, a quick lunch, a trip to Reitz High School for a group lesson in the Life Skills class. (On the way out of the building, I realize that Hannah is the student assistant at the welcome center) back to Daniel Wertz to finish off the day. I did enjoy the fact that our faculty meeting was via Google Meet, and I listened while driving in my car to pick up Elijah from school. I’m all for that kind of tech.
On the way to school, I was worrying about some of my older relatives. I’ve clearly hit another stress threshold. This year, we may lose people we didn’t think we were going to lose just yet. I know that that is alway a possibility, but it all seems more likely these days.
Another person that I know has tested positive. Our community is hitting a big upswing in cases. It’s not surprising in the least, but I hate not feeling safe.
Tomorrow, I get the rest of the skin cancer taken off my cheek.
Day 185 - Thursday, September 17, 2020
This morning, I had the basal cell carcinoma removed from my cheek. After, I dropped Elijah off at school, I had about an hour to kill before going the half a mile to my appointment. I spent some time at the river playing my Harry Potter game.
The clinic sent directions to park in a certain parking garage, cross the pedestrian bridge to the new building and go to the 3rd floor. I’d never been in this parking garage, so I accidentally passed all of the patient parking thinking it would loop back around. I didn’t mind walking a little more, but then I got to the “reserved parking”, and the loop was blocked off… so, I parked down in the basement with one other car. I figured even if I was parked “illegally” no one would care.
The new building is SO NICE! My last appointment was during the last week they were in their old location. I got checked in and waited for a few minutes. I ended up with the same nurse, Mel, as last time. She is super nice. Turns out her daughter is in 5th grade at Daniel Wertz…. Small world.
She put on some 90’s music for me, lol. The doctor came in, peer at, poked, and prodded the area on my cheek, then marked off the perimeter with his purple pen. After that, Mel spent a good 20-30 minutes injecting my cheek with lidocaine to make it super numb. She continued to chat me up which did make the whole thing better.
After, I was all numbed up, the doctor came back in and draped my face. I was actually quite glad to have my eyes covered. There was a lot of tugging, then some burning flesh smells (Laser? Cauterizing tool? I have no idea.). Then there was a lot more tugging. Then the doctor said I would feel some tugging… I’m guessing that was when he was putting in the stitches. Mel cleaned me up and applied the dressing. I did not faint afterward, so all the precautions we put in place worked out. The bandage is so fat that I barely got my mask over it!
I got checked out and requested some extra paperwork for insurance. As I was heading back to the pedestrian bridge, I saw the sign reminding you to get your parking validated. I had to go back and do that!
The bandage tugs in weird directions and wearing sunglasses was weird but barely doable. When I got home, I decided I needed a snack, of course. Opening my mouth wide enough to stuff food in was difficult, and drinking with a straw was necessary.
Around 4pm the lidocaine started to wear off. It’s a little achey, but not terrible. I’m taking Tylenol every 6 hours.
Tomorrow morning, I can remove the bandage (!!), shower as normal, and I’m supposed to cover the area with Vaseline or Polysporin. I can cover it with a bandage if I want to. I will have to cover it, or wearing a mask would be impossible. I bought some giant Band-aids… I may need two to cover the area.
I spent the rest of the day sitting in my recliner doing a lot of nothing. I’m glad I spent the afternoon at home since the ordeal was draining.
Day 186 - Friday, September 18, 2020
Taking the bandage off my face did not go as well as I’d hoped this morning. I got the tape off easily, but the gauze got caught on the sutures. I thought the gauze was stuck to the wound, and I had to lay down on the bathroom floor (TWICE!) to keep from passing out. As I was laying there, I wondered if I should stay home another day. I had to get the kids to school, so I persevered. I cut all of the unstuck gauze off before I put in my contacts and brushed my teeth. Eventually, the last square inch was swinging freely on one suture, and I removed it before getting in the shower. After the shower, I had to clean and dress the wound. It’s much bigger than I expected, but thankfully, the length is exactly the diagonal of the giant Band-aids I bought. A thick layer of Polysporin on the bandage, and I was ready. My mask covers the entire bandage, though it does put a little pressure where the “nose wire” sits. I adjusted that outward as well.
I saw 8 kids in the one of the self-contained rooms today. They are such great kids! I love them!! I was also glad that I didn’t have to explain a giant bandage on my face eight times :).
During my lunch, I got to pick up Elijah from school (he had a half day) and take him home. It was the perfect day for a protein shake lunch, lol.
After lunch I had a case conference for a middle school student that I’ve never met who is enrolled in Virtual Academy. That’s the story of my life these days! After that, I had my first ever virtual speech therapy session with another middle school student I’d never met. It went perfectly! I couldn’t be happier about that.
My Friday afternoons are scheduled a little lighter (by design), so I went out to recess with two of the self-contained classes. The weather was PERFECT!! When they went inside, I went to help kindergarten with dismissal. We are getting pretty good at that, but today all the boys needed to poop right at 3:00, lol.
When I got home, I took Elijah to GameStop to pick up the “new” Super Mario game. It’s three old games repackaged for the Switch, but it’s pretty cool.
We got our typical Domino’s pizza for dinner, and the kids were pretty chatty.
As I re-dressed my Frankenstein scar tonight, I had another “sit down” moment. It had bled a little more than I thought, and I just don’t do all that well with my own blood…. I have vasovagal syncope, so basically when my Vegas nerve gets irritated, it shuts down my blood pressure, heart rate, etc. If I don’t take evasive action (laying down, or at least getting my head lower than my heart), I will pass out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflex_syncope
I self-diagnosed this, but it’s been an issue since I was in kindergarten. I smashed my arm in my desk and passed out. My pediatrician was on vacation, so I saw his partner. He told my mom that “some little girls just pass out”. My mom (a nurse) was livid. However, turns out he was not entirely wrong, but it had nothing to do with being a girl. If I listed all the times that I passed out, they all have something to do with blood, pain, or stomach irritations.
Day 187 - Saturday, September 19, 2020
The day started off early with grocery shopping at Walmart. Suddenly, Walmart is no longer doing many of their COVID mitigation strategies. Their sign announcing a 500 person limit was gone. No one was cleaning the carts and lining them up to be taken. The one way aisle signs were gone (those didn’t work anyway). So, regardless of the fact that my county has a many active cases as it’s ever had, things are still loosening up. On a positive note, I was able to find everything that was on my shopping list today. That has not happened too many times in the past six months.
Leah decided that she wanted her ears pierced, so we went to the mall to have that done. The mall stores are only open noon-6pm, so it’s always crowded…. Leah’s first two choices of earrings were not available, but she ended up with some blue flowers. She was extremely nervous, but barely showed any reaction. Afterward, she was super shaky, but she didn’t pass out. She did better than I did for my first round of ear piercing!
Libby and her mom, Tiffany, met us at the mall to witness the ear piercing. The girls wanted to do a little hopping to, but we limited them to 4 stops. We got a snack at Auntie Anne’s, they browsed H & M, got some candy at the candy store, and browsed Box Lunch. I can’t tolerate more mall than that. I also picked up my contacts… hopefully, that will be the last of the ordeal that has been contact lenses for the past two months. My mis-ordered six month supply was replaced with six pairs of trial lenses. I’ll just be glad to have the correct prescription tomorrow.
We had leftover pizza for dinner, and Elijah wanted me to (finally) watch End Game. This isn’t the popular opinion, but I think they should have stopped with Infinity War….
Over Labor Day weekend, I contacted a photographer for Hannah’s senior pictures. She told me she was out of town, but the weekends I was interested in during October were available, and she’d get back with me. Today, I realized that hadn’t happened, so I sent another message with a specific date. Now, she’s all booked up…. So, I guess I’ll see if someone else is available.
