Day 47

The warmest day of the year, so far!  We had a productive day.  Kids worked on school stuff, Glenn was busy and I worked in the morning and took the afternoon off.  I had to zip to the post office for Vicky and then sewed masks in front of the tv to round out my afternoon.  Some storm clouds moved in but we walked the dogs and Reina rode her bike tonight.  The weekdays (especially the evenings) all start to look alike, without practices and sports to break things up.  But we are getting by, hanging in, whatever you want to call it. 

Since the kids heard that they officially won't be going back to their school buildings until the Fall, they've been pretty zen about the news.  We've patched together a schedule in the mornings for schoolwork and sharing the laptop that we have that's actually not charging right now (that's a problem to be solved tomorrow) and doing some work on the Ipad along with PE time outside.  When they work at it, they are usually done with school stuff by lunchtime and have the afternoons to do what they want (within reason.)  They are keeping up their grades and I'm proud of them for taking it seriously.

Wyoming's case number is over 400 but no additional deaths.  Hairdressers, gyms and other personal service businesses are opening back up tomorrow, with a lot of limitations.  A restaurant that we ordered food from on Friday is now closed because an employee tested positive.  So that's something new to add to the list of things to think about.  After hearing us talk about that a few days ago, Reina now cheerfully takes her own temperature every morning and announces that she's fine.

Tomorrow's is the first of May.  Let's see what the new month brings.   

Day 45

Today we had an appointment to pick up the contents of Reina's desk from school.  While we knew it was coming (other grades have been picking up), it was definitely bittersweet.  We also received an email from the Jr High so we combined it into one big trip.  The kids chose drive-through brunch from McDonald's as their take-out meal for the week so that added even more reason to leave the house.  At McCormick, we drove through the drop-off line and they brought the contents of Will's locker out to us - which consisted of one math book and an empty pencil cup.  For comparison, the contents of Reina's desk filled up a large trash bag.  Will also got to bring home a cutting board that will end up being his only project from 7th grade shop.  It's really cool - I'll get a picture soon.  As we drove to McDonald's, I warned the kids that I felt a little teary about their respective school years ended in this fashion and while they told me it was okay to cry, they also immediately launched into a series of knock-knock jokes to distract me.  

So that was our day.  Glenn and I worked, the sun was shining and we keep on doing our thing.  

Breaking news:  We just got the official email that school is closed for the rest of the year.  We knew it was coming but it's still hard to fathom.  No word on what this means for baseball season and summer camps and all of that - we'll just take it day by day... and learn more about world geography, fractions, writing poems, conversions and bowling etiquette than we planned to at this point in our lives.    

Day 44

It's a Monday!  We had a nice weekend with lots of sun and not too many chores.  We are itching to work in the garden but we know in our hearts its too early.  70 degree weather today does not rule out the possibility of snow in a week or two.  Instead we took another load of clothes to Goodwill, picked up groceries and made more masks.  Masks for everyone!  We also watched the football draft more than we ever have in our lives, but when there are no sports, you watch the draft.

It was a decent Monday.  Less complaining about school work than normal and I had a little more flexibility to help with homework at odd times.  Tomorrow we have an appointment to pick up the contents of Reina's desk from her school and then we'll go to McCormick and get Will's locker stuff.  That's a fairly good sign that they won't be going back before the end of the school year but we are still waiting for an official word. 

The Governor is having another news conference tomorrow to discuss how counties can open back up, following certain criteria.  Our county has one of the highest (maybe the highest?) number of infections so I hope we won't be opening up anytime soon. I understand the need for people to go back to work and the psychological need we all have for things to be back to normal but the virus isn't going anywhere and there are still so many unknowns.  Wyoming has somewhere around 390 cases tonight with 7 deaths. 

On a lighter note, earlier in the day, Glenn asked me to cut his hair tonight.  After thinking about it for several hours and seeing my reluctant response, I think he's decided to find an alternative plan.  Not a plan like Will's.... but maybe just keep growing his hair for a while.  That's what Reina and I are doing. 

Speaking of Reina, we made a deal that if we made it through the day without fighting, we'd go get ice cream cones tonight from the drive-in.  We are just one piano practice away from that happening.  Wish us luck.   

Day 41

Today marks the end of the 5th week since I've been working from home and 6 weeks since the kids were in school.  Wow - it some ways it feels a lot longer than that but other times it feels like the blink of an eye.  We've had a slightly better week.  The kids are figuring out how to manage their work time (for the most time) and the weather was nice enough to get outside.  Glenn and I both had a lot on our plate work-wise but we've been productive.  I finished up a two week workshop that I was co-teaching via Zoom and it wrapped up this afternoon.  It was fun interacting with people every day but I won't miss having to mute my microphone every time someone walked by the house and the dogs lost their ever-loving minds. 

Speaking of pets, Glenn accidentally left the back door open after letting the dogs out for their bathroom break in the morning.  Both cats quickly discovered this oversight and made a break for freedom while the rest of us were getting out of bed.  By the time we noticed the back door, they'd probably been outside for 15 minutes.  I figured they'd come back when they were ready but it was chilly this morning and we had some rain last night.  I looked at the front door and they were both sitting by the window screaming to come in, with muddy paws and wet legs.  They've slept most of the day.  I guess a cold, wet adventure sure takes it out of you. 

We are headed into the weekend.  It is supposed to be sunny and gorgeous so I'm looking forward to some yardwork and Vitamin D.  Happy Friday!

Day 38 and Glenn's birthday!

I'm tired tonight but I had to log on to commemorate Glenn's birthday!  He couldn't have picked better weather - I heard it was close to 70 without hardly any wind.  Both Glenn and I had busy work days but we made sure to make some time tonight to the dogs out to the field.  Reina joined us too and we had a nice walk before the sun set.  We did a grocery run today so we also had steaks and steamed artichokes.  It's a dinner blog!  A friend's ninth grader daughter made Glenn an amazing cake - she's been busy during quarantine and we were the lucky recipients.  Glenn didn't want much in the way of presents but I'm getting him the wildlife conservation license plates as soon as everything opens back up.  Isn't that just such a dad gift? 

We are almost halfway through this week. I had eight Zoom sessions between yesterday and today.  The rest of the week is still going to be busy but it eases up a little bit.  The kids are working hard on their school stuff and loving the nice weather.  Will even had some 'baseball' homework to finish in preparation for another team videoconference tomorrow.

Happy birthday Glenn - we love you and I'm so glad that we are all safe at home together. 

Day 36

Day 36 and weekend #? was nice.  We had some sun and a little bit of wind but all of the snow has melted off.  I jogged, we talked to family members on the phone, Reina got to talk to cousins on both sides of the family, we cleaned the house and made more masks (we have a pretty neat little socially distanced assembly line going between Vicky's house, mine and friends - all of it is contact-free and lots of bags filled with masks in various stages of development being left on front porches.)  We ended the weekend with a family football game in the backyard and the game ended when people got cold, not angry.  Yah!  Will did baseball drills in the garage with Glenn and Reina and I baked and played some piano.

Glenn continued his project of cleaning out our shed and sprucing up the garage.  He decided this weekend to tackle all of the paint cans that we have sitting around.  We found paint that predates us buying the house, so it was definitely time to do something about that.  What an exciting update!  But I include it in this blog to highlight all of the weird little projects we probably wouldn't be getting done if it wasn't for quarantine. 

Reina filled out a book to remember her COVID-19 days.  I'll include it in more detail here soon but she had to interview both Glenn and I separately.  One of the questions was one thing that we like to bake.  My answer was chocolate chip cookies, obviously.  Glenn's?  "Salmon." Reina had a lot to say about that answer and not much of it was positive.  She will always remember that her dad likes to eat healthy. 

So it's on to another busy week.  Both Glenn and I have a lot projects and meetings this week.  As we enter our third week of official home school I am feeling a little more prepared for some of the challenges but I also know that we can be thrown a curveball at anytime.  How's that for a baseball analogy?  I also know that we've made it through this many weeks, we can surely keep going. 

Day 33

New day, new attitudes!  Mostly.  We had a nice peaceful day.  The snow fell for a big chunk of the day but the sun came out around 5:00 p.m. and we were able to take the dogs for a wet walk.  We have about 5 inches of snow on the ground but its the melty, spring snow that probably won't last very long.  The kids worked hard on school projects today and really seem to have figured out schedules for themselves.  I hope I didn't jinx everything by saying that.  My work presentations went well and Glenn was busy so the day went fast.  When all of this first started, I wondered if the weekends would feel any differently from the week days.  After the last few weeks, I can say that I'm definitely looking forward to Saturday morning. 

We've been trying to minimize how often we run errands and we've been utilizing curbside pick-up for most of our grocery shopping and all of my Target runs.  I had to order some toner for the printer today so I asked if anybody needed anything from Target.  Glenn had a few requests.  Reina wanted things that are unrealistic and so I asked Will if he needed anything.  Quick note, I've been very kind about his haircut and have told him how proud I am that he was brave enough to do that.  BUT, I couldn't resist asking if he needed anymore shampoo.  He tried to act mad but a giggle gave him away. 

My favorite football player has been diagnosed with COVID-19.  Tomorrow marks four weeks since I've been working from home.  Wow.