The Month of May

 It's 9:35 pm on the last night of May and I'm trying to figure out how to recap the whole month.  It's been  a whirlwind of school projects, dance classes, football (already?!) practices, work travel and a trip to Alaska for Glenn.  But we've all survived! 

The last day of school is exactly one week from today.  Both kiddos are more than ready to wrap this one up.  It's hard to believe that they will both be in the same school next year. I'm not having the nostalgia of 'no more kids in Jr High' because frankly it all went pretty fast.  Reina is attending her class' Promotion Dance tomorrow night even though she's grumpy about still having to go to class on Friday morning.  Will has a few more tests and projects to complete but he's almost done with his sophomore year.  Football starts in earnest this weekend with a 7 v 7 competition on Saturday and a camp in Greeley on Sunday.  

Glenn was in Alaska last week bear hunting on Prince of Wales island.  He did not come back with a bear but he did have a good time.  I was very jealous of the pictures he was sending - that area of the state gets 13 feet (FEET!) of rain each year and it was so gorgeously green.  We missed him like crazy but he's back home safe and sound.  

We added three more chickens to our flock.  We lost our two oldest chickens to old age over the winter and this family can eat a crazy amount of eggs in a week so it was time to add some new girls.  A co-worker bought too many at the farm store a few weeks ago so she gave me three.  We have Brownie, the Other Oreo and Dolly Parton.  Pictures coming soon.  It's a complicated dance of keeping them separated from the other girls because it takes a while for chickens to become friends and holy cow this is probably going to be boring to read in ten years.  Also, Lincoln wants to eat all of the chickens or at least chase them all over the yard so that adds a lot of fun too.  

Reina has a dance recital in a few weeks.  She was in a school play a few weeks ago.  She did a great job and had a big part.  More pictures of that too.  She's gearing up for a summer of some babysitting jobs and art projects with Grandma.  Will isn't playing baseball this summer which we are all missing a little bit but football takes up a lot of time and he wants to devote all of his energy to getting ready for the season.  

Let's bring on the summer!  

Christmas Wrap-up and I'm 50!

We had a really nice Christmas and I meant to write about it a bunch of times last week but then I got busy hanging out with kiddos, cleaning up from Christmas and knitting (I'm knitting again!), watching Andor with Glenn (so good!) and I didn't blog about any of it.   But we had a nice break.  Glenn and I worked some of the days.  Will had wrestling practice.  Reina tried out experimental recipes in the kitchen.  The cats terrorized the Christmas ornaments.  Fun was had by all. 

We received so many lovely presents - it's hard to pick just one that's our favorite but I asked everybody tonight for a quick review:  

Reina's favorite present was her iPad from Mom and Dad.  She downloaded a drawing app already and has quite the portfolio already.  

Will's favorite present was an interesting Broncos sculpture from Aunt V and Uncle M which had some money taped to the back.  He hasn't put the sculpture in his room yet because he's scared to wake up and see it staring at him. 

Glenn's favorite present was a mug that I had made with pictures from Will's football season. I'd like to say I made the mug but that was all Shutterfly.  

My favorite present is hard to choose from but it's probably a drawing that Reina did for me that I need to frame and hang up - and take a picture for the blog!  

Today is my 50th birthday.  50!  I've been dreading this one a little bit.  Fifty just feels so .... fifty? Didn't I just graduate from college?  Or get married?  I think underneath it all, this feels like a decade of big changes.  I'll probably get a new job this decade when I can retire from the State.  Kiddos will graduate and go to college this decade.  Who knows how many animals Glenn and I will bring home in the next 10 years.  But the day turned out pretty great.  My co-workers decorated my office in black crepe paper and pictures of me photoshopped as Sally O'Malley (SNL, google it).  Glenn gifted me a car detailing from an actual detail place and not just me with the shop vac trying to get out the detritus of almost two years of driving teens around.  Reina picked out some really pretty earrings and Will got me a really nice wallet (he dislikes my current wallet and he has opinions about a lot of things).  I also got gift cards and cash and a book. I'm a lucky middle-aged lady.  

A weird week

We've had a weird week at the Pauley household.  On Saturday, while walking into the high school (our rival high school) for Will's wrestling meet, I slipped on the one patch of ice in the parking lot and fell like the middle aged person I am and wrenched my ankle.  A lot of drama ensued but long story short, Glenn took me to the ER where I found out I didn't break anything but just sprained it.  For the first time in my life, I have crutches although by this point in the week, I'm feeling much better and don't need them anymore.  

Well that was weird.  And super inconvenient because I had a ton of Christmas chores to get done. 

Yesterday and today, Reina has stayed home from school with a virus that is not covid, the flu or strep.  That's the good news.  She does feel pretty puny and we had to miss the annual trolley/Christmas lights tour but she got some meds for the accompanying ear infection and hopefully she'll start feeling better soon.  I stayed home with her today because she wanted the company and needed someone to bring her sprite and jello every 5 minutes.  

Randomness

I'm trying to get back into the habit of documenting some of the minutiae of our daily lives.  This year, I've touched on the highlights of kid sports and accomplishments but when I look back on old posts, I enjoy remembering some of the randomness that takes place in our household.  So that's my goal for November. More randomness.   

We finally had our first snow of the season this week.  We ended up getting between 3 and 4 inches.  Yah for moisture!  I'm saying that now .... check in again in a few months.  

The view from my office as I left work.  It was really starting to accumulate. 

Our chickens have been molting like crazy and they didn't appreciate the snow.  We have two old chickens who lay once or twice a year and three younger girls who lay regularly when they aren't molting, being broody or whatever their current problem is.  

The spectators for my morning workout.  It's slightly disconcerting.  Do they think it's a drive through window?  

Halloween with big kids

Halloween was on a Monday this year which felt weird but we made the most of it. Reina trick-or-treated with a group of friends in our neighborhood.  Will was tempted to go out there but he was home from school because he was feeling under the weather so that made the decision for him.  We had a lot more trick-or-treaters than usual because the weather was mild (it wasn't 10 degrees and snowing) and I enjoyed seeing all of the costumes. Tootsie and Trigger loved greeting the kids and their candy buckets.  Charlie did not.  Charlie's least favorite evening is Halloween. 

Facebook reminded me of the many costumes the kiddos have had over the years.... cowgirls, pirates, slice of pizza, Union soldier, football players and so much more.  This year, Reina went to a school dance a few weeks ago as a 1920's flapper but she needed a warmer outfit so she opted for scary clown face.  

All makeup by the artist.  Nailed it!  

Without any cute toddlers available to dress up in costume, my attention turned to the cats.  Coco as a scary fish.  Eeeek!  She definitely has murder on the mind.  

Thankfully, we still have people in the house interested in pumpkin carving.  Glenn and I grabbed this giant pumpkin at a farm a few weeks ago and it was big enough for multiple faces.    

Happy Halloween!  

 

June

Well that was fast.  June started with the end of the school year and now we are one month into summer 2022 and we have a dance recital, baseball games, 7 v 7 football, a garden, and lots and lots of family togetherness to show for it.  

I'll have to post photos later but Reina had her dance recital at the beginning of the month and it was so much fun to watch her dance.  This year she had pointe, ballet, hip hop and hoop.  Her favorite dance was Hoop and I don't have a favorite because I think she's brilliant at all of them.  Reina has her first big babysitting job this summer.  She babysits an energetic 5 year old boy two days a week and she's discovering all of the joy that is the 5 year old brain.  She's also in charge of making dinner at our house once a week.  One week, she ordered pizza all by herself and this week she made frozen potstickers and potato salad.  We appreciate her enthusiasm and I'm just noticing that maybe she only can serve food that starts with a P?  

Will is playing on two baseball teams and working out with the football team.  He's also practicing driving and napping.  Well, he's not practicing napping, he's an expert.  For his turn at making dinner, he (with Glenn's help) grilled steaks and asparagus and learned to make mashed potatoes.  

Glenn and I are both busy at work.  Glenn's had to travel some and I had a trip to Nebraska earlier in the month.  I'll have more pictures to post on the holiday weekend. If I can take a break from my napping.  

The last month

Yikes it's been a while since I posted last. I had a few weeks of pain medicine induced fog after my surgery and then another few weeks of regular family busy-ness and all of the sudden it's March. What have we been up to? Glenn started a new job on February 14 with the federal government so that's been the biggest change. He's working from home so we've completed some cleaning and decluttering to create an office space for him that doesn't look like a messy guest room. The pets are delighted to have him home during the day and while I miss sending him IMs from work, it's nice having him home when I come home for lunch. This new job is a great opportunity for him and he's enjoying the new atmosphere. The kids are doing well. Will made the honor roll for his first semester and we are proud of him for working hard in high school. Reina made the honor roll for her first semester of junior high and we are very proud of her as well. Both kids have adjusted to the rigors of their new schools and their hard work is showing. I help with homework in the evenings but lately google hasn't been enough to help me help Will with his math but I guess it's been quite a while since I had to figure out f(x)=blahblahblah. I'm just about fully recovered from my "knee" surgery. I've been back at work for a few weeks. I'm pretty tired at night and not able to jog yet but other than that, things are back to normal. This is quickly becoming one of the more boring updates I've ever posted. Well Glenn's news was pretty exciting! We are all well and counting down the days until spring.

And a Happy New Year

It's 8:08 on New Year's Eve.  We just finished up a dinner of homemade curry with chicken that Reina made for a class assignment.   It received rave reviews from Glenn, Will ate a big bowl and Reina even had some.  We also had a (mostly) homemade creme brulee for dessert.  Mostly because I found a mix for creme brulee at the store last week and thought it would be fun to try.  Man, we are exciting around here. 

I had hoped to write an eloquent post wrapping up the year but I just don't have it in me tonight.  Life feels a little bleak with covid still ever present, fires in Colorado, division in our country, drought and to top it all off - football teams that I dislike keep winning big games.  I know I need a dose of perspective but that's where I'm at.  I want this blog to reflect our real lives and it's not always goofy pictures of kids and chaos.  But I think for now, I'll try to focus on some of the good stuff.  We're all here. The house is nice and warm on a night that is supposed to be the super cold (negative wind chills expected).  We have more pets than we can probably handle but one of them is serving as a heating pad right now and it feels delicious.  We are still having a fun holiday break and it's only Friday night!  

There are some good things to look forward to and maybe that will be my New Year's Resolution - look for the light instead of paying attention to so much darkness. 

We'll give it a try.  

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

With five days until the 25th, it better be looking a lot like Christmas!  Today was the first day of holiday break for the monsters.  Glenn and I are at work most of the week - well Glenn's at work more than me - but we were both very jealous of all of the sleeping in that was happening at the house this morning.  

We are in the homestretch of the holiday preparations.  Most of the presents have been purchased, but not wrapped.  The house is so decorated that it's almost over-decorated.  The baking is mostly done.  The Christmas cards... well those are still on the to-do list.  But we are just about ready.  

Coco can't stay away from my very precious Lego village.  

At the beginning of the month, I had to make some cookies for the Tea Room at Christmas House. I made an error in trying a new recipe for the first time.  I found a recipe for rocky road cookies and it called for adding just one marshmallow to the dough before cooking.  I didn't think that was enough so I added two marshmallows and then popped the cookies in the oven.  When they came out, I realized that I had created some cute aliens.  They still tasted delicious.  

Finally, it's German Christmas cookie time. This is the batch of lepkugen fresh from the oven. 

 

September

All of my posts could be titled something along the line of "what happened to insert month here" or "how is it possible that it's almost the end of insert another month here" but that's getting boring so now I'll just label the post for the month that it is. So here we go with SEPTEMBER. Glenn arrived home last week from his third once-in-a-lifetime trip to Alaska. He brought back gorgeous photos and dirty clothes and thankfully, a bunch of moose meat that's on it's way back to us because it was a successful hunt! Will is about halfway through his football season. His game last week was canceled because the other team didn't have players but so far his team has been able to keep just about everybody healthy and no one has had to quarantine. Will's also knee-deep in homework but we are proud of the way he's working hard to get everything done. I'm brushing up on my 9th grade algebra and biology knowledge (thanks Google!) so that I can help with homework. By 'helping with homework,' I mean that Will and I yell at each other until we figure it out or he gives up and decides to just ask his teacher the next day. Here's what's crazy about this kid's brain - as we are sitting down to tackle math tonight, Will glances up at the muted tv where I have the Rockies game on. He points to the visiting team's pitcher and says something like, that guy has the worst ERA in the National League. Can the ability to remember random facts about every athlete in sports be turned into gainful employment? We might find out. Reina is busy with dance classes and comfirmation classes so she has something every weeknight. She's handling the busy schedule well but she's one tired kiddo by the end of the week. She and Glenn are going hunting this weekend for Reina's first big-game hunt. She's ready to go! I know this bordering on the world's most boring update but that's September for you. Sports, school, hunting, work stuff. I've canned a bunch of jam and more applesauce than we can eat/give away in a year. The house still smells like an apple-scented bomb went off but it could smell worse? Sports and kid pictures next time.

Kids at Water World and pet pics

It's been a super weird week but I'm saving that story for another post.  In the meantime, a few weeks ago we took the little monsters, the big monsters, the grandparents, and some friends to Water World for our Official Last Fun Event of the summer.  Well not the Last Fun Event, but maybe the last fun event in Denver?  Anyway, we piled everyone into the car and headed south.  The little monster cousins hadn't been to WW before and none of us had been there since the summer of 2019 because of Covid so we had a great time!  

E talking to his juice box - or talking to me to say 'stop taking my picture'

Where did this grown up girl come from?  

E is not a huge fan of the water and the fact that he walked in up to his knees was very big news. 

Reina and the lazy river 

I didn't get any pictures of Will, or at least any pictures that I'm allowed to post but he was there too and he did a great job with his younger cousins.  He sat in the little wave pool with them and even convinced E to go on a giant inner tube on the "Journey to the Center of the Earth" complete with dinosaurs and lava.  E announced to everyone after the ride that Aunt Lucy had ruined his life by encouraging him to go.  Oh well, I had a nice run as Cool Aunt Lucy but all good things come to an end. 

We recently bought Will a new bed to match is taller physique and a new bed meant new bedding which resulted in a weeks-long search for the perfect comforter and sheet set.  One night while perusing TJ Maxx and sending 10 (TEN!!) pictures to Will of navy and white comforters in all shades and patterns, I stumbled across this welcome mat that had to come with me. I left without a comforter too but later that weekend, Glenn and Will went shopping and came back with the manliest of manly bedding in the form of black and dark gray and I'm just happy that he found one that he likes.  

Since I'm back at the office, the pets and I don't get to hang out like we used to.  We still find time to go to the F I E L D (can't say it out loud where they can hear you) on the weekends.  

A happy bunch post run at their favorite place.

I came upstairs on one particularly hot evening last week to find Coco sleeping in our sink.  While it was a nice cool place to nap, it was also convenient for reminding me that she'd like a refreshing drink 
directly from the tap.  

A rare sighting, a tuxedo cat and a tuxedo dog sharing the same bed.  Soxy still doesn't prefer the dogs be in her direct orbit but for some reason she tolerated it yesterday. 

 

Last Week of Working from Home

It seems like a good time for a Covid update, since not only is it officially my last week working from home, but Reina had her first Covid test last week and Will might be on the way to getting his second test this week.  It's been a weird few weeks.  Reina's test was negative, as was an influenza test and strep but she was pretty sick for several days and after some steroids and an antibiotic, she's better.  I wasn't too worried that she had covid because most of her symptoms weren't covid-related but she also knew of at least 3 other kids in her class who were sick so we got her tested to rule it out.  Will has similar symptoms as Reina this week but he's not as sick and the desire to not miss more baseball practice might get him back to school tomorrow.  He does have a baseball teammate who has covid right now, so we are keeping an eye on him.  While most of the adults we know have been vaccinated, we are still waiting on an opportunity for the kids.  I hope we can all make it through this without anyone getting sick.  I'm pretty sure I must have typed something like this a year ago and yet here we are.  Almost out of the woods but not quite yet.  

I'll be back in the office full-time next week. I have mixed feelings.  It will be nice to see my co-workers in person but I'll miss my comfy clothes and the quiet of working from home.  And I'll miss the pets.  I traveled for work last week (right as Reina was getting sick which is how that timing always seems to work) and I enjoyed it.  It was a quick overnight trip and the weather cooperated, which always helps.  Being fully vaccinated also helped me feel more comfortable about staying in a hotel.  I conducted an all-day meeting and everyone wore masks the entire time.  It really felt normal after a while.  

Glenn just returned from a turkey hunting trip in Kansas and proudly brought back a giant bird. He didn't go turkey hunting last year because of travel concerns so he was pretty happy to be able to head out.  I stayed here and watched Will play baseball on Saturday and in typical Lucy fashion - I didn't think I needed a jacket and instead had to wrap myself up in three blankets I had stuffed in the trunk of my car.  So fashionable. 

We've had rain most of the day today and it's been a welcome sight.  I'm very thankful for the moisture and also thankful that I didn't have to watch any sporting events in it. Here's hoping that Will wakes up feeling 100% and everybody stays healthy.   

The rest of April so far

Baseball practice, baseball scrimmages, volleyball practice, volleyball games, dance lessons, piano, work, talking about the weather and repeat.  That's our April.  In between all of those events, I got my second Covid vaccine last week.  I started to feel pretty tired in the few hours after my shot and when I woke up the next morning, after sleeping through Glenn getting both of the kids up and out of the house, I texted my boss something like "bad headache, super fatigue, no work" and went back to sleep.  Just like most everybody else I've talked to, by the next day I was back on my feet and feeling normal two days after that.  I'm glad I'm all vaccinated up!  I hope we can get the kids their vaccines too.  I'll breathe a sigh of relief when that is done.   

My view post-vaccination.  I had giant hot water bottle dogs to keep my company.  

Easter Sunday didn't quite look like Easters of past years but we had some fun.  Church on zoom still for me (Glenn and Reina braved in-person).  Then we had a spur of the moment Easter egg hunt with the little cousins because I had too many eggs for just a tween and a teen.  It was short-lived but very, very sweet.  

Not sure who had more fun here - the uncle or the nephew

Finally, a random picture of the cat.  She has staked out the chicken coop as her domain to hunt for mice.  The chickens don't seem to mind and so far the body count is just one mouse.  But that won't stop her from keeping watch.  

More snow is expected this week. Not measured in feet like the last storm and as always, we will welcome the moisture.  Springtime in Wyoming. 

Spring Break in One Day

 The kids have had been on Spring Break all week but we unfortunately we aren't sunning ourselves in exotic locations.  Will had baseball practice through Tuesday so we decided to stay home this year and combine a work week with some fun activities. I took today off and the kids and I zipped down to Denver.  It was one of those days when everyone was cheerful and we had fun!  Fun with a 14-yr old and a 12-yr old and a mom who's always tired!  Fun!  We hit a lot of stores.  Will needed more baseball equipment and his collection of sports sweatshirts is always looking for new additions.  Reina found some clothes she liked and got her very own volleyball too.  We went to the Natural History Museum and stayed there as long as tempers would allow.  There's a cool exhibit on Stonehenge and Reina and I could have stayed in there for hours. We'll have to go back on our own again.  On the way home, Will and I listened to the Rockies game on the radio while Reina played a videogame in the backseat.  It was baseball's Opening Day and the Rockies beat the Dodgers which is always an amazing way to start off the season.  We shopped on our way home for more baseball stuff, tried a new (to us) cookie store and come home completely stuffed.  While the rest of our Spring Break has been a blur of work and driving kids to practices and play dates, this day made it all worth it.  

Day 248

For posterity, here's a quick COVID update and a short anecdote to file under "working from home with a pack of wild animals." 

Wyoming has had over 25,000 with COVID, 800+ in just the last 24 hours.  We've had days in the last week where that daily average has been over 1000.  I think our state is in the top four for cases and deaths per capita.  Not a great statistic, Wyoming.  155 deaths as of today.  More counties are passing mask mandates but there are still big chunks of the population who think that masks are an infringement or they just don't work.  The outbreaks aren't coming from the schools in our town at least.  It seems to be tied more to bars, restaurants and gatherings.  The Governor may announce new restrictions soon, but he seems to want to leave it up to personal responsibility and that just doesn't seem to be working.  I'm trying to focus my energy on things that I can control - my family wearing masks, limiting our contact with the general public, good hygiene and staying sane.  Some days it's easier to do that than others. 

UW's football game has been canceled for the second week in a row because once again the other team has too many cases.  The college football season just seems like a big random mess at this point, although I have appreciated the distraction and a little bit of a normal feeling Saturday afternoon every once in a while.  I don't see how basketball at any level can happen but we'll take that one day at a time, too.  

Today I gave a presentation online to about 130 people.  Everything was going well until I knocked on my table to emphasis a point. Well, the dogs lost their ever-loving minds thinking that someone was at the door. I couldn't mute my microphone in time and the sound of my dogs barking ignited other dogs listening to their owner's zoom call to also bark and chaos ensued.  Everybody had a good sense of humor about it but I did wish I could rewind time just 10 seconds or so and not knock.  Anything but knocking.  I have to give the same presentation tomorrow so I'll either be looking up the hounds in another room or working on another way to speak with my hands.  

Earlier in the day, I participated in a different training and the presenter was talking about all of the ways that people manage their stress.  She mentioned that she watches NCIS-New Orleans and just typing that still makes me giggle.  Apparently, that's the worst of the NCIS options.  So we all jumped in with shows that help us distract ourselves. I admitted to Murder She Wrote.  Murder shows were actually pretty high on the list.  Who knew?  

One week from tonight, I'll be baking pies and hoping that we are getting together with family members the next day.  Fingers crossed.  

Day 238

This is my first post for November?  Yikes!  So much for writing once a day this month.  Truth be told, I think about writing a quick update just about every evening but by the time the monsters are in bed, my brain is struggling to play the word jumble game on my phone and those are usually just 3 or 4 letters.  So here we are. 

Everybody is healthy.  Everybody is still at school.  I'm still at home.  Glenn is still at work although his agency is scaling back the number of people in the office so he might be home more. I'm excited about that but I also have my little routine and hours and hours of enjoyable silence.... Wyoming has seen an increase in case numbers in the last few weeks.  On Friday we had almost 1000 cases in one day.  Today's total was almost 700.  I saw a statistic that said 1 in 100 Wyomingites have COVID.  We are doing what we can to reduce our exposure but also trying to support local businesses (versus everything online) and maintaining our mental health. I think that's been the goal since this whole thing started.  So Reina and Will trick-or-treated, Glenn went bird hunting with friends and I took a quick trip with V and a few friends to the Denver Art Museum last week.  Some days I'm so tired of all of this and just wish that I could jump on a plane like it was 2019 and go somewhere fun.  Other days, I'm excited to wash masks and refill hand sanitizers and place an order for grocery pick-up.  It continues to be a weird world to live in. 

Last week was the end of the first quarter for school.  We had a Zoom parent-teacher conference with Reina's teachers.  We heard that she's kind, follows directions well (?!) and is working hard.  She's getting good grades and we proud of her progress in math.  Sixth grade history is studying the ancient world right now (Egypt, Greece, etc.) and as the kids say, that is Reina's JAM.  She's continues to love all stuff old and isn't squeamish about mummies but is indignant about Greece's inability to recognize the value and contributions of women in Sparta.  Non-school related, Reina has been very interested/invested in the presidential election and had a few sleepless nights waiting for the election results. 

We opted out of junior high parent-teacher conferences but I did chat with Will's English teacher and got a nice email from his Speech teacher.  The speech teacher said he was a nice young man and he was doing well in her class.  Considering that public speaking (well actually drawing any sort of attention to yourself that's not taking place in a sporting realm) is probably the least favorite of Will's activities, I'm proud of him for working hard.  His English teacher said he's doing great.  Will's favorite class seems to be his Science class - they are studying the planets and the solar system and it's generated a lot of discussions that I'm super unprepared for but I can say that after helping him, I now know the difference between the waning moon and the waxing moon.  Will was also pretty interested in the election.  He woke up early Wednesday morning and the first thing he asked me was if there were any results.  He usually saves that kind of enthusiasm for late night football scores but he continues to be surprising at 13.  No sports for Will right now, basketball will start closer to Thanksgiving. 

Glenn had fun hunting in South Dakota.  He and his friends packed a bunch of food so they could limit public dining and he came with a bunch of birds that I probably won't eat but he loves them.  We all missed him but made it through the week relatively unscathed. I didn't even resort to making pancakes for dinner which is usually one of the my go-to meals when he's gone.  

I still need to write about Will's confirmation but Reina just got out of the shower and we're going to watch the next episode of The Mandalorian.  Grandma H, if you are reading this, we are kidnapping you over Christmas break and you are going to watch all of the episodes from Season 1 and 2.  Be ready.  

Day 162

 It's another Monday.  We had a busy weekend with projects, a visit to the in-laws, a trip to the farmers' market, canned some pickled beets, sweated in the 90 degree weather and brought home three new chickens.  It's a good night for a blog post - list style. 

1.  Glenn woke up Sunday morning and announced, "we are getting three new chickens today."  Okay then.  We stopped at the poultry swap and picked out three pullets, a leghorn, an easter egger and some blend that I can't remember.  Two are mostly white so Reina named them Snow and Oreo (has a few black feathers.)  The third chicken is white and red and Reina suggested "Ginger" but Will wanted the opportunity to name one.  Her name was "the chicken to be named later" for a day and a half and today Will decided on Solomen (with an E - I asked), named after his Madden 20 quarterback.  Naturally.   I could write paragraphs about how Glenn spent an hour building them their own enclosure so that they could be kept separated from our current chickens and then in about 5 minutes, they flew over the coop and explored the yard.... but I won't.  So far everyone is being chill except for Charlie who would really like to see what the new chickens taste like.  

2.  School starts one week from today!  I'm more excited about the forecast for next Monday which is currently predicted to be 67 degrees.  Please please please.  

3.  Reina got a haircut today, several inches off the length and shorter bangs.  It looks cute and fresh and a good start for the school year. 

4.  I read an article about a shortage of canning supplies this summer because more people are home doing crafts and making jams and jelly. I'm running a little short on lids so I did a quick google search and it looks like the article was right.  I have about 30 lids and twice as many jars right now but if all else fails, I'll just buy more jars that come with lids.  What a weird but also typically-2020 problem to run into.  Maybe I can trade some toilet paper or Clorox wipes for canning lids?  

5.  Wyoming has about 3600 COVID-19 cases tonight and 37 deaths.  

Day 147

 Another summer weekend wraps up.  Without baseball, you'd think we'd have a lot more free time.  We did have a baseball bbq yesterday and it was fun to see everybody one more time before summer ends.  Will socially distanced himself from us and hung out with his teammates because of course he did.  Grumpiness aside, I'm glad he likes his teammates and I hope they all have the chance to play together again next summer.  

Glenn started staining our deck which he did a few summers ago but the kids and I were out of town at the time.  Its a messy project but he does a good job.  We are truly running out of home projects which is shocking.  

Will was supposed to read the lesson during today's Zoom church service.  Even though my computer uses Zoom every day during the week for work, today it decided to have the microphone be all wonky (technical term) so after a few tries, our Pastor had to take over.  I sent a message apologizing for the technology and she wrote back that my computer must be observing the Sabbath.  We both agreed that who knew it was so devout?  

The rest of the day involved baths for all three dogs, some weird cleaning projects and my latest craft project - reusable gift bags.  I like sewing stuff that has straight lines. 

One last bit of good news.  I discovered the Otter Pops that I've been snacking on all summer are only 90 calories for SIX pops.  I thought they were 90 calories each.  This is big news and guess what's for breakfast? 

Two weeks tomorrow until the possible first day of school.  Stay tuned.   

Day 92

Another Monday!  Glenn and I are still working from home.  The weather started off cooler than expected and hazy because of the fires burning in the West (not a good sign for so early in the summer!).  I had to go to the office for a few hours this morning.  The budget news for state government continues to be scary, but just like everything else in this time, we are taking it day by day!

Reina got to spend the afternoon with Grandma Hansen and they had lunch in the park, played with water colors and went to TJ Maxx (naturally).  Will had batting practice tonight so I took him and Charlie and I walked while he practiced.  After that, Glenn finished putting up the towel racks in the bathroom goodness this post is excruciatingly boring. We painted the bathroom this weekend!  When I think about all of the house projects we've finished up during this quarantine time, it's pretty amazing.  And there are still more to tackle.

I got to see Coco use her cat tent as a hamster wheel to chase another cat out of the yard tonight.  Now the moths are brazenly landing on me while I try to type.  So gross.  I think even the cats are tired of catching and eating them because there are soooo many this year.  So many. 

I thought of my daily silver lining earlier today but now I've forgotten it.  Reina and I are reading The Ickabog every night, was that it?  Will and I are going through a 'pun' phase where we send each other texts and memes and include Pop-Pop because he's always up for a good pun.  Oh I know what it was!  Glenn has a thing for true crime murder shows and I do too!  I always knew that I did but his is a new appreciation that he discovered while exercising in the basement over the lunch hour.  He finds random channels on our cable and while they sometimes veer towards the gruesome (mob killings, etc.), today's was just a good old fashioned marital murder.  We both watched for a while but he had to go back to work before the murderer was revealed.  It was the wife, duh. 

So there you go.  A bit weird to end on spousal homicide but it's a Monday.  Oh wait, let's end on Will's report card.  It arrived today and he was two percentage points away from all A's for the year!  He ended up with an 89 in Spanish and an 89 in Honor's World Geography.  He had all A's for the second semester and we are really proud of him for making a commitment to his academics.  Bring on 8th grade!

Day 11

My day looked something like this:

Wake up
Remember what's happening
Exercise
Eat breakfast
Work
Catch up Reina on school work that we haven't been paying enough attention to
Work some more
Walk dogs over the lunch hour
Work again
Listen to the Governor's press conference (no mandatory stay in place order.  Yet.)
Fight the urge to nap and instead keep working
Get a second wind and crank out a bunch of work before 5:00 p.m.
Order take-out for dinner
Order a bunch of things from Target for order pick-up (a giant ball for Will, an exercise ball for Reina, tennis balls for Charlie, seeing a theme here?)
Pick up masks for a dr's office from my co-worker's house and keep social distance even though we could have stood there for hours and chatted
Drop off masks
Eat dinner
Get notification from Target that order is ready
Inflate all of the BALLS
Play basketball as a family for a few blissful minutes until it devolved into competitive arguing
Write on this blog
Make more masks
Find something mindless to watch on tv, or an old Rockies game

In good news, Glenn and Will made a quick trip to the grocery store and came back with a 20-lb bag of potatoes, two giant boxes of goldfish crackers and a bunch of frozen burritos.  So we are set.  In cooking news, Will microwaved his own burritos for lunch. He's ready for college.