Well, we haven't gone out much this week. We're trying really hard to keep with the social distancing protocol. Things are settling somewhat into a predictable routine. I still feel like my brain is fried by the end of the day, but I think that won't change as long as my kids are doing school at home.
Some great things about this week:
We started building a fence! If the weather ever cooperates, we might finish it one day.
We took a walk for FHE on a nature trail. It felt SO GOOD to be outside.
I participated in my normal yoga class via Zoom. It was almost as good as being there in person.
I celebrated my birthday! We all loved eating Reese's Puffs for breakfast and Black Forest cake after dinner. Though I didn't get sushi since the place was closed, the Taco Bell we got was still pretty tasty. I really love chalupas.
We got new books from the library in a surprise bag that James picked up outside. I'm so glad not to be reading the same 10 books over and over. I'm really glad our library is taking the precautions needed while still providing us with new reading material.
I'm trying to stay busy in my free time with good reading and sewing. Once in a while, I still listen to some classes from the Great Courses, but my brain is too dang tired to care as much as I did 2 weeks ago.
School is for certain at home until May 1. We can do this!
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Friday, March 20, 2020
The Quarantine, Week 1
Things have been so crazy recently that I don't even know how to make sense of all of it. At first, when I got home from my trip, things were still okay-ish. By Friday, things had escalated a lot. We found out after the kids got home that there'd be no school for the next 2 weeks, as ordered by the governor.
Sunday was really different than normal, but nice. We had Primary in the morning and then played board games. Cherissa, her mom, and Tayson came over for the sacrament, dinner, and family home evening. We're going to have them over every week until this thing is over.
Wednesday, I went to the school to pick up schoolwork for the kids. We have since settled into some kind of routine for school. My days are extra busy because I have to manage which kid uses which device, and their teachers have different expectations for what they need to do. Katie needs help with a lot of her work, so I've had to shuffle my schedule around so I can help her without completely ignoring the little kids. All things considered, we're making it work pretty well. Sometimes, we have 4 timers going at once.
James and I got Chinese takeout and went shooting for our date. It was especially nice to get a break from the house while still obeying the rules of social distancing.
Being at home is not so bad. The weather was nice until yesterday, when it started raining/snowing. Because of that, it made things a lot harder for everyone. The kids got bored after their schoolwork was done and complained a lot. I did manage to do grocery pickup. I didn't get about 15% of my items, which is a bummer, but they can all wait till at least next week.
I've been trying to use my free time (what's left of it) for sewing projects. So far, I've been able to do about 1-2 small projects a day. I've been busy enough that I haven't had much time to panic. The quarantine isn't bad in itself, but all the panic on social media is. Still, I don't feel that I can stay away from it all, so I'm trying to stay positive.
I feel especially grateful right now for a couple of things:
1. I got home from my trip to NC safely, and so did my sister Mara. There was an earthquake the day after she got home, so the airport shut down!
2. I bought groceries before my trip, and extras, too. Yesterday's trip didn't have to be as big as normal.
3. I have lots of food storage. Even if the store had nothing at all, I'd still be able to feed my family for a long time. I even have a huge supply of my favorite chocolate!
4. I'm a flexible cook. Making substitutions is nothing new to me because we used to struggle to make ends meet and ran out of things all the time.
5. I went to school for elementary education. Of course that's not a requirement for teaching my kids at home, but it gives me a little bit of peace.
6. There are a billion memes to read online. Being able to laugh is a great thing during these uncertain times.
I know that God is watching out for my family and the whole world. I have my moments of anxiety, but so far, things have really been okay.
Sunday was really different than normal, but nice. We had Primary in the morning and then played board games. Cherissa, her mom, and Tayson came over for the sacrament, dinner, and family home evening. We're going to have them over every week until this thing is over.
Wednesday, I went to the school to pick up schoolwork for the kids. We have since settled into some kind of routine for school. My days are extra busy because I have to manage which kid uses which device, and their teachers have different expectations for what they need to do. Katie needs help with a lot of her work, so I've had to shuffle my schedule around so I can help her without completely ignoring the little kids. All things considered, we're making it work pretty well. Sometimes, we have 4 timers going at once.
James and I got Chinese takeout and went shooting for our date. It was especially nice to get a break from the house while still obeying the rules of social distancing.
Being at home is not so bad. The weather was nice until yesterday, when it started raining/snowing. Because of that, it made things a lot harder for everyone. The kids got bored after their schoolwork was done and complained a lot. I did manage to do grocery pickup. I didn't get about 15% of my items, which is a bummer, but they can all wait till at least next week.
I've been trying to use my free time (what's left of it) for sewing projects. So far, I've been able to do about 1-2 small projects a day. I've been busy enough that I haven't had much time to panic. The quarantine isn't bad in itself, but all the panic on social media is. Still, I don't feel that I can stay away from it all, so I'm trying to stay positive.
I feel especially grateful right now for a couple of things:
1. I got home from my trip to NC safely, and so did my sister Mara. There was an earthquake the day after she got home, so the airport shut down!
2. I bought groceries before my trip, and extras, too. Yesterday's trip didn't have to be as big as normal.
3. I have lots of food storage. Even if the store had nothing at all, I'd still be able to feed my family for a long time. I even have a huge supply of my favorite chocolate!
4. I'm a flexible cook. Making substitutions is nothing new to me because we used to struggle to make ends meet and ran out of things all the time.
5. I went to school for elementary education. Of course that's not a requirement for teaching my kids at home, but it gives me a little bit of peace.
6. There are a billion memes to read online. Being able to laugh is a great thing during these uncertain times.
I know that God is watching out for my family and the whole world. I have my moments of anxiety, but so far, things have really been okay.
Thursday, March 12, 2020
NC Trip, Spring
I had a great time in NC!
Thursday, my flights went without a hitch. I do not regret flying from Vernal, even though it meant a 6-hour layover in Denver. I explored the airport, read a book, and had some delicious food. My flight offered movies, so it went by quickly despite my being crammed in a middle, last row seat.
Friday, I met with Brinson, Ceci, Myles, Colbey, Mara, and Carmel for lunch at Cookout. It's kind of a tradition. I really love their hush puppies. We then went to the Craft Exchange with Rachel. It might become another tradition, because it's just like a thrift store, but just for craft materials, like wood, cloth, thread, beads, paper, etc. I got a whole bunch of fabric and some misc. stuff for only $14. Next, we went to Bennett Place, a Civil War historical site. It was pretty interesting. After a quick dinner at home, the whole family met up with Myles's fiancee at the Videri Chocolate Factory in Raleigh. It was so interesting to see the process of making chocolate. Of course I didn't leave empty-handed either.
Saturday, Mom, Mara, and I went on a walk. It felt good to be out in the crisp, spring air. Things in NC are much greener than where I live. I went with Mara to lunch at Panera since she was meeting a friend, and then we went to the church to set up for Colbey and Micheal's wedding reception. Several hours later, we had it all set up. It was actually pretty fun to be involved in the process. Usually I'm at home with kids. The reception itself was great. We ended up with the perfect amount of tables and food. It was nice to relax and socialize a bit. I helped with the taking down part, thankfully much shorter than the setup.
Sunday, we went to church and then took naps afterward. I had a lot of trouble sleeping in, mostly due to the sunshine. The time change on Sunday was no help either. We had a yummy dinner followed by Frozen 2 (since most of the family hadn't seen it) and Myles's birthday cake.
Monday was just like Thursday: lots of walking in the Denver airport and some yummy food. I got home by 5:40. James and the kids had a good time while I was gone. Everything was clean, and James had a yummy dinner waiting. I was exhausted by this point because I hadn't gotten enough sleep and had to get up at 3:30 A.M. (my time) in order to get on the early flight. Yuck.
I'm mostly recovered now. The snow is all but gone, so I've been washing all the winter stuff to store away. I don't mind the extra laundry. It's one of my favorite days of the year: putting away all the boots and coats till at least 6 months from now!
On a random note, I had a headache the other day and bought Excedrin on a whim. It actually WORKS!!! Since having kids, the regular meds (ibuprofen, acetaminophen) don't do anything for my headaches. I don't get them too often, thankfully, but I'm really grateful to finally have something for when I do.
Thursday, my flights went without a hitch. I do not regret flying from Vernal, even though it meant a 6-hour layover in Denver. I explored the airport, read a book, and had some delicious food. My flight offered movies, so it went by quickly despite my being crammed in a middle, last row seat.
Friday, I met with Brinson, Ceci, Myles, Colbey, Mara, and Carmel for lunch at Cookout. It's kind of a tradition. I really love their hush puppies. We then went to the Craft Exchange with Rachel. It might become another tradition, because it's just like a thrift store, but just for craft materials, like wood, cloth, thread, beads, paper, etc. I got a whole bunch of fabric and some misc. stuff for only $14. Next, we went to Bennett Place, a Civil War historical site. It was pretty interesting. After a quick dinner at home, the whole family met up with Myles's fiancee at the Videri Chocolate Factory in Raleigh. It was so interesting to see the process of making chocolate. Of course I didn't leave empty-handed either.
Saturday, Mom, Mara, and I went on a walk. It felt good to be out in the crisp, spring air. Things in NC are much greener than where I live. I went with Mara to lunch at Panera since she was meeting a friend, and then we went to the church to set up for Colbey and Micheal's wedding reception. Several hours later, we had it all set up. It was actually pretty fun to be involved in the process. Usually I'm at home with kids. The reception itself was great. We ended up with the perfect amount of tables and food. It was nice to relax and socialize a bit. I helped with the taking down part, thankfully much shorter than the setup.
Sunday, we went to church and then took naps afterward. I had a lot of trouble sleeping in, mostly due to the sunshine. The time change on Sunday was no help either. We had a yummy dinner followed by Frozen 2 (since most of the family hadn't seen it) and Myles's birthday cake.
Monday was just like Thursday: lots of walking in the Denver airport and some yummy food. I got home by 5:40. James and the kids had a good time while I was gone. Everything was clean, and James had a yummy dinner waiting. I was exhausted by this point because I hadn't gotten enough sleep and had to get up at 3:30 A.M. (my time) in order to get on the early flight. Yuck.
I'm mostly recovered now. The snow is all but gone, so I've been washing all the winter stuff to store away. I don't mind the extra laundry. It's one of my favorite days of the year: putting away all the boots and coats till at least 6 months from now!
On a random note, I had a headache the other day and bought Excedrin on a whim. It actually WORKS!!! Since having kids, the regular meds (ibuprofen, acetaminophen) don't do anything for my headaches. I don't get them too often, thankfully, but I'm really grateful to finally have something for when I do.
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