Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

Lisa

The Distancing Diaries, Days 41-45: The tooth fairy, a letter from England, and the birds are back

Five more days in the life of isolation and quarantine. We cover a lot of ground in this edition. I realize I made a counting error. I get a letter from overseas. We have porch visitors. And, as always, there’s food! Shall we begin?

Day 41: I’ve seen others with different counts for the day of quarantine/isolation we’re on. I’m not sure how we all arrive at different numbers. Maybe some started earlier than us. Anyway, for us, it’s day 40. Unless I miscounted somewhere along the way. I have big feelings about this number. And it’s supposed to rain all day. Hoping I can stay positive and not lose my shiitake with the rest of the family.

I DID miscount. I counted day 35 twice! That’s okay. It’s officially day 41! Maybe it’s good that I didn’t know yesterday was day 40. I still can hardly believe it.

Breakfast and coffee as usual. Phil is working out in the living room.

School went pretty well today. I don’t know what the “secret” is to a good day. Maybe it’s not anything I have any control over. It’s mostly not. My son got through his work before 9 a.m. and then did some coding online. I washed dishes and listened to Office Ladies. And read some more for my judging job. Phil worked on the tub drain, clearing it out, and patched a blow-up cat chair that’s had a leak for months.

We tuned in to The Price is Right again for high schoolers during kids’ week and it was as entertaining as I hoped it would be. More academics after lunch. Sometimes this middle of the day time span feels like a blur and I can’t remember exactly how I spent that time. Maybe it doesn’t matter, but it does kind of bother me. After the second class meeting, I worked on some things I needed to do for the judging job and printed my materials for the next week of my fitness and nutrition program. The kids practiced band. There was a little bit of fighting. And they folded towels. Everything having to do with the checklist went better today.

I talked to our friend David on the phone briefly. Phil came home and I started putting dishes away and working on dinner. Dinner didn’t go exactly as I had hoped. We ran out of parchment paper last week and I forgot to put it on the list for the grocery store. And we’re not making extra trips to the store. So, I used foil instead and the fish stuck to it and one piece didn’t cook so well, but it was mostly edible. We watched a Mr. Bean episode that was hilarious and hinged on a long joke. 

Now the kids are doing Just Dance to round out their active time since it’s raining outside. Phil and I made the produce list for the week. He’s looking though cookbooks for a pickled ginger recipe. I picked a new puzzle and I’m considering getting it out and starting it. I also need to stretch and I may take a bath tonight. My muscles are sore from all the ways I’ve been working them this week. New exercises start tomorrow, and I’m kind of excited.

Memories of happier times from last year’s vacation

After Just Dance it was chill time. I opened the puzzle and started sorting pieces while listening to more of Andrew Peterson reading book 1 in The Wingfeather Saga. The rest of that video was my cue to put the kids in bed. They went to bed without much fuss. Considering how the day started, I wasn’t sure we would have an okay day. And we did.

I put on the last episode of season 3 of The West Wing while I stretched and rolled out my sore muscles. Then I worked on the cross-stitch project. I ended the night with an episode of Grace and Frankie. This is my balance on nights when Phil has to go to bed early for work–a little drama, a little comedy.

Day 42: I woke at 5:15, a full hour before my alarm goes off. And I felt rested, which is a new feeling for me these days. I drank water, took my medication and grabbed a book. I listened to Pray As You Go and scrolled socials, then read for about 30 minutes. Since I’m starting a new set of workouts today, I decided to take body measurements again. Our scale broke last month, so this is the way I’m tracking progress. Although it’s not really about that for me. I like the way I feel when I’m exercising. It helps my mental state and gives me something to look forward to and check off on these endless days of sameness.

I made coffee. The kids are still sleeping. Our son lost a tooth yesterday. I’m waiting to see if the tooth fairy remembered to pay him a visit. At least there’s a pandemic to blame if he didn’t.

The kids are awake now. I’m about to sneak in to the bedroom and see if the tooth fairy came. Asking my son outright always feels a bit obvious. I need to eat breakfast, too. And now I have a puzzle to work on. It’s Friday, which in some ways is a relief because the school work pressure eases, but in other ways is not because the weekend is no longer the weekend. We can’t go anywhere, and I’m not always good at making our own fun. 

It’s night now and the kids are not sleeping. I think it was the chocolate cake for dessert. Or maybe there’s a full moon and I don’t know about it. They’re mostly just talking but it’s loud enough for me to hear it through the wall shared with the living room. I’ve been in there numerous times, and I’m afraid the only thing that’s going to work is turning the light off. Then there will be screaming and I’d really like to sleep tonight.

A recap of the day:

The tooth fairy came as usual.

The day was so-so overall. Because it’s Friday we’re less motivated to keep up with our schedule, I guess. The kids started out doing Just Dance at 8:30 this morning.

Just Dance!

They did this for more than 30 minutes without fighting, so I’ll take it. Then they moved on to coding while sitting next to each other at the table. I washed dishes and did some work reading. And I made progress on the puzzle. I purposely picked a smaller one so I could finish it sooner. I’m still not over the last puzzle I did.

My son played a form of Bingo with his classmates as they reviewed time, and he was one of the winners. After his class meeting the kids kept coding online. I put together some lunch for myself and turned on The Price is Right. College kids today, which is not all that different than adults. Still, it’s fun to watch. The kids weren’t as interested but did wander in after they grabbed some lunch. 

The afternoon was hit and miss. I folded some laundry and got ready to work out. Daughter went back to academics and I had to take the computer from my son so I could follow along with some of the videos to learn some new exercises. He got bored and I had to keep interrupting. Meanwhile, a friend was expected to stop by to drop off some planters we’d loaned them. We waved through the window because it’s goodbye for now as they’re moving out of state.

I finished my workout and helped my son with his homework a little bit. We were still working on it around 3 o’clock, which is frustrating for a Friday. But he finished most of it. Our daughter had a music lesson with her band teacher, and that was fun to listen in on. I’m looking forward to my kids getting back to regular lessons for their instruments.

I started prepping for dinner: homemade pizza night. I chopped the ingredients for toppings but waited till Phil got home to work on the crust. It’s a no-yeast recipe we’ve been using regularly so it doesn’t take much time. After he got home, I finished the pizza prep while he showered. He finished just in time to help me get it into the oven. We cook it in a large cast-iron pan that’s hard for me to handle. 

BBQ Chicken Pizza with a homemade no-yeast crust

We watched a new series on Netflix called Absurd Planet. It’s … uh … interesting. The kids enjoyed it, though. The kids took showers and zoned out on screens. I did some work on the puzzle and took a shower. Phil turned the NFL draft on and we watched a little until he had to go to bed. It is 9:40 p.m. as I write and I can still hear the children talking. Lord of Heaven, please let them sleep in.

I’ve watched a couple of episodes of Grace and Frankie and did some online shopping while prepping meal plans for the next week or so. I should have been in bed a while ago. It won’t be long now and I may sleep in tomorrow.

Day 43: Weirdly restless night. I mean, I slept, but it’s not good sleep. But I didn’t really wake up till almost 7, so maybe that’s good? Not sure what time the kids got up but they’re already on screens. I made coffee and took my blood pressure, which was high, so now I’m waiting a few minutes to take it again. Seems like it’s high in the morning but comes down during the day with the medicine’s help. I’m not sure if that’s better than what it was doing before, keeping it consistently low. Stress and dehydration, I feel are contributing factors. Only one of those can I do something about with any consistency. (Drink. More. Water.)

Another Saturday. What shall we do with our day? Daughter has a book club this afternoon. And I have a live yoga session I could attend, which I’m considering. There’s the usual housework. The puzzle. And random cleaning projects I keep putting off. Also, I have reading and writing work I could do. So. Many. Choices. I think that’s one of the hard things about all this unscheduled time. I don’t always know how to spend it. And maybe I don’t need to always know either.

I took the garden plants outside to water them and repotted the gerbera daisies to give them a little more life. We haven’t done the garden yet–too wet and too cold–so digging in the dirt a little bit was good for my soul. The kids had come outside to play as I was finishing up. It was pleasant out so I took my work to the porch and sat down. Not long after I’d settled in, the kids were done biking. After only 15 minutes, they were tired. This is not a good sign. I feel the need to push them a little harder to stay active. I did strongly suggest that they stay outside for a while because it had rained all day yesterday and tomorrow is calling for rain. Daughter brought her book club book outside. Son brought the rest of his breakfast then complained constantly about how it was so boring sitting outside. I gave him a bunch of options for things he could do while outside and he rejected all of them. He did stay outside until 10 a.m., which was the cutoff time I had set, but he wasn’t happy about it. C’est la vie!

I had a snack and worked on the puzzle some. I’m down to all white pieces, the spray from Niagara Falls, so it’s taking a little longer. Then I grabbed some materials and my computer and decided to try to make a cloth mask. I had a no-sew T-shirt pattern that I wanted to try, but it didn’t turn out right. There was too much material left when I was done. So, I tackled the sew version even though I don’t have a sewing machine. It took me a while to figure out, but I’m happy with the result. It’s not pretty or fancy but it works. It was close to 11:30 by then so I got myself some lunch and reminded the children that they, too, should eat lunch. I worked on the puzzle a bit then started gathering things for my live yoga session at 1. The training program I’m part of is offering a series of live sessions in the coming weeks. I have not done yoga really before–one time during a women’s group when I was volunteering with refugees–so I was kind of nervous. It was rough because I’m not familiar with the terminology and I’m not flexible. I think I may need to add some yoga into my workout routines. I gave up before it was over because the Instagram feed quit on me. So, I quit on it and went to my workout for the day. My arms and shoulders are killing me as I transition back to strength training after a month of cardio. I can’t wait to run tomorrow.

I started washing dishes after that so I’d have some things clean for dinner prep. Phil came home while I was doing dishes. We caught up on our days a little bit, then I got to work on dinner because our son was playing a handheld game on the couch and the noise from it was causing some minor insanity in my brain. I retreated to the kitchen to put some distance between myself and the sounds.

Soup and salad dinner night while watching Night at the Museum 2. This one Phil and I hadn’t seen, and the kids laughed as much during this one as they did the first one. A good way to spend the evening. I made a second mask after I was done with dinner. Cross-stitch skills come in handy when you don’t have a sewing machine.

The rest of the fam helped me bring the plants in from the porch. Now we’re killing time till the kids go to bed, which will be early tonight because they were up so late last night and still up early this morning. My son swears he’s not tired and won’t go to sleep right away. I’ll take that bet. This isn’t my first bedtime rodeo.

Phil and I watched Brooklyn-99 and an episode of Poldark.

Day 44: This is the first day that I haven’t tracked the entire day, or anything about it really until it’s already night. Part of that is because we did a screen-free afternoon with the kids and put our devices in the bin as well. Here’s a little bit of how things went today:

I made breakfast and coffee. The kids were on screens all morning. I decided to spend the morning working on a breakfast dish for the rest of the week. I wanted to get that and some dishes washed first thing this morning so that I could go for a run this afternoon. I made the baked oatmeal and got through the dishes, then I got dressed and worked on the puzzle while we waited for church to start. It was live church today. Phil worked out this morning.

Live church started at 10, so Phil and I tuned in. The kids were a little bit out of sorts. We told them our screens were going away after it was over. By the time we took a break for our sermon discussion, the kids were throwing fits about not having screens. They both curled up under blankets on the couches and sulked. Our son actually fell asleep and napped for a little bit.

Spring is showing off. This is what I see when I run.

Things turned around a little as we worked on lunch. Phil and I sat at the table and worked on the puzzle. Then it was time to go for my run. I was waiting for the temperature to warm up since it was going to rain all day. It was raining when I left, but it wasn’t too cold. My plan was three miles, and I did three miles. It took me 40 minutes, which feels like a slow pace but really wasn’t too bad.  I’m just really glad to have done the miles. I’m going to keep going with three miles on future runs. The kids were occupying themselves pretty well when I got home. Phil was working on the puzzle.

I showered. Phil got ready to nap. I put some laundry in. The kids were fussing with each other a little bit. Things got a little heated. I yelled. The kids got irritated. There was a rough stretch where our son needed to be escorted to his room and a cup of watercolor water got spilled in the living room. It was the low point of the day. But I rage cleaned the bathroom sink and organized our growing pile of stuff to give away. These two things took not a lot of time but offer me a lot of joy right now.

I like a finished work.

I worked on the puzzle in the quiet of the house. I finished it before dinner, then worked on making dinner. We let the kids get back on screens around 5 p.m. We did a quick video call with grandparents before doing another video call with our niece to play a game of Uno with her. She fell asleep partway through and we still had a nice visit with the kids’ aunt and uncle. Playing games via video call is something I never considered before this time of our lives, and it’s something I want to continue when it’s all over.

Board games via video call–who knew?!?

The kids went to bed. Phil and I are watching episodes of The Office, and we realized that this season first aired while Phil and I were recovering from our marriage crisis. So we don’t remember these episodes as well as some of the other ones we’ve watched. 

Overall, this day had some ups and downs. But I think we’re going to do the screen-free again next week.

Day 45: The highlight of this day so far–it’s 11:30 now–is the letter I received from my friend in England.

A letter from my friend in England is always good; especially so now!

She and I have been pen pals for more than 20 years. We met in the general store of the college I attended for a semester there, working together and learning the trade together. She is one of my best treasures from that magical semester. We only communicate via mail, and I was worried about her and how she’s faring in these trying times. A letter from her was such a lift to my spirits. We also received our postal order–stamps and postcards–today. More mail to send!

I had trouble getting out of bed this morning. I silenced the alarm twice then picked up my phone and scrolled a little before listening to Pray As You Go. Today’s lingering question is what do you need from the Lord to fill your Spirit? The letter from my English friend was part of the answer.

Breakfast and coffee. I planned my week for work (mine) and meetings (the kids’). It’s not a lot of scheduling but it’s necessary for me to find the time I need for my own work and goals. I met with the kids a little after 8 to look at their plans for the day and a little bit for the week. We have band lessons scheduled now, so I want to make sure we don’t forget those. Phil worked out. I researched wireless headphones for my birthday gift from my parents.

While my son worked on his schoolwork, I read for my judging job. Daughter also did schoolwork. Son met with his class as usual. And then it was lunchtime. I didn’t do any housework yet this morning, and I’m not sure why. Wasn’t feeling the need for it immediately. I have the usual dishes to wash and laundry to fold. I have time this afternoon.

Our daughter was able to video chat with her best friend this morning, too, and that improves her mood greatly.

I also spent part of the morning planning my birthday celebration. It’s a terrible time to be having a birthday, but we’re still going to celebrate. We’re ordering fancy takeout from a local restaurant, something we haven’t done at all yet, fancy or not, since the quarantine. And I launched a birthday mission on social media. (You can check it out here if you want.) Just trying to have a little fun when life is not always so much fun.

As I ate lunch, I watched some videos related to today’s workout so I’ll be prepped and ready to go for that. I still can’t believe I ran three miles yesterday. The question now is how high will I go in mileage? I want to run the three miles a few more times before increasing the distance, but I’m just thrilled right now at my body’s ability to recover. Six months ago, I was approaching surgery and spent an entire month in recovery, unsure what my body would be capable of when it was over. Maybe in some ways, we’re all in recovery right now and we’re not sure what’s going to happen on the other side of it. I still want to believe there is good on the other side. But I know it’s hard to keep up that hope.

I forgot to mention yesterday that the mourning doves are back. I left a hanging plant outside overnight and they rediscovered it. Today, they’ve both visited the potential nesting site. I’m guessing we’ll have baby birds later this spring.

Laundry and dishes took up some after lunch time for me. The kids did more of their academic time and our daughter had another Zoom meeting in the afternoon. I read more of my book for judging. Around 1:30 I got ready to work out, which meant I had to ask for my computer back from my son and pop into the background of my daughter’s Zoom meeting to get my workout clothes from the bedroom. 

My workout was challenging. I’m building strength again, so I’m trying new workouts and working new muscles and generally enjoying the change of pace. The kids both showered and practiced band while I was finishing up  my workout. Not long after I finished my workout, while I was preparing my snack, Phil got home from work. There’s a nice little stretch now before I need to start working on dinner. These are the moments that stretch out and feel like longer than they are. When you’re used to being busy, all the down time can be jarring. It’s like when I was trying to practice yoga on Saturday. My body starts to resist before I can even get started. Rest. Sitting still. These things don’t come easy to me.

Black bean and cabbage soup

I made a beautiful and delicious soup for dinner. We watched Some Good News that left Phil and I in tears. Then Phil switched to some Cubs content. It only made me miss baseball more. Our son went outside to play. Daughter had ice cream. Son had ice cream when he came in. I took a shower. The kids went to screens, and I filed out some more cards to mail to people.

Put the kids to bed. Watched Outlander, followed by the last episode of Season 6 of Grace and Frankie. I colored a picture while I watched my shows.

The Distancing Diaries: The Big 4-0 edition

I realized as I was putting this together that I counted day 35 twice, so when the Big 4-0 happened yesterday, I didn’t know it. That’s why there’s nothing in that day’s reflection about us being at day 40. I only realized it this morning, on day 41. It was bound to happen. I’m just glad it didn’t happen way back in the early days of quarantine counting! How are you keeping track of the days?

Day 36: Things I miss, according to my dreams and in no particular order: my students, my co-workers, driving, sharing food with friends. I woke after having a dream that I was driving somewhere mountainous and I got lost and couldn’t find directions, but I wasn’t too panicked. Before that dream, we were visiting one of my co-workers at her house where she’d made dinner for us before we were going out somewhere all together. They lived on a cul-de-sac with a large in-ground pool in front of their house that didn’t belong to them. Weird. Two days ago I dreamed that some students were allowed to come back to school and I walked into a study hall in a science classroom to see some of my students there.

Quarantine dreams, y’all. They wild.

While I was still in bed, scrolling through social media, my daughter came in and asked if they could finish listening to the Weird Al Yankovic cassette on my husband’s new cassette player. I said “yes” because apparently this is the ’90s now. When I wandered out to the living room, they were playing Lego Star Wars and listening to Weird Al sing his parodies. It’s going to be a fun day.

I made breakfast and coffee and took my blood pressure. It’s slowly coming down. I’m hoping that means we have the right dosage since it’s not dramatically dropping. Give it more time.

It’s been a rough morning. Apparently we have energy but no direction. When the video gaming was over, we met to talk about expectations for the day, even though there’s no “school.” I need them to do some things that aren’t strictly lounging. So, the kids kept listening to the music tuning their dad’s new radio into a local station and shopping for things online. I tried to read for my judging job  but they kept screaming at things they were seeing online and crawling all over each other. So, I turned the music off and asked them to spend the next 45 minutes doing something else. Anything else.

Before that, though, I washed dishes and listened to Office Ladies while we waited for the fire truck parade to come past our house. At a little after 9:30, I heard the sirens and ran through the house telling the kids to get jackets and shoes on. The parade was in the neighborhood next to our house. We ran to the porch and started waving while I took shoddy video and a few pictures.

It was emotional to wave to our first responders, who are volunteers mostly (if not all; I’m still not sure how it all works out here) as they wore masks and drove through the entire district.

After I turned the music off, my daughter started reading the first book for her book club that starts next week while her brother rolled around in his bed complaining that he had nothing to do. This is my current “work” environment. Heaven, help me.

By 11, it was time for lunch. They made mac and cheese and I made a salad. I’ll go back to reading while they watch YouTube and then I probably should work out. And double check the shopping list for Phil so that it’s complete or nearly so when he goes to the store later.

Phil went to three stores and stocked us up again for what I hope will be closer to three weeks now. It’s not that we’re trying to hoard, just trying to limit our exposure to the outside world. The kids and I ate dinner while he was gone. He ate when he got home and had showered. Getting the kids showered and off screens was a little bit rough. But we managed.

Phil and I watched Brooklyn-99 and then tuned in to the Global Citizen At Home Together event. It was moving. And I’m obsessed with background bookshelves, so if we’re on a video call and you have a bookshelf in the background, I’m staring at it trying to figure out your reading tastes.

Day 37: The kids were awake early but I didn’t hear them. Our daughter was finishing a book for her book club that starts Saturday. Our son was playing a game on the tablet. I got up and made myself some pancakes, then we settled in to watch the sermon for this week and listen to the songs picked to go with it. This took us a little longer than it has in the past, or maybe we got a later start, but it was 9:30 by the time we finished, and I still planned to go for a run before our live sermon discussion at 10:45. 

I got ready in a hurry and headed out into a beautiful spring day. Sun shining. Cool temps. Gorgeous. My plan was to run 2.5 miles no matter how long it took. I’m technically finished with the C25K program but haven’t actually run the 5k part of it yet. I’m working up to longer distances. Last time I was out, I ran 2.35 miles in 30 minutes. I picked a route and did the work and ended up running 2.54 miles in a little over 32 minutes.

The evidence of a car accident we were briefly aware of earlier in the weekend.

This is a proud moment for me. It’s taken so long to get back to where I was last summer, but I’m getting closer. I”m not sure what my next goal is–2.75 miles or jump straight to 3. I need to start looking for a 5K I can register for, even if it’s a virtual one at this time.

I got back, downed some water and had a quick snack. I changed out of my sweaty running shirt for a dry one and we logged in to chat with our church friends. We had a fun and interesting discussion. I miss these people and I’m glad we can still see each other’s faces once in a while.

The kids have been on screens all morning, and Phil is getting ready to go for a run. The transition from screens to no screens may not go well. I guess we’ll see what the afternoon brings. Personally, it’s the nicest outside it’s been all week and I want to be there. Outside. With a book, probably. I’m tired of dishes and laundry and cleaning and seeing the inside of my house.

We ate lunch, and then I did sit outside for a while and finish reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. But it’s a little too chilly to just be sitting. So, I came in. Phil got back from his run. The kids started working on a secret project in their room. They yelled at us if we came anywhere near them. Phil started cleaning the kitchen counters, which turned into a bit of a project but man, do they look good now. I washed some dishes and did some early prep for dinner and meal planned for the week and mostly just kept Phil company. Some of our best talks happen in the kitchen when both of us are doing other things.

The kids spent some time outside but came back in frustrated by their togetherness. They didn’t separate immediately, though. I took a shower and made dinner. We decided to watch The Sandlot as our evening entertainment and it was not a mistake. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that movie. I did have to tell the kids that pretty much the only thing they’re allowed to repeat from the movie is “You’re killing me, Smalls!”

Now it’s almost bedtime again. Another school week ahead of us. I don’t know if we’re ready. Phil and I watched an episode of Poldark, and that was all, folks!

Day 38: It’s Monday again, and honestly, I can’t figure out if it being April 20th is surprising or disappointing. In some ways, April feels like it’s flying by but in other ways, it’s dragging. Time is so weird right now.

I listened to Pray As You Go this morning and scrolled the socials for a little bit. Monday morning socials are tricky because the new episode of Outlander airs on Sunday nights and sometimes there are spoilers on Twitter and Instagram. Even though I’ve read the books, I like to enjoy the episodes for what they are. So, I do a lot of scanning past those tweets and Insta posts.

The kids were playing Star Wars first thing. Now we’re on to breakfast. We didn’t do much planning out of the week yesterday, so our morning meeting is going to be a little more substantial I hope.

What a day it’s been. I don’t know if we’re all just on an emotional roller coaster or what. Just after our morning meeting, I did sit down with my son to help him with some work from last week. Eventually, his sister finished her work and came to sit with him. Things started to get a little wild but they were still working, so I removed myself to the kitchen to wash dishes and listen to Office Ladies. He finished his presentation and they kids went outside for a little while before his class meeting.

Class meeting happened. I did some work reading. When the class meeting was over, we all started to get lunch-y. And then we found out that it’s Kids Week on The Price is Right, so after Phil went to work, we switched it to that. Kids playing pricing games with parents/caregivers is wholesome entertainment.

My son had another meeting at noon, and I got ready to do my workout. It’s a mild day outside so I was able to run ladder intervals instead of doing burpees like I did last week because it was raining. I spent a glorious amount of time outside doing my intervals. The kids were watching TV and doing some school work. At 2, I asked them to turn the TV off and you would have thought I had asked them to kill a puppy with their bare hands. Daughter stormed off to her room. Son rolled over on the couch. I tired to figure out what had just happened.

I switched out the laundry I had started earlier, got a blanket from my son’s bed, checked on my daughter and took my book outside to the porch to read. When I came back in a little before the time they had a band meeting, things were somewhat better. They briefly tuned in to band. Phil came home and we had another discussion about screens. Son is sorting through a box for chore time while watching YouTube. I’m not sure how much work is getting done. Daughter is doing school work. I’m about to get dinner started.

We are under a stay-at-home order until May 8 which means I am totally going to think up something fun to do for my birthday online. I’m turning 42 this year. What would be fun and encouraging?

Prepped dinner while listening to Office Ladies. I’m afraid I’m going to run out of episodes. I was a big podcast listener but in the past year or so I couldn’t keep up so I stopped listening. I’m not sure why this is the outlet for me now except that I can listen on my phone while the kids are using the computer for other things. 

We watched the new episode of Some Good News. Prom edition. I’m almost jealous that I don’t have a kid old enough to go to prom so we could have danced in our living rooms live when it aired. Still, it was fun to watch the edited episode. I nearly cried at the news that a kennel’s cages were empty because every dog had been adopted.

We talked to the kids about showers after dinner. Son got a little miffed that he wasn’t aware showers were part of the plan today. He had too much energy and no outlet for it so once I had dinner put away, he and I went for a walk. He rode his scooter.

Scooter all day

I like the fresh air, but I’m tired today. So are the kids. I don’t know if this is just mental drain catching up to all of us or if it’s our diets or just the trauma of living through a global crisis.

Both kids are bathed and hanging out on the couch. I’m about to join a virtual launch party for a book I’m scheduled to read as soon it arrives at my house. Then the kids are going to fold laundry while we watch Nailed It!

After those two things and the children went to bed, I watched Outlander and worked on a cross-stitch I’m trying to finish.

Day 39: My dreams are weird these days, probably a conglomeration of all the things I’m taking in during the day and all the things I’m missing. They often feature people I haven’t seen in a while and places I haven’t been in a while. This morning I woke from one that didn’t make a lot of sense. It’s a tad disorienting first thing in the morning. So, I listened to Pray As You Go and scrolled through Twitter and Instagram while contemplating the extra unemployment compensation I received today. Our state expanded the benefits and it’s just a wild, unexpected positive of this time. But money from the government always feels uncertain to me and unpredictable. I think it’s a holdover from all the years we we received SNAP benefits. I always felt like at any moment it could be taken away. Or maybe I’m still thinking of the time Phil received unemployment benefits and had to fight to keep them because his employer contested.

Anyway, my first thoughts today are of money. Does that make me a terrible person?

I made breakfast and coffee. The kids are on screens already. I’m reading the book we borrowed from the digital library for my daughter’s book club that starts Saturday. She wants to read it again before then, so I’m trying to finish it. We’re waiting on a shipment of books for her book club and don’t really know when they’re going to arrive.

I miss the sounds of school buses. Every truck that passes our house that sounds like a school bus makes me think we’re living in normal days. And then I remember that we’re not.

It’s after dinner now and I’m back to the computer. I just checked my blood pressure and it’s in the super normal range, which is both comforting and surprising. I hope the numbers remain in the normal range without going too low. 

Quarantine life right now: my son is trying to break a plastic egg by throwing it off the wall, on the floor, by banging it on a table. This is the most animated I’ve seen him all day. Meanwhile, my daughter is nursing a bruised bum. I don’t know if it’s actually bruised but she fell while roller skating on the porch this morning. Here’s how things went down: the kids both did some academic time then went outside because I told them it was nice outside. I had gone out to the mailbox to send some more letters. Son wanted to ride his scooter, fast. Ricky Bobby style. Daughter tried to ride her scooter at a leisurely pace but that frustrated her brother. She switched to skates but that only aggravated the situation. At one point, he came up right behind her trying to get her to go faster and that’s when she fell. There were tears. And ice packs.

Son stayed out scootering which was good for him overall. He had his class meeting. I washed dishes and folded laundry while listening to Office Ladies. At lunch time, we watched The Price Is Right because elementary kids were on for kids’ week today. It was fun. Except for the part where the girl almost cried and threw a fit. Son had another meeting at noon. I wanted to work out but it appeared that some thunderstorms were getting ready to roll through. I postponed and when my son was done with the computer, I did some work for the contest judging. 

Then I worked out while the kids did some sorting chores. I reached a new high score in jumping rope. Maybe they call that a personal best. My legs feel like jelly. I showered and started working on dinner. Son worked on more academics. Phil came home from work. We watched another Bon Appetit “Every Way” video about chicken breast while we ate dinner.

And this brings us to the plastic egg throwing. I’m not sure what happens in the evening. Three out of four of us tend to wind down by now while the other one tends to ramp up. We have no set plans for this in-between time and on a night when Phil has worked all day, it’s hard to get motivated for a game night.

When the kids were in bed, Phil and I split a Scottish beer and watched the first part of a documentary of a driving tour of Scotland. We ended on the Isle of Skye, which is the only place in Scotland I’ve spent any significant time. I need to dig out my picture memories from 22 years ago so I can relive that trip.

Day 40: Is anyone sleeping well these days? I mean, I sleep, but I’m up a lot and my brain has trouble shutting down. My night is full of dreams of random things from my day and life. I don’t remember last night’s dreams but I don’t feel well rested. It’s chilly this morning. Granted, it’s still April, but I’m ready for consistent spring. Although I’m not sure spring is ever as consistent as I think it should be.

We all woke up in the 6 o’clock hour. Phil, to work out, the rest of us to eat breakfast and ease into our mornings with games or videos or social media. Last night, my blood pressure was in the most normal range it’s been since lowering the dosage. This morning, it’s a little higher. But I’m dehydrated and I take my pill in the morning. I’m just collecting data for my doctor.

Coffee. Breakfast. At least these things are consistent in my life. I finished a book last night, this one the one my daughter’s reading for her book club that starts Saturday. I can’t wait to keep reading the picks for this book club. YA fiction is just the right amount of escape/length for reading right now.

I don’t know if it’s all Wednesdays or just certain days of the week but today I felt like the walls were closing in. At one point, Phil was working out or watching TV and both children were at the table. One was complaining about the work for the day; the other was talking through math problems out loud, and I was trying to read for work. It was too much. I wanted to jump out of my skin, and I’m pretty sure I said some outburst types of things. We got through some academics, and I washed some dishes and started some laundry. Phil did some cleaning in our bedroom.

By lunchtime, we were sort of all gathered together to watch middle-schoolers compete on The Price is Right. It made me miss my students. Then it was another round of academics for my son while Phil and our daughter started deep cleaning the kitchen. I have to confess/admit here that Phil is much better at cleaning our house than I could ever be. He is thorough and meticulous. I am easily bored by the monotony of it. I just want it to be done and not have to be done again. There is no method to my cleaning madness, but Phil takes it in logical steps.

I went for a run, partly because I needed to just get out of the house. It’s sunny today but breezy and a little cool. I suited up and planned a new route because my runs are getting longer and I need the variety. My goal was 2.75 miles but the route I mapped out was 2.8 miles. I did it, and according to my tracking app, I did it in 34 minutes. I’m a little skeptical of that being my actual time, but hey, I did it. I had to walk a teensy bit up a hill I forgot about, but otherwise, I ran the whole thing. Endorphins are a powerful drug because I was practically dancing on my walk home as I listened to the local alternative station.

When I left, my son was working on his final assignment for school. When I got back, he was done. Phil and our daughter were finishing up in the kitchen. Did I mention they also made a chocolate cake for after dinner tonight? Amazing. Both of them.

The lighting in our kitchen is terrible, so trust me when I tell you the counters shine.

Now that I’m more recovered from my run, I need to set out and do some writing work for a couple of hours. But first a shower.

I spent almost two hours on a writing project, and I feel good about that. Then I hung out in the kitchen with my husband as he finished dinner. We watched a little bit of TV then bribed our son with the chocolate cake to take a shower and do band practice. He hurried to do both of those things. Phil brought up a couple of bins from the basement because after watching the Scotland documentary, I wanted to revisit my visit to the Isle of Skye. I pulled out the scrapbook, looked at the pictures and read my account of the very short trip to Skye.

Just before the kids were getting ready for bed, the one teacher I work most closely with called and we chatted about how school life is for her. She gave me some updates on our students, which helped me with my feelings of grief and being separated from them. The kids went to bed and Phil and I finished our tour of Scotland. We also discovered that the same couple has a TON of other documentary tours.

Guess who’s going traveling virtually now?