We returned to Grammie and Pop’s for dinner of refrigerator soup, which means you dump everything you can find in the fridge and put it in a pot for soup. I loved it. Millie ate parts of it, but mainly concentrated on the corn bread.
We started our second night of lessons and it seemed there were less questions and less confusion, which is what made it easier to go to bed a bit earlier than I should have. I woke up to lessons that needed checking and then decided to continue on and start to make lessons for Monday evening and the following week. I would guess we will do this Distant Learning for the rest of the year, but won’t know for sure for a while.
When I was up for good on Monday morning, I went for a walk with my dear friend Sue Tharalson. We practiced social distancing and gave a virtual hug when we saw each other. It was so good to catch up with her. It seems this whole virus thing is going to really stall my social life.
Such a good hour we had together, just walking and talking.
I went to Wal Mart after our walk and got some jeans and a pair of leggings, amongst some other items. I hadn’t brought a lot of long pants this trip so I needed to get the jeans for sure. It is much cooler in Arizona than I remember it being in Marchs of the past. I stopped at Dutch Bros. for a coffee for Stuart and myself and then headed home. The kids had been on a bike ride with Stuart, and after a bite of lunch I took them to the park for some basketball and play structure climbing. Grammie and Pop joined, but Stuart decided to stay and have a rest at the house.
When we got back to the house from the park, we sat out on the porch and Stuart called Emirates. It seems that they were convinced they would not be flying to the UAE until the end of April. This is definitely not what we had planned, but it will all be fine in the end and we know that in our hearts.
We started our third night of online teaching. It seemed to go rather well as there were fewer questions and confusion. We are using that as a sign that parents are getting it and things are clear to them. Tuesday morning, once we were all awake, we tried to find our new normal. We went to get enrollment packets for Jack and Millie at Riggs Elementary. When school begins we want them to be enrolled. Jan Weyenberg, the principal, brought the paperwork out to us and we were on our way.
When we got up Tuesday morning we did decide that our dinners needed to stop and our big meal of the day needed to be lunch from now on. That was our big decision of the day. Millie just can’t keep it together in the evening and really needs to eat by 5 pm in order to be in bed by 7 pm. She can stay up later, but after 6 pm she won’t eat. The struggle is real. So for lunch we had chicken strips, potatoes and broccoli and she ate a ton. We spent the rest of the day preparing for lessons, checking assignments, going to the park for basketball and the like, and watching television.
Our online teaching was a bit less intrusive late Tuesday/early Wednesday, however, we did have a team meeting on Wednesday at 3 am my time, which was 2 pm in the UAE. In the meeting we decided what we would be doing for the following week and tried to come to a more concise way of presenting things. During our meeting I was told by my team leader that he was asked to have me produce evidence that I was actually working while out of the country. Most team leaders would have simply sent forward the evidence and not even ask me to produce the evidence myself. I was the person who put together our lesson plans for this Distant Learning, for goodness sake. At any rate, I have never felt he was much of a leader. And now I only have to deal with him from afar, so it’s all good.
Since I got virtually no sleep on Tuesday night, I was super tired and maybe a bit cranky on Wednesday. Stuart and I took Millie and went to Wal Mart Wednesday morning. We bought a dry erase board for Stuart and myself to use in our lessons next week. We also bought some sidewalk chalk to entertain the kids. We also decided that this online schooling is way more work than actually being in school.
When we got the sidewalk chalk opened, I went to the bathroom and left Millie to her own devices. This was clearly not the best decision as by the time I got out Millie had drawn a dog......right on the front sidewalk where everyone walks in the front door.
The dog!
I then directed her to the sidewalk in front of the house where no one would be walking. Her masterpieces were phenomenal.
Everyone was involved.
The flowers were the beginning.
This was drawn for Millie’s bestie in Al Ain.
After the chalk fun, I decided I needed a nap. The rest of the crew went to the park and I laid down to sleep for about an hour and a half.
Stuart and I geared up for one more night of learning and then the weekend would be upon us. In the meantime, we had taxes to prepare, enrollment forms to fill out for the kids and the other daily chores to do. The kids went to bed at a reasonable time and online learning commenced.
I didn’t do much online support on Wednesday evening as no one asked questions. I do think as the parents and children get used to this idea of Distant Learning, there will be fewer and fewer questions.
Thursday morning waking up was a relief. We did do some approving of assignments Thursday morning, but then committed to be done by mid morning. We decided to pack up a picnic and head to Saguaro Lake for lunch. Well, of course all the national parks are closed, so we ended up stopping by the side of the road and throwing out our picnic blanket just for the sake of saying we did it. Grammie and I were the only two that sat on the blanket. Everyone else ate in the car.
Car picnicking.
On the blanket.
We had packed up the car and forgot to take a selfie of the beautiful desert.
We got home and just piddled around. We ate leftovers for supper and then played cards. We laughed and laughed and laughed. Millie has no poker face.
Millie was helping Pop.
And Jack was looking at Grammie’s hand. Cheater!
Friday morning we had had a wonderful nights sleep. Millie slept nearly 13 hours. Hallelujah!!!!! Stuart and I have the opportunity to speak to the head of elementary human resource department in Chandler Unified a School District. It was all we hoped it would be. I also was informed that I would have a screening interview for an assistant principal position in CUSD, which thrilled me. The day was starting out right.
We took Jack to his wellness visit, where he had to get three shots. He wasn’t terribly happy about the shots, but he doesn’t need anymore until he is 16 years old, and now he is all set for school. After his appointment we headed to Riggs Elementary to turn in all of the kids’ paperwork for school. Of course there was a form we still needed to turn in, and naturally it had to be notarized. We decided we would get it taken care of next week.
We stopped by Wal Mart on the way home to get some necessities. When we got to Wal Mart the parking lot was heaving, which made us decide that would be the last time we would go to Wal Mart for a while. It seems that people took this Covid-19 seriously the first few days and a week into it they have dropped their guards. There is no need to test fate, in our opinion.
The rest of the day was spent on the back porch, with our looms, knitting our new hats and scarves. Millie was super keen. Of course she has chosen a hat as her project and her head is tiny, so she should be done pretty quickly. Whereas my project is a scarf for myself. We shall see how long I stick to this new craft.
In the evening, we all ate what we liked, the kids took showers, and we played cards again. It was great fun! After the kids were in bed, Stuart, Mom, Dad and I sat at the table and told old stories. We laughed and laughed at a bunch of nothing. It was great fun!
Saturday morning I got up just after 5 am and started in on my lessons for the week. Stuart had recorded a video, for the children in Year 5, along with his team via Google Hangouts. It was a rock star theme as we were embarking on a Times Table Rock Star challenge for the week with our students. Of course, not to be outdone, I made my kids do a Tik Tok of me with the Beetles song ‘I wanna hold your hand’. They put a filter on me with a beard and glasses so I looked like John Lennon. It was awesome and I can’t wait to hear the reaction of my students.
We had lunch and watched a sermon from Woodland Hills church in Branson, Missouri. Then the kids went off to their respective rooms and watched Netflix. We sat in the living room, contemplating what to do next around 3 pm. We decided to go to the park for a basketball shoot around. Pop coached Jack, while Millie, Stuart and I played ‘horse’. I lost, of course.
Once we were back home, we had a bite to eat and then played our habitual evening round of cards; first Uno and then Old Maid. Millie is at her best during these games. She cheats and we all crack up. Once she was in bed, we went out to view the crescent moon as well as Venus. I heard Millie from in her room, yell ‘all the fun things happen when I go to bed’. So I went and picked her up to come outside. At this stage, who cares if she’s in bed at the time we deem appropriate. This virus has made us reevaluate what is important in life. Routines are good, but not a live or die thing to us. Right after she went back to bed, she fell straight asleep. Easy! Jack followed shortly after and Stuart and I started our second week of Distant Learning. The first night of the second week started out really well. It seemed much easier than last week already.
Time will tell how long this Distant Learning will last. Things are really gearing up here and it seems things might get worse before they get better. We are just going to take one day at a time and enjoy every minute with each other and the kids. Life is too short not to, as we are starting to see.
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