Our new normal is not so normal after all!

Sunday we were up and approving assignments, as we have become accustomed to doing every Sunday. Is it me or has life become a bit mundane and boring? The kids are on their devices way too much and we are laying around quite a bit. We do get out of the house for an occasional walk to the park or a bike ride, but then what? Maybe all of this down time is not a bad thing. Since this all began I have said maybe this will cause the rat race people to slow down and enjoy the simplistic things in life. But when this is all over, and that is seeming more impossible than ever to predict, will we go back to our old ways or will we adopt some of these new habits that really might be of greater benefit to all of us? Time will be the story teller in this one. 

We watched church and did what we normally do on a Sunday morning. Then around noon we headed to Wal Mart to pick up an order. Sadly, 5 of a dozen eggs were broken, but when Stuart reported it they gave him a full refund for the dozen eggs. That wasn’t a bad thing at all. We got home and unloaded the groceries. We had chicken spaghetti for lunch. We battled again with Millie over what she was going to eat. That was fun and always is. I then put on some color street pedicure nails. I desperately need a pedicure, but I’m pretty sure that is way low on the priority list. So I did my own. It wasn’t a quality job, but it game them some color. 

I then had a cuddle with my girl. I took a ton of pictures and after every one she would say, ‘Mom, it looks like I’m laying on your boob!’  Finally, we decided that, in fact, she was laying on my boob, so it didn’t really matter. 

After lunch everyone carried on with their own things. We then went out to play Spikeball, which is our new favorite past time. 

We decided to take a break and then went out later to play before dinner. It was a nice day, so being outside was okay. After dinner we played Scattegories which was a hoot. Millie doesn’t work very fast and generally has the words ‘poop’ or ‘butt’ in her answers, no matter the letter you are supposed to start your answer with. 

Once the game was over, Millie went to bed and then Jack followed. I wasn’t going to stay up until 3 am but ended up doing so because I couldn’t stop watching a Netflix show. I did get the majority of my approving completed in that time, which was nice Monday morning. 

I woke up Monday morning and approved fewer assignments than previous mornings. I moved into helping the kids with their first hour of school. We had picked up their books from Riggs Elementary last Thursday, so decided to look through those. It ended up that Millie and Jack did some work with money. It didn’t dawn on me that they didn’t know much about American currency, so it turned out to be a very productive hour. 

They then went off to their self-led activities which became a bit of a kurfuffle, as they interrupted mine and Stuart’s work most of the hour. We had a bit of a talk and then they sorted themselves out for another couple of hours. 

We had a later lunch of pork steaks, fried potatoes and green beans, which Millie and Jack helped with. Millie loved this meal, which made us all very happy. 

After lunch it was some television time and then back to school work. The afternoon went better and we felt there were going to be things offered by Riggs Elementary that our kids hadn’t experienced. After school time, we went to the park and played for a bit before returning and having a game of Spikeball. The kids then showered. 

We had a dinner of choice and then the kids hung out in Jack’s room. We decided not to play games as we had made a trip to the park and played Spikeball later in the afternoon. They went to bed and Stuart and I started our nightly ritual. 

Tuesday I got up and walked with Sue. Again, we solved life’s problems and set everything straight again in our hour walk. Society, you are so welcome. After the walk, I decided to go to Target for gifts for Stuart’s birthday. I knew if I didn’t go then, when I was already out and about, I might not actually go. When I got home the kids were nearly finished with their first hour of schooling. 

We then decided to go to Taco Bell for lunch for free tacos. Jack had seen an advertisement about Taco Bell giving out free tacos on Tuesdays. He had told me about this ad at least three times. So I decided we needed to take him there and get a free taco. I think that might have been his first Taco Bell experience. 

Jack worked on measurement in the afternoon, while MILLIE worked on time. Millie knee how to tell time, so that was no issue. However, Jack had never worked with standard measurement as we use the metric system in the UAE. Needless to say he’s not a fan of standard measurement. He kept wondering why everything wasn’t base 10. After having lived in a country for seven years where that system is followed, I kind of get it. 

The kids did their own thing for about and hour and then it was time to go outside and have a mad game of Spikeball, yet again. Dinner, showers and Scattegories consumed the evening. Then it was bedtime for the kids and school time for Stuart and myself. 

I had a team meeting on Tuesday evening, where we discussed our regular topics; planning for lessons, which lessons we should consolidate, Ramadan timings, parent concerns, and just the general feel of how we are all doing. I will say that we are all starting to look more tired and more worn out. Everyone seemed excited that Ramadan timings would have us working from 9:30 am to 2 pm, UAE time. Of course for Stuart and I myself that would mean 10:30 pm to 3 am. We did not benefit at all from that news. 

Wednesday morning we were up and going through the routines of our day. Stuart and I went to the bank to exchange some dirhams we had into US dollars. I wasn’t aware we could have just gone through the drive thru to get it changed, so I had booked this appointment nearly two weeks earlier. We also opened the conversation as to where we were financially and what we needed to do to possibly look into buying a third house in 8 months to a year from now. 

We had lunch of shrimp and rice, which Millie wasn’t keen on, but she did have a bite in the end. The fight for her to try new things continues. It’s a matter of wills and wearing on all of us for sure. Is it worth the battle?

Around 2:30 pm I went into my room and slept for three hours. I assume the kids did their schooling and all was well with the world. When I awoke it was time to get the kids into the shower and fix supper. It was a down day. We didn’t play games nor did we go to the park. 

However, while I was asleep Stuart went out to buy a shirt for his theme day at school that would start on Sunday. He also bought some clippers to shave Jack’s head. Jack was a bit sad, but none of us would be able to style his hair, so it all needed to come off. 

That boy has a lot of hair. 

The final product. 

The rest of the evening was pretty chilled. Stuart had bought us camping chairs so we sat on the drive way and tried them out until it got dark. Then Millie went to bed and Jack followed shortly after. The last night of school for our week commenced. My teaching assistant had done a read aloud for my children and had said she would love to help me out with a fraction lesson for Sunday. So that was exciting. 

Thursday morning it was a relief to be finished with school for another week. I got an email that said I had an interview for a Dean’s position for the following Tuesday. It was a bit disappointing that Stuart didn’t get the same email, but he will now go forward for teaching jobs. I will do the same if the Dean’s job doesn’t work out. It’s strange for everything to be so up in the air. We knew it would be this way to a certain extent, but this virus has really been a game changer. 

Thursday was a tough day all the way around. It seems we feel like things are going well and then an emotion hits us that we aren’t really ready for. It seems the kids have their bad days also. But Thursday evening, after having a tough day with one another, Stuart and I had an emotional end of the evening. We didn’t ever say a proper goodbye to any of our friends in the UAE and it seems now we actually may not get back to the UAE. That makes us uneasy as it requires us to have our friends do some major things for us, like pack up and ship all the things we need back to Arizona. It’s weird. It is definitely not the way we wanted to end our excellent adventure. We went to bed having had a bit of a cry and then trying to pick ourselves up and

Friday morning I was up just before 5 am and messaged my brother, Mitch. We ended up talking later in the morning. We had a great conversation, which is always nice.

We always entertain each other. This is his new idea for a protective mask. He has tied a pot lid in his hoodie. He said the only trouble is it fogs up pretty easily. He is quite funny and keeps me laughing a lot. 

I also did a trial Microsoft Team meeting with my former principal Diane. I just didn’t want to be caught out on the morning of my interview. I think if you screw up an interview the second time, they may question your computer abilities and wonder whether you are equipped to do a decent job as an administrator. 

Lunch was shepherd’s pie and veggies. Millie lost it again in regards to food. Then my dad said if he were us he wouldn’t fight that battle anymore. I think he may be right. I ended up speaking to my sister in law later in the day and she said there are bigger battles in life to fight. So, as long as she continues to eat grilled chicken, veggie and fruit, u guess we should not be that fussed about it. 

Friday afternoon, Stuart and I went to Fry’s to get some groceries and buy Maytee a bottle of Cabo Wabo, her favorite tequila, so we could deliver it later in the day when we did a drive-by for her birthday. We made signs and everything. 

Around 5:30 pm we decided we needed to take the kids out of the house for a drive. We pulled through Chick-fil-A, another place where the kids haven’t eaten in at least 7 years, and took the food to the Mesa Gateway Airport. We parked and sat in the car to eat. No planes were flying, but at least it was different scenery. 

We then drove the kids by our house in Gilbert, which they didn’t even know we had. They were a bit interested, but were more excited about our birthday surprise for Maytee. There were about 7 cars that ended up driving by Maytee’s house. She was out front but didn’t realize it was for her until she saw one of the signs with her name on it. We drove past once and then again to give her gifts. We got out of the car and stood on the lawn, a safe distance from everyone. The kids were bored as Gigi and Lexi were there but they could really play with them or go in the house. We didn’t stay long, but she was very touched by the gesture of all her friends. 

When we got back to the house the kids showered and Millie went to bed. Jack had a snack, as he always does, and we watched a bit of Family Feud. I ended up staying up and watching Shameless on Netflix. I am nearly done with the series and have decided to go back to the beginning to watch it with Mitch, who has just discovered said trash. 

Saturday morning we got up and started to work after our several cups of coffee. I actually spoke with Mitch and then helped with the project of the day, getting a tail hitch on the Flex. That was fun, and oh so claustrophobic, being under that car. I have pictorial evidence that I actually contributed to this project. 

It was definitely a three person job. That piece of metal that had to go under the exhaust pipes was super heavy. 

We also helped to tidy up the yard and of course played our new favorite game, corn hole!

Look at that form!

We then prepared lunch for the kids and ourselves. Both Stuart and I showered and started in on our week’s work. I had videos to upload and a plan to make to meet with my students in a Google Meets meeting. I’m hoping it all works out, but can’t promise anything. 

In the afternoon, Grammie and Pop took their car for a wash and took the kids along. They had forgotten hand sanitizer and the intention was to go to Sonic after the car wash. Instead, they came back to the house to wash their hands before the Sonic run. For dinner, the kids had ice cream. That’s ok, right?

Stuart called his brother James and I fought with the kids to get showers. Millie is much more difficult at her age than Jack is. In the end they both showered and then got into playing Fortnite. Millie had created an account earlier in the day so she could play with her friend Alice. We are truly parents of the year. She was excited as she won her first two battles. Jack was her trainer and was trying to show her the tricks of Fortnite. We’ve lost control. 

Stuart and I sat in our white trash location, out on the driveway, for yet another evening. We don’t stay long, but it’s some time to ourselves, which is nice. We admired the trailer hitch we had put on earlier in the day, mainly because we were sitting right behind the car and couldn’t help but stare at it. Ha!

We came back in the house and heard Jack and Millie playing a game together on Fortnite. Although the phrase I heard was ‘Let Millie get the last kill, guys’, it proved that Jack was trying to help his sister learn the game and he wanted her to be successful. That’s a good thing, right? 

We started schooling once the kids were in bed. I tried to Google Meet with my English class, but it was a bit of a bust. The rest of the evening was spent waiting for children to engage in the learning, and putting Stuart’s birthday present together for the following morning. 

Here’s to another week!

Easter Sunday and the week ahead

I woke up to Millie saying she saw the eggs and baskets in the living room. It was earlier than I wanted to get up, but since church started at 8 am, I decided I had better get up. We waited to do the egg hunting and Easter baskets until after church. 

After the Easter bunny stuff was finished the kids played around a bit and I did some laundry. 

We had the kids do school for an hour, which nearly killed us all. Both kids were just irritating. Millie seems to think she gets an opinion about everything I request of her. It may be that all of this is starting to get to us all.  We have to figure out a good schedule, and I’m afraid doing school on Sunday is a bad idea. 

We had an amazing Easter lunch of ham, sweet potato casserole, green beans and rolls. It was yummy. We played dominoes after lunch and then pretty much lazed around for the rest of the day. 

Around 6 pethe regular routine for our distance learning started up again. I got a message from a parent about how she felt I wasn’t working hard enough, which instantly stressed me out. Then when I started thinking about it, I remembered the patterns of the child and decided it wasn’t me she was irritated with, it was him. Of course taking the responsibility off of him and putting the blame on me is easier. I messaged her to let her know that all of the information she was seeking was, in fact, in the assignments he was receiving. I think sent my communication to my team leader and the learning support teacher who supports my lessons. I tried to wash my hands of it, but things like that really get to me sometimes. 

I woke up Monday with a stiff neck. A new pillow would probably do the trick. I got an email from Claudia, my learning support teacher, telling me not to worry about this parent. She went on to say that back in October they had a meeting with the mother to explain to her that her son had some learning difficulties. The mother totally rejected any help the school was offering and said that the school wasn’t working hard enough for him.  It made me feel better knowing this was her pattern, but it made me sad for the child. 

We got up Monday morning and started our day as we usually do, approving assignments and getting things sorted for the following school day. The kids did their school work and then we went to the park for a while. When we got home from the park, we took a drive south of town just to get out of the house.  Jack and Millie were obnoxious in the car and I wanted to tape their mouths shut. Neither of them know to stop once I shout at them. As kids, if my parents ever got mad at me and yelled at me, I wouldn’t speak again until I knew things had settled down. They just don’t stop. 

We had decided to order dinner from Chipotle and we picked it up on our way back to the house. We hadn’t eaten Chipotle since we returned to Arizona. Usually that is our first stop when our plane lands. It was a treat to have food from a restaurant. 

Once dinner was over, I put Millie to bed. Jack followed shortly after and then we started our nightly school. Because I had a neck ache all day, I decided not to sit at my computer for the evening, rather on the sofa. There wasn’t much for me to do in the evening, so I watched Netflix and then went to bed around 2 am. 

Tuesday morning I got up to walk with Sue again. She brought me some yummy grapefruit from her tree. On our walks, we pretty much solve all of the world problems. Someone has to. We talked about being connected during this time in our lives. I introduced her to Zoom. I told her once I was home I would send her a tutorial about how to conduct a Zoom Meeting in order to stay connected to family. 

So when I got home, she and I had a Zoom Meeting. She reported back to me that she had several members in her family in a Zoom Meeting that evening for an hour and a half. She seemed so pleased. I know that being social during this time is so difficult, but thank goodness for technology that allows us to connect. It’s vital for our emotional well-being. 

Before I had the Zoom Meeting with Sue, I had to handle Millie in meltdown mode. When I had first arrived home from my walk, she was in a state. I dealt

with it, in a not so good way, and then decided we needed a set schedule each day. I sat down and wrote one out for the kids, which is sure to change, but we needed some sort of set routine.  We have eased into this whole distance learning thing, and are learning as we go. Who knew this would be such a challenge and last for so long. So we wrote things down and decided we would do our best to stick to it. It would begin on Wednesday. 

The kids did their learning and then we discovered Millie wasn’t feeling well. She was cranky as a result. I called the doctor as she had a low grade fever. However, the doctor just said to watch her for a few days and contact them if she got more symptoms. So we fed her Tylenol and kept an eye on her. 

The kids entertained themselves for some of the day. We decided to watch National Treasure as a family. It was really good. It was the first time Jack had seen it and he was really impressed. We had dinner and played Mexican Train and a round of Uno. Then Millie went to bed and said she felt she was going to throw up. I put a trash bin by her bed just in case. She had a low grade fever most of the day, so we decided to watch her closely for the evening. Jack followed at 8:30 pm and then I took a shower. 

I had a team meeting and expressed my concern about what this mother had said to me about me not working hard enough to help her son. Everyone told me that she was queen of blaming others rather than holding her son accountable. That made me feel a ton better. The evening went as most evenings do these days, long and boring. 

Wednesday morning I was up around 8 am. Millie had come in to tell me her head hurt at 7:15, but then I went back to sleep. Once I was up and dressed, I approved assignments and Stuart and I decided to go to the pharmacy to get some more children’s Tylenol for Millie. 

The kids had attempted their morning schooling, well not Millie. She had a meltdown and ended up spending most of the day in her room. I am so not equipped for this little girl. Lord help me! She was allowed to come out of her room to eat lunch and then we eased up a bit as the day went home, but took away the park visit and game night, which seemed to bug her a bit. Jack didn’t like it for her at all. He started to cry because he can’t stand to see her in trouble. It’s kind of sweet. 

Wednesday night was simple enough. With it being the last night of our work week, it’s always a relief when the night starts. I usually get my next week of work solidified during my work hours on Wednesday evening. It’s a good feeling knowing when you wake up on Thursday morning that your weekend starts. 

Thursday we got up and went to Costco. I had signed up for a membership but my payment didn’t go through for some reason so I spent a bit of time at member services while Stuart walked around the store, getting some of our necessities. Once I had our membership card I joined Stuart in the shopping efforts. 

When we left Costco we went to Riggs Elementary to collect text books for the kids. We then swung by Vicki’s house to drop off the Star Wars gear we had borrowed from her. I also picked up some nail products from her. It was a nice little outing that ended with us getting home after lunch. It was fine as we had decided I would make enchiladas that evening and we would all be on our own for lunch. Stuart and I had a sneaky hot dog at Costco. 

Once we were home, we decided to go look at a few houses. My friend Melinda Reynolds is a real estate agent and she booked us appointments to see three different houses. The first two houses had a great deal of work that needed to be done, but the third house was ready to move in to and was gorgeous. The kitchen was the room that Stuart loved the most. It had a basement and the most amazing padding under the carpet. It does baffle me how excited I get about carpet and counter space. Sign of my age? I suppose so. The basement had an area for the kids and a home theatre. It really was a nice place. But, we have no jobs and I’m pretty sure we don’t have the credit at this moment to seal the deal. So we will keep dreaming and looking around at houses. It’s fun and a distraction from the virus. 

When we got home it was time for dinner. The kids had stayed home with Pop and we had called him to put the oven on on our way back from the last house. I had prepared the enchiladas before we left so they just had to go into the oven. It was an easy dinner, and it was delicious. After dinner we played Uno and then it was time for a good night s sleep. Stuart and I stayed up talking until nearly midnight, but it was nice to just talk about our future plans, the potential of buying a new house and the email I received that told me they had made recommendations to the superintendent for the Assistant Principal jobs and I wasn’t on the list. Bummer! There is a perfect job out there somewhere. I just know we will both land where we are meant to be. 

After an 8 hour sleep, I was more tired than I normally am. It was so weird. I didn’t really want to get out of bed. I definitely lazed around most of the morning. My mom searched the Internet for corn hole games and other new things that might keep all of us entertained. We finally settled on a game called Spikeball. We ordered it from Target and then went to pick it up. I also snagged some bubbles while we were in Target. 

The kids played when we got it home. It was fun. It started to heat up after lunch so we didn’t play a lot. Jack seemed a bit down on Friday because he didn’t want to go to the park and he didn’t want to go for a bike ride with Stuart and Millie. I laid in his room with him and watched television for a bit. I asked him if he was okay and he said he was, but I felt he was sad. I can’t imagine what is going through his head during these difficult times. We have totally uprooted both kids. He was told he would start school when he got here and would make a lot of new friends, and now he can’t even do that. It makes me sad for him, but this too shall pass. I just hope he will tell me when things bother him. It’s the only way for me to support him I think. 

Friday evening we had a battle of wills with Miss Millie.......again. We always battle with her in regards to trying new foods. This was one of those nights. I am happy to report that in the end, team ‘adult’ won this battle. She’s a stubborn and very clever little girl. After her fight about food was over, we played two hands of UNO and then Millie went to bed. Jack followed an hour later and I sat on the back porch while everyone else was in the living room. I’m not sure what I expected of the weather at this time of year, but spring in Arizona is much cooler than I remember. I guess it has been 7 years since I’ve been here in the spring, but I thought it heated up a lot earlier than the middle of April. I’m not complaining, trust me, as it is now it is hitting 100 degrees every day in Al Ain and next week the high will be 107. So I will take a high of 87 degrees. This will not last, as it is still the desert. 

Saturday morning I woke just before 8 am so Millie could Zoom with her friend Islay from the UAE. Her first statement to Islay made me a bit sad. She said, ‘Islay, I’m living with my grandparents now and I don’t have any friends.’ I nearly cried. Surely all children are feeling this way to a certain extent, right? Such a confusing and lonely time, and not limited to the adults, or people living alone. At any rate, she had a lengthy conversation and showed Islay every square inch of the house. 

Stuart, Millie and I went on a bike ride around the neighborhood while Jack played Fortnight. When we got back we had fish, mashed potatoes and mixed veggies for lunch. Stuart and I started in on our work for the evening. After about an hour, we went outside to play our new game, Spikeball. 

It’s kind of a funny and fun game. Seems the only people that really move around during the game are Jack and Millie. 

After about an hour of playing, we headed to the park. Stuart stayed at the house to continue working. He joined us at the end of our park play. 

The kids showered and then ate dinner. Jack and I ended up doing a tiktok to entertain the family. It was quite funny. My brother Russ started it with Emily, so Jack and I decided to copy them. My body doesn’t move as well as it used to, I have discovered. 

There were no games on Saturday evening, just relaxing and porch sitting. The kids went to bed with very little fuss and Stuart and I decided to do school from the bed. It’s not as exciting as it sounds. We propped up the laptop, starting watching West Wing from the beginning and viewed questions into the late hours. I ended up deciding to call it a night around midnight. I figure whatever needed approving at that point could wait until the morning. 

. 

Our new normal, what is that exactly?

Sunday morning I was up at 6:30 and only worked for about an hour. I only had 12 of my 21 pupils interact with the learning during the day (my night). I do believe this week will show a drop in participation. It’s starting to wear on people because we were supposed to go back to school today. 

At 8 am we watched church and my kids basically pretended they were asleep in order to not have to come into the living room. I know it’s hard for them to stay focused. 

After church and breakfast, the kids started in on their schooling. I had a good conversation with Kate, from Scotland, because she had no idea where I was. While I was speaking to her, the kids caused all kinds of fuss with schooling. They spent most of their time trying to get out of doing work. It is definitely wearing on all of us. 

I called my brother Russ and spoke to him for nearly an hour and a half. We had a Sunday roast dinner of beef, carrots and potatoes. After lunch, I napped. Jack went to the park with Pop for a while and then before I knew it, it was time for dinner. After dinner, we had a scorpion search again which came up with nothing. Millie was disappointed, but I assured her there would be other nights and certainly more scorpions. 

When I started my evening of work, I decided to have a Zoom Meeting with a few of my pupils. I’m not the most technologically sound person around, so I’m pretty pleased with myself that I could figure out this Zoom thing. About a half hour after my Zoom Meeting I had a team meeting. We had to discuss what we were going to do to introduce our Term 3 topic, which is Star Wars. 

I woke up later than normal on Monday morning, which kind of set me back a bit as I like to have most of my morning routine finished by the time everyone else is awake. Once Stuart was awake and working, he ran into a snag. His hard drive on his school computer crashed. 

This was the scene as we stood in line to get into Sam’s Club in order to buy Stuart a new laptop. Like his mask? Grammie made all of us masks. Disappointingly, we walked away with no laptop, as they were all sold out. Three stores, two hours, and $650 later, we were home and setting up his new laptop. 

Once lunch was over, we had a Zoom Meeting with the Pennell side of the family. 

It was a bit chaotic. It was so good to speak to everyone. It’s strange how this virus has caused us all to communicate more and in different ways. There are some up sides to this time in our lives. I hope the positives, like family closeness, time to slow down, and quality conversations stay with us long after this blip in time has passed. 

After we Zoomed, the kids went to the park with Grammie and Pop while Stuart and I got ready for our teaching that evening. Running around, trying to find a laptop in the morning  was a time sucker and meant we didn’t work as much in the morning as we normally do. 

Once the kids were home from the park, Millie was a bit sassy when she was getting ready to take a shower, which caused her to lose her card game for the evening. Then she ended up not going to sleep until around 9 pm. That child is a bit stubborn and sometimes has the ‘I’ll show you!’ attitude. 

I had a Zoom Meeting scheduled for my entire class on Monday evening. It was hilarious. At first they didn’t say a word. Then they wouldn’t stop talking. I muted them all to say one final thing. I just wanted to tell them how proud I was of them and their efforts over the last two weeks. Well, I barely got that out before a few of my sassy ones figured out how to unmute themselves. Then the hilarity began all over again. I couldn’t do anything but laugh. I do miss their little personalities. I went to bed happy for sure. 

I set my alarm for 6:15 am so I could get my work done before going to walk with Sue. We decided this would be a weekly therapy session, while still maintaining our social distancing of six feet. It was an hour of chatting. We don’t seem to run out of things to talk about at all, which is a sign of true friendship, and I’m not just writing this, knowing she reads this every week. 🤪

When I got home it was nearly time to start school for the kids. Jack finished his chapter  book we had bought him the first day we got to Arizona, so I went to Target to get him another one and may have purchased Millie some clothes for her American Girl doll. I also purchased her a little camping set for said doll. 

Stuart made leek and potato soup for lunch. It was amazing. We have started to get used to lunch being our hot meal and then just having either leftovers for dinner or something easy to make. It makes everything more relaxed in the evenings. 

The kids did a little more schooling after lunch and then were off to have some time on their on. Millie played babies and Jack played on his PS4, which he had been grounded from on Sunday and Monday because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut while I was telling him how rude he was for riding his bike through people’s rocks in the neighborhood. 

The kids, Stuart and Pop headed to the park while I attempted to work through a PowerPoint for my lesson, while I was in the picture. I felt so accomplished that I learned to use the program Loom to do so. I then joined the crew at the park. 

As seems to be our routine now days, the kids had showers, dinner and a game of Mexican Train before scorpion hunting. I did my video for school then took a shower, but failed to remember I was video chatting with one of my students as well as having a team meeting. The team meeting was to record our video about The Force, and introducing Star Wars. I ended up not getting to bed until around 2:30 am. The nights I have team meetings I have difficulty winding down as I am responsible for typing up the minutes. I always want to get that completed before going to bed. 

Wednesday I didn’t wake up until a bit after 8 am. As much as I like to be finished checking work before everyone is up and about, I do need sleep. Stuart and I did some work and then the kids were schooled. I actually sat with them at the table while they worked. It was their last day of school before the weekend. Four days is more than enough. Fortunately, Grammie works a lot with Millie. She has the patience. Jack is pretty good to get on with things but sometimes loses focus. 

We had lunch and then did our normal, daily lazing around until it was time for the last half hour of school. The kids decided to paint. That was totally fine by me. We discovered their paints were total crap, so after school was over, Grammie and I went to Wal Mart for a prescription for Grammie and ended up buying some new paints and brushes. 

We wore our masks, but shortly after we took this selfie I decided it was more important for me to not suffocate than it was for me to cover my face. Clearly there was an issue with how tight the mask was. They are cute, though. 

When we got home and unloaded everything, we discovered that the kids had already been to the park and were back for showers. I had bought Millie some bath bombs and so I made Jack shower first so that Millie could take a bath. The evening routine carried on and a game of Mexican train ended our day. 

Millie had finished her loom knitting on Wednesday and decided she needed to wear it to bed that evening. 

Once the kids were in bed my mom and I watched a photo video of my Aunt Norma that was created by the funeral home. We cried and cried and cried. My mom cried for the loss of her sister. I cried for my mom. I can’t imagine being the only person left in my family, although it is likely going to be the way things will pan out for me as well. This mortality thing can rattle your warld for sure. 

During our ‘work hours’, Stuart tried to Zoom with his class but not very many showed up. His participation has not been great from the beginning and dropped to about 45% engagement. We have no idea what Ramadan will bring, which is a little over two weeks away. 

I Zoomed with one of my students that couldn’t get into Zoom when I Zoomed my class earlier in the week. I didn’t have many assignments to approve so I got my lessons planned for the following week. It was a very productive night. I also started watching season 6 of Shameless. I still get my trash television fix, but it’s not as comfortable because I am sitting at my ‘desk’ by my computer. 

We were up Thursday morning around 8:30 am. Finished approving assignments and closed my computer until Saturday afternoon. Stuart had a Zoom Meeting with all 4 of his brothers Thursday afternoon. It was a first for them all and I think they enjoyed connecting with each other. They had a great conversation. Don’t we wish we would have bought stock in Zoom before this all kicked off? Why, yes we do!

My Aunt Norma’s funeral was to take place on Thursday. My mom was so sad she was not going to get to be there. It was a sad day for all of us. We really just stayed around the house for the majority of the day. Grammie, Pop and the kids went to the park while Stuart and I napped. By Thursdays we are wiped out and so look forward to the evening for a good night’s sleep. 

We decided to limit our evening fun to one game of Uno before putting Millie to bed. Jack stayed up for another hour and we followed shortly. Stuart and I watched our iPads with our headphones connected. Then we were asleep just before midnight. 

I woke up Friday morning with a horrible headache and back ache. It seemed to pass by the afternoon, thank goodness. Stuart and I headed to Fry’s for some ice cream that was on sale, clearly a necessity. We had our masks on so we felt better about our field trip. When we got back, Millie was painting. Stuart decided he would Skyped his mum. We seem to be connecting more often with family these days, which is a very positive thing Covid 19 has brought us. 

In the early afternoon, Stuart fixed my bike tires with the ones that came from Fed Ex. Initially I only needed one fixed, but when I saw how white the inside of the front tire was I decided I wanted him to change both of them. It’s like a brand new bike. Now I just need a helmet. 

Millie and I boiled eggs for coloring. 

Jack wasn’t keen on coloring eggs so Millie and I did the job. 

They were beautiful colors. 

Once we had finished the eggs, we went to the basketball court. I rode my bike this time. Stuart and I decided to ride past the park and look at a house that was for sale. There are houses for sale

In the neighborhood and it seems they are mostly this same model. We like it.  We are just hoping they are available once we decide to buy another house is 6 to 8 months. We shall see. 

We went back to the park to join the family. When we got back to the house, Millie and I blew bubbles before she took a shower. 

After showers we Zoomed with Louise and James. Their view was amazing as they sat on their back porch and looked out into the water. It was good to catch up with them. 

We had dinner and played two games of Uno before Millie went to bed. We watched a game of Family Fued before going to bed ourselves. Stuart and I watched our own shows on our iPads again. I fell asleep just before midnight. 

I woke up around 5:30 am Saturday morning. Since I couldn’t sleep I went into the living room and laid in the sofa, watching my iPad. As soon as everyone was awake, Stuart and I tried to sort out what we would need for our Easter dinner. We headed to Target to top up our supplies. When we returned everyone was watching a Sight and Sounds production of the Easter story. We watched about half of it and then recorded the rest of it in order to watch it at a later time. 

Jack, Millie and Pop decides to go to the park to shoot baskets, while Stuart and I got on with our work for the evening. I also hid the eggs Millie and I had colored the previous day. When Jack and Millie got back they hunted them. Then they took turns hiding and finding the eggs. We had a fajita lunch and then the kids started their egg hunt again. 

I worked on finishing my loom knitted scarf and was very pleased with the final product. It is a bit bulky, but I made it so I like it!

We had played dominoes before the kids showered. Then we all had a bite to eat. Stuart and I finished up our school work and sat down to relax for a bit. 

After the kids were in bed, we started school. The beginning of week 4 was a bit surreal. I have really come on in my technology abilities and I’m not ashamed of bragging about it. In fact, Stuart has asked ME how to do certain thing a with some of the programs. That actually makes me feel really good because there is not much Stuart doesn’t know how to do, nor does he often ask me for my assistance. It’s nice. 

Once Millie was asleep, Grammie and Pop helped me to put candy in the Easter eggs. Millie had actually found the plastic eggs we were going to hide for her and Jack. I asked her if the eggs were what she found under the bed, suspecting she had seen the Easter baskets that we bought them, which were under the same bed where she ‘accidently’ found the eggs. We had put all the plastic eggs in a bowl for the Easter Bunny to fill. Millie had written a letter to let the Easter Bunny know which color eggs were hers and which ones were hers. 

When my mom went to tell Millie goodnight, before we filled the eggs, this is the conversation that went down. 

Grammie: Good night, Millie. 

Millie: Good night, Grammie. Tomorrow the Easter Bunny is coming and will hide the eggs for us. He will also probably bring Jack a blue basket and me a pink basket. 

This she spied them under the bed when she saw the plastic eggs? I’m thinking she did. But we are going to beat her at her own game. If she mentions having seen them, we will say they are from Daddy and myself, and that the Easter Bunny was only responsible for stuffing and hiding the eggs. I’m all about keeping the lie alive! 

Once the eggs were hidden, in plain sight, Stuart discovered his videos didn’t upload properly. This is a bad thing, but maybe not as bad as my video which started out with me announcing it was August 12th rather than April 12th. Fortunately I have a mother who is a friend and messaged me as soon as she saw my video. It gave me enough time to re-record my video. 

Once everyone was in bed, I sat down to wait for assignments to come in. In the meantime, I caught up on some of my Netflix shows. I was tired before the week began. 

Week 2 of Distant Learning

Sunday we were up early to check lessons and approve things. It seemed easier all of the sudden. I suppose a week into it and we were getting used to the new schedule for ourselves. 

At 8 am we watched Woodland Hills church service. After that, Stuart and I went to Safeway to pick up some needed items. We decided that going to Walk Mart May not be the safest idea since there were hundreds of people there the last time we went. There were definitely fewer people in Safeway. 

When we got home I did some more knitting. I decided that if I didn’t get going I would never get the scarf finished. The kids were on electronics most of the day, but I’m still not terribly concerned. I don’t think they will fully understand the impact of our move back to Arizona until the start school. Until that time, we will just take one day at a time. We had one last form notarized for the school and then were going to take the form to Fulton in the week, so they would be ready to start. 

In the afternoon, which has become part of our daily routine, we went to the park and we all played 4 square. These family times are so very precious and undoubtably creating life long memories for our kids. 

We came home and had pot roast, carrots and white potatoes. We had broken our ‘lunch is the big meal’ routine, as the beef wasn’t thawed out in time to have it for lunch. It ended up not being a big deal as the meal was in the crock pot so little effort had to be made for the actual preparation. 

The kids lost the plot as they were trying to get our attention instead of letting us plan our lessons. Grammie and Pop took them outside while Stuart and I carried on getting our work ready for Monday school work. Grammie and Pop clearly spoke to them about what we had to do to maintain our jobs and that this time in all of our lives is confusing and will take some time to get used to. Thank goodness we have extended family around to help us through this very unusual time. 

Once Stuart and I had completed our work, we played cards with everyone, and then Millie went to bed. Jack went about 40 minutes after her. Stuart and I started our second night of the school week. It did seem to be going better this second week. 

Monday morning I was awake before my alarm and approving assignments. I went for a walk with Sue again. It was so great to be able to spend time with her, and there were many less people at the park this week. 

I then went to fill the car up with gas at Sam’s Club. While I was getting gas I noticed a huge line waiting to go into Sam’s. I decided to stop in and try to get some toilet paper.  I walked out with much more than the toilet paper I went in for. I clearly joined the panic buying on that day as I left $235 poorer. Oops! But to be fair, I did buy things we would use and eat. I bought the kids curriculum workbooks of skills for the grade above their current grade, but they got them and seem to be coping well enough. 

I got home and the kids had started their first hour of learning. We had decided we needed a schedule for them each day. As of that morning it was decided that there would not be anyone going back to a school building for the remainder of the school year, even in Arizona. 

Stuart and I headed to our storage unit later in the morning to find our filing cabinet, which had his social security card in it, which he needed to get his new driver’s license. His shot gun was also in the unit, which we think is illegal. We found all the items we needed and then some. We got back for lunch and then we played Uno. The kids did another hour of school while Stuart and I unpacked the things we got out of storage. 

When we finished it was announced that there would be a stay at home order implemented for Tuesday at 5 pm, so while the kids, Grammie and Pop went to the park, Stuart and I made a milk run. When we all returned, we ate dinner and then the kids watched the Apple Dumpling Gang with Grammie and Pop. Millie was a bit difficult to get to bed because it had gone past the witching hour, but she finally went to sleep and all was right with the world again. 

Stuart and I ran through our normal routine of Distance Learning. I went to bed around 1:30 am and decided to call it a night. I am thinking that nothing happens the last two hours of the school day that I can’t take care of the following morning. 

I woke up at 6 am and started approving assignments, which there were not a lot of. It seems that this week the learners are not as enthusiastic as they were last week. I suspect this will be the case for a while, and then there will be a big drop off once Ramadan starts later this month. 

Breakfast on the porch? Yes please!

After breakfast, and Millie and Jack’s first school session of the day, Stuart and I went back to the storage unit to put some things in it, then headed to the school to finalize the enrollment of the kids. We were able to pick up some school packets for them, which will hopefully help them to feel a bit connected to their new school. We then headed to a small supermarket to get some potatoes. Of course, as always, we picked up a few other things. 

Once we were home we had lunch and then the kids went to work for their afternoon session. They then went off and did what they liked, as I worked on my scarf. 

I got a call from Diane Wells, who talked me through what she thought might be asked of me the following day in my interview. She was very helpful. I felt a lot better after I spoke with her. 

We then went to the park so Jack could practice basketball and Millie could play ‘horse’ as well as kick her playground ball around, which is her favorite thing to do. 

Practicing his ball handling skills is a must most days. 

We got home for dinner and a little bit of research on my part into the materials that are used in Chandler. I wanted to be very prepared for my interview. It was just a screening interview, but I felt the need to be overly prepared.  

I was awake for a team meeting at 6 am. I got a text message from Stuart saying I was too loud, as he was asleep. I tried to bring it down a notch or two. My team decided we could meet during our working hours the following week, thank goodness. 

After my team meeting I caught up on approving assignments and then started to prepare for next week, as our meeting helped to inform me of our direction for the following week. 

Stuart went to the DMV to renew his license at 9:30 and I got ready for my interview. Stuart got home just before 10:30 and the whole family left the house So I wouldn’t have to worry about them being there and making noise. 

At the time the interview was supposed to start, I could not get into the video conference. It seems my computer wouldn’t allow me to download the media application I needed for my interview  In the end I had to call the person interviewing me and then we did some speaker phone thing, which was a bit challenging, but it seemed to go okay. Whatever way it goes, I felt good about the interview and still know I want to work for Chandler Unified School District in whatever capacity they see fit. Time will tell where we land. 

School commenced when the kids got back from the park, then lunch was fixed. It was then time for school again. This time Grammie started doing a read aloud with the kids. I went into my room and laid down. I slept for a bit until Stuart came into the room. I got up and went to the computer to continue working on plans for school next week. The kids lazed around most of the afternoon, which was fine with me. 

We had dinner, showers, cards and bed. It was our last night of distant learning for the week. Thank goodness! It did, however, seem to go faster than the first week. 

Thursday was a bit of a lazy day. Stuart and I approved school work and then were ready for our weekend. The kids never left the house. We decided our original plan wasn’t going to work, with them doing school on Thursdays, as we had no interest. So we had them do one hour of work and then informed them their new school days were going to be Sunday through Wednesday. It will be better for all of us. 

They chose to read their books on the back patio, but that didn’t last long at all. 

By mid afternoon we had done an online order for Wal Mart that we would pick up on Friday evening. We watched a movie, ate dinner and watched the Game show channel. Then we all were in bed by 10 pm. 

Friday morning we got up and headed to Sam’s Club for some items that were not available on our Wal Mart pick-up order. This was the scene 20 minutes before opening. 

The line was backed up at least an eighth of a mile from the entrance. Sam’s Club had a good system that was orderly in keeping with social distancing. 

We went in and got to shopping in order to get out as quickly as possible. We suspected that would be our last outing for at least a week. There are definitely things we need to do, but for the most part we can stay home. 

Once we were back home we decided to go on a walk with Millie riding her bike. She ended up falling into a bush, which scratched up her leg a bit. She needed a cuddle and a bit of time to decide to ride her bike again. It was a bit toasty, but we survived. 

Once we were home we chilled for a while. We then google searched houses for sale. We are thinking of buying a new house in 6-8 months. It was fun to look at some of the possibilities. We had dinner and then played our normal game of cards. 

Stuart and my mom ended up starting to make masks in the evening. 

Stuart had bought all the materials for them and fortunately my mom can sew and has a machine. We then watched some television and went to bed. 

Saturday morning I was up just after six and decided to start in on my night’s lessons. Millie was awake at 8 am and was able to speak to one of her friends from Al Ain. Then Stuart and I zoomed with our friends Brian, Ken, Roy and Joy. 

The crew! It was so nice to be able to speak to all of them. 

For the afternoon, we piddled around. The kids had taken a walk with Grammie and Pop earlier in the day, and then were on their electronics for some of the afternoon. 

Later in the day, Jack helped Pop now the lawn and Millie looked on. Then we all headed to the park for our usual daily activity. 

Grammie finished two of the masks, which was a huge accomplishment. 

Naturally, he bought himself Star Wars material. 

Once we were back at the house, the kids showered and we ate dinner. Then my mom got a call from my cousin. My Aunt Norma had passed away an hour earlier. The thing we were waiting for had happened. How happy I was that God had orchestrated us being here and having to stay so that I could be with my mom on this day. She is the last of her siblings still living. It must be a very strange feeling. We all know that our life is but a vapor, but when it hits so close to home, it’s a bit of a chilling experience. Both Jack and Millie were so sweet to Grammie and just hugged her. My mom was a bit relieved, I think, but still very sad. My mom and dad had decided not go to Missouri as there wouldn’t be a formal funeral because of the need to social distance. It’s such a sad time on so many levels. 

The evening was spent on the porch, looking for scorpions. 

This is the one Stuart found. He didn’t kill it, but he did get a picture of it, thanks goodness. 

We rounded out our day with a Zoom Meeting with some of our students. I spoke with two of mine and Stuart met with ten of his. He said it was a bit chaotic, but nice to see their faces again. This strange new way we love may never be normal, but I’m sit sure ‘normal’ will return anytime soon.