The lake is our new best friend, or not

Sunday morning we were up and packing lunches and the rest of our lake gear. After church we headed to the lake for the day. Ken had bought his girls kayaks and they decided to join us. This caused Grammie and Pop to decide not to join us, which we understood. 

We met Ken, Maytee and the girls at Goldfield Ghost town and they followed us to Canyon Lake, and thank goodness they did. Unfortunately, the lake was a short lived idea, as it seemed everyone else decided to go to the lake as well. There was no where to park. I had already scratched off our National Park parking ticket, so wasted $8, which irritated me. 

In the end, it was decided we would go to John and Laurie Burleson’s house for a swim. I called my mom and dad first to make sure they felt comfortable with us doing that. They said they trusted us to use our best judgement. My mom said that we can’t just totally stop doing stuff, which made me feel better. However, it all still makes me a bit nervous. The outdoors makes me feel more comfortable for sure. We promised we would still socially distance while at the pool. It turned out to be a great afternoon, and most likely we were safer in our decision to not stay at the lake, not that we had that choice. We all swam and had a wonderful time. Jack fell in love with the Burleson’s dog, Olive. 

She was a Goldendoodle and loved to play. 

We decided to go by my new school on the way home. I am really excited about getting started very shortly after I finish my Brighton College experience. We stopped and got Dutch Brothers on the way home. Once we were home the kids showered and Millie’s hair was impossible to brush out. It took my mom and I forever to comb it all out. My mom finally had to get chopsticks to help get all the knots out. 

The kids stayed up much later than we usually allow, but they had to eat and then we played some Trivial Pursuit, which frustrated Jack as he wasn’t able to answer very many questions. He’s still a bit young to know some of the older questions especially. We all went to bed around the same time. We had a full day of sun and fun!

My alarm went off at 6:30 am. I walked with Sue and she really gave me a good complement about my blog. She said that reading my blog and walking with me in person is kind of like reading a good book and then watching the movie. She said when we walk she loves our conversations, but that reading the blog gives her more insight and often is more real to her. I felt so good about her saying that. It means that I evoke the emotions from my readers that are intended, even if there are only a few readers. 

I got home and we decided to let the kids skip school as it was the Memorial Day holiday, and of course we still were on our Eid holiday. So we actually had a few nights where we were able to get good sleep, which was really nice. 

We made ribs for lunch, which were amazing. We decided to go to the park in the late afternoon because we felt it might be one of the last afternoons we could do so as it was heating up. When we got home and got Millie ready for bed, she lost her wad. She had had so many nights without having a fit, so it was a bit disappointing. I thought we might actually be over this time in her life, and that may still be the case, but this night she lost the plot in a major way. It was painful and made me realize we probably needed to consider some sort of counseling for her at some stage. We are at a loss as to how to handle her at this stage and may actually need some professional help. We shall see. I’m not opposed to it at all. She did finally calm down and go to sleep, but not without a lot of tears. 

Tuesday morning I walked with Mary. The other girls were not able to join us, but Mary and I carried on. We chatted the entire hour without a lull in conversation. That is the mark of true friendship. When I got home I decided to take a shower. I usually just stay nasty for the day, but for some reason I felt the need to get dressed this day. 

My mom cut my dad’s hair and then he and Stuart went off to play golf. The kids built a fort for our reading week picture we had to do. 

This was our way to get ready for book week with school. The kids did one hour of school. Their schooling would be over on Wednesday. 

We went to the supermarket once Stuart was back from golfing. Mom went to get her hair cut and colored. Stuart and I did our videos for our book character day. I was Cat in the Hat and Stuart was The Invisible Man. 

I got up Wednesday and cleaned the bathroom. We packed up our food and headed to the lake with Ken and Maytee and the girls. We decided we would give it another go. This time was very successful. 

Ken had bought double kayaks for his girls, which was great. It meant the kids could double up to kayak if they wanted to do so. 

After about five hours we got back home, unpacked and showered. We just chilled for the rest of the day. I forget how much the sun take energy out of you here in Arizona. In the late afternoon, we finished the cat puzzle. 

It wasn’t as easy as it may look. 

We only had two nights of work this week because of the Eid holiday, so we had one last night of school Wednesday evening. I have tried to stay up until 3 am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to get my work done for the following week. It seems to be better because there are always things that come up that also need to be done. For instance, final reports are due on June 7, so I’ve tried to get a handle on those in the last week or so. I would say I’m about halfway through, so should be able to finish by the middle of next week. 

Thursday morning I was up and finished up approving assignments. There weren’t a lot as we had assigned things like read aloud a, design a book cover, and make a movie trailer for your favorite book on iMovie. Those were amazing. The week of work was over. There are only 5 weeks of school left, but we believe the two weeks after June 18 will be project based, so it won’t be a great deal of strain on any of us, which will be nice. 

After we ate lunch on Thursday, we took the kids to Bass Pro Shop for a bit of an outing. Stuart bought himself a fishing hat, more for protection from the sun than for fishing, and I bought the obligatory American flag shirt for 4th of July, and the kids got candy as always. We then got gas at Costco to prepare for our trip to Saguaro Lake with Grammie and Pop on Friday. When we got home we watched some television. Stuart and I decided to sit out on the front driveway, and we sweat our tails off. Summer is here!

Friday morning we were up and headed to the lake by 9:30 am. We had packed some lunch stuff for Grammie, Millie and myself, but the boys decided they wanted Subway for lunch. We arrived at Saguaro Lake just after 10 am. It was hot. We stayed for a few hours, but couldn’t last too awful long. It was too dang hot. 

We had fun inspire of the heat. 

We headed home just before 2 pm. The kids showered and chilled for the rest of the day. Stuart and I did a Target/Wal Mart run for a beach wagon and some cheese and other stuff we most likely didn’t need. 

We all ate and then the music started bumping. The neighbors were having some sort of graduation party. I looked over the back wall, as you do, and was thrilled to see that the kids were all dressed up. For whatever reason, that made me feel better than if they would have been diving in the pool and drinking. We all went to bed just after 9 pm, so Stuart and I definitely didn’t hear anything once we were in our room. 

Saturday morning we decided to do some work and get things ready for our week to start that evening. At 11 am we went to an open house up the road. The house was the same model as ours, but with a huge back yard that included a pool. We liked it, but were still not as impressed as the first house we really liked that has yet to sell. We came home for lunch of nachos and then my dad and I started the Elvis puzzle. Mom joined in as well. 

We are kind of obsessed with puzzles at the moment. 

I then went back into the bedroom and discovered Home Goods was now open. Putting my mask on and heading into the living room, I asked if my mom wanted to go out for a bit of retail therapy. They really do have these stores set up properly, and the are not letting more in than the number posted on the sign outside. In Home Goods it was 83. We also went to TJ Maxx and that seemed to be a bit more quiet as well. We had our masks on the entire time and may have rushed at the end as it was getting to a point where we were feeling a bit ill because we couldn’t get proper oxygen in. But it was good to go out with my mom and do what we love to do. Afterwards we went to get a diet limeade at Sonic and then came home to try on our new digs. I decided that some of mine had to go back, but all that my mom bought was perfectly fine. 

We watched some of the marathon of Carol Burnet and friends and then played the new charades game my mom had ordered from Amazon. Stuart napped in the bedroom while we played the game. The rest of our evening was spent working on school work. Another week of school

Has begun. 

An email to end all emails

So we woke up to an email from our human resource department from our school in the UAE that basically said we would not get our end of service monies if we didn’t return to the UAE before the current school year ended. It also meant we would have to cancel our visas and Emirates ID while we were out of the country. If that happens we will never be allowed to enter the UAE again and if we did we would most likely be arrested. Guess who is never going to the UAE again? It’s a bit sad that our time there has ended like this, but we really have no control over it all. Stuart, after reading the email, sent a harsh but fair email back stating that none of this was in our control and that we were doing our best to get back but we had to wait for the UAE embassy to grant us permission to get back and as it stood it looked as if that wasn’t going to happen. It’s all such a shame, but we can’t risk our lives here by going back at this stage. If we got stuck in the UAE without jobs and with Jack and Millie being here we would never forgive ourselves. So we are here for good. 

After our morning church, the kids decided to start playing with plastic cups. I can only assume that this ranks up there with my friend Sherry Bollard’s tradition of riding bikes over bubble wrap at Christmas time. It was the cheapest day of entertainment ever! 

We were glad the kids were having fun, but Stuart and I were quite down for the day. The new electronic hours were implemented which made Jack mad to the point that he lost his electronics for the rest of the day, thus the time spent with the cups. 

We decided to have breakfast for lunch, which was yummy. Then we moved to the cup stacking competition in the afternoon. We worked on the new puzzle and tried to not be too upset about the email we had received. We had to do what was right for us. 

Sunday evening we played Spikeball and then the kids stripped to their skivies and we sprayed them with the hose. Then they showered, everyone ate and we proceeded with our nightly routines. 

Monday morning I was to walk with Sue, but she had to reschedule for Wednesday so I ended up running with Jack for a mile and then walking/running 3 more miles. When I got home we all went to the park. 

Jack was discouraged about basketball. Sadly, he is so hard on himself. The isolation is definitely getting to the kids. It was decided that the basketball time at the court would need to be more of a game to make it more fun for Jack rather than him feeling pressure to perform, which he really self inflicts that pressure. Schooling for the kids was relatively productive on Monday, but it’s obvious that everyone is winding down, and we are all a bit tired of school. Sadly, Stuart and I have to carry on until July 2. 

We went to Wal Mart to get life jackets as we had ordered inflatable kayaks for the kids. You know how you move to a new country, taking your kids from the only home they’ve really ever know , and then do the guilt purchases to keep them happy? No? Must be just us. Although the kayaks were postponed and would show up on Tuesday, we had life jackets and were ready for when the canoes did arrive. 

We spent the afternoon on school work and playing games. We finished the puzzle, which was sad, because we didn’t have another one to do. 

Monday evening I had my Math meeting and then went to bed early. I have come to realize the children can wait for me. Especially during Ramadan, the children don’t post until the evening anyway, which is our morning. 

Tuesday morning I got up to run with Jack, then headed to a local park to walk with Mary. It was just the two of us. It was nice to catch up with her and her family. I’m so thrilled that we decided to reconnect this way. The canoes showed up in the late morning, which meant we would need to go to the lake on Wednesday. The kids were so excited! 

I spoke with Diane about some jobs that were posted on the Chandler website. I was definitely getting a bit discouraged. I started thinking maybe holding off on applying for teaching jobs might not have been the best move. I suppose time will tell. 

In the afternoon, Stuart and I went to a party shop to get a Star Wars mask for my class meeting. We had decided to dress up in alignment with our Star Wars theme. So that evening during school hours, I met with my home room class. They all had something on that had something to do with Star Wars. It was so cute! My entire class didn’t show up, but the 12 who did made me very sad. They asked a lot of questions about school resuming, reports, when they would see me again, and questions I wasn’t necessarily read or able to answer. I cried once I hung up. We really don’t know how this is effecting the children of the world. Their emotional well-being will have to be taken into consideration very soon as not to have repercussions many years down the line with that generation.  I am afraid none of us know the answers, including the leaders of the states and countries. There seems to be no real guidance, which is scary. 

After my class meeting, I had a team meeting. During my class meeting I discovered that some of my pupils hadn’t met with their English or Maths teachers. It made me so angry, not because they were not getting instruction, but because they hadn’t made the connection with the other teachers who teach them. I think their emotional care is of the utmost importance now. I was angry and did my best to contain myself. I sent a message to my head of academics telling her if my irritation. She was kind and said she was sure they would start soon. I then asked my team if I could get their Google Meer codes put in my Class Dojo, which is our communication device, then that way I could tell my pupils where to find the link. They all agreed to do so. They basically lied and said they had meetings, which I knew to be false. 

I got up Wednesday morning to walk with Sue. Walking with Sue helps me sort through my feelings about everything I am going through. I feel better after each of our walks. 

When I got home we packed up the kids and headed to Wal Mart to get water shoes and Subway sandwiches, then headed to the lake. 

Our set up was almost complete. 

The kids are ready to go. 

And they’re off. 

See what happens when you don’t bring Grammie and Pop? You don’t get very good pictures with yourself in them. The day was a huge success. The kids had a wonderful time. We stayed at the lake for about 4 hours. We remembered to bring sunscreen this trip, as opposed to the previous Friday when Jack got as red as a beet. 

The kids helped pack up all the things we had set up, and they did it without complaining. When we got home, we put our lake gear out to rinse it off and let it dry. I took a shower and the children chilled. Around 6pm we took Jack to the Jack to the park to play soccer with two other children. Vicki had invited us to come and have a workout with Gavin’s coach. Jack had fun and Millie ran around the park field. Then she did her gymnastics tricks. 

Jack did rather well. 

We got home for showers and dinner. The kids went to bed after they ate. I had no interest in schooling, so I napped from 9 to 10 pm, then posted my assignments and then went back to bed. I decided I would deal with the consequences of my decision the following morning. 

I woke up Thursday with no questions and I did some approving of assignments. We had decided we would bbq the ribs we had bought at Costco a few days before. When Stuart opened the package it stank to high heaven. So we took those nasty ribs back to Costco. The cashier said in the future we could just bring in the packaging and they would believe us. She was a bit reprimanding. 

We had lunch of baked chicken that we had purchased with our rib refund money and then just laid around for the afternoon.  Thursday evening we decided to make margaritas.  Mom and Dad zoomed with their community group. At the end of Thursday I still hadn’t heard anything from the any of the schools where I applied for a job. 

Friday morning we were up and Crusing the Zoo. 

I’m not sure what they were looking at, but our cruise was amazing. 

We bought a car ticket to drive through the Phoenix Zoo to see the animals. During our cruise, I got a text from Diane asking me whether I had heard from the Shumway Elementary principal. I told her I hadn’t, so she immediately contacted her. Diane messaged me back and told me that the principal had told her that they had reached out to me but I hadn’t responded. I had her send my current phone number and in about 10 minutes I had a call from Korry Brenner, the principal. At this point it was just before 11 am and we were more than halfway through the zoo in our car. She asked if I could interview at 12:20 pm that day. Of course I could! Then when I hung up the phone I asked Stuart if we could be home by the interview time, leaving enough time for me to take a shower. He assured me we could, which made me feel better. I had also been in contact with my friend Jennifer, who is the administrative assistant at another elementary school and she had pulled my application for a 2nd grade position at Sanborn, which was the first school I worked at in Chandler. So things were starting to click for sure. 

We got home from the zoo and I hopped in the shower. I got into the Google Meets conference just after the entire family left the house. It was just after noon. I felt the interview went well. I made the committee laugh and was just so comfortable during their questions. I felt it went well and was very sure I would receive a call at some stage. 

We sat around for the afternoon. I got a call around 3 pm and after a candid conversation with Korry, I was offered the job. Stuart and I will be teaching at different schools next year, but will both be teaching 4th grade. I was thrilled and felt this was the exact job that was meant for me. It was a good feeling to be wanted. 

Stuart and I decided to go for a drive with my mom in the late afternoon. We were in search of some homes for sale. It’s become quite the adventure to look for houses. We went up into the Santan Mountains and looked down at the valley below. The view was spectacular. I continue to say that I want to live in the neighborhood where Grammie and Pop are as I want to allow the kids to ride their bikes to Grammie and Pop’s whenever they like. We have found the house we really think would suite us, but have to wait for contracts before we can even apply for a loan. Time will tell. If that is meant to be our house, it will stay available until the time we can do something about it. If it is not available, then there will be another perfect house for us. 

Saturday morning we got up and took Jack to the park again to play soccer with his friend Gavin. Before we arrived, we stopped at Sonic and got some breakfast. We advised Jack not to eat the entire burrito because he was getting ready to play soccer. He assured us he would be fine. He came over at one point and said his sides hurt. We called him burrito boy the rest of the hour we were at the park. 

Once we were home from practice, Stuart took our Explorer up to have its oil changed. I went to pick him up and then we came back to the house to have lunch. Just before 2 pm we headed out to get his car. It wasn’t  quite ready so we went to Home Depot to try to find some travel coffee mugs. We then stopped by the car repair place to discover there were some things we needed repaired on the car. So we decided to leave the car for the weekend, forgetting it was Memorial Day weekend and they wouldn’t be open Monday. We function quite well with one car so it was no big deal.

Once we had located our travel coffee mugs at Lowe’s and then made a supermarket stop for our picnic to the lake the following day, we headed back home. 

We attempted to make pretzel bites! Epic fail! They looked pretty decent here, but this was the best they looked. They weren’t terrible, but weren’t pretty. 

We spent a few hours at home before the kids, Grammie and Pop headed to the basketball court and Stuart and I went on a date. We decided to get take away from A new Mexican restaurant called Barrio Queen, take it to a park and enjoy a few hours out in our own. The food was amazing. We drove around for a while and ended up popping into Wal Mart to look for puzzles. We were about the only ones with masks. I have discovered that everyone makes heir own decisions about this whole social distancing thing, and it will have to be okay. However, I’m still pretty convinced there will be a spike in the cases in Arizona in the next few weeks. So many are behaving as if it is over. Why not still be a bit cautious? I don’t know the answers in the least. So I will stop. 

When we got home, the kids were still awake. They seemed to have had a great time with Grammie and Pop. Jack seemed a bit down when he went to bed. It seems he had a lot of questions about God while we were gone. He told me he wanted to invite Jesus into his heart because he was scared he would go to hell. After much discussion, he asked for Grammie and Pop to come into talk with him. Pop assured him that we had all prayed for his protection since before he was born and that God was going to take care of him. I believe that a person’s spirituality can be challenging to sort out. It seems my boy is starting to learn that and have thoughts of what happens next. We continue to pray for him to work out his own salvations and spiritual well being with prayer and supplication, as the Bible teaches us. God bless he and Millie, both. 

The best Mother’s Day ever!

We got up Sunday morning and Millie wished me a happy Mother’s Day.  After we watched church, we opened presents. Millie tried really hard to keep the secret of the presents she had picked out, but during church she noticed I didn’t have on any earrinNs. She said, ‘It’s okay, Mom, I bought you some for Mother’s Day’. When I told her she wasn’t supposed to tell me that, she said, ‘It’s been two days. I’ve held it as long as I could.’ She does crack me up. I got my new workout shirt from Jack as well as the earrings from Millie. We went all practical for Grammie and bought her new tea towels and some jammies. 

Jack and Millie went into Millie's room for a bit, then came back out and did a Mother’s Day dance for me and Grammie. We decided to order from Homer’s, a local bbq place. Grammie and Pop went to pick it up and we had brisket, pulled pork, cole slaw and baked beans. 

After lunch I went out to the back porch and spoke with Mitch for a good bit. When I was coming back inside I caught my pinkie toe on one of the chairs sitting around the table. How many times do you think you’ve broken your pinkie toes in your lifetime? I think this would be a good study for someone to do. It was so painful. 

Once I was over my pinkie pain, I went back in the bedroom and watched some Quentin Tarentino movie, which I’m not a huge fan of, but that’s what Stuart was watching so I stayed in there with him. 

Later in the afternoon, Grammie went to get movie popcorn and the kids became the wait staff at a posh cinema. They took orders for food and had assigned seats. They sat up each snack order and made us line up outside of the kitchen. 

Grammie was stepping up to the counter for her order. We were all told to line up and we’re required to social distance. 

We each received an assigned seat on our tickets. As you can see, the seats were marked very clearly. 

We sat and had snacks and watched the Greatest Showman. It was so sweet. During the movie, Jack walked around and made sure if someone wanted a refreshment, he got it. The kids had a great time, as did the grown-ups. After the movie concluded, there was no need for showers for the kids as they did very little all day. So they got their jammies on and went to be. I had determined that this was, quite possibly, the best Mother’s Day I had ever had. I got to be with my own mother, which hadn’t happened in at least seven years, and my kids were a delight to be around, spoiling me on this special day. We ended our evening with more puzzle time. We were getting to the end of this puzzle, but it seemed nearly impossible for some of the pieces to be found. We were sure there were pieces missing. 

The fun had to end because our work had to begin. We have gotten into a routine and basically are going through the motions at this stage. For the emotional well-being of our children in our classes, we have started to do Google Meets conferences. My first one was on Sunday night (Monday morning in the UAE). We had to get permission from all of the parents, so my English class was very small as there were not a lot of children whose parents had given permission. The few I did have in the meeting were so happy to sit and share about their schooling and life since this distance learning started. 

Monday morning I got up and met Sue at our usual park to walk. There were SO many people there. It seems there were high school athletic teams training, but I could be wrong. We did our normal walking amount of time, but made a bit of a different route to avoid some of the people. This particular day, it seemed the sprinklers had just gone off and we were walking in a bit of water for part of the time. On one of the sidewalks we were walking down hill. This sidewalk was flooded. A young girl was coming down the path as we were, riding her skateboard. Did she stop? Nope! Did she run through the water and splash us? Yes! Did I say to her as she continued on, ‘That was rude!’ Yes! Did I feel bed when she picked up her skateboard at the bottom of the slope to walk back and apologize to us? Yes! Then I told her I appreciated her coming back to apologize and to tell her mother that she is raising a very polite girl. Sue and I then discussed that we were glad she hadn’t heard everything we said about her. Ha!  

When I returned from walking, it was time for the kids to start their school week. Jack spoke to kids in his class from Riggs and they did their math assignments. Grammie and Pop has doctor appointments so we decided to go out to get food and take it to a park. We got burgers from 5 Guys. There was no one at the park except for us. It was hot so we didn’t stay long. Once we had eaten we headed back home. We stopped at the supermarket for a few things. We ended up buying Millie some workout gear as she felt she couldn’t run with Jack and myself in the mornings without the proper attire. 

Once we got home, the kids resumed their normal afternoon routine. Once it was time to get ready for bed, Millie lost the plot. She was so out of sorts that I ended up just letting her scream and scream. We discussed that she had three really good days and that I had held up my end of the bargain by trying to divert her attention, but she had not held up her end of the bargain. She was remorseful as always and said she would try to react differently the following day. She’s so strong-willed which will serve her well as an adult, but right now it can be terribly challenging. 

Tuesday morning I got up to meet Sherry, Elisa and Mary for a walk. Oh my goodness, was that good for my soul. I know I haven’t seen Mary and Elisa for two years, and it’s possible I hadn’t seen Sherry for nearly four years. It really did seem like old times. It was nice to reconnect. It was also nice to know that no matter how long we have been apart, true friendship prevails. We walked for about an hour. Mary did her usual of delivering baked goods and produce from her garden, and then Sherry went off for an appointment while Elisa, Mary and I met up in Basha’s parking lot for a coffee/large Diet Coke. We sat there for well over an hour and just caught up in each other’s lives. It was really wonderful. We said we would do our best to make it a weekly thing, which would be really nice. I then messaged Sue to see if she and I could stick to Mondays as our day of walking as I didn’t want to deny myself either of the social gathering. She graciously said it was fine with her. 

When I got home from my Tuesday walk, I took a shower and after lunch took Jack to the orthodontist. We waited outside the office, texted that we were there. They then came out a took our temperature before allowing us in. Becky, my friend Jennifer’s friend, took Jack for X-rays and the preliminary stuff. The doctor came in to tell us of his plan forward and then the boom was lowered on the cost of this fun. It was much cheaper than I thought it would be, so that was good, but much more expensive than I wanted it to be, as you would guess. 

When we got home the kids played for a bit and then we ate dinner of choice for everyone. Once the kids were in bed, Stuart and I started our school work once the kids were in bed. I had two meetings on Tuesday night and the one with my class was so fun. The kids were hilarious and so thrilled to see and speak with each other. My team meeting was less exciting, but set me on a mission to get my work completed for the following week. 

Wednesday morning I was up at 8 am. Jack was in pain because of his tightened braces. He had springS put in the top in order to help turn his canines. At 9:30 Jack started school and Millie and I went to meet her teacher. All the children were to pick up their personal belongings from school, but Millie didn’t have any since she hadn’t really started. However, her teacher told her to come anyway as she had prepared a goodie bag for Millie, which we thought was so sweet. So we stopped at Fry’s to get her a gift. She was very excited to meet her teacher, although we had decided to send the kids to Ryan Elementary the following school year. Mrs Hicks was very nice and so welcoming to Millie. 

When we got home we had lunch and then the kids started their second hour of school. Grammie and Pop went out for a drive and Stuart went to get gas in his car. Once school was over, Stuart, the kids and myself went to get gas in my car. We took a tour of Costco and after our little shop, we did the responsible thing and purchased the meal deal of a hot dog or piece of pizza and a soda for $1.50, such a bargain. So with dinner complete, the kids showered and we got ready for our last night of teaching for the week. 

I had a meeting for my final evaluation. It was super easy and the two senior leaders that met with me were incredibly complimentary of the job I had done over the past two years. It was very nice. The rest of the evening was relatively uneventful and I was glad to have the week behind us. 

We finished the puzzle on Wednesday evening. Time to start another one. 

Thursday morning we were up and approving work from the previous evening. The kids did their morning school work and we did our best to attempt the afternoon work. We felt pretty good about school on Thursday. In the afternoon we started to plan the following morning. We were heading back to Canyon Lake and Tortilla Flat. The evening was sat out on the driveway. We do this as a change of scenery. Grammie and Pop joined us but had to bring chairs out from the back because their camping chairs are in Branson. 

Friday morning, Pop went to ride his bike while Stuart made a trip to Wal Mart to buy two camping chairs as an early birthday present to Grammie and Pop. When he returned he reported that in Wal Mart hardly anyone was wearing masks. He also reported that while checking out, there was an altercation with a customer over the direction in which he was exiting the check out stand. When confronted, the customer started getting all shirty, by saying, ‘You are a bunch of sheep. Didn’t you hear the announcement. This whole thing is over!’  Obviously, he was referring to Covid 19, and clearly, he heard a different announcement than the rest of us. Here is the problem with so called ‘opening up’. Everyone hears what they want to hear. I suspect there will be a spike in Arizona in the next two weeks and it will cause the governor to reconsider the decision. I pray I wan wrong, but fear I am not.  

We headed out around 10:30 am. We got to the place with the prickly pear gelato, ordered for all 6 of us, and sat down on the benches outside. 

Yummy!

After ice cream, we went to the lake and the kids swam for a bit. 

We forgot about the rocks, so didn’t bring shoes. We will do better next time for sure. 

We had a picnic lunch as well. Just behind my dad you can see two people sitting, also having a picnic. The guy was talking so loud that we could hear everything he was saying. We gathered he was on a first date with this gal he was with. Nosey much? Yep!

On the way home from the lake we decided to make a stop at the Superstition Rach Market in Apache Junction. It’s the cheapest produce in the area, I think. We bought some amazing fruit and veg. It was worth the stop. 

Once we were home, the kids did their own thing, as did we. Stuart made margaritas and we, once again, did the white trash thing and sat on the front driveway. We then came in the house at 8 pm to watch a marriage series from church. We were a little under the impression it was to be a comedy hour from the pastor we listen to from Branson. It wasn’t quite that, but it was still good. Millie and Jack went to bed, and we followed shortly after. It’s nice to get at least two decent night’s sleep each week. 

We woke up Saturday morning and had coffee on the back porch. My dad and I had a talk and he shared with me his concerns with the kids being on their devices too much. We know this is the case, but have gotten a bit lax as the circumstances right now in life are a bit overwhelming. He assured me he wasn’t being critical and he and my mom just wanted to help in anyway they could. I didn’t feel he was being critical and heeded his advice. Stuart and I talked about it and then asked the kids to think about what their solution would be. 

This was one of their flow charts. In the end, we made the final decision, taking into account some of their ideas, but ultimately making the restrictions we felt reasonable for the time. It seems we are making these alterations every couple of weeks. Parenting is no fun sometimes. 

Stuart and I went to Costco in the late morning  to return some items. He got his Costco card and we returned in time for lunch. We had fajita/burrito bowl food. It was delightful and remains one of our favorite meals. Stuart and I got our work ready for that evening and then he went out to run a couple of errands. We told the kids to enjoy their last day of ‘overindulge on the electronics’ as our new rules would come into play on Sunday. 

In the afternoon we decided to go out and play a little Spikeball as well as spray the kids with the hose. Millie stripped down to her undies, as did Jack. They both had a blast. They headed straight to the showers and then we decided to have a game of Uno, which found the kids too silly to play a second hand. They went off to watch tictok videos and Stuart and I did our white trash routine for the evening, sitting on the driveway. All too soon it was time for school to begin for another week. 

The thought of ‘opening up’ and what that means

It seems that Sunday brought a lot of talk of states ‘opening up’ and resuming businesses. What would this look like exactly? God, truly God, only knows. The questions that surround it all and the ‘what ifs’ are unending. We will continue to do as we have done since our masks were made by my mom, and we will wear those things and do our best to social distance. That’s how I can help, I suppose. 

Sunday morning we watched church and then had breakfast and did our normal Sunday morning things. We had a lunch of roast beef and the trimmings. Of course I didn’t, as I am still on the pouch reset and soup was my meal. Yummy!

The afternoon brought a lot of laying around and actually feeling a bit down. I find this quarantine thing has its ups and downs for sure. Stuart and I watched tv in our room for a great deal of the day and the kids were on their devices. It’s maddening, but sometimes it’s our only escape from this surreal situation. 

In the evening, when it was time for showers, the princess had a full and utter meltdown. Over what, you ask? Well, I believe it was because she was told to not speak in a ‘tone’ with me. This brought on a great deal of yelling and talking back. As you could guess, this went over well with me. In the end, there were electronics taken away and an earlier bedtime. Funny that!

Stuart and I settled into the teaching evening once everyone was in bed. I feel I have a routine of sorts. I work harder on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings because I am preparing lessons for the following week. It makes the time pass a bit quicker and makes the first few days of the week a bit easier. 

Monday morning I woke up around 8 am and zoomed with Lara. Lara has agreed to packing up our house and selling our stuff. She is a true friend, that is for sure. 

We decided to take the kids to the park at 9 am before it got too hot. Grammie and Pop didn’t join us because they were getting ready for their check-ups with their general doctor. When we returned from the park, Jack was wheezing a bit as he has for a while, after he exercises. I used to see his lack of being able to breath as a dramatization because either he lost a competition or thought he didn’t play well. I’m going to feel like a schmuck if he has Asthama. I called the pediatrician and they set up a Google call for Tuesday at 2 pm. If they couldn’t diagnose him by the information I gave them, then I would have to take him into the office. 

Grammie and Pop were gone by 10 am and the kids had started their morning schooling, which was quite productive. 

Jack got onto a chat with, what would have been, his class at Riggs Elementary. He then finished his autobiography and Millie worked on standard measurement, which is difficult for my kids as the metric system is all they have ever known. 

We had lunch without Grammie and Pop as they were out and stopped by Subway for lunch. Millie prayed for our lunch as a stand in for Pop. The afternoon was filled with a little bit of corn hole, some school and then after dinner we played Scattegories, which brings on a lot of laughter. 

We also continued working on the puzzle from hell. 

Our evening was a lot of the same, school, watching Netflix, Insatiable and Shameless, along side my brother Mitch. We have been calling each other most days and discussing the shows. It’s actually really fun. In fact, we’ve had some of the biggest laughs of our lives the last couple of weeks. 

I got up Tuesday morning and walked with Sue. I was later than normal, but we still walked for an hour and nattered on even after we stopped walking. It was great as always. When I got home the kids had started their first hour of schooling and it seemed to be going fairly well. We finished a bit early and decided to go and view some houses in the neighborhood that were for sale. We ended up seeing 4 different houses. We found one we really liked, but until we get jobs there is no way we can qualify for a loan. So for now we sit tight and wait, and hope the house sits tight as well. If not, there will be another house that’s perfect for us. We atto stay n this neighborhood so the kids can ride their bikes to Grammie and Pop’s, not to mention the fact that we like this neighborhood. We got home and had lunch of burgers, but I didn’t. This day I was allowed to eat tuna. Yahoo!

It was an afternoon of sitting at the kitchen table and shooting the breeze with my mom and dad. So much so that we ended up just having the kids do about 20 minutes of work, but it was valuable work. Millie read some little stories and Jack took a Kahoot quiz on the Westward Movement, which meant he had to be taught about it beforehand. 

Stuart and I went to get some things from Costco and were pleased to see they were enforcing their ‘no mask, no entry’ rule. There were not a ton of people in there. We got our items and headed home. When we got home we witnessed the kids playing in the water hose. They nearly ruined the grass, but they had fun. 

This was after all the fun.  

After dinner, Stuart and the kids played a new game, Rocket League, he bought for Jack on his PS4. Then we listened to Harry Potter, the book we have been listening to on our audio books. After Millie was in bed, Pop and I attempted the puzzle again, and Grammie joined a bit later. Then I decided to go out front and sit with Stuart for our evening white trash driveway time. Jack went to bed and then school commenced.  It was business a usual. 

Wednesday morning I got up around 8:30 am. My parents had already left for the dentist. My mom had cracked a filling a couple of weeks back so needed to get it fixed. Stuart and I did our work and then had school for the kids. Again, it seems having them do their math in the morning our is good because it is more self-led, so they don’t need us a lot. 

For some reason, on Tuesday, the doctor’s call didn’t happen, but instead took place on Wednesday. Wouldn’t you know it? After describing Jack’s breathing troubles she diagnosed him with asthma. She called in an inhaler to the pharmacy for him. When we got there I discovered his insurance policy didn’t cover medication. Again, this insurance racket might kill me. So $45 later, we were set for exercise and breathing relief. We picked up Chipotle for lunch, but not for me. Oh, I hope this reset is worth it. 

They got the band back together!

After lunch Stuart played Jack’s new PS4 game with he and Millie. They played so long that we cut school short for the afternoon. Wrong? Probably. There are only three more weeks of school for them. Then we will have to figure out what to do with them during the day in June. That could prove to be challenging. 

I worked on the puzzle some of the afternoon. I then got an email about the Dean’s job. They chose to go with other candidates, but I was encouraged to continue to apply for administrative positions. I suppose a Dean’s job was not the right job for me. Back to the drawing board I go. 

The kids had made up dances and danced for us in the late afternoon. Millie is really good at entertaining herself and pulls Jack into her lay from time to time. Everyone carried out their evening routines. Then Grammie and Pop spent the evening with me working on the puzzle. It may be becoming an obsession. 

During our late night on Wednesday I spoke with Cathy on the computer. It was so good to see her and catch up. It kind of dawned on me then how difficult this must be for her. She is compromised with her lung issues so doesn’t go anywhere. She’s a bit scared to do so. It wasa bit sad to speak with her as it kind of hit me we may never get back to see her. I believe she will come visit us, but it won’t be the same. 

I woke  up Thursday morning and approved some lessons, working until about noon in order to get lessons done for the following week. Normally I have this all done by Wednesday night. But with all the things weighing on my mind, I couldn’t stay focused all week, so failed to get all of my work done. Stuart worked a bit longer as well. The kids did their daily math while we continued working. 

We had fried homemade chicken nuggets for lunch, I of course had an avocado. I was on day 8 of this reset and bored! But I only had one more day and was hopeful my baby tummy was back to its infantile state. I finally decided that at some stage I would actually have to fit back into the clothes I have, so this reset was necessary, and following a relatively strict eating plan needs to be in my future for the next six months, at least. Wish me luck. 

The afternoon was spent doing a whole lot of nothing. We decided that watching two episodes of Magic School bus counted as our afternoon schooling session. The schooling thing is getting old, for us and them. We might have failed them this week in the schooling department. 

Before dinner and showers we played some Uno. The kids then showered and played together, then performed a dance again. Millie went to bed, but not without a great deal of yelling. Her disrespectful tone is more than any of us can take anymore. She has an answer for everything. At any rate, after screaming and crying from her room she settled down. I then went into her room and she was able to listen to me with listening ears. I prayed with her and we asked God to help her to control her tone and stop being so disrespectful. When I said ‘Amen’, she burst into tears and said ‘I love you, Mama. I’m sorry’. I know she means it, but seems to never learn from her poor behavior. I did ask her if there was anything Daddy and I could do to help her stop when she starts to get disrespectful and yells. I told her I felt sometimes when we had to reprimand her, she was embarrassed and it made things worse. She said, ‘Mom, if you could do this (put her finger to her lips as if you say ‘shhh’) or this (made the motion of cutting her neck off), I think it would help’. So I agreed to it and told Stuart as well. We shall see if it works. 

We worked on the puzzle we like to call ‘God’s little torture’. However, we had some more laughs, and it’s time the grown people get to spend together. 

Friday morning I was awake at 4:45 am just thinking about all we needed to have done at our house in Al Ain in order to get all the stuff we want back to the states. We are having to rely on friends, obviously great friends, to get our stuff packed and shipped. We don’t have a ton of stuff, but there are things that mean a great deal to us, plus a lot of ski clothes and things that would be costly to replace. So I started communicating with our friend Lara. I had a down morning and really started to settle in on the fact that we would most likely never see the UAE again. 

Jack has gotten that summer pudge in the seven weeks we have been here, so he decided he would get up every morning to go for a run. We told him he could go on his own, but he wasn’t terribly keen on that so he asked me if I would go with him. I told him I would, but I didn’t expect him to come into my room at 5:45. He also woke Millie, although she claims she was already awake. We went for our 2 mile walk/run and then were back to the house by 6:30. I was put on the porch by 6:35 am, drinking coffee. It was nice. 

My little exercise gurus. 

In the time I spent on the porch, Lara had sent me pictures of the furniture we were going to sell. I posted it on all the resale Facebook pages in Al Ain. By that afternoon, all but a sofa, love seat, bed, two toy chests and two small closets were sold. It was crazy. 

While all of this was going on, we drove to a golf course not too far away from us, to watch some military planes fly overhead in commemoration of VE Day. They were so cool to see. 

When we returned to the house, Jack took his weekly exams and Stuart and I made a picnic lunch. Our plan was to go to Canyon Lake and Tortilla Flat. 

Telford road trip!

The Lake

This stands outside of the general store. 

Prickly Pear Gelato? Don’t mind if we do. 

The picnic in the back of the car. What a grand idea. 

The view was spectacular. 

The cactus blossoms were amazing. In my 28 years in Arizona, I have never seen a live version of these blooms. They were gorgeous!

Love our desert home. 

The drive home was scenic and required a stop at Fry’s grocery store. It was the first time the kids have been to a grocery store since we’ve been back to Arizona. They secretly bought me a Mother’s Day gift, and then had to take me past the clothes to see what I would like. Jack pointed out a shirt that HE liked, which gave me a clue as to what he got me for Mother’s Day. It was actually quite cute. 

We got home  and chilled for a while. We were all a bit tired, I would say. I called my brother Mitch and had another good chat. We decided to play Uno, except interest was lost quite quickly so the kids went back to their rooms and played on their devices. 

Millie had had a perfect day, and bedtime was no less perfect. She had a bit of a glitch at the beginning of the day, but when she came into the kitchen and noticed me doing the shh sign and then the cut your head off sign, she laughed and it was lol over. When I asked her about it later, she said, ‘The reason I laughed was because I told you to do one or the other, not both! Plus, when I laugh usually stop being sassy.’  The honesty killed me. But I think we may be on to something, finally. Time will tell. We spent the rest of the evening putting the puzzle together, or not as the case may have been. 

Woke up just before 4 am again. This day I wasn’t sad, though, as Lara had messaged me and told me she had sold all kinds of stuff from the house, even things I hadn’t posted on Facebook. I was so very grateful for what she was doing for us.  I ended up snoozing until 6:25 am when my exercise king woke me up. He also woke his sister up, which about sent me over the edge. I told him he wasn’t to do that again as she really can’t afford to loss sleep. We ran our two miles and Jack couldn’t wait to come back and tell Pop. He said, ‘I bet Pop is going to be proud of my commitment.’  He really cares more about Pop’s opinion of him more than he cares about our opinion of him. He wants to make his Pop proud. 

I had coffee outside and just took it easy. I kind of forgot it was a work day until Stuart mentioned it just before we ate lunch. Prior to that we took a drive to an open house in the neighborhood. It amazes me how pictures can be deceiving. The house was nice but the back yard and pool needed a lot of work. Plus, it was out of our price range. 

Lunch was eggs, fried potatoes and pork chops. I just had eggs and cottage cheese, but had definitely lost weight over these last 9 days. I felt good and was on my way back to my fighting weight. Ha!

Stuart and I worked for most of the afternoon. Millie and I made ‘watermelon’ cake pops. 

My little baker. 

Roll ‘Em up, ready to dip. 

Stuart and I then watched Back to the Future. What a great film that was. The kids ate dinner, showered and got ready for bed. We ate a bit later, showered and got ready for school. We still have 7 weeks of school left. We do have a week off the week that starts May 24th, for the end of Ramadan, called Eid al Fitr. That will be nice, but then it will be difficult to come back and work our old hours for 5 weeks. Here we go again!

A birthday to remember and another week of ?????

Sunday morning I woke up and discovered I had not posted my Math activity in our online system. Oops! Fortunately I had a mom message me. I couldn’t upload it for Sunday’s classes, but decided to send an apology message. It would just mean one less lesson for me to plan for the week. So maybe it wasn’t a mistake after all. 

Stuart got up and we wished him a happy birthday. He opened his presents and then we watched church. The kids played Fortnite afterwards because Jack created an account for Millie. What do you say to your eight year old daughter when she says ‘Mom, I got 9 kills today’? Not sure, but very sure I won’t be getting any award for this. 

For Stuart’s birthday lunch, we ordered Oregano’s, a local Italian favorite. We played corn hole in the afternoon, and quickly decided that this would be a game we would need to start playing either early in the morning or a bit later in the afternoon. My love of the cool weather has been destroyed, as summer is here. 

Who is that masked man?

Prior to the lunch pick up, we went to Target to get a peg for our bike rack to go on the back of our car. We also picked up some puzzles that the ran out of early in the quarantine. 

I’m not sure we will finish these as they seem a bit more difficult than the puzzles I remember doing as a kid. 

We ate our lovely Italian lunch and then just chilled for the afternoon. Stuart set up his birthday present, a 40 inch television. We figured we would need one at some stage. This way, we are able to have some television time to ourselves and not make everyone watch what we want to watch. I’m hoping it doesn’t make us antisocial. 

On Saturday afternoon, Grammie and Pop took Millie and Jack and they went to wash the car. Then they went to Sonic for milkshakes and ice cream sundaes. Millie put hers in the freezer and enjoyed it on Sunday afternoon. 

Mess!

We watched the new television for a while and then kids showered and ate dinner. After dinner and before the kids went to be, Stuart and I sat on the driveway and toasted to Stuart’s 45th birthday. 

The kids went to bed, and Stuart and I had meetings. I did my best to meet with my English pupils. It was hilarious. What we had wanted to do was a demonstrate our knowledge of a story by using actions to go with the story. It was a bit chaotic for sure, but we gave it a try. The rest of the evening was quite boring. I finally went to bed just before 3 am. 

I was up at 6:30 am to approve some assignments and participate in my favorite activity all week, my walk with Sue. We had to go on Monday this week as I had an interview on Tuesday and couldn’t go at our regular time. Our walk was good for my soul and I do look forward to it each week. After our walk, I headed home and helped the kids with school. We finally got on board with the school work being sent by Riggs. Stuart and I decided to play corn hole after the first hour of school because it was cooler than the afternoon. We had lunch of chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, which were a hit. 

The afternoon was filled with school, games, Fortnite and showers. Because it is heating up now, we are going to have to change our schedule for the park. We may need to move it to the morning slot in the next few days. 

Also in the afternoon, the kids played dress up in Grammie and Pop’s closet. They used to love doing this when they were littler and staying with my parents during the week. I’m not sure but what they enjoyed it as much this day as they did all those years ago. 

On Monday night I decided to skip my responsibilities as a teacher and go to bed early. I was so exhausted and felt there wouldn’t be a lot of interaction in the UAE waking hours. Because it is now Ramadan, many children are doing their work in the later evening, so not as many questions are being asked. 

When I woke up Tuesday morning I discovered they could function without me. I only had one message and it wasn’t urgent. I only had about 30 assignments to approve and no one was the wiser. I completed my work for the day, got dressed, did my hair and make up in order to get ready for my interview. 

The family left the house at 9 am and I started my interview at 9:10 am. It was awkward, but I did my best. So let the chips fall where they may. The questions were similar to the ones asked in the Assistant Principal’s interview. I felt I was consistent with my answers, as two of the committee had been in on my previous interview. We shall see where all of this goes. 

Once the kids were back, we decided to play hookie for the morning and only do school in the afternoon. The kids were thrilled and so were the adults. We had lunch and then the kids did writing in the afternoon. They really worked hard, which was nice to see. Millie made up dances the rest of the day and then performed them for us before dinner. 

After we ate dinner, we played cards for a bit and then put Millie to bed in our room, in hopes she would go to sleep a bit earlier. With her being the tiniest person in the house, she gets the smallest bedroom, which just happens to be closest to the living room. When she goes to bed, none of us are ready to do so. Therefore it does sometimes provide noise that keeps her from going to sleep. But we are not going to stop our lives for that, so our solution for now is to let her fall asleep in our bed and then we can carry her to her bedroom. Tuesday night it seemed to work. She went to sleep rather quickly. 

Stuart and I sat in our lawn chairs, on the driveway, for a while and just were there....together.....but didn’t feel the need to talk.....or anything. These days do start to run together and become a bit mundane. It helps a bit knowing we are not the only ones going through this. 

Jack went to bed at his normal time. He went through the routine of having everyone come into his room to say goodnight. He’s still such a little boy. 

Stuart and I stayed up until after 3 am on Tuesday night. I had a team meeting and then approved some activities online. The good thing about a Tuesday night is that we only have one more late night before the weekend. That keeps us going for sure. 

I didn’t wake up until after 8 am, and then realized that Millie was supposed to have Zoomed with her friend Kalina at 8 am. I rescheduled it for that evening instead, and once Millie woke up I let her know this. She was fine with that. 

We went to the park for the first school slot and then when we got back we had our first hour of school. Because the days are heating up, we have decided the park needs to be the first thing we do in the day from now on. My mom did school when we returned while Stuart and I worked. I called my friend Skip to speak to him, and then we had lunch. We are starting to run out of creative ideas for meals, so I suppose it’s time to start at the beginning again. 

The kids played around after lunch and then Stuart took my dad to get his truck window fixed. It wouldn’t roll up on Tuesday when they went to wash it, so after trying to sort it out at the house, they ended up taking it to the dealership. Once they were back, school hour number 2 happened. The afternoon would see the kids making up dances to their favorite songs. Then of course they performed them for us. This was their second day of dance class and recitals. 

After we ate dinner, Millie got to talk to her friend Kalina. She then had difficulty going to sleep. In fact, she was still awake at 10:30 pm. millie is the child that has a small window of opportunity to put to bed and have her quickly fall asleep. We clearly missed it on Wednesday evening. 

once Jack was in bed, and after our driveway time, Stuart and I worked our last evening of the week. He had a team meeting where his team was convinced Emirates flights would resume on June 1. If that is the case, we will be able to get back to the UAE for a few weeks and close everything up properly.  We shall see If this really happens. I went to bed just before 3 am. I was exhausted, but still only slept until 8 am. i find myself being more tired than normal this week. 

We skipped school for the kids on Thursday. I just couldn’t be bothered, to be honest. They got dressed and ate breakfast, then Millie helped Grammie dust the house, while Jack helped Pop mow the lawn. Each child was paid a bit of money and were pleased as punch. 

We then left the house to wash one of our cars. Stuart had an interview with an elementary school for a teaching position so we had to get out of the house. He called while we were washing the car to tell me his interview was at noon rather than 11 am, as he had originally thought. We have decided our emails are not set on the proper time zone, which is what is throwing us off. At any rate, we had to figure out what we would do for another hour. We decided to go to the supermarket and Mom would pick up some needed items. We then drove through Taco Bell and got everyone something for lunch. I didn’t partake, as I have put myself on a ‘reset my pouch’ diet. It seems that being quarantined has not been the promoter for continuing to fit into my clothes. So I decided to attempt this 10 day rest. Wish me luck. 

My mom and I headed back out to a couple of other supermarkets to get some advertised meat and fruits. I bought some items for my 10 day reset and then we returned to the house. My dad had gone to collect his truck at the dealership because they were going to charge him an arm and a leg to fix his back window. So his plan was to buy the part and take the truck to a guy at a shop up the road. 

He returned shortly after we got all the groceries unloaded. I decided to go into the bedroom for a rest. I was so tired, hungry and had a caffeine headache. Oh, yeah, I can’t have coffee during these 10 days. Ugh! I ended up kind of dozing for almost 3 hours. It’s such an awful feeling to sleep part of the day away when everyone else is up, but I couldn’t help myself. 

I had chicken broth for dinner and the we sat around and talked for a while. We then sat in the living room after the kids were in bed. It had been an exhausting week. Stuart and I went to bed around 10 pm and I fell asleep shortly after my head hit the pillow. 

We were up just before 7 am as we had a rugby committee meeting at 7. It was good to see everyone on Zoom. We met for about an hour and then got the kids breakfast and sorted for the day. Jack had to do a couple of tests, but not before he had a session at the park with Pop. Both kids went to the park with Pop. They were back within an hour, all sweaty and tired. I had done some laundry while they were gone. I then laid down for a while as I was hungry, had a head ache and needed a rest. 

Lunch was chicken, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. Sadly, I had butternut squash soup. I’m hoping this reset will really set me back on the path of losing weight. If it doesn’t, I’m going to resent these 10 days. 

After lunch we had another lie down in the room while the kids played on their electronics. My phone rang in the middle of the afternoon. The person on the other end asked to speak to Stuart. It turned out to be the Dean at the school he interviewed telling him he was going to be recommended to the board as their new 4th grade teacher. He was thrilled and of course excepted the recommendation. Of course, then, he wanted to take a drive to go see his new school. The kids went with us and fussed the entire time.  

Once were back to the house, the kids showered and ate dinner. After dinner, we decided to watch a movie called Oddball. It’s based on a true story about an island in Australia where fairy penguins were dying out. Along cane Oddball, a dog, and frightened away the fox that were killing these penguins. It was a very cute movie and the kids loved it. Millie hit the hay just after the movie and Jack followed shortly, as did we. 

I woke up about 4 times in the night. It seems that a liquid only diet causes more visits to the bathroom than I remember. We finally got out of bed around 8 am. The kids were already awake and deep into Fortnite with their friends from the UAE. 

Stuart informed me that his step mother was in the hospital for some reason, but he couldn’t figure out why. When he finally spoke to his dad, it seems Lyn had a stroke. She was in an excellent facility for such a condition, but Andrew couldn’t be with her because of the virus. These times are so difficult for so many. He would know a little more in a few days about her prognosis. 

Stuart and I went to the store to get some more soup for me and we went by Verizon to get Stuart a SIM card for his phone. When we initially got here he didn’t get one as Verizon had said his phone wasn’t zoned for the states. So we went to a different store and they had a way around it. Feels as if we are still in the UAE. There’s always a way around things in the UAE. 

We returned to lunch of bacon wrapped pork chops, hash browns, eggs and biscuits. It looked amazing, but then again I think cardboard looks amazing when you are on a liquid diet. Millie didn’t eat much, and then expected to be able to have a jello cup after. Well, as you would guess, she decided to eat her eggs in order to get her jello cup. 

The afternoon was lazy, as has been the case lately. The kids played games with Grammie and Pop and Stuart and I watched television in our room, well, maybe I slept. 

We spent some of the evening getting ready for our week of work. This week we would be doing live sessions with our students, so it was sure to be exciting. 

The normal evening routine ensued and all was right with the world. The talk of ‘opening’ up kind of worries me, but I guess that’s not my decision to make.