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.