July

Grammie and Pop arrived safely on Sunday the 5th and it was back to usual business; puzzles, games, television game shows and hot lunches. 

That entire week we spent time in our classrooms to prepare them for the coming school year, whatever that may look like. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we worked in my classroom. Grammie helped the first two days, but decided to sit out the last day. Sue helped all three days and made sure she prefaced everything she said with ‘Now these are just suggestions. Feel free to say no when you like’, which of course I never did as I loved all of her suggestions. I haven’t decorated a classroom in 12 years. The past two years I have had a teaching assistant who has done all of that for me. So getting back in and remembering you need to use push pins BEFORE you bugger something up with a staple and have to redo it, was something I needed assistance with. 

Any idea what the theme to my classroom is?

This says ‘S’more Good Work’.

And this is my reading corner. There were still some little touches left to do, but I was very pleased with the look of everything when we left on Wednesday. It was just very important to me to get my mind in the right place and be prepared for the children to come back into school, whenever that may be. 

Thursday and Friday we spent time working in Stuart’s room. I stopped in to have a chat with Diane, the principal at Ryan, who used to be my boss. Then I carried on to help Stuart. His room was cleaner than mine, so he could almost get right to the decorating part. 

I made this board and decided I would need a smaller one in my classroom as well. Because we study Arizona history in 4th grande, it made sense to have an Arizona flag as a display board, until we discovered that no longer do 4th graders study Arizona history, but that has moved to 3rd grade. 

Here is Stuart’s reading corner. 

We spent some time in the first week of July sorting out Jack and his feelings about life at this time. He had some really sad times and his sadness made me very sad. He is really a very social kid, as is Millie, but he’s at a different stage in his social life and we do worry about him in a different way through these unsure times. Millie is able to entertain herself a bit more and likes friends, but doesn’t NEED them. Jack NEEDS friends. I’m just in constant prayer that these feelings resolve and subside. We are definitely committing more time to talking with both of the kids and just being together with them. 

Our second week in July started with Jack having a basketball training session with Desmond Howard, a former college player and brother to some of Russ’s former players. Jack enjoyed it but felt he would be better off going to a session with himself and a few more kids. He is driven by competition with others. So we put that on the calendar for the following week. 

We then headed to my school to drop off the treasures we had found on our Saturday Goodwill tour, which included my mom, Stuart, Sue and myself  trolling the Goodwills of the east valley to get cheap children’s books. Stuart and Millie headed to his school while Jack and I went to the basketball court. Stuart ended up taking down the Arizona flag and getting some more things organized. Monday afternoon we decided to take the kids out for a drive and walk around a couple of furniture stores. When we arrived at Living Spaces, something horrible happened to our car. It was a loud noise and the air conditioner started to blow hot air. We decided to go on in and walk around and when we came back out, we drove straight to our mechanic and dropped the car off. That turned out to be a bit of an expense, but Pop decided he would pay the bill. It was the car we bought from him. He definitely did us a huge favor. Our situation with our previous job turned sour after the school year was over, so the help with the car was much appreciated. 

I walked with Sue Tuesday morning and she told me about a basketball camp Chandler was having for the remainder of the week. We decided to take Jack and Millie. We left the house in time to get cash and get them to Payne Junior High by 1 pm. We had discussed that the kids’ mental well-being was going to have to take priority from now on. Stuart and I did some errands and then when we picked them up. The first thing Millie said to me when she saw me was, ‘Mom, can we come again tomorrow?’  I was so thrilled they enjoyed themselves. We felt we had made the right decision for them.  

While they had their basketball Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Stuart and I took some time to ourselves, just driving around, getting food to eat and a walk around Wal Mart as well as San Tan Village. Although it was smokin’ hot, it gave us something to do. It was nice to just be by ourselves. 

Wednesday evening of that week we went to swim at John and Laurie’s as they were in California and we could go in through the back gate with Ken and Maytee. The kids enjoyed connecting with Gigi and Lexi. 

Thursday my niece was meant to have flown into Phoenix and I was to pick her up. Her fiancé was then going to collect her from Grammie and Pop’s. But in the end it turned out he didn’t have to work and could pick her up instead. It was arranged that they would come back to the QC on the 26th and spend the night before she returned home on the 27th. 

Friday we went to Ryan and Vicki’s to have dinner and let the kids play. We all had such an amazing time. We decided to let both kids sleepover. Saturday morning we went to pick them up. We stopped to get donuts and then ended up staying for lunch. We got salads from Salads and Go, which were delightful. 

Sunday was the 19th, and my birthday. 

I had requested taco salads and jello dessert instead of a cake. I don’t really like cake. 

I got some money from Grammie and Pop and the kids and Stuart got me a lovely wallet and new hand bag. 
I love them both. My birthday celebration was really nice. I am not a huge fan of birthdays anymore, but it was a good day. 

After the birthday weekend I had, it didn’t take long on Monday to be bored and want to get out of the house. We were starting school on the 22nd, so we still had two days to fill. So Top Golf it was. We had an amazing time. The kids loved it and actually didn’t argue one bit. 

Jack was a star!

Millie was just intertwining the entire time. 

Tuesday I had coffee with my friend Lisa while the kids went with Stuart to his school. He decided quickly that once we started instruction it would be a bad idea for both of our little darlings to go with him to school. 

Wednesday was our first official day back to school. It was pretty overwhelming, as we were required to do all of our professional development online. This will be a year to remember for sure. We feel very fortunate that this online thing is really not new to us. 

When we got home from school, new masks had arrived. They say ‘I will teach here and there, I will teach anywhere’. It’s true!

When we got home Thursday after school, we had Crazy dinner night. Millie, Jack, Grammie and Pop was dressed crazy (Jack wouldn’t let me take his picture) and the dinner table was set crazily.  

The napkins were all wrinkled up and the silverware wasn’t in the right place. It was a cute idea and kept the kids occupied all day. 

After dinner Grammie, Pop and I took Jack to Sossoman Junior High to have a trial run with Reach basketball academy. This was the program he had attended the previous week. He had decided he wanted to give it a shot. His group basketball session the beginning of this week was not what he wanted. He felt it was too intense for him and he wasn’t ready for that type of training. We had also discussed that Pop would try to find a gym where he could take him to work out. 

Jack said he liked it for the most part. He was able to articulate that he thought it would get easier as time went on. He’s out of shape and has been sitting around for the past 4 months so we knew it would take some time for him to get back into shape. 

Friday is our day to wear our school t-shirts. So I spotted my new school shirt. I’m a Shumway Star. I am very happy with my position and really look forward to making a difference this year. 

Our first few days of work were tolerable. We did our best to work through the online training needed to get prepared for our new normal. We were certainly ready for the weekend when it came. 

Saturday we got up and took off with the kids to run errands. We went to Costco and then just walked around some shops before getting some food at Buffalo Wild Wings. We then met Pop at a gym where we were told Jack would be able to be worked out by Pop. The cost would be $45 an hour which would be a bit steep for us. In the end, the guy who ran the gym worked with Russ for years and just told Pop that if the gym was available he could use it for free. Free is way better than $45 an hour. So we have Jack sorted for sports and now we need to get Millie sorted. My plan was to look into gymnastics for her in the new week. 

Sunday my niece, Morgan, and her fiancée Donavin came to the QC for the day and to spend the night. We decided we would order food from Oreganos. It was a special treat for sure. I ordered their gluten free pizza, which was nice. We spent the evening just chatting with Donavin and Morgan. We had a good time. Morgan is such an amazing person. I’m so happy for her and Donavin. Morgan took on the challenge of reading Millie’s changing body book. Morgan asked me what I DIDN’T want her to tell Millie. All I knew to tell her was ‘well, don’t tell her anything that is not in the book’. I hope that was the right answer. 

Monday morning I got up to do my normal walk. We were off to school by 7 am. Grammie and Pop took the kids for a swim evaluation. We had decided that since they were on their swim squad in the UAE, it might be nice to get them involved in a swim club here.  I called Grammie and she gave me their results, which were decent. I then called the swim school to find out what the process was for getting them involved. I was at school until 4:30 pm and then had to fill up my tires on the way home because my tire pressure light went on. Filling up your tires when it is 117 degrees outside is really fun!

When we got home, we spoke to the kids about their thoughts with the swim school. Jack wasn’t so keen, but in the end we talked him into at least giving it a shot for a month. He agreed, but suspected we thought he wasn’t going to do well with basketball, so we wanted him to do swimming instead. That wasn’t our thinking. Instead, we just want him involved and to try to make some connections with other kids. 

Tuesday I finished all of my professional development classes. I got the kids signed up for swimming two nights a week and Millie a gymnastics trial class for the following week. I felt very accomplished and happy that we were getting the kids sorted and involved. Jack had basketball Tuesday evening. He had a lot more confidence, which made me happy. 

He also became official when he got his jersey. 

This boy sweats....A LOT!

Wednesday I met Sue at 5 am for our weekly walk. The sprinklers were on at the park, so we had to be a bit more creative. I continue to feel that Sue is my counselor that is free. I so appreciate all of her conversation and tips for school and just life. 

All teachers had to come back to school on Wednesday the 29th of July. We had a staff meeting around 10:30 that was full of too much information. The rest of the day we were able to work in our rooms, which was nice. I piddled around and cut out some of my laminating. I am doing my best to take one day at a time. It’s about the only choice at this point. The relief for me is my teammates, who are a great deal younger than me, are really nice girls. 

On Thursday I went to pick up food for lunch and went to Sanborn Elementary and had lunch with my friend Jennifer, or as I refer to her, Bennifer. It was great to catch up with her. I was gone a bit longer than I should have been, but during our work days it seems not many are fussed about it. 

The week seemed to drag on a bit, and we were ready for the weekend for sure once Friday, 3 pm hit. Stuart and I met at WinCo on Friday after school, mainly because we had never been there. I am thinking we will most likely shop there once we are back in our own house. I was supposed to meet up with an old roommate, but she canceled at the last minute as she is opening a new school as a principal this year and was swamped with everything, which I absolutely understood. 

On my way home from WinCo, my air conditioner in the car started blowing hot. I turned it off and rolled down the windows. The air outside was only 120 degrees. Ugh! After about 5 miles I turned it back on and it worked like a charm. I had called the mechanic to tell them I would be bringing the call in on Saturday morning. These cars! When we finally got home on Friday night, the kids and Grammie had planned a ‘picnic’ inside for us. Because we arrived a bit earlier then Millie was ready for, she had a bit of a meltdown. She rebounded and we had our little picnic, which was sweet. 

Saturday morning I got up and walked with Marion and Susan. We pretty much walked down the middle of the streets of our neighborhood. It was good to catch up with both of them. They are part of the Bunco Babes that used to be together, but have all kind of gone in different directions. 

Once I had showered, we took my car to the mechanic, then headed on to Home Depot to get a huge sheet of whiteboard cut into 32 pieces. It was super cheap at $14. It was an exciting outing. When we returned to the house, we grabbed the kids and went to Target to do some school supply shopping. We got everything they needed, and maybe a few things they didn’t. Of course Millie had to show us the My Generation dolls and accessories that she wanted. When we had finished shopping, Jack asked me if he and I could sneak away and he could buy her something for her birthday. He said, ‘I will use my own money’, which I wasn’t going to let him do as he really doesn’t have much money. But he thought that was going to be the case. And the fact that he was willing to spend his own money made me very happy and warmed my heart. We bought her the dog house and puppy she wanted and then put it in a gift bag so she wouldn’t see it. Jack was so pleased with himself. 

When we got home, the kids played a video game together. We fed them both and Jack was off to workout with Pop. Stuart and I headed out to run a few more errands while Millie stayed home with Grammie. We ended up needing to pick up a few things from Wal Mart. I went down one aisle and saw two women who had both taken their masks off. One said to the other, ‘It’s all political. After the election this whole thing will be over.’ I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It’s sometimes more than I can stand. 

Once back home, I made enchiladas and went into my room to watch some television with Stuart. I had a bit of a snooze as well. Dinner was delightful, we finished another puzzle, played a game of dominoes, the kids showered and went to bed, while I ended the night with some mindless watching of game shows. What a life!