October

I woke up later than normal on the last Sunday of September, realizing it was still hot in the desert. I think we are all getting a bit tired of the heat, but I find this is the case every year for those who live in the desert. 

We watched church and then headed to Ken and Maytee’s for a swim. We are just doing our best to keep the kids occupied. Being able to finally go back to school has helped with the boredom a great deal. It’s tough, but hoping they are starting to make friends here in Arizona. 

Monday, school was a lot of group work, which we have to monitor closely as to not have them be too close for too long. They are rules we have to follow. We had a STEM activity that was very interactive. After school I had a site council meeting for Ryan Elementary, because I am a parent there now.  It was decided that they would give their sister school, Shumway, which is my school, some tax credit money. It really was touching. My school is in a different demographic that Ryan and the tax credit money doesn’t flow as heavily in my school. I was super excited by the decision. 

Jack had practice where we had a parent meeting during practice to talk about games and tournaments. It was then that I realized I hadn’t paid for his kit or his league fees. Ugh! I’m THAT parent. I ended up transferring the amount twice. Oops! Fortunately it was reversed a few days later. 

I went to bed around 10 pm and woke up at 1:20 am and didn’t go back to sleep until almost 5 am. So I didn’t go for a walk. I got to school a bit later than I wanted, but nearly got my report cards completed so not all was lost. After school I met Stuart and the kids at Santan Village to shop for Disney stuff for the next day, spirit day, at their school. Unfortunately, the Disney Store was actually closed for good. I then took Millie to gymnastics while Stuart continued his quest for Disney attire. Millie and I stopped at Party City after gymnastics to get her a costume. Introducing Anna of Arendale. 

When Millie and I got home, Grammie and Pop were packing up their car while. Millie and I did homework and Jack was at practice with Stuart. We told Grammie and Pop goodbye and went to bed. 

I was awake at 3:15 am and couldn’t go back to sleep. I finally got up at 4:20 am to go walk with Sue. Grammie and Pop had still not left, but were packing their car.  By the time I got back, they had started their journey to Missouri. It was a bit of a relief as we have been worried about bringing Covid home and infecting them. Not that we know what that would have looked like, but we were glad we wouldn’t find out. 

That morning, notice was given that our November 1 our Queen Creek renters we’re moving out. We were also going to be getting the Gilbert house back on October 1, which made everything a bit hectic in my head. We told the kids and they were so excited. They can’t wait to get back into our own house and their own rooms. It’s been so generous of my parents to let us stay here for the last 7 months, but the kids are ready to have their own things in their own house. 

My students got caught up on their online assignments from the first 7 weeks of school. I left school just after 3 pm and went to Ross to get some king size sheets. Stuart took Millie to a check up for her heart. In order to start medication for her ADHD she needs to have a clean bill of health. They gave her an order for an EKG so I would have to make an appointment for her. 

We took Millie to swimming and went to Applebee’s to eat. When we dropped off Jack and picked up Millie, we went to pick up our keys from the Gilbert house. It seems the renters were ready to return the house on the 30th of September, which was fine with us. I took Millie and Stuart home and then went to pick up Jack from swimming. 

 Wednesday evening I was able to watch my trash television for a few hours in the living room. We then had bought some new king size sheets in order to sleep in Grammie and Pop’s bed, but the night was not nice to me. I need a firmer bed for sure, so back to our original bed I went on Thursday night. Sleeping in different beds brought about questions from Millie, but we assured her all was well with us. Ha!

Thursday at school we all discovered that this new, more sedentary way of teaching is boring our students. Sadly, the inability for them to work collaboratively keeps them from some of the fun that school should be. 

After school I met Stuart to collect Millie and take her to gymnastics. She still hasn’t been consistent in her back hip circle, so she is staying in her current class until she shows some consistency. She is determined and driven, so I don’t imagine it will be long. 

I got home and Stuart said he would wait for me to eat nachos that he had fixed for Jack. So I took Jack to basketball. Stuart said I should drop him off and go to Safeway to get a Starbucks like he always does. Uh, how does he do that without an argument from Jack? He clearly has skills I don’t. Jack wasn’t pleased with his performance, but I told him he did well. 

Friday when school was over I went to the grocery store and bought some things to get us through the week of our holiday break. I met Stuart and the kids at home and we took Millie swimming. We then went by the house and decided on everything we needed to do. We had decided to clean the house ourselves as Merry Maid wanted to charge us $475. Uh, we are capable of cleaning it for a LOT cheaper than that. 

Jack went swimming and then we brought Millie home and Stuart picked up Jack after his class  Found out he was going to actually play in a game with his team on Saturday morning. He was so excited. 

Saturday morning we got up and went to the Gilbert house. We started our cleaning regime. 

We left to go to his game at 11 am. 

He got 2 of the 8 points they scored. He was so pleased with himself, even though the team got killed. 

We went back to the house and continued to clean for another couple of house. Once we were home, Stuart and I got ready to go to our friends Sally and Rob Beck’s son Kevin’s wedding. 

We masked up. I can’t say there were many who did. 

I thought this was a clever touch. 

And Kevin and Julia Beck. 

When we got home, I got out of the car and nearly broke my foot. Major sprain, fell and Stuart saved me from an attacking scorpion. Not nice. 

Lovely! And this is the second day after it happened. Needless to say, Sunday we did nothing. We sat around, watched television and I iced my foot. 

Monday we got up and each of us took a kid to the doctor. Jack had a flu shot and his HPV booster, while Millie had her EKG. I suppose staying here for our fall break is what we needed to do to get everything sorted out. They are never going to want a school break again, as that is when I have chosen to punish them with doctors and dentists. 

We met up after the doctor appointments and headed to Lowe’s to buy paint for the dresser we had bought Millie at Goodwill way back in May for $13. I was so pleased with the solid wood purchase, not realizing to paint it and put new knobs on it, I would be out nearly another $150. Oh well, I suppose I couldn’t have bought something of this quality for less than that anyway and she got exactly what she wanted. We then headed for a bite to eat and then home to paint. Stuart and I did most of the painting as it was tedious. As always, Stuart ended up wearing quite a bit of it. 

Millie was supposed to have her counseling session on Monday afternoon, but the video wasn’t working so we postponed it for another two weeks. After painting, I showered and took Jack to basketball practice. He didn’t want to go that badly because he was afraid they would only be doing conditioning. Since he was at the doctor that morning and discovered since we arrived here in March he has grown two inches and gained 22 pounds, maybe a bit more conditioning wouldn’t hurt him. At any rate we made him go, and oh how glad he was. He had the best practice so far. It was as if a light came on and he all of the sudden knew what to do on offense and defense. I’m sure his one on one training session with Brady Reynolds, who babysit for us when we went to the wedding, helped a great deal. He was so pleased with himself. 

Once we were home, Millie went to bed, Jack showered and ate, and Stuart and I sat on the drive for a while, then watched The Grand Tour, a program from the UK that we enjoy. I stayed up a bit later to watch some of my trash television, which sadly I’m nearly caught up on, and then hit the sack just after 11 pm. 

Tuesday Stuart was up early to give the furniture a second coat of paint. I went up to the Gilbert house to pay the yard guy, then went to get my flu shot. Stuart met me there. We now all have the flu vaccine. We then headed to the house to finish up the cleaning. It was going on the market on Wednesday or Thursday (October 7th or 8th) and we were so anxious.

She loves it!

Once the house was clean, we headed back home and unloaded all the cleaning supplies we had taken to the house. We then went to the supermarket for some food. We unloaded the groceries and ate lunch. I finished the last coats on the furniture and then had a rest on the sofa. I took a shower and Millie and I headed to gymnastics. It’s tougher this week to get the kids enthused about their activities because we aren’t in school. When we got home, Jack went to basketball. 

Wednesday I got up and went to breakfast with Sue because I could. My ankle was still a mess so it seemed only fitting that since I didn’t have school I should have breakfast. Stuart took the kids to the dentist and when I got home we headed to Scottsdale to the 3D museum. It wasn’t as great as the one we had been to in Thailand, but it entertained the kids for a bit. 

Then we decided to go to the 3D mini golf place in Gilbert. It was also quite small, but was inside and nice and cool. 

We ate lunch at Creekside Taco, which is just a mile from our house. We can’t wait to get back into our house so we can ride our bikes to Creekside Taco anytime we like. It’s a family friendly place for sure. 

The Gilbert house went on the market on Wednesday as well and had a showing on the first day. We were very hopeful.  The kids had swimming on Wednesday evening and then it dawned on us that our fall break was half over.

Thursday morning Melinda let me know there were two more showings of the house. She had gone and put some little added touches around the house before she posted pictures and listed it. 

We had bacon and eggs for breakfast. We didn’t do much of anything. We did go shopping for food and bought some amazing meats. Millie had gymnastics and Stuart took her. She always gets after him for not videoing her practice. It’s quite funny, really. I took Jack to  basketball and he is finally getting it. He was so aggressive. 

Friday we messed about and did a whole lot of nothing. Bethany and Ollie came over and we had steak for dinner. We also had a great night of catching up. I think camping with them will be a must at some stage. 

Saturday morning we woke up and I headed over to Tempe to have brunch with one of my old roommates, Sarah. Wow, did we have a lot to catch up on. It had probably been over 13 years since I had seen her. 

In the afternoon, I napped and relaxed. Around 4:30 pm Vicki, Ryan, their kids and her two little girl cousins came over. Ken and his girls came over later. Vicki and Ryan has left before Ken arrived. Gavin ended up having a sleepover. 

Sunday morning we took Gavin back to his house and sat and chatted with coffee and donuts. After they all ate lunch, we headed home. Around 5 pm, I took the kids to meet up with Debi and her boys. We ate at Jack in the Box and then let the kids play at the park for a couple of hours. 

Monday morning we got up and I headed to work with Millie because we were having a teacher work day and Stuart took Jack to Gavin’s. Vicki’s mother in law was going to stay with the boys. Adding Millie to the mix would have been too much I think. Millie had fun with me anyway. 

After school I had a mammogram and a bone density test. During the bone density test, the lady twisted my knee to get the appropriate picture and tweaked my back. I was in excruciating pain and stayed that way for the evening. In the morning, after sleeping with a pillow under my knees, I ended up doing some stretches and throughout the day my back got better. I was also still suffering with my nasty ankle. Getting old is not for the faint at heart. 

I met Stuart at the doctor’s for our wellness visits. We left the kids at school in Kid’s Express and I headed back to get Millie after my appointment to take her to gymnastics. Jack was picked up by Stuart after his appointment. 

Millie finally got her back hip circle on the bars, which would mean she would move up a level soon. This also meant more money and longer classes. She was so pleased with herself. Stuart took Jack to basketball which had been set back by a half hour, which is a bit of a bother, but we will live. 

Wednesday my team leader was off of school because her brother and dad had tested positive for Covid. She had spent the weekend around both of them and so she had to have a negative test before returning to school. As teachers we are considered essential workers so we are not held to the same 14 day quarantine as everyone else is, so she returned to work the next day as she tested negative. 

Wednesday evening it was swimming as usual. I took Millie, then picked her up and dropped Jack off. Stuart returned around 7:30 to pick Jack up. 

Doesn’t everyone wear a shirt over their swimsuit to their swim practice? 

Thursday was business as usual. Alyssa, my team leader, was back at school and I certainly took further precautions. I suppose it’s just a matter of time before we are all affected by this crazy virus, but I’d just as soon avoid it all together if possible. The kids had their activities that evening. We have become the taxi service I used to hear so much about. 

Friday morning Millie lost the plot and her consequence was to miss gymnastics for the following week. After school I headed to Mesa to pick up Lexi. Ken and Maytee were going out of town and Lexi was spending the night with us. Millie was thrilled. 

Millie went to swimming on Friday night, but Jack had a basketball game. This game went a bit better than the first and he definitely played more aggressively. 

Saturday morning Jack had to make up his swimming class that he had missed on Friday night. When he got home, Stuart made us a beautiful breakfast. 

The kids carved pumpkins and Millie and Lexi drew on their little pumpkins. 

Millie and Lexi creating their masterpiece. 

While the kids carved pumpkins, Stuart and I FaceTimed our English and Irish friends. It was so good to catch up. We talked for nearly 2 hours. 

Around 3 pm I took Lexi to church to drop her off. I got back and we did a whole lot of nothing. 

Sunday morning we decided to go to TopGolf. Then we met John and Jen for lunch. We also decided that our kids have no etiquette when we go out to eat. We kind of blame the rugby club for that. They just think everything is about them and that all the attention should be on them all of the time. We had a talk on the way home about this. Then we cleaned the house. 

Millie dusted. 

Jack vacuumed. 

After all the chores were done Millie and I did a face mask. 

Scary!

Monday morning came too quickly. School seems to be as normal as we can possibly make it. The kids in my class seem settled into their new ‘normal’. Millie had her counseling. Jack had basketball and was a bit discouraged because he was missing easy shots. However, he is so coachable and listens and does what he is told. He’s improved so much these last few weeks. 

Tuesday morning my teammate informed me that she was having a Covid test that afternoon. And guess what? Yep! So no school for her for two weeks. This is the same teammate who had tested negative the previous week. I felt so badly for her. 

Tuesday Millie missed gymnastics because of her poor behavior the previous week. She didn’t seemed terribly phased. Jack went to basketball and just continued to gain confidence and skill. I am so proud of his efforts and grit. He puts more pressure on himself than we could ever dream of putting on him. 

Wednesday the kids in my teammate’s class were sent a letter to let them know there had been a positive case in the class. Since all the children were in school, it because less of a mystery. 

Wednesday evening Stuart took Millie to swimming while I helped Jack with his homework. Then Stuart headed to the grocery store while I took Jack to swimming and picked up Millie. She came home, showered, ate, did her homework and went to bed while Stuart was collecting Jack from swimming. Stuart and I sat on the back porch for a while, as the weather at night is finally pleasant. 

Thursday I felt I was meeting myself coming and going. There was a lot to do at school and we had a busy afternoon as usual. I took Millie back to gymnastics because she had actually improved her behavior throughout the week. Since, according to her, I had nearly ruined her gymnastics career by keeping her out for the one lesson, I figured I had better make things right. We got home after stopping at the grocery store. I ended up taking Jack to basketball. He just continues to improve. 

Friday school was interesting. My teammate and I got into a discussion with our other teammate’s substitute. It became a bit too political so I backed out of the conversation all together.

I went to the supermarket after school. On the way I missed a call from Jennifer. She works at Sanborn and our schools share a Dean. She was shocked I hadn’t called her after I got the email from our Dean. Well, about an hour later, my school actually got the email. Apparently he had decided to work for the Chandler Online Academy because of personal reasons. It was definitely shocking. 

When I got home, Stuart was heading to swimming with Millie. I took Jack to swimming and picked up Millie while Stuart finished cooking dinner. Ken and Maytee were at the house when I got back. I picked Jack up after swimming and we headed back to the house.  The weather had started to be nice at night so we ate on the back patio. They didn’t stay terribly late, but we enjoyed our time together as we always do. 

Saturday morning we were up and headed to Jack’s basketball game. Before the game we got a breakfast burrito at Los Favoritos. I had forgotten how amazing those things were. Jack’s team won their game. And, oh, wow, did Jack play well. He scored the last 5 points and they won by 5. He was a happy chappy!

After his game we came home and then I met a bathroom guy at our QUeen Creek house so he could quote our bathrooms. At 3 pm we headed to the swim club for the kids’ time trials. 

Prior to entry, everyone has to maintain face covering and social distancing. 

This little princess freezes in the pool but she swims like a fish. 

They both did very well. When we got done, the kids changed clothes and we headed out to dinner at Creekside Taco. It was fun. 

When we got home the kids showered and then watched television. It was a chilled evening. 

Sunday we were up and doing laundry as well as cleaning a bit. We then headed out for the afternoon to buy paint for the kids’ rooms. I’m not totally convinced letting them pick out their own paint was the best idea, but it can always be painted over. We also had a look at tile for our bathroom remodels. It’s so hard to decide. The rest of the afternoon was chilled. We got the quote from the bathroom guy and had to have a think about what we wanted to do. We had contacted three other contractors, so would make our decision once all the bids were in. 

Monday school was just as hectic as last week, as my teammate was still out. I helped get her sub organized, who was a pro might I add, then carried on with my day. After school I stopped to get some items for our STEM project and candy corn for Millie’s class as they were building candy corn towers on the Friday before Halloween. We had also decided that we would not let the kids trick or treat this year. Our Halloween experiences have been mostly in the UAE and have been fantastic, but this year is very different. So we told the kids, who were disappointed, but understood. 

Monday evening, I stayed home with Millie while Stuart took Jack to basketball. Millie and I watched Sister Sister, a throw back show for sure. She loves it! 

Tuesday morning I was at school early enough to help my neighbor’s substitute get organized. Later in the day, I got a message from Sue telling me her fall on her walk last week produced a nice little boot for her. She had been informed the Friday before that there was definitely a fracture in her ankle. She described it to me and I nearly barfed at the details. Needless to say, our Wednesday walks are over for a while. I feel so badly for Sue as I know that being idol is not necessarily in line with her way of operation. 

Tuesday after school, I picked Millie up for gymnastics. She was so excited because if she nailed her back hip circle, which I finally can recognize, then she would be moved up to the next level, which is just below the competition level. Well, wouldn’t you know it? She did it! She even has the bruises on her hips to prove it. She was so thrilled until I told her we couldn’t start until the week of November 9th. She was angry, but since she has a dentist appointment on the first Tuesday of November and we are going to my niece’s wedding on Thursday the 5th of November, gymnastics is out for next week. She was so distracted by her accomplishment that she left her water bottle at the gym, which I had to collect the following day. 

When she and I got home, she ate dinner and showered. Stuart has made taco meat for my staff lunch the following day. I really do have an amazing husband. Stuart also took Jack to basketball practice and Jack came home telling me the coach told him he was really close to taking one of the starters’ positions. He was so pleased with his progress. 

Late Tuesday evening I got a message from my other teammate. She had a family emergency and would be out of school for the rest of the week. Wednesday was a busy day with little time to breath. I just wanted to make sure the two subs had everything they needed. After school I headed to Wal Mart to exchange some long sleeve shirts I had purchased for Millie. When the cold spell hit on Monday it dawned on me that she didn’t have any winter clothes. Jack is a hot box so his need of winter clothes is not as urgent. But Millie is a thin little thing who gets cold when it’s 78 degrees outside. I then picked the kids up from school as Stuart had a meeting after school and wasn’t sure he would get them home before it was time for Millie to go to swimming. Turns out I wasn’t terribly ahead of him in getting home. Millie got changed and we headed to swimming. On the way, I called the swim school to assure her, and Jack, that the pool was kept at a constant temperature. They had complained about the pool being cold the previous week. When I called, the school assured me they keep the pool at 86 degrees all year round. I’m not sure this was the total truth, but when I swapped Jack for Millie, Millie reported that the pool was a lot warmer that evening than it had been. The temperatures had dropped so much since Sunday, that if it hadn’t been warmer, I was afraid they would get sick. 

Stuart picked Jack up from swimming and when they got home Jack begged to stay up until 9 pm. I wish our kids would stop trying to bargain every night for a later bed time. It’s a bit unnerving. 

We had also gotten a message that the appraisal on our Gilbert house that had sold had come in about $9000 less than what we had been offered. Since the buyers actually offered $25k more than it was listed for, we felt we were still ahead of the game. So we told Melinda to carry on and get that thing closed. 

Thursday morning we got an email to tell us there was a water main break at our school and we would be without water until they could fix it or get a water truck on campus to continually fill the water tanks. Needless to say, this was quite an inconvenience, but it didn’t last long, which was great. 

The kids had their initial writing day for the year, which was somewhat brutal. Lunchtime brought aggravation, as the meat I brought for nachos was all gone and I hadn’t brought anything for lunch. Boo! There was not enough food for the staff after all. However, someone had made some amazing beans so that filled the hump. 

When we got back into the room after lunch, we started the typing portion of our Drop Everything and Write assignment. As I was trying to help one of my students get onto the website, his eyes got huge. He grabbed his throat, as if he were choking. I thought he was going to throw up, which made me panic as I’m a bit of an empathetic barfer. So I pulled him up and escorted him outside. I pushed him towards the rail at the top of the stairs of our portable. He gagged a few times and then threw up a key ring with a clasp attached. I couldn’t control myself and I yelled, ‘What the hell?’  It scared me to death. Then I realized what I had said. I turned around and told the class that ‘Mrs.Telford may have said a word she shouldn’t have said.’  Two of my girls said that was okay as the whole situation was scary. I called the counselor and she and the nurse came out to speak with the boy. 

I then confessed my sins to my principal and some dots were connected. It seems that two of my students were out of the room at the same time, using the restroom. This keychain with the clasp had been knocked off at the bathroom and the bathroom pass had been ripped off. The boy had picked up the key ring and put it in his pocket. You have to love school cameras. I may have been spoken to about their signing in and out of the classroom. Ironically enough, they had been seen by a teacher just dawdling out by the basketball courts. She made me aware of this, which happened to be the same time they had ‘found’ the key ring. So when she told me this in the morning, I had declared they had lost their bathroom privileges because of that incident. Little did I know what would unfold after lunch. 

I picked Jack up after school and we went to get him a hair cut. He so badly wants a perm, but we are not budging. I’m not sure where he has gotten this obsession with a perm. He has been on this for several months now, but has no idea what it would be like. So, after a definite ‘no way’, he just had it whacked it off again. Stuart had taken Millie to gymnastics and I fed Jack when we got home. 

I took Jack to basketball practice and after practice he  was complaining of a headache. He then spiked a fever and started coughing. Hello, Covid test. So Friday I stayed home with Jack and he had a Covid test that I totally screwed up. The little wand was supposed to go up both nostrils, but all I heard her say was to put it up the most stopped up nostril. So guess who got two Covid tests on Friday? Poor Jack! After his test, I brought him home and he rested for the afternoon. His fever subsided and he seemed a lot better. I was hopeful that it was just a head cold, but worried about it being Covid. They said it would be 3-5 days before we found out. Unfortunately, if it was positive we would have to cancel our trip to Arkansas for my niece’s wedding. It would have been more convenient for us had we had quicker results. Sadly, because he had the test for Covid he missed his first basketball tournament. He was so disappointed, but clearly didn’t feel well enough for it to bother him terribly. 

By Saturday morning, I had started to feel like I had the flu. Since we have all had our flu shots, the likelihood of me having the regular, seasonal flu was very slim. We were sure Jack was positive and we felt the rest of us should get tested. So we scheduled a drive through test that would take all three of us on Sunday, November 1. 

In the meantime, the Queen Creek house was having it’s final inspection and we were able to go down and check it out once the property management lady was gone. I was supposed to meet her there, but since I was feeling a bit under the weather, I called her and told her I probably shouldn’t. 

Jack re-enacted his toddler days by laying in the bottom step and falling asleep. He’s a nut, even when he doesn’t feel good. 

This was Stuart’s first duty at the house. I think we are the only ones in the whole subdivision with a sign like this. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Once we had finished checking out the house, we continued on with our evening. It was Halloween and we had told the kids they could pick out some candy at Wal Mart, we would watch Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and we would have a family night. Jack was feeling a lot better, so there was a bit of a ray of hope. Time would tell.