November

Stuart had headed to the storage on Halloween to load up both cars with boxes. So on Sunday morning, while I was still feeling okayish, I got up and headed to the house early to start washing down cabinets in the kitchen. 

We got the positive test result for Jack. He cried and so did I. I had to figure out how to tell my niece that we would not be able to come to her wedding. She has always been like my first born. We have a very close bond and this was crushing me. I called my brother and asked his advice. He was disappointed we were t able to come but obviously more worried that Jack was positive. My niece was at her ‘first dance’ class and would be back home in the late afternoon. I FaceTimed her when she got home. I started by asking her how her dance class was. I then broke down and told her the story. I cried and she cried. Then she kept saying, ‘I’m not mad, Aunt D. We knew this could happen when we decided to go ahead with the wedding after Covid had begun.’ I was so sad and so hoping I also tested positive as Jack felt it was his fault we were not going to the wedding. That was why Stuart, Millie and I went to get tested Sunday afternoon. I started to feel feverish, but Stuart and Millie felt fine. Millie cried during the test. I will admit it was most unpleasant. 

Monday the kids did a whole lot of nothing. We were all stuck at home together. I was considered the primary care person for Jack and because Millie was exposed, she had to stay home whether she was positive or not. Their teachers were sending homework home that afternoon. Jack was feeling better, but Millie had a low grade fever and was complaining of a sore throat. 

Tuesday the kids did their school work and were a bit low key. Millie and I got our test results and we were both positive. Stuart got his results and he was negative. We had all been wearing masks around Jack since he went for his test the previous Friday, but I never dreamed one of us would test negative. When we found out we had tested positive, Millie and I could start going without our masks around Jack, but we would put them on when Stuart got home. 

Wednesday I went to our house in the afternoon. The kids were absolutely rotten and no help at the house, even though I had things for them to do. It was so frustrating. I worked on the kitchen while they goofed around. 

Thursday I woke up nauseous and with a pounding headache I could not rid myself of. It was by far my worst I had felt. The kids were left to their own devices. I have no idea what they did all day, because most of it I was in bed. Tim Tharlson, by way of Sue’s ordering of the food, dropped off delightful burritos that Stuart and Jack loved. I didn’t eat one on that day as I just couldn’t, but I did have one the following day and they were fantastic. Sue  was super thoughtful to put a cheese quesadilla in for our picky eater. When Stuart got home from school he called the nurse line for me as we were both worried about how poorly I felt. The nurse told me to put a cold pack on my neck and make sure I drank Gatorade or something with electrolytes in it. I did as I was told and actually got to feeling better. 

Friday was a totally different day, thank goodness. The kids cooperated and got their work done for school. 

Millie was dressed and ready to go the ‘dress’ reveal. Morgan had planned to FaceTime us and we would get to see her dress before the wedding. Since we weren’t going to be able to be at the wedding, we decided to get dressed up and were going to have a celebration anyway. 

Handsome as ever. 

We were dressed and anxious to see the beautiful bride. 

And she was breath taking! Of course Millie and I cried when we saw her on FaceTime. She was absolutely stunning. It reminded us again how sad we were that we couldn’t be there for her big day. 

Saturday we headed to the house to paint Millie’s room. She wanted pink, so she got pink. It took Saturday and Sunday, but she loved it, even the parts I messed up. Her exact words were, ‘Mom, I love the corner where it looks bubbly. Very cute!’ She does have a way to make others’ mistakes less monumental, bless her. Stuart had tested on Wednesday again as he was sure he wouldn’t escape this virus. So Saturday afternoon he got his second test results which came back positive. Well, the Rona had hit us all now. We spent Saturday and Sunday at the house, painting and getting things cleaned. Since we were closed down to our house, there wasn’t much else to do. 

Monday I took Jack to school and painted his room. Millie did some live meets with her class and was felling relatively good. I was much better as well. Stuart was now home with us and we were one big infected family. 

Since Jack had gone to school, I had told his coach that he would also be returning to basketball. I informed the academy on Saturday. During practice I got a message on the basketball group that simply said ‘It’s only been a week’, then shortly after that one there was a message that said ‘sorry, wrong group’. There is no question that message was about Jack’s return. The Maricopa County Health Department has certain flowcharts that tell when people can return to normal activities after Covid, and Jack had met the criteria. Well, wouldn’t you know, instead of being proactive and addressing the situation with the academy as a whole, the academy said nothing. Therefore parents questioned why Jack was at practice. I contacted the coach and the person who runs the academy to inform them we were following the flowchart. The owner said he would handle things. Then he changed his mind. We went back and forth about whether Jack could come to practice or not. Fair was fair and just because he hadn’t been proactive didn’t mean my child had to be punished. It fired me up for sure. In the end, the owner said he would send the matrix out to parents and Jack could come to practice. 

On the way to school on Tuesday I let Jack know that under no circumstances would I ever leave him out in the cold. I would always stand up for what was right and just, and what this coach was trying to do was not right and just. I had sent the Home Isolation Guidelines to the coach and Tuesday afternoon the entire academy received them. Because I was out of quarantine, I went to practice with Jack to at least be able to discuss his situation with anyone who wanted to discuss it. I even brought some copies of the guidelines. I was hopeful that people had read the guidelines and finally understood. Not one person asked a thing. There was no drama. 

Wednesday we all had the day off. I ran around buying all kinds of stuff for our house. We went to the storage unit and although we didn’t go to the house because the painters were supposed to be there and Stuart was still contagious, we did some things around Grammie and Pop’s house to get prepared for the move. And, because we were nearly clear of Covid, naturally we should get puppies. Great idea! The kids were so excited as they thought we would not be able to get dogs until after Christmas. 

These puppies meant that we had to move into our house, or at least one person had to. We volentold Stuart that he was the winner. Wednesday evening I took the kids back to Grammie and Pop’s to shower and go to bed. I showered as well and then went to our house so Stuart could come back to Grammie and Pop’s to have a shower. 

Thursday three of four of us went to school. I dropped the kids at Kid’s Express and then headed to my school. I was so tired all day long. I definitely was not over this thing, but apparently I wasn’t contagious any longer. I picked the kids up after school and we headed home. I went, yet again, with Jack to basketball. It seems all drama had gone away. 

Finally it was the last day of the week, thank goodness. The kids spent the night at the house with Stuart and the dogs, while I remained at Grammie and Pop’s. We pulled mattresses in Millie’s room as her room was the only one that was completely finished being painted. The painters had come on Thursday and Friday and had painted the common areas except for the little hallway they forgot that is down towards Millie’s room. I called and left a message for the company but knew I wouldn’t hear anything until Monday. 

Saturday morning we were up and headed to storage. Ken came to help us bring some things from our storage unit. This was the day we were to get all our things out of storage, but with it being Stuart’s first day out of quarantine we decided it was best to hold off until the 21st of November. From the storage unit, we got a lot of kitchen stuff and the sofa, well not the cushions. We got lunch and then Ken left. Stuart and I carried on getting the house in order. We worked until the late afternoon and then rested for the evening. 

Sunday I finally finished painting Jack’s room. I tried to stall a bit longer, but I knew that if I didn’t get it done on Sunday, his room wouldn’t be ready for his stuff to move in on Saturday. Our evenings are so packed and I knew not much work would happen during the week because of our Uber service we run for our kids. We spent the rest of Sunday continuing to work on getting all of our things in their correct places. It was a bit difficult without furniture. 

Monday we were all back at school. After school I picked the kids up as Stuart had a class. We were all now staying at the house, but I was still bringing things back and forth from my mom and dad’s house, mainly laundry. Jack had basketball, but Stuart took him and I carried on with the kitchen and the things from the other house.  

Tuesday was school as usual and Millie got to go to her new gymnastics class. She was so excited and the coach was very complimentary of her. I dropped Jack at basketball and headed to buy a few things for the house. He was fine with me but being at his practice, which was a relief as I really needed to get some things done. 

Wednesday we didn’t have to taxi kids anywhere, which was nice. So we spent the evening unpacking boxes and trying to sort out our lives. It was becoming a bit difficult as our washer and dryer were still in storage, but we did our best to manage. 

Thursday Millie was back at gymnastics. We all met up at Kona Grill to have a bite to eat before her class. I then took Millie to gymnastics and dropped her off. We needed laundry baskets so I went to Tuesday Mornings to have a bit of a shop. I picked her up and we headed home. Stuart took Jack to basketball while I stayed home and put Millie to bed. 

Friday was the last day of one of the longest week I’ve had in a while. I was still not terribly well, so getting up to go to school was a challenge all week. At the end of the day, I went to Costco to find some toilet paper. It seems with the rise of Covid again, there is a rush on toilet paper again. I bought some but it wasn’t much at all. Stuart and the kids had also stopped at Wal Mart and bought some treasured toilet paper along with some other necessities. 

I got home and we cleared some space in the garage for the rest of our things that would be coming from storage the following day. I spent some of the evening watching television as well. We were all a bit tired. 

We got up Saturday morning at 6:00 am. I ran to my mom’s to change out laundry and then I went to get donuts for the crew that were going to help us with our storage unit. Ken and his friend, Jason, arrived just before 9 am. I sent them on to the storage and waited for Jack and Brady, teenage boys of two of my friends. When they showed up, they both got in my car as did Millie. I really didn’t think we would use the entire 26 foot truck, but boy was I wrong. Had we not had those teenage boys I am not sure we could have actually lifted some of the things. They were a great deal of help. 

Once everything was unloaded, just before noon, then the real work began. Millie was a great deal of help all day, but Jack wasn’t quite as involved and to us it was more frustrating to yell at him rather than have him stay occupied with his play station. Lazy parenting? Yes, indeed. We worked hard for the rest of the evening and made some good headway. However, it still felt the boxes were unending. 

Sunday morning we were up and at it again. At 10:30 am I went to visit my friend Julie. Her son passed away a month ago and I needed to go and hug her. We talked for 4 hours and probably would have carried on, but her bishop showed up unannounced, so I knew there was something she needed to take care of as she is the president of the women’s relief society at her church. We had such a wonderful time. We laughed and cried and sorted out the world in our own way. She has always been such a dear friend. When I got home I tried to sort out some more boxes but wasn’t terribly inspired. The rest of the day was spent getting laundry done and beds made. 

Monday morning we had decided to wedge the dogs’ cage in the sliding glass door and leave them outside. Did we think about the fact that they would chew the air conditioning insulation? Nope. But did they? Yep. Fortunately they didn’t bite through the wires so the AC still worked. We’ve had dogs do that before. Who thought these puppies were a good idea?

Monday after school I met Stuart and his teammates, who happen to be my friends as well, at a local happy hour place. We got home just before 6 pm to see the air conditioner carnage. Stuart took Jack to basketball and then went to collect things for our Thanksgiving parties in class. Millie went to bed with little fuss. Jack showered when he got home and had a snack, then went to bed. I fell asleep on the sofa and woke up just as Stuart was turning the television off. I popped up and went to bed as well. 

Our bed was finally a reasonable height. We got a bed set for our bedroom, so when the box spring was on it, there was no way I could hop up into bed. The first night I went to bed much later than Stuart and I’m sure it was comical seeing me attempt to climb the mountain we referred to as our bed. The following morning Stuart went to Lowe’s to get a piece of plywood cut to fit over the slats so that we could just put down the mattress. Then on Tuesday morning we decided our mattress was crap and we needed a new one. 

After school Stuart brought Millie to me and he went to buy a mattress. Yahoo! After Millie was finished with gymnastics we headed home and she had her counseling session in the car. It’s not ideal, but I do think the counseling is helping her. She is a smart girl and is doing her best to apply the things she talks about with Hanna, her counselor. Her outbursts are fewer and she is starting to use her skills to her advantage. 

When I got home I took Jack to basketball and went on a search for some throw pillows for the loft day beds. Of course I couldn’t find any. I did find many other things we didn’t need, but no throw pillows. I picked Jack up at 8:30 and he was, yet again, discouraged about the basketball academy he attends. He is upset that he takes things so seriously and other kids good off, therefore causing everyone to run sprints. Then he feels that their instruction doesn’t ever get to be practiced on Tuesdays and Thursdays as they don’t play an actual game on those nights. I would guess we will look for a new club in the spring. This club has definitely been a God send, but it may be time to find something that fits Jack’s personality and drive a bit more. We shall see. I continue to tell him to hang in there and things will work out. 

We didn’t have school on Wednesday in preparation for Thanksgiving. We were planning to go to Ken and Maytee’s for Thanksgiving and Stuart was making banoffee pies for the occasion. He had boiled the condensed milk to make the toffee on Tuesday evening. We spent the day continuing to sort things out. We implored the kids to be of great help by going with us to Grammie and Pop’s to finish getting our things from their house. I didn’t realize how much crap we had accumulated in 8 months. It seemed more tedious to get our stuff from their house than it did getting stuff from storage. Once the kids had helped pack the car, they came back to our house and decorated the tree. To be honest, that was a huge help to me. It turned out amazing. 

We spent the rest of the day cleaning my mom and dad’s house. Once it was clean we came back to the house and carried on with the endless sorting that needed to be done. Stuart rearranged the garage stuff so we had a wall of garage sale stuff and the shelves in the garage were clear to start stacking stuff on. That evening, after taking Millie for two fillings and a tooth extraction, I went to meet up with the Becks and a former student from when I taught in a charter school in the late 90s. Josh was a delightful young man whose mother was a solid rock. Sadly, she passed away from breast cancer before Josh and his brother were even out of high school. She left an amazing legacy. 

Thursday we headed to Ken and Maytee’s around 10 am. Everyone else showed up by 11:30 am and we had a delicious lunch. All the main staples were there. The turkey was amazing and the pies were to die for. We had a great time and although the Greens are not blood relatives, they are still family. 

Banoffee pies!

Maytee, Ken and Yolanda made the day perfect for all of us. 

Friday morning we got up and hustled around the house to make things a bit less cluttered, as Russ, Julie and Emily were coming to see us. They had driven Morgan’s car to Yuma, her new home with her husband Donovan. They were heading to our house for the day and then were to fly out on Saturday afternoon. 

They arrived around 10:30 am and dropped their bags at Grammie and Pops. Then they came to our house for coffee and then some lunch. 

Emily fell in love with the puppies. 

The kids were so excited to see Emily. We had a wonderful time just sitting around and chatting. We had sandwiches for lunch and Stuart and I decided that we really needed them to come this day as it forced us to really get our butts in gear and sort out the rest of the house. We still had bits here and there, but now it was just the tedious stuff. 

Once we had eaten lunch we headed to the Black Friday sales at Arizona Mills Mall. We went to Dick’s Sporting Goods first where we scored on some new shoes for Millie and a couple of pair of sweatpants for Jack, although he chose not to go shopping with us. He was going to need some warm pants for the winter, and especially for when we go to Missouri in December. We found some other treasures and were thrilled with our purchases. We headed back to the house and picked Jack up. We then took Russ to Oreganos fir his 60th birthday. It’s hard to believe I have a brother who is 60. Time is such a strange thing. 

Saturday we got up and made eggs, bacon and roast potatoes. Russ, Julie and Emily came down for breakfast and spent the morning with us. Emily played basketball all morning with Jack and our new neighbors. 

Breakfast was yummy!

Such fun!

Russ, Julie and Emily left just before noon. Stuart, Millie and I went shopping for some additional Christmas lights. Millie and I also went to Justice, a girls’ clothing shop that is going out of business. We got Millie a ton of clothes for about 60% off their original price. We also bought the dogs a dog house. 

When we got home we continued to sort out stuff and get ready for our guests for the evening. Tim and Sue were coming for dinner and Tim was going to help Stuart put in a dog door. They arrived just before 5 pm and we sat and had a good chat. Boy, I miss my walking buddy. There was so much to catch up on. The dog door construction caused one of my kaleidoscopes to fall off the cabinet. They were cutting on the wall where the kaleidoscopes were and the vibration caused one to fall. Fortunately it didn’t break. After the construction was over, we spent some time trying to get the dogs to use said doggy door. They were not impressed. 

We ate and then had dessert. We retired to the sitting room (have always wanted to say that) and then Tim and Sue left. It was a great evening with great friends. Sure is due to get her boot off on Tuesday, so I’m hopeful our walking can resume soon. The rest of our evening was spent in front of the television watching the new season of The Crown. It’s been a crazy month for sure. Here is to the new month of December. 

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. 

September

The next to last day of August was a total chill day. Grammie and Pop were due to return home after their anniversary weekend away. I took advantage of my last few hours with the television to myself by soaking in more trash tv. Millie was a bit under the weather. She complained of a headache and stayed in her jammies most of the day. 

Grammie and Pop got home around 5 pm and we just took care of ourselves for dinner. Millie had a great weekend and then somewhat put on a screaming show once Grammie and Pop were home. Lovely! I worked on the puzzle for a while. I seem to use the puzzle as my escape from life. 

Monday I got up to walk. It was a bit cooler, so I was hopeful that the mad heat was on its way out. I got to school and discovered that some of my mistakes on my google forms were brought to the attention of more than just me. Oops! We learn from mistakes, right? Millie Came with me to school and was a bit out of sorts on Monday, but we still managed to get all of her work done. 

After school we took the kids swimming. Grammie wasn’t feeling so well so I told her not to worry about dinner. However, she still whipped up some dang quesadillas when we got home. 

This is my license plate that is on the way. It means it swear’ in Arabic. It’s perfect! All the kids used to say ‘Wallah, Miss’, which just assured us they were lying. 

Tuesday was the first day of September and my principal came into my morning meeting, which is when I reviewed sentence fragments and run-on sentences. It couldn’t have been more boring. To make things worse, my students might as well have been asleep. In spite of the train wreck it was, my principal was very kind in her comments about me. 

Millie had her first counseling appointment on Tuesday. She met Hanna, who was so sweet with her. Hanna is a bit older than me, I would guess, and was so soft spoken. I think Millie liked her. We are hopeful that we will all learn some coping skills from this experience. 

After school we went to the dollar store to get a few things. We then headed to gymnastics. We were on a waiting list for the Tuesday/Thursday classes and got in for the beginning of September, thank goodness. She did so well and the coach spoke to me about her abilities after the class. She told Millie that she would have an assessment in a couple of weeks and that she would probably move up to the Yellow group, which is a step below the competition level. I got home, had a bite to eat and then took Jack to basketball and he worked a bit harder. 

After school on Wednesday I took Millie down to Stuart. I went to a get together with my Bunco Babes. They really aren’t referred to as that any more, but they will always be that to me. I had so much fun catching up with them. I got home and Stuart and I watched the rest of the board meeting, where they determined we would go back to school before fall break. We had mixed feelings about the whole thing, but had faith our school board was doing what was best for the children. 

Thursday at school we had a staff meeting and people kind of voiced their opinions about what was going on. I was really busy all day and forgot to check up on Millie  until about 2:30. When I finally did look at her assignments, I discovered that she hadn’t done a few. She fell apart. When she did finally calm down, she admitted that sometimes she says horrible things to me and lies about things because she doesn’t know what else to do. I nearly cried. I know she’s overwhelmed and just hope we get some answers that will help her deal with her feelings very soon. 

During the school day the swim club called and told us the kids had both moved up a level. This meant Jack was now in the Development 2 class and Millie was in the Development 1 class. They would both eventually be competing. Both kids were thrilled. 

We went to gymnastics, but stopped in at Target before that. We went into the bathroom and Millie accidentally walked into a stall where there was another person. You would have thought she had killed someone. This grown woman was such a jerk in her reaction. Because it’s not odd or uncomfortable enough when something like that happens? She had to make it worse. When we got out of Target, Millie started crying and telling me she hadn’t meant to do it. I reassured her that the lady’s reaction was rude and uncalled for. I told Millie she was an absolute jerk for trying to make Millie feel badly for an innocent mistake. What on earth is wrong with people?  We finally got to gymnastics. Her coach informed me that she would most likely move up a level in a couple of weeks. She ended the day on a good note. 

Stuart took Jack to basketball while I got Millie fed and ready for bed. Grammie and Pop had their community group via Zoom. 

Friday couldn’t come soon enough. After school we had a play date with two of the little girls in Millie’s class. It just so happens that one of the girls, Brooklyn, has three siblings, one being a 7th grade boy, so Jack loved playing basketball with him. We came home and Stuart and I showered. Millie changed her clothes, because she was wet from playing in the sprinklers, and we went to Ken and Maytee’s for dinner and to watch Mulan. It was really good. We got home late so the kids didn’t shower. 

Saturday morning we were up and about by 8 am. My mom and I went to one of her friend’s house and bought some jewelry from her. The majority of the day was chilled. Then Stuart and I had a date night. We were going to go to Ikea but when we got there a line outside caused us to change our minds. We then decided to go visit some furniture stores before putting our names down for dinner at Cheddars. The wait was supposed to be 35 to 40 minutes. So we went to TJMaxx for a look around. The wait ended up being over an hour and at the 45 minute mark I went up and asked about why we were still waiting. The hostess said, ‘Well, because if Covid our wait times are longer.’ That was a load of crap. It’s not like a covid just started. By now, restaurants should know what the wait time should be, due to Covid, and should tell the approximate time to customers instead of saying 35 minutes and having it be over an hour. Thank goodness the food was good. We got home after 10 pm. Jack was still awake. We sat up and talked for a while, then were off to bed. 

Sunday was church. We then went to Lowe’s to look at carpet and paint in preparation to sell our Gilbert house. We went to the grocery store then came home to chill for the rest of the afternoon. That evening we went to eat with Sue and Tim, in downtown Gilbert. Jack had such a great time visiting with Tim. They are such easy people to be around and don’t mind our kids, which is a bonus. We walked down the street after dinner and got prickly pear ice cream. As always, Jack and I couldn’t eat all of ours, but it was yummy!

Ice cream!

Monday, September 7th, was Labor Day. We got up and didn’t do a whole lot of anything. Stuart got me into some of the Marvel movies so we watched those until about 1:30 or so. Then we headed to Ken and Maytee’s for a swim and dinner. 

Tuesday I went to school on my own. We decided that Stuart would take both kids that week because we had parent teacher conferences, which meant Grammie and Pop would need to pick the kids up from school two of the days. It was going to be easier with them both being at Ryan. That was fine by me. Stuart seems to handle them better than I do. They frustrate me when they don’t do their work or make too much noise through the day. 

After school I went to Ryan to pick up Millie for gymnastics. We got to the gym a bit early so just sat in the car. Once we got into gymnastics the heavens opened up. It poured. Millie is doing so well in gymnastics and is working so hard to move to the next level. I’m so proud of her efforts. She is dedicated for sure. Once she and I were home, she showered and ate. Then Stuart took Jack to basketball. 

Not the clearest picture, but a picture to prove Stuart went to practice with him and didn’t sneak off for a coffee. Although I’m pretty sure he did that as well. 

Friday we continued getting ready to bring back children to school. We had a meeting at the end of the day which made me a bit late getting home and to the Gilbert house. We went in to see it and decided we would deep clean the house and then would tidy up the yard. But because of the way the market is going right now, we didn’t feel as if we needed to paint or recarpet the house. Decision made. Stuart Had forgotten how small that house actually is. We then went to have a beverage with Melinda and saw my old teammate, Justin, who is now a principal in Gilbert. The kids had swimming so Melinda brought me home and the rest of the evening Stuart and I watched Marvel movies in the bedroom. 

Saturday morning we decided to clean out Jack’s closet and assess what he was going to need for school. I thought we had done that back in June, but apparently he has grown a few inches since then and his shirts are now a size schmedium. The ones we got rid of were like crop tops on him. So we went to the outlets and naturally to the Adidas, Under Armor and Nike stores. We were successful in our shopping endeavors. We then had some lunch and returned to the house. 

Saturday evening the kids and I went to see Maytee, Gigi and Lexi. Maytee and I went to the White Rabbit in Gilbert. It’s themed as a speak easy from the 20’s. We just had a charcuterie plate and sat and talked for a couple of hours. We got back to the house and Millie and Gigi had a bit of an argument. It all got sorted out. They are very similar personalities, so often don’t get along very well. 

Stuart, in the meantime, went to play poker with Ken, Maytee’s brother Rick, and some other guy friends of Ken and Maytee’s. Stuart ended up splitting the pot with Maytee’s nephew, so won $80. Since that’s about what I spent at the speak easy, we came home ‘even’. Ha!

Sunday we had lunch at the house and then headed to Ken and Maytee’s. The kids have been asking to do more ‘fun’ things lately, but we are still so limited as to what that actually is. Mainly, our ‘fun’ is time with friends, and not a huge variety of friends as to stay a bit safer. We had a great time but didn’t stay terribly long as it was a school night for the Telford family. 

Monday Millie and I had to take Jack and Stuart to school because Stuart’s battery was dead in his car. We had our kinder through second grade students in school for the first time since March. We didn’t have a lot, but it was so good to have them with us. Millie and I picked Stuart and Jack up after school. Jack had his first team practice, which was all conditioning. He was a bit discouraged about not playing any basketball at all, which I totally get. We shall see what happens in the weeks to come. He still enjoys the academy and is so looking forward to his first game, whenever that may be. 

Tuesday Millie had her second meeting with Hanna, her new friend who is helping her to deal with her emotions. She really likes Hanna and I look forward to the progress she is sure to make. Hanna said she would send some suggestions to me to help with Millie and Jack’s issues with each other. She sent a list of things they could do after they have a scuffle. I wrote the suggestions on popsicle sticks, so we shall see how it works. 

Millie had gymnastics and then Jack had basketball. I took Millie to gymnastics and she got her first gymnastics report card. She has one skill to perfect before being moved up to the next level. Grammie and Pop volunteered to take Jack to his academy on Tuesday. Stuart stayed home and made butternut squash soup and Millie showered and went to bed. Stuart and I sat on the porch and had a couple of beers. The weather is starting to allow for the porch sitting without all the sweatiness, thank goodness. 

Wednesday I got up and went walking with Sue. As always, she’s the cheapest therapist in town. Once I was at school, my team helped out in the cafeteria again for lunch. It was hilarious! The kindergarteners kill me. They don’t know their head from their tail. Millie was with me and I had her virtual doctor appointment at 2 pm. She has now been formally diagnosed with ADHD. Well, duh? She was then given an order to have her heart checked before being prescribed medication. 

After school we dropped my car off for an overdue oil change. Stuart and Jack picked us up and we went home for a snack and to get ready to go swimming. We dropped Millie off and then headed to Applebees to feed Jack. We then dropped Jack and headed home for Millie to shower and get into bed. Stuart went to pick Jack up at 7:30. It seems like we drive an awful lot these days. 

Thursday was gymnastics and basketball. Stuart took Jack to basketball while Millie and I stayed home, after gymnastics. Grammie and Pop went to their community group. I watched trash television once Millie was in bed. I love it so. It’s my escape. Everyone came home, eventually, and my party was over. Boo! 

Friday I continued to get ready for the first in-person day of the school year. I felt pretty prepared, but I was still a bit anxious. Jack had stayed home for the day with Grammie and Pop. He didn’t have a lot of work to do and his class was going to watch a movie together, online. Millie spent her last day online with Stuart, while I had my last day online on my own. Once school was over, I stopped at the grocery store to get cupcakes for Jack’s birthday party the following day. We met back at the house and then headed out for swimming. 

All ready!

After the kids were in bed, Stuart and I went to spend a bit of time on our own. We weren’t gone long, but were able to talk and start making plans for the next few months ahead. This will most likely be the busiest and most hectic year of our marriage. 

We can’t lose touch with each other. 

Saturday morning we headed to Top Golf for Jack’s birthday celebration. He was so excited, even though the majority of the guests were adults. He had a great time. We all ate, socialized and had food and cupcakes. It was a lot of fun. He also got some much wanted money and a couple of cool Nike shirts. It was a successful party. When we got home from the party, Stuart and I went out for some last minute birthday things for Jack’s actual birthday, which was Tuesday the 22nd. When we got back, Jack, Millie and I met my friend Debi at Jack in the Box for dinner and then went to the park so the kids could play. We got home just before 9 pm. Her boys have Jack a vbucks voucher, which thrilled him to death. He decided his birthday celebration was a success. 

Gavin is Jack’s buddy from way back. 

We rented three bays. Jack and his guy buddies were in one and everyone else was in the bays to the left and right. 

Tim and Pop must have been analyzing their strokes. 

Sue was a natural. 

The four of us!

Jack’s cake was actually a Hostess cupcake. That’s what he wanted. 

Millie slept until after 9 am on Sunday morning. After church, Stuart and I went out to get helium balloons for Jack’s big day. We decided we wouldn’t make it a surprise, but would get them a few days earlier so that he could enjoy them longer. We also ended up buying him a SIM card for his phone and putting him on our plan. We had done this Saturday afternoon as an early birthday present. He still begged to open something else on Sunday, but we refused. For dinner we ordered Chipotle because that was the request from the birthday boy. 

Monday morning we were all up and out before 7 am. Grammie and Pop got up and sent us off to our first ‘real’ day, very similarly to when they had sent us off our our first ‘virtual’ day about 7 weeks earlier. 

She was so excited to be back in school. 

He was really excited as well. 

We all had a good day, but were exhausted at the end of it. I had nose pickers and fidgiters and those who needed a break outside of the classroom. It was more difficult than I thought it would be. It was great to have a mask and a shield. The shield was good to have when I was giving our spelling pretest. The kids could see my mouth and knew what I was saying. The day wasn’t bad, just very strange and different with only 12 kids in class. 

Millie was upset when she got home from school her first day. It was as if she had held it together all day and was just too overwhelmed. It doesn’t help that Jack pokes the bear and adds to her frustration. It seems that there were a chain of events that caused her to be angry. She had a complete meltdown and wouldn’t come eat dinner. She gets totally embarrassed when she feels she’s done something that is not right, but instead of just being embarrassed, she gets angry. Pop and Grammie took Jack to practice, while Stuart and I stayed home wrapping birthday presents and blowing up balloons. Millie finally chilled out, ate a bite, and helped me blow up balloons for Jack’s bedroom floor the following morning. Grammie and Pop has taken Jack to his basketball practice, where again, they just did conditioning. I do think we will look for a different club in the new season, but we shall see. 

Tuesday morning I went into Jack’s room to give him my phone. Millie had wanted me to arrange a google meet with his buddies from Al Ain. So we woke him up early so he could speak with all of them. I think it was a good way to start his birthday, and Millie was pleased with herself. He also opened his gift from Millie which was Cuddles the monkey. Our friend John has sparked this interest in ventriloquism so of course he had to have a puppet.

The kids got ready for school and left with Stuart. School seemed less of a big deal on Tuesday. We got straight into academics and acted as if we had never been gone. Being out in the portables and having to figure out the bathroom issues, as we are so far away, is a bit of a challenge, but I’m sure we will manage in time. After school I met Stuart and the kids to take Millie to gymnastics. Once we were home, we opened presents. Jack literally got everything he had asked for and more. He even got an outdoor basketball goal from Grammie and Pop, which was by far his favorite present. Naturally his first question was ‘when are we going to set it up?’ He had a great birthday, I think. He went off to basketball practice and Millie showered and went off to bed. Once he was home and in bed, Stuart and I went to bed. We were all wiped out from the first two days of school. 

I got up for my usual walk with Sue and we talked about our house sale coming up. I got super excited when she told me about a house that sold without being spruced up. It gave me hope that our house wouldn’t last long on the market.  Wednesday was just another school day. These kids are amazing. They have been so good about wearing their masks and social distancing from one another. They act as if they have done this for years. Wednesday after school I went down to pick Jack up from his school. Stuart has decided it might be easier for him to take Millie to swimming and me take Jack home. That way we could both work a bit longer in our classrooms. Once Stuart was home from delivering Millie and I had harped on Jack for not getting his homework done first when he came into the house instead of playing with his puppet or something else, he got dressed and we took him to swimming. He claims he doesn’t like it, but I kind of think he likes it more than he will admit. Once he was home, it was shower, snack and bed, for all of us. 

I didn’t get up to walk on Thursday as I had been dealing with a bad back and hip all week. Instead, I slept and extra hour. We had a team meeting after school to plan for the following week. It is amazing how much you can get completed with a classroom of 12 children compared to a classroom of 23 children. I also found out that after fall break I will only have one extra child join us in class. I do believe this will be the most amazing academic year for some of these kids because of the small numbers. 

After school I met Stuart and the kids at Target. I took Millie to gymnastics and Stuart took Jack home. Millie likes it better when I take her because I will video a lot of what she does. Stuart doesn’t do that as much. She’s such an energizer bunny and often does more than is asked of her, like an extra cartwheel here or there. She does LOVE gymnastics. When we got home from the gym, Millie said she wanted to go home. I told her we were home and then she pointed down the street and said, ‘No, I want to go to THAT home.’  I know the kids will be a lot more settled once we can get back into our own house. We are so fortunate that my parents have let us stay with them this long, but we really look forward to the day when we go to our own house. I’m sure it will be here before we know it. Once we were home and Millie was showered, Grammie and Pop took Jack to basketball again. Stuart went out to get some needed groceries and I put Millie to bed, but not without a fuss. Everything between Millie and myself is a fuss these days. This too shall pass. 

Friday I got up to walk and when I got back Millie was already awake, which never happens. Both kids were ready early because they were headed for donuts, it being a Friday and all. School was good and the kids seemed to be getting comfortable with their new normal. I ended up staying at school until nearly 4:30 on Friday to get some things ready for Monday. I then went to my friend Susan’s house for a get together with her and Brenda. We sat around and talked and played a couple of new games to me, which I decided I am going to have to get for Christmas for the kids. We had a great time. When I got home Millie was already in bed and Jack was headed that way. Stuart had taken then to swimming and Millie announced she didn’t want to do swimming anymore. She often does that when she is in a bad mood and we have had to force her into the car. It’s a control thing for sure. Once Jack was in bed, Stuart and I went out for some ‘us’ time. We have to do this now, as Grammie and Pop will be gone next week and our ‘us’ time will be spent at home. 

Saturday morning we got up and had to nearly wrestle the kids to get them out of the house. We have created some pretty entitled kids who think they get to dictate what we do on any given day. It can be quite maddening. We told them this and that we needed them to stop behaving as if the world revolves around them, although we do so much for them and sometimes it seems the world does revolve around them. It’s such a difficult thing to balance sometimes. At any rate, we went to look at furniture and ran into Millie’s friend Mallory, which allowed her mother and I to exchange numbers. So it proved to Millie that sometimes doing something she doesn’t want to do can pay off. We went to Target and Ross and then kids got to spend some of their own money. Jack bought a skateboard and a basketball, while Millie bought a slime kit. 

When we got home we were playing with her slime and I got a message from Mallory’s mom asking Millie to come over for the afternoon. We were heading to Jeff and Melinda’s for the evening, but I told Millie she could go for a few hours if she wanted to do so and we would pick her up on the way to the Reynolds’ house. So we hopped in the car and took off. Grammie rode with me and then on the way back home Grammie and I stopped  at a home store to look around. It had some cute stuff in it and I bought a couple of things to store for a while. I’m not sure why I felt I needed these things, but they were cute. Their prices seemed a bit high, but they did have some nice stuff for sure. 

When we got home, the basketball goal that Pop and Stuart had worked all afternoon on, was finally finished. Jack was supposed to have helped them, so I made him help clean up the mess that had been made. 

The final touches. 

And now the boy is really happy. 

Stuart took a shower and then we headed to Jeff and Melinda’s for enchiladas and to swim. We had such a wonderful night. We made last decisions about the sale of our house, because Melinda is our real estate agent, and ended the day on a good note. Once we were home, Millie went straight to bed, but we made the stinky 12 year old take a shower before hitting the sack. It was a great day.