Picture of the Week - 5/28/2020

Already the end of May - craziness!

Some fun things happening down here.  Still not super "normal" things, but anything new on the calendar is something to celebrate these days!

Here are some random pictures of some of the stuff that's happened.  We got together with my parents and played a completely inappropriate (given the Covid) game called Plague.Inc.  LOL  It was actually a pretty good game - kinda like Risk, but with disease.  (We are so bad...)

Then Bob and I got to go out last weekend to celebrate our anniversary.  We went for an actual meal at an actual restaurant.  It was lovely.  We just about had the place to ourselves.  I think there were only 3 or 4 tables being used the whole time.  Felt odd with all the waiters in masks, but it was still nice to have cocktails and fancy food not served in Styrofoam.  

And today I got my hair cut and colored.  Woot!  I haven't been there since January and my hair was too long and too dark and it's just so much better now!  The little things...  

Spencer got a job.  Like a real live job with a really nice salary and some interesting adventures.  He's working for a company that does disaster restoration - and lots of Covid disinfecting right now.  (No one worry, he's more protected in his masks and gear than we are for sure!)  He's pretty happy to have something to do!

Zane and Beck are gearing up for SUMMER CAMP next week!  The rules and regulations are a little weird...  lots of sanitizing and not much interaction between "small groups", but still it's time with kids their age doing something other than video games or riding bikes.  AND Bob and I will actually get to work for a few days without a zillion interruptions - at least between the hours of 9-3.  

We also found out that their sleep away camp is opening.  Shortened days away (2 nights instead of 5) and we have to do a bunch of stuff differently than we've done it before, but I am SO happy that they will get this experience.  It's a Christian camp and they are focused on reconnecting with other people.  After months of only talking through computers and electronic-based entertainment, they will get a chance to put all of that stuff aside for a few days and really just be humans.  

So all in all - things are good here.  Lots of people questioned whether Georgia was reopening too soon, but we haven't really seen any huge spike in disease activity or deaths - especially in our county.  Maybe it's still too soon to tell, but all of the baby steps we are taking to re-introduce activity back into our routines feel REALLY GOOD!

How are things where you are?  I hope if you are still in the early stage of re-emerging that you feel safe and stay healthy - and remember that better days are coming.  

Picture of the Week - 5/21/2020

Let's see...  I'm not even gonna share that I think we are week 10 now...  blah!

School's officially done tomorrow, but to be honest, my kids quit last week.  We finished up all the stuff that was gonna be graded and basically said "DUN" and moved on.  

This week we've occupied them with a brand new chore system that Bob and I implemented.  So far, so good.  The oldest and youngest are apparently very motivated by money!  Spencer has claimed all outside tasks and our yard has never been better.  Beckett is working on taking over the kitchen.  He organized our Tupperware cabinet today!!!  

We took care of a number of postponed appointments over the last few days.  Zane had a cavity filled and a broken tooth pulled.  Then he had a check-up on his eye from the great Christmas Nerf event (which feels like it was YEARS ago...) and we are all so happy to report that his pressures are "awesome" even after being off the drops for the last 6 weeks or so.  And I've finally decided to tackle my frozen shoulder.  Got the MRI and have a surgery date.  I still have to wait a while to clear out the backlog of people who have been waiting for elective ortho procedures, but I'm excited to have a plan.

We also got a fire pit.  Fun stuff that we've wanted for a while and now is the perfect time to make some s'mores.  

OH - and we found out that our beach vacation is ON now that Florida has reopened short term rental houses and the beaches.  It's so good to have something to look forward to!

Bob and I have been super busy with work.  It's not lost on us to be grateful to have the work, but we are both slammed.  The boys rotate through my office all day and the most common sentence is "you're STILL on the phone???"  Yup!  This weekend is a big one for us.  We celebrate our 23rd anniversary on Sunday.  We are going to try hard to find a table out (for 2) somewhere to celebrate.  No luck so far, but we have time - and worst case, we now know all the good take out spots and can find a picnic table!

Have a happy and safe long weekend everyone!  

Picture of the Week - 5/14/2020

I'm not officially keeping track of number of days since the coronavirus wrecked 2020 anymore because we are all starting to safely venture out a wee bit now.  (But if you are keeping track, today is day 63...)

Today I'm sharing a picture of my view from my home office.  It's one of my favorite parts of this house.  You can't see the bird feeder in this picture, but it keeps me entertained all day long.  You can't see the iris which has just about finished blooming for the year.  You probably can't make out the new shade-loving gardenia we just planted.  As much as I really REALLY love this view - even without the OSU shot-glass vase with the fragrant peony in it - I'm super happy that things are slowing returning to some form of normal.  I refuse to call this the "new normal" because it can NOT stay like this.  I refuse to shirk away from human contact for the rest of my life.  People in the grocery store don't even look each other in the eye anymore.  We are not made to be solitary creatures.  We need contact and we need to connect with our tribe.  And this is coming from a hard-core introvert.  I can't even imagine the extroverts of the world and the toll this is having on them.

Georgia started opening back up about 17 days ago (the timeline is actually very important) because if we were going to see a big spike of cases from people being dumb, we probably would have started to see that happen already.  We haven't seen that - even with a big increase in testing being done.  In fact, Georgia's percentage of positive tests and death rates are both dropping.  Could we still see a rebound and spike in disease?  Sure could.  And that would be heartbreaking and sad.  And I don't want that to happen.  Just because I am starting to - safely - venture out my front door does not mean I don't care about the deaths.  This is not an either-or situation.  

We are continuing to mostly stay home and be careful, but our gyms have reopened - and we are attending.  Restaurants have opened and I've eaten out a couple of times.  I went for an MRI today in preparation for an elective shoulder surgery that I will have as soon as I can get it scheduled.  I wore a mask the whole time I was there.  I have never felt unsafe in any situation I've chosen to put myself into.  

SO yes, getting back to just a few things that happened regularly pre-covid is a big mood booster.  Things are not the way we thought they would be as we entered the last week of school.  I don't know when or if our pool will open.  I don't think church will reopen until August.  I don't know what summer camp situation is going to look like for at least the first few weeks of "summer".  It's still unclear if we will be able to go on vacation in our beach-front rental home in Florida.  But driving out of the neighborhood for a workout or to meet my small group at socially distanced picnic tables is GOOD.  It's healthy.  It's part of what makes humans, well, human.

Stay safe.  Stay smart.  And do what makes you feel good.  

I also highly recommend getting a pretty flower and putting it in a tiny vase wherever you can see if from wherever you spend the most time.  Life is beautiful and we should remember that every chance we can get.

Picture of the Week - 5/7/2020

Day 56

All is well.  Nothing is new.  I have nothing to share...

We are all still home.  We are all still healthy.  We are still working and doing school stuff.  

Next week marks the last "real" week of school, although their last day isn't officially until May 22.  Zane and Beck are wrapping up a few last assignments and such, but next week there will be no more new material and they aren't going to fail, so I'm not really sweating their work after today.  It's not worth the battle.  Quinn has one more class where he needs to focus and take the last test, but otherwise he's done too.  Spencer has a bit more work to do in a few classes, but those will all wrap up with his virtual AP US History test next Friday.  Virtual testing makes me twitch a bit...  but it is what it is.

ADP had a strong quarter, despite all that's happening.  They are being prudent and have stopped most hiring and are mostly just watching to see how things go.  Bob and I feel relatively safe, but the longer the economy suffers, the more that worry in the back of the head grows.  For now all is well.  

We are anxiously watching Florida to see if they are going to open up the rental home market again so we can plan our annual beach trip.  Not gonna lie, I will be very sad if we have to cancel it.  

On the bright side, I did go ahead and schedule some summer camp activities for Zane and Beckett - mostly for July - but it will give them and us something to look forward to!  (fingers crossed)

Here's a picture of Bob and Zane from this morning.  They both needed new tennis shoes.  Apparently being in social distancing lock-down doesn't prevent kids from going through growth spurts...  go figure.  Check out Bob's hair!  He finally let me cut it for him this morning.  As for my hair...  I haven't had an appointment since late January.  I finally booked one today, but it's still 3 weeks away - and is scheduled for 7 AM.  Oy!  Things are soooo weird right now.  

That's it...  just taking things one day at a time and remembering to be grateful for everything that's good right now and patient with the things we aren't loving.  I hope you are all well!

Happy early Mother's Day!