You guys! I wore real pants, for like almost a whole day. A lot has happened in 4 days, I'll include some highlights.
Awesome things:
We did our Friday night takeout routine and it was great. Also, I can't believe that Friday would have been my THIRD post about Fridays. This self isolation has such a strange and surreal compression of time...everything feels like an eternity and is moving so fast all at the same time.
My Aunt from NH came for a quick visit. I don't know if this is within the rules or not, but she had two huge boxes of stuff for us: Amazing fairy house making supplies and early birthday presents for S and toys and crafts for the whole family. Her oldest son who normally lives and works in Colorado (and I don't get to see often) came home for a visit mid-March, and, you guessed it, has been stuck here ever since. They delivered the goods, sat in lawn chairs in our yard while we hung out on the porch for an hour or so, and then headed to say hi to my dad who lives nearby. It was super strange not being able to hug or get close, but it was great to visit and talk and see them!
We also made slime with the kit she brought us! Fairy house creations to come.
Also, more game night google hangouts with friends, walks with friends, I finally did some yoga (but still can't bring myself to work out, still working on that), more biking.
Also, fun google hangouts with all the cousins! So fun. We plan to do the same again next week for S's birthday!
Yesterday it was finally sunny! We've had days of rain. Last night we made a fire in the backyard, cooked dinner (cheese quesadillas) over a fire, and roasted marshmallows. It was super fun, and almost felt like summer. Almost felt like pioneers, lol.
Also, I made a cute video with a bunch of my ultimate frisbee players, kids from the team I coach. They sent me videos of them catching and then throwing a disc, a edited it all together to look like we were playing together. I miss them all so much!
Not so great things:
S is still fighting some kind of sickness. To recap, he had a fever of 102, bad headache, a cough, and some GI upsets. So yeah. I had a long and interesting talk with the doctor on Thursday. He said he would love test S, and that he should be tested, but they just don't have the resources to test children right now (unless they have underlying conditions or their parents are health care workers, to make sure their parents aren't exposing patients). Vermont announced Monday that they wanted to start testing more people, even those with mild symptoms, but pretty quickly back tracked on that statement because they just don't have the testing supplies. He even tried to send a child for testing that Monday/Tuesday, and the testing refused and sent the order back, saying they didn't have the supplies for low risk cases. The good news is, S is really managing just fine and isn't too sick. He also said, if/when tests become more available, he'd like someone in our family to get tested, because we have something moving through our family. And if that doesn't happen, he wants us to do the antibody test when it becomes available (his prediction, by June or July) to see if we did have it. So, we may know someday, for but for now we don't. We will continue to isolate until his cough is completely gone (which is why I was so nervous for my aunt to come, and I told them all of this, but they still wanted to come and just sit in the yard...). So, we are still struggling with all the uncertainty, but still feel SO grateful that we are more or less healthy and have access to health care.
Other not so great things: online school is ramping up. Part of the reason I've taken a break from blogging: I just can't deal with all the screen time. Besides trying to teach and manage my 4 different high school classes online and meet with my department twice a week, I am getting several emails a day from the administration of my high school, several emails a day from the administration of my kids elementary school, and lots of emails from both of my kids elementary schools teachers. Right now I still have about 9 unread messages I need to work through before we start homeschooling tomorrow.
The schools now want to "take attendance", as the state wants us to show that a "majority" of our students have checked in, in some way, everyday, for the school day to "count" (not prolong into the summer). Jeezus. And this will mean more keeping tabs on my own students, and probably more face to face time, and more record keeping. This new attendance policy feels like it puts a lot more pressure on parents to do "real" school.
I just keep reading this article a friend wrote, on repeat. Trying to let go of the pressure to do it all. We just need to stay home, stay safe, stay sane, and survive. The kids emotional health needs to come first right now, and we have so many students in so many very tough situations. Kids (and spouses) are stuck at home with their abusers, families are out of work and struggling financially, they may not have enough to eat, they may be sick or trying to care for grandparents from a distance, they may soon be saying goodbye to loved ones from a distance. If some academics get done too, I feel like that should be a bonus. We are in a pretty stable and safe situation, and we are struggling to get much done.
With that, my to-do list for work feels oppressive, I gotta go do some work(and it is Sunday ☹️)!!
Also, New York is in crisis. It is so bad, and it is getting worse. There is no federal leadership, and so much misinformation coming from the President (accusing health care workers of stealing PPE, why else would it be running so short? ; He probably won't wear a mask, it is uncomfortable for him; NYC is overestimating the need for ventilators leading to exaggerated requests and stockpiling). Local governors are stepping up (Everyone loves Cuomo!) and everyone has a crush and Fauci (Cuomo Fauci 2020! is trending). But seriously, it is bad. And terrifying. Vermont National Guard is building a makeshift field hospital in Essex. I know everyone keeps saying it, but it IS surreal, and hard to process. I don't know that our country, our world, will ever be the same.
April 5th
US Cases: 312,249
VT Cases: 512
Awesome things:
We did our Friday night takeout routine and it was great. Also, I can't believe that Friday would have been my THIRD post about Fridays. This self isolation has such a strange and surreal compression of time...everything feels like an eternity and is moving so fast all at the same time.
My Aunt from NH came for a quick visit. I don't know if this is within the rules or not, but she had two huge boxes of stuff for us: Amazing fairy house making supplies and early birthday presents for S and toys and crafts for the whole family. Her oldest son who normally lives and works in Colorado (and I don't get to see often) came home for a visit mid-March, and, you guessed it, has been stuck here ever since. They delivered the goods, sat in lawn chairs in our yard while we hung out on the porch for an hour or so, and then headed to say hi to my dad who lives nearby. It was super strange not being able to hug or get close, but it was great to visit and talk and see them!
We also made slime with the kit she brought us! Fairy house creations to come.
Also, more game night google hangouts with friends, walks with friends, I finally did some yoga (but still can't bring myself to work out, still working on that), more biking.
Also, fun google hangouts with all the cousins! So fun. We plan to do the same again next week for S's birthday!
Yesterday it was finally sunny! We've had days of rain. Last night we made a fire in the backyard, cooked dinner (cheese quesadillas) over a fire, and roasted marshmallows. It was super fun, and almost felt like summer. Almost felt like pioneers, lol.
Also, I made a cute video with a bunch of my ultimate frisbee players, kids from the team I coach. They sent me videos of them catching and then throwing a disc, a edited it all together to look like we were playing together. I miss them all so much!
Not so great things:
S is still fighting some kind of sickness. To recap, he had a fever of 102, bad headache, a cough, and some GI upsets. So yeah. I had a long and interesting talk with the doctor on Thursday. He said he would love test S, and that he should be tested, but they just don't have the resources to test children right now (unless they have underlying conditions or their parents are health care workers, to make sure their parents aren't exposing patients). Vermont announced Monday that they wanted to start testing more people, even those with mild symptoms, but pretty quickly back tracked on that statement because they just don't have the testing supplies. He even tried to send a child for testing that Monday/Tuesday, and the testing refused and sent the order back, saying they didn't have the supplies for low risk cases. The good news is, S is really managing just fine and isn't too sick. He also said, if/when tests become more available, he'd like someone in our family to get tested, because we have something moving through our family. And if that doesn't happen, he wants us to do the antibody test when it becomes available (his prediction, by June or July) to see if we did have it. So, we may know someday, for but for now we don't. We will continue to isolate until his cough is completely gone (which is why I was so nervous for my aunt to come, and I told them all of this, but they still wanted to come and just sit in the yard...). So, we are still struggling with all the uncertainty, but still feel SO grateful that we are more or less healthy and have access to health care.
Other not so great things: online school is ramping up. Part of the reason I've taken a break from blogging: I just can't deal with all the screen time. Besides trying to teach and manage my 4 different high school classes online and meet with my department twice a week, I am getting several emails a day from the administration of my high school, several emails a day from the administration of my kids elementary school, and lots of emails from both of my kids elementary schools teachers. Right now I still have about 9 unread messages I need to work through before we start homeschooling tomorrow.
The schools now want to "take attendance", as the state wants us to show that a "majority" of our students have checked in, in some way, everyday, for the school day to "count" (not prolong into the summer). Jeezus. And this will mean more keeping tabs on my own students, and probably more face to face time, and more record keeping. This new attendance policy feels like it puts a lot more pressure on parents to do "real" school.
I just keep reading this article a friend wrote, on repeat. Trying to let go of the pressure to do it all. We just need to stay home, stay safe, stay sane, and survive. The kids emotional health needs to come first right now, and we have so many students in so many very tough situations. Kids (and spouses) are stuck at home with their abusers, families are out of work and struggling financially, they may not have enough to eat, they may be sick or trying to care for grandparents from a distance, they may soon be saying goodbye to loved ones from a distance. If some academics get done too, I feel like that should be a bonus. We are in a pretty stable and safe situation, and we are struggling to get much done.
With that, my to-do list for work feels oppressive, I gotta go do some work(and it is Sunday ☹️)!!
Also, New York is in crisis. It is so bad, and it is getting worse. There is no federal leadership, and so much misinformation coming from the President (accusing health care workers of stealing PPE, why else would it be running so short? ; He probably won't wear a mask, it is uncomfortable for him; NYC is overestimating the need for ventilators leading to exaggerated requests and stockpiling). Local governors are stepping up (Everyone loves Cuomo!) and everyone has a crush and Fauci (Cuomo Fauci 2020! is trending). But seriously, it is bad. And terrifying. Vermont National Guard is building a makeshift field hospital in Essex. I know everyone keeps saying it, but it IS surreal, and hard to process. I don't know that our country, our world, will ever be the same.
April 5th
US Cases: 312,249
VT Cases: 512
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