Stay at Home: Days 36-42

Day 36:

The one where the boy left the house.

Our neighborhood has embraced all sorts of ideas for giving people something to see if they walk or bike around and today’s version was zoo-themed. A few of my favorite zoo exhibits involved a Joe Exotic spoof and a really big bear at a bistro table. I can only assume the empty bottle of red (and not the high winds) are why his dining companions are under the table.

Our mother-son bike ride didn’t last long because of the wind but we did stop by the pool where the only sunbathers were a pair of ducks. The pool had a lot of water in it, so we spent some time speculating if they leave water in it or if there was that much snow and rain in a year.

We watched our second movie of lockdown: turning to Harry Potter discs we own (after not finding it on Netflix) for The Goblet of Fire. We enjoyed comparing scenes of Hogwarts to our visit (to Universal) in October.

  

Day 37

Pretty much the best weather and to do list combo I’ve had so far these past 37 days. Walked the forest preserve with some Nerdette podcasts and then spent time with my laptop inbox and then a book in the sunshine of my backyard oasis. My buddy joined me for backyard lounging to finish a little school work. I made my own hashbrowns and cream of mushroom soup to pair cheesy potatoes with burgers and brats for dinner. Tomorrow we go back to pita pizzas.

Day 38:

The school week got off to a good start as we agreed that more needs to get done earlier in the week to allow for school-free weekend. As we listened to the principal’s daily video I gasped (inaudibly) when she said we had 6 more weeks of this. Good thing this week’s virtue is Love and I can remember that I love this student of mine. I’m also glad the PE teacher emailed that they’re keeping grades but not really because it’s the Specials where we cannot keep up!

Kiddo got his first quarantine haircut - a little around the ears - and his first mask - made by a generous and creative neighbor! We discussed that the mask may be the only way he gets to go anywhere this summer. He seemed excited to have his own in a cool print.

Today’s home economics lesson was our version of Skinnytaste’s blueberry oatmeal muffins. We did apple cinnamon instead of blueberry and baked in a cake pan instead of dirtying a muffin tin. Delish!

Tomorrow’s excitement to anticipate: it is trash day and will they or won’t they find our extra plastic bags and properly tagged lawn bags acceptable?! The anticipation is killing me!

Day 39:

Looks like I only took one photo that wasn’t a math worksheet....introducing Baseball Bot! Knocking out the Specials early in the week! Bam! Art

We didn’t cook much today. I only realized this after putting my dinner plate in the dishwasher and realizing it wasn’t full yet today. We are averaging 1.5 loads per day. Haven’t done my laundry either apparently since my 5 favorite t-shirts are all missing from my closet. Just as likely I folded them in a nice tidy stack in the laundry room and forgot about them.

As we were saying our good nights tonight I broke the good news to the boy that he’s my co-host for Take Your Kid to Work (via Zoom) Day on Thursday. He was disappointed to learn he was not eligible for prizes in the scavenger hunt but overall excited about the idea!

Day 40:

I took no pictures today that weren’t homework. I should have photographed my dinner plate of barbacoa tacos with pickled cabbage and onions.

Things I learned today:

-An Instant Pot is not as effective as a crockpot at slow cooking a roast that falls apart. 11 hours and I had to work to shred the beef.

-My love of Disney Parks is so great that I’ve watched only two hours of television between yesterday and today and it was the same hour twice: Imagineering Episode 6: the building of Shanghai Disneyland, Pandora and Galaxy’s Edge.

-The boy needs a shower. He smells.

Day 41:

Started off the day hosting Take Your Kids to Work Zoom with my team. Might as well have called it Deloitte: Naperville Edition! When they too quickly got through the pre-planned scavenger hunt items, they each picked something for the group to find. Something stinky, a grey Lego, and your favorite stuffed animal were all met with great joy.

Kid chef makes his own meals every day but today served up healthy snacks for all. He also impressed me with his poetry writing skills. Today's poetry unit assignment was free verse and he wrote a lovely poem.

Took an hour to walk a 20 minute loop through the neighborhood tonight because I was stopping to "neighbor" with friends from an appropriate distance. Was lovely to chat with new humans! Also stumbled across a very talented neighbor's drawings. I think I'll commission her for Chip 'n Dale art for William's birthday.

Barbacoa tacos were prettier and tastier than barbacoa pizza but it was a pretty good use of the basket ingredients (aka what's next to spoil.....looking at you whole wheat naan).

Day 42:

Eleventeen hours of zoom calls. Boy snuck me some pancakes for breakfast during hour 3. Made myself cocktail in hour eleventeen. All good boys and girls should get these cherries in their Christmas stockings or Easter baskets each year. Jalapeño Grill made us dinner. TGIS tomorrow! I’m ready for a nap!

The boy wanted to memorialize that he got some Deloitte swag for his exceptional effort in yesterday’s scavenger hunt. He was beyond thrilled to get mail and have it be such cool stuff that he already treasures.

Stay at Home: Days 29-35

Day 29:

I read a chapter of a book in the sunshine. And then another chapter on my couch with my eyes closed.  William got fancy with his protein shake. I got fancy with shrimp tacos and a margarita. We finished painting William’s bedroom - switching out mint green to Lazy Gray. Here is the finished shelf he assembled for Star Wars Lego display.

Day 30:

Happy Easter!

For the 11th year Ducky made an appearance filled with candy. We never got around to an egg hunt but that Easter bunny did a drive thru the neighborhood.

The house smelled good all morning with bacon and pie and cookies. We ate brunch and watched mass and then started a game of Monopoly. But no one has any monopolies yet except the boy on the cheap brown properties so we took a break from what might be a never ending game.

More yard work for the adults and more room organizing for the boy as he puts his things just so in his repainted room. He is enjoying the extra floor space since neither his Lego table or desk table have been put back yet. But he says he wants them back so that’s tomorrow’s project.

Day 31:

No one ever says "TGIM!" Today was a school holiday for Easter Monday, but it's been as much/more school work as any other day as the boy had to catch up on all the things he didn't finish last week, and I had to figure out how to get the photos of his work from my phone onto his school Chromebook. Finally had to get the teacher to loop in the Technology teacher.

I'm working hard on my guidance counselor skills in addition to school teacher skills. It's hard.

In other news, it has warmed up to 43 degrees with a feels like of 34, so maybe I can try my walk again now that it's a heat wave! The sunshine and flowers out my window are so deceptively beautiful that I didn't pack my ear warmer the first time and abandoned.

I got to tell people on my morning Zoom calls that, yet again, I'd be on mute due to the jackhammering of concrete. This is the third time in three weeks and they're starting to get suspicious! But, hey, everyone on the block likes my concrete guys and is hiring them. They're doing great business and our curb appeal is going to be amazing!

Day 32: Tax Day Eve is usually a day I look forward to. I’ll be finally getting to spend time at home, without the late night train or Uber or drives home from the office. The chance to see my family in daylight hours. After 19 busy seasons, this may have been the weirdest.

I was bankrupted in Monopoly. The boy gave me a hug as he took my last dollar. I hope that will always be the case.

Day 33:

April 15th finally.

Woke up to snow. Finished with Taco Tuesday (it’s Wednesday). In the middle finished my work and hosted a Zoom April 15th party.

Tomorrow I’m going to sleep in and take a vacation day (until my first call at 930 am).

Day 34:

My usual post busy season spa day was replaced with conference calls and webcasts, grading algebra homework, assisting Kid Chef with his tear and share pizza rolls, and supervising the unpacking and setup of the outdoor furniture.

Super excited about that last bit. We set it all up, took photos, shared a drink and then hauled all the cushions inside since snow is coming overnight.

I wanted BWW BOGO boneless delivery but we are flush on groceries so I whipped up my own buffalo sauce to go with chicken strips from my freezer and a generous serving of Mac n cheese.

As we caught up on the week during our patio drink, I asked hubs if Target was out of toilet paper on his most recent shopping trip or if he forgot to look for it. He realized as we were talking that he bought it and never loaded it into the car in the parking lot. Hope some lucky soul hit the jackpot and found it in the cart corral. 

  

  

Day 35:

It snowed. A lot. And then it melted.

But then came the downpour: the governor announced this afternoon that schools will stay closed the rest of the year. I’m not surprised but still sad. We really have loved the routine of his new school this year. And it’s been hard to find a new routine at home. At least he’s in the same school for 6th grade and he can’t still build memories and traditions over the next 3 years.

Stay at Home: Days 22-28

Day 22:

Actually a fairly normal Saturday at our house. I worked half day; John painted William’s room and William played video games and cooked. He made us lunch with the crescent rolls he requested in yesterday’s grocery order.

He also had a zoom meeting with his buddies for some Scout wood carving. He called it a day when he cut himself (very, very slightly) but that prompted a shower so....

We made some progress on spring yard clean up. Felt good to be outside even though it wasn’t warm.

We grilled a legitimate meal with steaks. John also went to the liquor store yesterday so I finally have my ingredients for cocktails. If you’ve never had Luxardo cherries you’re missing out! (We still have no response from Instacart for the same order - that wasn’t at all the same order.)

Pumpkin bars (thanks to a neighbor giving me pumpkin!) are cooling and will be frosted tomorrow for a little taste of my childhood.

We are looking forward to Palm Sunday online tomorrow.

Day 23:

If I had known we were going beyond the original three weeks I’m not sure I would have committed to a daily update. But it’s good for me to keep some accountability so I press on!

Today was the end of spring break so the last of the Duck Project photos were taken. This is a quaint project the school does of adventures that families take during break. Since we don’t travel before April 15th, I’m going to say this is 85% of what the Duck would have done with/without shelter in place......

I’ve had all my therapies this weekend: kitchen, yard and retail.

I realized I’ve already crossed something off my summer bucket list: have a drink with my husband on the patio. So glad we decided to use this year’s reno budget on patio instead of windows!

Today I got to play one of those board games I have been hearing families have been playing! We took our Scrabble board to the patio for a delightful mother-son game.

I was nervous but happy to see the principal letter tonight. She basically admitted we all have to face this is the new normal and proposed some new organization to the school week. I think it will help manage the stress level around here while still having firm guidelines on requirements. (For the curious they are now releasing the entire week’s assignments at once and although projects are due “daily” it’s really all due by Friday at 8 pm).

Day 24:

Another Monday? Wore a lot of hats today.

CPA: the usual amount of calls - conference calls and making calls on how to proceed

Math teacher: had to teach volume and problem solving to a reluctant audience. Luckily the computer backed me up on the right answers.

Cooking instructor: best part of the day because my student was an enthusiastic self starter. He planned for taco meat stuffed dough (bierocks meets empanadas?) and did most of it himself. He got distracted when it was time to actually bake them so I got first dibs on the final product.

Camera crew: Massive failure. The adorable pictures I thought I had of the kid chef rolling dough and stuffing filling are nowhere to be found. I think it may be because my camera roll is too full so I deleted 250 photos.

IT support: kid’s chromebook can get speaker but not microphone. Second night working on a solution and rightly phoned a friend for this one where the internet failed me. FB delivered in 3 minutes. He’s ready for Scouts now. Always be prepared! (Or have a mom with smart friends?!)

Day 25:

It’s Tuesday but we are pretending it’s Friday because it’s pretty amazing out. So we grilled all the meat in the fridge and all had a cocktail. (Yes, even the boy served himself a Sprite! He doctored it up with tonic water and maraschino cherries.).

Day 26:

I am equipped to teach math, reading and home economics - although math was a disaster today. Even with my 1996 state championship in forensics, I am not equipped for drama class. The little one overcame his funk with cookie baking. TBD what works for the older crowd. 🤣

Editor’s note: the cookies were amazing and will not make it to day 28.

Day 732 (27?):

Thanks to Holy Week, the kid has a four day school week this week and a four day school week next week. I think that’s our speed.

To turn in a lot of his “paper projects” and worksheets, I have to take a photo of it, then upload it to his Chromebook and then he turns it in via Google classroom. I have no idea what the picture is below but it was Science extra credit.

He got an A+ in Industrial Arts today. The new storage shelf he picked out was delivered. He hauled it in from the porch and assembled it himself. He just needed a little help on the back bracket which I was comparing to a fitted sheet. It only goes on one way and you need to do the corners at the same time.

A neighbor posted that she had made masks and was giving them away. What a gift! I planned a grocery store run for today - and even though I was going to the smallest, least popular store I was nervous about what I was going to fashion for myself. Her post was perfectly timed! I added a folded paper towel underneath. It made me feel like less of a jerk for being out.

And finally another friend posted about a YouTube viewing of The Last Supper recorded at her home church last year so we watched that this evening since our church didn’t have a streaming service tonight. We had a labeled copy of DaVinci’s painting up on the laptop to make sure we had our disciples straight!

Day 28:

Sunshine and puppies and fresh baked bread and a good book.

The bread was my first attempt. It wasn’t quite the baguette/crusty french I was going for but it was close and it was tasty!

My post tax season plans are to read Disney War:  book I started two years ago. It’s a great book but too heavy to carry for my commute so it was pushed aside.