Stay at Home: Days 15-21

Day 15:

We ate all the carbs. The End.

(Post script: the boy signed up to do his first merit badge and obviously picked Cooking. I mean, he made his own chocolate sauce to decorate that cookie....I just read the requirements. It's 21 things that have very little to do with getting food plated. He's in for a challenge!)

Day 16:

This is feeling so not temporary. I’m going to be sitting at the dining room table a lot longer. Finally got the cords wrapped and tidy. Vacuumed the floor. It looked like someone had eaten 3 meals a day in there for a week!

We emptied the boy’s room in anticipation of a new paint job. He’s nearly 11. Seemed time to swap out the walls that came with the house.

Of course our real joy can be found spending time in the kitchen together. We made tacos and crafted our own cocktails. Traditional margarita for me. Fresh clementine, limeade, Sprite and cherry 🍒 for him.

Day 17:

I had three breakfasts but called one lunch. William made himself pancakes and scrambled eggs for his lunch and shared a pancake with me. The Duck Project is his spring break assignments. Food feels like an appropriate first journal entry.

We took our first steps onto the patio and posed for a selfie on the wall. William rode his bike through a hidden puddle and got splattered in mud up his back. I was thrilled to be reminded he’s a kid.

Adult sorrow today when the Binny’s order I placed last Wednesday finally arrived and it wasn’t my order. It was just a lot of cheap wine and some Jack Daniels. Not cool Instacart. I have registered my complaint and received no response.

Day 18: (and yes I always have to go back and check yesterday’s and edit to add more days....)

Today was a good day. Spring break is much less stressful than school days. The boy can play video games upstairs except when he materializes in the kitchen to whip himself up brunch (which becomes my lunch). I get the main floor as my office and tax command center uninterrupted. Hubs can do his pre-shelter in place home office gig.

We did take a little break for a lunchtime walk. In full dinosaur costume. Because that’s what you do on Quarantine-o-ween. Maintaining a driveway length distance between any fellow dinos, of course.

Dinner was leftover ingredients cobbled into buffalo chicken nuggets and homemade Mac and cheese. The kid requested frozen pizza so he can still do that while I start Tiger King in my room.

  

Day 19:

Wow, 19? Today is Wednesday but all day I thought it was Thursday. Thankfully it wasn’t. I need all the days right now.

Made the boy a to do list. He sort of did it. Cleaning the kitchen was key. He’s a great little chef but doesn’t clean up his messes well so he learned how to clean the stovetop today.

This evening I went for a walk to grab some books from a neighbor’s porch. Enjoyed all the silly yard art on display.

My Binny’s order is still not resolved so I got creative with my one hand ingredients. Gin, limeade and blood orange Pellegrino were a tasty combo for a Wednesday evening cocktail. 😋. Our Green Chef boxes continue to come so it paired with red curry chicken and roasted broccoli stir fry.

Got in two Episodes of Tiger King last night. John cut us off before we got too far down the Carol killed her husband rabbit hole. I hope my inbox stays empty so I can watch episode 3 before bed.....

Day 20:

For the second day in a row, the boy sent mail. He’s an old pro at stamps and the mailbox now. Maybe next week we’ll talk about how to push numbers to dial a phone instead of just clicking a name.

Work included a Zoom happy hour and although we talked tax (of course we would!) we also talked life and what it would be like to be home after the deadline. And whose mom was a good cook.

For dinner this mom ordered Chipotle. I’ll freely admit it was the FB ad for free delivery and free queso that did it for me. I’ve been wanting to try the new queso after the disaster than was the last one. This was solid. A little too thick but a nice kick melted jack flavor.

We ate outside to enjoy the sunshine and admire our patio. The concrete guys sealed it today so we get the green light to use it starting tomorrow. I’m promised a grilled dinner! We will still be in our camp chairs unless I didn’t throw away the cushions to our dining set. 🤔

Flowers are growing. I think I planted those from an Easter gift from my brother. John thinks they came with the house. Let’s go with my version.

Day 21:

I missed the 2 when typing and startled myself when I saw just a 1.....to be as naive as I was on day 1 would sure be something. But I’d rather move forward.

As I lay in bed last night I did one last check on my phone and found out that the tour company for our summer vacation has cancelled our WWII history tour in France and Germany. No departures before July 1. We were June 26. The boy - and all of us - are bummed. We booked the trip more than a year ago and have been eagerly awaiting it. I was most looking forward to the boy charming all the grandpas on the tour with the very incredibly specific details he knows about the war.

John ventures out to get groceries. He found all but one thing we needed/wanted at one store. He said it wasn’t horrible out; just that he that he doesn’t like that grocery store because he doesn’t know where they keep stuff so it makes him slow.

Since he got home so late we just enjoyed some pizza as the inaugural meal on the patio. Tomorrow we will grill a real meal.

We ended the night with a family viewing of Onward on Disney+. That feels appropriate: Onward!

Stay at Home: Days 8-14

Day 8:

Work was done. Video games were played. Food was cooked. Same as a weekday except John got to do the video games instead of work.  He cut up the carton of strawberries so two chefs got creative. My house smelled good with roast in the crockpot all day.  For mental health and physical health, I listened to NPR on another brisk walk. I also joined the boy in his art lessons which was very soothing. And I exchanged messages with a friend who is feeling more isolated than me. Made me happy that we could make each other laugh.  And I rescued a family in need with a spork! Ok it was tweens on a scavenger hunt but it was a fun distraction!

Update: today’s bedtime stall was the discovery of an unopened Christmas toy. So now he must solve all of its challenges before resting. Dude, it’s been 4 months. You’ve got time tomorrow and for many days to come....

Day 9:

A very familiar Sunday: pancakes for breakfast and mass. Except I had to use a second rate pancake mix and the result was tasty but not pretty. And we were very, very casually dressed for church!  More video games, more work and some handyman projects. I completed the census.  I was disappointed it only took 2 minutes.  I was also disappointed to realize the patio people probably won’t be coming back anytime soon.  Got my walk in before Elsa unleashed her wrath.  Made more enchiladas. Watched The Midway. Highly recommend both.

Day 10:

As I walked thru the house this morning executing on my morning ritual of opening all the blinds because I NEED ALL THE LIGHT, I thought of yesterday’s homily and readings about being the light. That was a nice way to start the week! And at some point during the day the sun melted all the snow and the flowers peeked back out.

I’ve decided the real heroes of this shut in are starting to emerge:

-Starbucks Verismo machine: I feel like I should give her a name since we spend so much time together.

-Thermos Funtainer: I cut up a few apples many days ago to have as easy snacks (and because one had a spot and needed tended to). Today I was so excited to find crisp, barely browning apples to eat after I finished my chocolate milk, Oreos and ice cream. (Just kidding...I had the apples in the morning when I was still making good decisions and the rest of that stuff after lunch....)

-My walking essentials: coat, gloves, ear warmer, earbuds, Tree Runners and NPR On Demand. Because my solitary (plus Peter Segal or Gretta Johnson) walks through the hood are becoming a favorite part of my day.

Day 11:

Today’s themes are food and taxes!

William had the brainstorm last night during a hotdog dinner that he wanted to make a meatball sub. Luckily we had some random frozen meatballs from my disorganized discovery of Whole Food/Amazon Prime delivery. Never heard of them before adding to my cart but they were tasty! Even better with melty provolone and marinara I’m sure though I did not eat the finished product.

Finally used the asparagus! Had my own brainstorm for sausage and asparagus pasta. I’ve made this recipe with broccoli before. Simple and delicious. The cottage cheese was used last night (blended up) in my poor imitation of my mom’s potato salad and paired with brats.

Taxes. April 15th income tax deadlines have been extended to July 15th. This applies both to the filing of your forms and the payment of your taxes due. But my clients and teams are pressing forward so an early post and back to the office!

Day 12:

Real mixed bag today.  Super tired so slept in until the mixer trucks arrived to wake the neighborhood. Every 5 year old boy and 70 year old man’s days were made! We had fun watching the concrete get poured, smoothed, colored and stamped. They will come back next week to seal it.  I finally found the right pillow to make my chair comfortable for 12 hours a day.  Fully embracing Zoom calls this week and going forward. Makeup now part of the morning routine but went back to Disney tees and yoga pants.  Proudly pushed “complete order” when a Binny’s delivery slot finally materialized after days of being denied. Only at 4 Pm today did I realize the 2-3 pm timeslot is for next Monday and not today.  Broke quarantine for a run to Walgreen’s for first aid supplies. My first time in a car in 8 days.

Day 13:

The boy and his parents are counting down the days until spring break. E-learning and monitoring e-learning have lost their thrill (if there ever was one....-)). The boy found his usual daily joy in video games with his cousin and making some fun food. Our homemade pizza dinner was delicious.  Today was also a hard day because John needed to see a doctor after he was bit by a neighbor's dog while running last night.  That's scary to do when health care professionals are overwhelmed with COVID-19. The building where he usually goes is the one their practice turned into COVID-only.  No other patients/ailments are accepted there now. He ended up with a video PCP visit and an appointment at Intermediate Care across town to get the tetanus shot he needed.  Our bright spot (beside that delicious pizza) was making a connection with a neighbor online to order and have paint delivered from her husband's Sherwin-Williams store. A win-win: he didn't have another set of bodies in his store but sold some product, we didn't go somewhere not essential, and we have our "craft supplies" for a boy's bedroom redo during spring break. Oh, and my Eddie Bauer order arrived so I have a new fleece to wear for casual Friday tomorrow. Though maybe I'll class it up and wear jeans with it. Maybe....

Day 14:

Bring on Spring Break!  I don’t have many clever stories for today. I hope the weather is nicer tomorrow so we can get outside and move our bodies. It’s hard to sit inside all day and do school work and office work.  We got our favorite carryout tonight as kid’s choice to celebrate his straight As for 3rd quarter. Super proud of him since the cutoff is 93%. Not sure if my 4.0s would have stood without a 90% cutoff.  He is just a super cool kid and we’re thankful to be his parents.

Stay at Home: Days 0-7

Day 0:

Got home tonight and video games are already in play. Approximately 550 hours until school is back in session. How many of those are going to be gaming hours?!  Our deck has been demolished and we get to spend the weekend with a back hoe in the backyard. Since I got last minute notice that they'd be coming, I only got some poor quality "before" photos one evening this week.   Can't wait to see the after!

Day 1:

My usual Saturday would be to work from the office, but I wasn't sure I wanted to do that.   I brought home what I needed yesterday in case I didn't.    John found the used but new to him car that he was ready to get, so we spent the morning picking it up   We were only Audi-less for about two years after having traded off my A4 when I got my SUV.   I was pretty surprised that he picked a non-black or silver car but this color has really grown on me.  Except for the drive home from the dealership, I'm guessing he won't be putting many miles on it for awhile! 

Day 2: 

School books are organized for home study to start tomorrow, 3 pounds of hamburger are being turned into taco meat for tonight’s dinner and easy self serve meals this week, and we are contemplating another family movie night.

I have been informed there may be a jackhammer outside my home office all day tomorrow as our patio gets removed. It can’t be worse than my coworkers dogs barking, right?! 🤣

Day 3: 

Kid hung out in his room most of the day but did complete 30 minutes of math homework and we read two chapters of a book together. He played video games with his buddies for nearly 3 hours tonight. We have discussed that he needs to be more studious tomorrow. Dad has been put in charge of tomorrow.

I had the background noise of jackhammers and back hoes from 9-4 and learned the existing cement in my backyard was more than two trailers worth. After 4 I worked without the noise. I ate most of the kid’s valentines candy. He gave up candy for lent. Tomorrow I buy ice cream for both of us.

Day 4:

The 5th grader did the assignments his teacher posted via Google docs. He worked in my home office since I went to my real office to finish a project that I couldn't do electronically.

I got breakfast from the Starbucks drive thru and lunch from the Panera drive thru. But I made homemade enchilada sauce for dinner for our own version of 🌮 Tuesday.

More progress on the patio. Luckily the loud parts were while I was gone. Rain and colder temps are forecast so no idea if they’ll be back tomorrow.

We’ve watched approximately 1,412 hours (ok...like 6 hours) of Josh Gates adventures on TV this week already which is what our family agrees on for group viewing.

Day 5:

Today was harder. Not sure if the long weekend feel wore off or the rain played his body or just overall stress set in but kiddo had a headache and a rough day. The evening was saved with some kitchen therapy. We made pepperoni pizza flatbreads and monster cookies. Hugs and food were consumed. We will start again tomorrow. The cookies will be awaiting us (again) when we awaken.

Day 6:

I’m going to be brave and post this even before dinner but call it as a net positive day.

I learned that sitting for 12+ hours a day in front of my computer requires my usual fancy office chair. I have improvised with a rolled up towel and my not so fancy home office chair. My male coworkers have all embraced video for our meetings. I stuck with the stock photo for another day but may consider washing my hair for tomorrow.

We got a walk in around the neighborhood before the rain. The boy did not like all my prodding questions. Guess I could have predicted that.

Catastrophe averted when he figured out how to play video games and chat with his bestie cousin. And I’m told somewhere in there the homework was completed and checked off by dad.

Oh and there is a lot of wildlife outside my office. I'm told the main guy is Gary the chipmunk. He has bird friends.

Day 7:

No tears. Lots of interaction with humans that aren’t inside my house. The boy has his video games. He’s learning to FaceTime. I’m zooming and Skyping with colleagues.

The day ended with an order from the governor to shelter in place through April 7. That means school is out for at least two more days after spring break. That means I cancelled our spring break staycation hotel in downtown Chicago for a literal staycation.

John got more groceries. Apparently we don’t buy what our neighbors buy because he comes home with most things on the list except flour and ground beef.

Perhaps the strangest part of this week is that we have eaten dinner together every night....and I’ve made roux twice in four days. What?!

Boy Scouts

It's funny what I choose get sentimental about....frankly, not many things!  But for some reason the maturity in which William has moved from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts the past few weeks has done it!

Dinner Dance Auction

What a big day!  I started the day hosting Deloitte's International Women's Day event in the office, which is one of my favorite days/events of the year!   My team put together a half day of sessions for this year's theme  Each for Equal.

I had to duck out a little early to get glammed up for our first All Saint's Dinner Dance Auction.    We left William with a babysitter and headed out for dinner, drinks and random auction purchases!   Since we are new to the school and don't have a lot of parent friends there yet, we didn't have a table of people that we wanted to request.   We were paired with some other new parents and it was fine.   But mostly it was nice to chat with my date.  We so rarely sit down to talk.   And the food was good; luckily we were able to get Father Bill to provide a dispensation to allow us to enjoy the steaks that the party planning committee didn't consider would be an issue when they scheduled on a Friday night...during Lent!

We weren't the big winners of anything during the auction or the raffles but we were happy to contribute to this fun event to raise money for the school.

Arrow of Light

William's transition from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts came halfway through his 5th grade year.   The process of finishing up all of the Cub Scout requirements and picking the Boy Scout troop to join was an interesting process - rather a little like fraternity/sorority recruiting for 10 year olds!    In addition to the two local troops that most of the neighborhood boys bridge to, William and John checked out the troop that the All Saints boys frequently bridge to and that was his decision.   I was a little surprised since he was only going to know 2 boys of the 25 kids joining whereas he could join 10 of his longtime friends on the local troop.  Plus I am going to have to make new mom friends.  But I was also very proud of him for seeing a path forward - and picking a new patrol that loves to cook! - instead of relying on the past.

 

William was the last of his den to bridge over.   First they did the couple of boys not continuing to Boy Scouts, then all the boys heading to the one troop together, and then William and his new troop.  I can't wait to see all of the independence he gains in Boy Scouts.  And I'm looking forward to date night since they go camping every month and the parents don't have to go!