Well, I am alive. I know I haven’t been blogging and one would think that with all this extra time, I would. But my day is so weird now. Used to be, we’d get up by 6 and I’d help all the kids get ready, etc then I’d start working by about 8:15. Depending on the day, I’d go to campus and be there roughly 6 hours. On non-campus days, I’d work hard all morning then go to the store, maybe pick up lunch and run any other errands. I’d do a bit more work in the afternoon then kids would get home. NOW, we don’t even wake up until 7 or 7:30. I go downstairs and get the kids’ breakfasts going then start them on their homeschooling. For the most part, their daily work takes maybe an hour or two; my middle schooler’s taking a little longer but he’s also screwing around a lot, talking to friends on the phone while doing the work. By about 10:45, I’m probably done working for the most part and we do DDP Yoga then have lunch. Sometimes I work in the afternoons, depending. I find that if my husband goes back up to work, I too feel motivated to do it. But truthfully, I use all my extra time to read, do little things around the house, and find ways to be happy. I know that sounds sappy (and I rhymed) but it took me one month and one week to become ok with the current situation. A little stressed today because some papers I graded magically disappeared on the website. Like, all my comments and everything. Ugh. I will say, I lost my momentum a bit with each of my jobs. I have stayed on top in some ways and lost it in others. I cannot blame quarantine fully but it’s definitely a contributor.

So a thing that has been good about this: kids seem to have bonded a bit more. Sure, they are also endlessly frustrated by the new schooling situation (some are thriving; some are struggling) but they have also found ways to hang out with each other in the face of almost constantly being home-bound. They have been riding bikes a lot so that helps them to feel like they’re getting out. My bike was working for a hot second but then the inner tube busted and now I just need to get all new tires, I think. Before now, I hadn’t ridden that thing since before my oldest was born, believe it or not. Maybe I got on it once or twice when he was little but again, a solid 10 years it just sat. Most bike shops appear to still be open and will do service so long as you don’t go in the store.  Anyway, kids have found ways to work together

I have been a little more happy with the overall schedule and think it has been good for the whole family. I can’t say it’s all unicorns and rainbows; the kids still find way to fight and drive us crazy. They all have moments where they let loose blood-curdling cries and we think we’re going to find a bloody gash or broken bone and yet, it’s always something minor. For example, the boys were out cleaning the pool skimmer baskets and I heard Ell all the way up in my room, yelling, freaking out, cursing. I’m talking, “Oh shi@!. What the f$%^?”. The panic tingeing his voice made me scared he severed a finger and yet, it was just a big spider had crawled on his hand. I don’t know how many more moments like that I can take. It’s too stress-inducing.

We’ve also been plowing through all of Sopranos and at this point, I don’t even like it but I am too far in to quit. They drop so many stories and leave huge gaping plot holes. And at this point, season 5, so many characters have diverged from what they ought to be that I think they must have fired the original writing team. But again, I have to see how it ends so we will get through it.

I have finished a couple books so that’s nice too. I go a couple days in the middle of one then get back to it and wonder why I don’t make more time to read. Not like I don’t have an abundance of it!

With the lessening of my posts here, don’t think I haven’t thought about abandoning this thing altogether but I do still WANT to write. And we won’t always be doing this. Sure, kids are off school from now until August when, hopefully, they can go back.  With the hope now that the country can slowly reopen, especially counties where they don’t have a lot of cases, I want to believe that we will indeed see a semi-normal fall term. For k-12,I think it’s imperative they go back, especially as parents have to return to their work. I know some colleges are discussing no face to face classes until 2021 and that seems ridiculous. But at the same time, it could spread like crazy on a campus. I suppose by then things could be so different, we can barely make a call on it now. That’s really the theme about all of this, isn’t it? Things change daily and in a couple months, we simply don’t know.

I will say, Fresh Market won’t let you in without a face covering so I had to wear my Turkey Trot one from this past year. It’s awkward and throws me off but I know it is for he best. Anyway, let’s get to the music. I only have two songs for you today but they are 2 I have come to love on the Yacht Rock XM station.

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