What’s Up, March?

You would think with all the extra time I’ve had, I would be a blogging machine.  Extra time?  Yep. 

To my future self: We are facing a pandemic worldwide against COVID-19; a virus that attacks people and produces various end results from mild symptoms to death.  It started with the first cases in China on December 31, 2019.  It then started to spread because of travel to other countries.  Currently, in Ohio, the schools are closed, but working online.  This has been the case since March 16 and will continue until at least April 3, unless the governor asks us to remain closed.  We have been issued stay-at-home orders.  This means that as much as possible people should stay home.  You can leave your home for groceries – but we are encouraged to shop for more than one week at a time – and for exercise.  Otherwise, we are discouraged from visiting others, movie theaters are closed; most stores are closed (that don’t sell food or medical supplies); many people are out of work.  It is not good.  The idea is to “flatten the curve”  - stop the number of cases from rising exponentially every day and instead just maintain a lower number daily.  It makes complete sense.  It also feels funny to do all this when you are not the one that is sick.

So, what’s it like?

Work perspective…Students are not getting the same quality education they would from being at school.  They are (for the most part) working at home and getting the assignments done.  Our 7th and 8th graders are given one subject area a day to focus on, and the work takes them roughly 1 hour.  I monitor work progress using a little table I made to keep my eye on my students with IEPs.  I also meet with my students using Google Meet (video conferencing) one time a week.  I have really enjoyed this aspect.  It may feel a little awkward for them, but I think they (like me) enjoy seeing a familiar face that isn’t a family members.  I like hearing what they are doing and getting to know them one-on-one.  I also set up Google Voice, which is an somewhat anonymous phone number so that I can call them from home; the district discouraged us from using our personal numbers to contact students.  This is a great way to get ahold of parents and walk through questions they may have.  Strangely, I don’t mind it.  I don’t think it’s what’s best for kids, but I do enjoy the change of pace.  I do feel like I am strapped to my computer a lot, which is probably why I haven’t blogged… just more computer time.  I am thankful I had a man from our church upgrade my computer before all this so that it starts programs faster.  I don’t think I could do this and stay sane with the speed of my computer prior to that.  It was a God thing that I went ahead with that upgrade when I did.

Home-school perspective… So my own kids are doing school from home.  We have a daily schedule: Breakfast at 8am, Devotions at 8:30, School from 9-12 with a break in there, and then free time in the afternoon if all the work is done in the morning.  It works pretty well.  We are definitely not homeschooling.  We are not covering new content, spending adequate time, or pushing ourselves in creative ways.  But we do have a little work area set up right near my “home office” for the girls to work. 

They seem to be enjoying what they are doing and are pretty self-motivated.  I am VERY grateful for that.  Ellie seems to be wearing out easier than Madison, but she is younger. 

Yesterday, we worked on their art projects together outside; it was a beautiful day to be out.  Madison and I worked on her Mystery Science experiment – making a chain reaction and altering the force with which it could move the dixie cup.

This is a super cool website that her teachers had been using already.  They have opened up their whole library for free for this time period, as did Scholastic, and so many other educational websites.  It has been neat to see the generosity of companies at this point in time.  They could be using it for their own gain, but they are not, and that is so cool! 

Personal perspective…I pretty much sit in my little bubble of unawareness.  Well, that is not really true.  More like, I try to pretend life is normal most of the time.  We have enjoyed a lot of fun things: The first week the girls had the idea to move their rooms around so they would share a room again and then have a play room.  While this has been a major task for me in the past, this time they did almost all the work.  Jeremy and I just helped move the big furniture.  They moved and organized everything else.  It is nice. The girls did a 24-hour tent challenge given by their friends, Bailey and Ellie.  The challenge was to stay in a tent for 24-hours without getting out except to eat and go to the bathroom.  So, we moved furniture back to make room for a tent in our living room.  And they did it. 

It was a great day for them to do it because Jeremy and I have been wanting to clean/rearrange/declutter the one room in the basement for months now, and Saturday was the day.  They were entertained; we weren’t ignoring them. It was a win-win.  The basement feels much better to us now.  Jeremy had gotten an exercise bike that he can use alongside an app to do spin classes with a live instructor… kinda like the Peloton bike, but less expensive. So, we now have the exercise area, his office, and a “guest room.”  The guest bed feels less crushed by other things.  Putting Pepper’s space back into the room made it a little more crowded than we would have liked, but it works… and it’s moveable if we have company.  I have some after pictures, but no before picis…

    

I have instituted “Mandatory Mom Moments” each day.  This is just a time for me to connect with them intentionally in some way.  They can’t say no to whatever I ask them to do; they just have to do it.  So, we have… gone for a drive/errand and then to get ice cream, biked on the bike path with Grandma Ediger, made lemon loaf (which by the way is amazing and I don’t even like lemon stuff), done a St. Patrick’s Day scavenger hunt, went on a “bear hunt” around Lake Harmony (looking for bears in windows), watched an author/illustrator read a book online, did art projects together, went on a walk/bike ride on Kidron road sidewalk, and played a math-like card game (which they enjoyed way more than they thought they would). 

         

One day I got an email to make these fun pictures.  You just Google search an animal.  When you scroll down, you might see a place to “view 3-D”.  If you click on it, the animal pops up in your living room and you can take a fun picture with it. 

    

    

Ellie has finally decided to get back on the bicycle after taking a (small) fall last summer.  With the last few nice days we have had, the girls have been out constantly riding bikes.  It is good to see them enjoying the out of doors. 

Our church has also been shuttered – but just the building.  We had online services last Sunday, and it was good at our house.  The girls got dressed up; Jeremy and I were much more casual in our attire.  The dog participated as well. 

    

We also are in small Salem Cares groups where we are supposed to intentional reach out to 3-4 households in Salem; I don’t know how other groups are doing, but I have enjoyed the interactions within mine, mostly through text and email.  I believe God will work in amazing ways during this time.  It will be so fun to hear what he has done when we all gather together again.

Grocery stores.  I hadn’t been to a large store since this all started, but on Monday I went to Wal-mart.  It was desolate – not of people, but of products.  There was no juice, eggs, refrigerated cookie dough or biscuits, no cheese, no toilet paper or paper towels, almost no soup, canned goods, or oils.  The one worker said you had to get there before 9am to get anything.  It think I left more shell-shocked here than anywhere.  It was crazy.  This is one of the more stocked aisles I saw.

We have picked up the school lunch a couple times now.  While we don’t need it, I am utilizing it.  The girls loved what was in their lunch – hidden treasures like fruit by the foot and chocolate milk. 

I love it because it is one meal I don’t have to cook or prep.  Three meals a day is exhausting work.  I have cooked every night this week, and I apparently picked the wrong meals because we have had ZERO leftovers.  Which means, I have to figure out food for the weekend. Ugh.  The good news is that I have supper helpers now.  One night I made BBQ ribs in the crockpot with cheesy potatoes.  Another night egg rolls in a bowl – super easy go-to recipe for me.  This more involved than I thought recipe of Sausage Pull-apart Bread.  There were no refrigerator biscuits at the store, so we did homemade, which upped the work requirement.  Madison was working with me and was a trooper.  We paired it with scrambled eggs and yogurt parfaits. . Last night it was Chicken Ranch Pasta.. mediocre, but easy. 

Final thoughts: Life is not the same.  We miss seeing people face to face.  We miss grandparent hugs and cousin giggles.  We miss feeling like the grocery store isn’t a war zone – that’s what one of our students said, “I went to the war zone, otherwise known as a grocery store, to get toilet paper and canned goods for my grandma.”  We miss the carefree way we approach life and interacting with the world.  We even miss school.  BUT we are enjoying the laid back atmosphere, the spring time air, the bike rides, the long meals not being rushed by soccer practice or choir or 4-H meetings.  It’s not all bad for us.  And we are being cautious to try to trim the ripple effects of what’s happening. 

Blessings as you go about your day.  Remember, God is in control when things feel like they are spiraling out of control.  He is our Rock and our Fortress and times of need.  He does not protect us from everything, but He does shore us up and give us HOPE. 

Quick Trip

Jeremy had a work trip to Denver, Colorado.  He asked if I wanted to go.  I have a really hard time saying no to any trip involving Colorado.  I love the mountains any time of the year. 

I checked ticket prices, looked at my work schedule, and checked about child care (and dog care).  While none of the factors were perfectly aligned, none of them had major obstacles to overcome either.  So, I said yes.

We left on Thursday after school to catch a 7pm flight to Denver – direct from Cleveland.  It was only a little over 2 hours, and we made it to our hotel by 9ish.  We headed to bed fairly quickly since it was really past 11pm our time.  

On Friday, Jeremy got up to get ready for his work day.  He had a number of sites in downtown Denver. 

I stayed back out the hotel and actually worked on school work for most of the morning.  But I had a great view

He came back for a lunch break at a Nepali buffet with me before heading back for his last job site. 

I did a little more work before getting stir crazy.  I was going to go shop around the huge mall area behind our hotel, but then I thought, “I am in Colorado.  It is sunny and 60F outside.  I can surely find somewhere to walk around.”  I checked in with the front desk and they sent me to a really nice hiking trail not far away.  My only mistake was wearing my tennis shoes and not my hiking shoes… just didn’t know it was an actual trail instead of a paved path.  It wound up a hill/mountain for a ways; I just followed it and enjoyed the views:

    

That evening, we had supper at Motomari, a Asian type restaurant.  It was good. 

Saturday, we got up, packed up, and headed west out Denver to Granby Ranch to ski for the day.  It was perfect weather – sunny and 35-40F. 

I started out pretty shaky and frustrated on my first time down.  Jeremy is somehow never rusty on his skis!  I recovered, and spent the rest of the day trying to learn to turn with my skis like “french fries” instead of “pizza slices.”  I was fairly successful.  Jeremy headed over to some blue slopes while I stuck to the green all day. 

Skiing in the west is nice.  While the slopes may be steeper in some ways, they are also more gentle and longer, so you have more time to think before you hit the bottom.  It was so nice to just be away, in the snow, and the sun.

On our drive back to Denver, I spied the perfect mountain and had to take a picture. I feel like this is the mountain we drew as kids, but everyone said, “That’s not what mountains really look like with those pointy peaks.”  Well, it is.  So here’s to all you pointy- mountain drawers out there – You are a better artist than you were ever given credit for!

We went to bed fairly early because our flight left at 6am the next morning. 

Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa Ediger, for hosting the dog all weekend and the kids for much of the weekend.  Thank you, Grandma Yoh, for taking the girls out on Saturday to enjoy family and craft shows! 

Surprises

We had a four day weekend in February.  We had thought about going somewhere, but it was the weekend of Madison’s last basketball game, so we couldn’t miss that.  We had decided to just sit tight. 

Then, Thursday around 4, Jeremy said, “Let’s go to Columbus.  We can stay overnight and then see if IKEA has anything for our bathroom.” (We had just had our bathroom remodeled, so we were looking for finishing touches.)

I am not usually the spontaneous sort, but I decided to go with it.  I called my parents because now we have a dog.  So, you know, you can’t just travel around without bothering someone else.  They were super nice and said they would watch him… now that he had his haircut!

I packed some stuff.  The girls shouted with excitement and packed their stuff.  And we left by 6. 

And drove through snow squalls, which thankfully, lasted only a short time.

We made it to our hotel by about 8pm.  I told the girls they could have a short swim in the pool. (Because that’s why they came, right? Not for IKEA.)  Unfortunately, the pool was outside. 

Swimming did not happen that night, but we found Worthington’s Rec Center had a super cool pool with a small lazy river and a whirlpool feature that was pretty fun.  Also, the water was warm, which was the only way this lady was getting in! 

It was a lot of fun.  Probably more fun than the hotel pool would have been. 

We shopped at IKEA with no luck that afternoon and then headed home. 

The second surprise was that Madison and Ellie both decided to be in the church talent show at the last minute.  Ellie shared about how Pepper helped her overcome her fear of dogs.  Madison did a magic trick that Miss Patty had done in Sunday school to teach them about faith; it involved an orange.  I have videos.  I’ll see if I can upload them later.  I was proud of them for being courageous enough to stand up in front of everyone and do a performance.  It was pretty cool.

Big Changes for a Small Dog

Pepper’s hair had been unruly for awhile.  It was matted basically everywhere you touched.  It made me feel like I didn’t know how to care for my dog.  And maybe I don’t because I really don’t love brushing him.  The groomer said it might just be because he is non-shedding that when his hair gets loose, it has nowhere to go.  Apparently, it just sticks to him and forms pseudo-dreadlocks. 

Not only was it all a matted mess, it was a pain to take him outside.  I would take him for a walk on a fairly dry day, and he would come back with cinders from the road embedded in his fur on his legs and belly.  I would take him out to take care of business and snowballs, leaves, sticks, and other miscellaneous stuff would come back in with him as if he were a sheet of velcro.  It led to a trail of leaves in the house.  Baths after every walk.  It was exhausting. 

Finally, after weeks, I gave in and bit the bullet.  I took him for a total makeover.  (It’s not cheap.  It is more than I spend on my own personal grooming, which is why I held off for so long.)

He went from this:

To this!

He is easy to care for, about 10 pounds lighter, and harder to spot when he curls up in a ball.  But it is good.