Day 46

Miriam: Mom? If you found a genie, what would your wishes be?
Me: Well, I would definitely wish for the ability to teleport so I could travel all over the world.
Miriam: You don't even have to wish all three if that's your only wish.
Me: No, I'm sure I can come up with more.
Miriam: Remember what the rules are: 1. No making people fall in love. 2. No bringing people back from the dead. 3. No wishing for more wishes.
Me: Yes, that's right.
Miriam: I know what mine would be!
Me: Oh yeah?
Miriam: My first wish would be to BREAK THOSE RULES! Then, once that wish is done, I could wish for more wishes!!

Day 45

As promised, here are before and after pictures of the front garden beds. Now it's should be clear why my schoolwork is suffering somewhat. Keep in mind that these after pictures will be quite different as plants start growing and I figure out what to plant where long term. For the time being, these are extra garden plants that may or may not thrive with the partly shady conditions of the front beds.

These pictures are from the online listing before we bought the house:

And here is the front bed now without those terrible* hedges:

*To be fair, they were well-trimmed, flowering hedges, so another owner might have loved them. Terrible is only my opinion of hedges in general after spending two years digging up root balls, not a comment on these particular hedges.

Day 44

Today was another outside day: yard work, strawberry picking (along with what felt like the entire state of North Carolina, but the cashier wore a mask and the fields were big enough that we weren't within 20 feet of anyone else, let alone 6), and running around with the sole survivor, Eddis.

 

Caroline picked almost 2 gallons of strawberries all by herself in the time it took Miriam and me to pick the other gallon. She was unstoppable!

Jonah, who was in mourning for the chickens since we lost Pig all those weeks ago, has finally warmed up to the cause of keeping Eddis company. They've been having a great time. Jonah carries her around and talks to her and Eddis rewards him by pooping on him every time.

Tomorrow, I will go back to school work (I hope?), but today my brain is fried.

I also would like to add that I have not purchased toilet paper for almost 2 months because I didn't need any and I was doing my best to avoid the panic buying. Now that it's time to start thinking about getting some, there had better be some on the shelf for people like me who did not hoard the paper, people!

Day 43

Day 43 was actually yesterday. That wouldn't normally matter since days are meaningless except it was a significant day in the Mays household. Yesterday was the 9-year anniversary of our tornado!

What's strange about the day is that although I saw the commemorative posts online from many Alabama friends, I spent the entire day thinking it was Monday, May 4. It was not a day spent in contemplation or even reminiscing like most April 27ths are for me, but the anniversary happened nonetheless.

(And a very happy birthday to Finn, as well! He's lucky he has such a memorable birthday since I can barely remember my own siblings' birthdays.)

Days 41 & 42 (the fourth "weekend")

Sad day. Something got into what we thought was a secure chicken run and devoured 3 of the 4 remaining chicks. Poor Eddis is now the sole survivor.

The children were sad but seem to have bounced back pretty quickly (the chickens were no longer cuddly and cute, so they were not nearly as lovable, I guess), but I am really taking this one hard, probably because the kids had so much fun with their babies. This is why you should never name/love/look at livestock!

Meanwhile, Caroline, Jonah, and Miriam are planning a funeral.

------

The funeral was both very sweet and very funny. I don't know why I was so upset this morning, but I guess I just needed a funeral to feel better. We all shared our heartfelt and also hilarious eulogies, Miriam immediately started speaking during the moment of silence (of course she did), and then I took a long nap. Considering the difficulty in getting baby chicks right now (something I expect to change quite a bit in a few months), Eddis may just be an only child for a while. Chickens don't generally like to be alone, so we'll see how that goes.

Day 40

Yard work: better than school work.

(This should be my new motto since my yard is looking really nice these days and my schoolwork has been abandoned.)

(This will not work next week when I have 5 separate deadlines, so I hope all the vitamin D will help me think better.)

Day 39

Today, I went for a drive. I needed to leave, so I did. I drove to Charlotte to pick something up (no contact, of course!) and brought home pizza for lunch. After lunch, I took a nap. After the kids were in bed, we watched the NFL draft...not so much because either of us care about the NFL but because it's been so long since there were live spots to watch. I learned I'm apparently a Miami fan now and tonight I should figure out which other team I'm cheering for when Jalen gets drafted. All in all, not a bad day for a nameless Thursday that I couldn't even remember the date.

Day 38

An ode to Animal Crossing:

Oh, Animal Crossing, how we love thee!
When we consider how our skepticism almost kept us apart,
We shudder.
What a delightful distraction you have proven to be,
Mindless but pleasant.
Happy growing.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, it's a video game that many people were quite excited for (but that we knew nothing about). Josh had a student tell us months ago that we definitely wanted to buy the game for our children, but we went back and forth for a while. Frankly, it looked dumb.

But after three separate friends with children that we trust purchased and loved the game, we decided to jump on the bandwagon as well and it has been very fun! Here are some highlights:

-My favorite part is two parts: growing things (surprised?) and sending surprise gifts to my children.
-We have each decorated our house in the manner of our own choosing, and Caroline's has no furniture at all. It is wall-to-wall animal cages as she collects species from all over the island. Our island has a gigantic museum dedicated to the collection of animals, but she is determined to have her own version as well.
-Visiting Uncle Quintin's island always gives us ideas and inspiration because he is at least a week further along than we are. One look at his mustachioed character and Charlotte's pink explosion house and we were hooked.

I even found a to-do list on the coffee table downstairs:

[picture coming soon]

The only sad part is having to share! I'm staying up much later than normal to work on my own house since the game is generally being used in the afternoon/evening after the children finish their school and chores. Lucky for me that I'm the boss and can do just that!

Day 37

This morning, we woke up to the sound of a beautiful bird call that neither of us recognized. We are not expert birders* here in North Carolina, but we were both fairly certain we had either never heard the call before or had never heard it so clearly.

Josh ended up identifying the bird as a Northern bobwhite (or just bobwhite quail, depending on where you are) and it started the whole day off right.

In other news, here's our happy list and sad list for the recent week:

Happy things:
-Some Good News with John Krazinki never fails to make me smile (and usually cry)
-Jonah's birthday is in less than one month! 12! How?!
-I only have one more chapter in each math class, so every assignment I complete feels like checking something off for the last time.
-My peach trees are covered in little fuzzy fruits and we might even get to try a Shiro plum this year if all goes well!

Less happy things:
-We've been running behind on our Doodles with Mo, so imagine our shock when we logged on for an early April doodle and discovered it was the last one! We really miss our daily doodle, but nothing else that we've tried has quite scratched that itch.
-I may lose a tomatillo to frost. If so, I need to find another one or my existing tomatillo will be no good (as they are not self-pollinating). This is more difficult than you might think considering the combination of restrictions on shopping and the rarity of tomatillos as a garden plant around these parts. In fact, just typing this sentence makes me think I might brave a trip to my favorite socially-distant nursery for a tomatillo and one of their famous sungold tomato plants.

Day 36

Caroline: I'd like to marry a rapper when I grow up.
Me & Jonah: What?!
Caroline (with the laugh): Not a candy wrapper! I mean someone that sings really really fast.
Jonah: Yeah, we know. We didn't think you meant a candy wrapper!

Days 34 & 35 (the third "weekend")

Attention everyone: I am one assignment from being caught up in my classes! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, especially since Kaitlyn reminded me that I've already been accepted to my graduate program next fall, so all I have to do is pass these classes with a C.*

And now, some highlights from the weekend:

We have been holding church at home for the past 6 weeks or so. Every week is different, but overall, it has been a really wonderful experience. There have been moments where I have felt closer to God than usual and moments where everything fell apart and we wondered what in the world we were even trying to accomplish. Most weeks, though, the truth is somewhere in the middle with relative highs and lows but no absolute maximums/minimums.** Yesterday was closer to the wonderful than the disaster, with my favorite sound of the weekend being Jonah snickering to himself at the piano when he missed a note playing a song. Miriam conducted our music (a work in progress, but enthusiastically done), and I got to play my uke a little more. It's been much too long!

And a quote:

Jonah: Mom! There is a BOWL and a SPOON in the bathtub!
me (laughing): Oh yeah, I know.
Jonah: Were you taking a bath and EATING ICE CREAM?
me (laughing even more): No! Miriam was pretend cooking in the bath!
Jonah (also laughing): Oh. Well that is something you would do.
me: Actually, yes, that gives me a great idea for later.


*Weirdly, reminding myself that I don't need to earn an A has me even more determined to do so, without the pressure.

Day 33

Our last day of spring break (last school day, anyway) was, like every other day, a little bit wonderful and a little bit chaotic.

On the negative side:
-Miriam was overly tired (all week, really) and that ended in a multi-hour screaming fit that taxed the patience of all involved and had her parents wondering if we'd somehow ruined her forever.
-I got absolutely no schoolwork done, leaving my wondering if I'd somehow ruined my academic career forever.
-It frosted overnight (again!), leaving us wondering if we'd killed off the tomatoes forever. (Are you noticing the trend?)
-There was some intra-sibling strife about the Animal Planet island.

On the positive side:
-Caroline and Grandma played games aplenty.
-All three children laughed and laughed with Aunt Teri.
-I had a virtual chat with some lifelong friends, resulting in me laughing, venting, and staying up much too late. I can't wait to do it again!
-Josh ended up joining the AP island, taught us a few new tricks, and gave us all someone to complain about (thus diffusing some of the frustration between siblings).

Day 32

I *was* caught up in 2 classes (out of 3). I was just assigned FOUR new assignments in the class I caught up in yesterday. Boy howdy, I'm off to do some schoolwork!

Josh and I went on a date tonight. It seemed like a silly idea at first, but just driving out to dinner and sitting in the parking lot talking was fabulous. I'm rather fond of that guy, and even though we've been together almost every waking moment for the last month (and sleeping moments, too), it was still nice to be out together without computers or phones or homework.

In other news, we've started playing Animal Crossing on the Switch. I resisted buying it because I didn't want to share my island with the whole family, but I have been assured by multiple other families that it can be done peacefully. There were tears tonight, but I think we can manage to share the tiny space. I hope? The tears weren't mine since I'm the only one who can play at 10:00 at night. Mwahaha!

Day 31

Each day feels like it last about 2 weeks. Some parts of today were fantastic and others felt oppressive, but they all happened in the same day and none of them were anything worth writing about. For example, I worked outside in the garden and loved it. Miriam cried and I immediately spiraled down into wondering if we've ruined her somehow. Then dinner was delicious and I remembered how much I love just sitting around with my family. But then I had a terrible headache and was sure nothing would ever get better. I did very little schoolwork today, although I did get caught up in 1 more class (1 more to go!)...albeit the class that I was only about 10 minutes behind in. I'm counting it anyway!

And the children? They're running wild like they should during all spring breaks should. Jonah is writing a book, Caroline is learning to play jacks, and Miriam has been seen sprinting through the yard with a blanket tied around her waist to simulate a long, flowing ball gown.

Day 30

I am now caught up in one out of three classes...at least until tomorrow at 8am when we move on to the next section. Here we go, people! Last month of the semester!

Teri came over today and with Mom's help, we (mostly they, since I was doing homework) dug up the rest of the root balls in the front garden bed. When I think of it, I'll post a picture of what the house looked like when we bought it vs. what it looks like now. Good riddance, hideous bushes!

Day 29

The kids are on spring break, which under normal circumstances would mean I was trying to fill the week with as many activities as possible that we don't usually have time to do: puzzles, reading, playing games, watching movies, going on hikes, etc. With the exception of hikes, we've been doing plenty of all of the above, so spring break is going to be my chance to focus on school work. They may rot their brains with television this week* but at least I will be caught up on my work.

We survived the crazy weather of Sunday night-Monday morning unscathed. We didn't even lose a tree or power! I was reminded how fascinating weather is, however, and decided to add weather modeling to my list of things I want to learn how to do once I'm a stats guru.

*They did not today. It took until dinner time to get their chores done (for various reasons), so Day 1 wasn't even a brain rot day!

Days 27 & 28 (the third "weekend")

A few things I have been enjoying this Easter weekend:

1. The Reese's Pieces 2/3 of my children aren't sure they like. What's that? You want to give Mommy more of the candy she pretty much lived on in college? Okay!

2. Andrea Bocelli's solo concert from Milan. I knew it would be spectacular, but I didn't know it would hit me quite so forcefully. I especially enjoy watching the organist and wondering what is going through each of their minds. When I've sung in particularly meaningful situations, there's definitely a mental trick to allowing myself to feel enough of the spirit of the moment to convey that emotion but not enough to derail me and make me cry. I would not fault him for a voice break, but so far there have been none.

3. The return of warmth, even if we are stuck inside watching it rain, rain, rain.

4. Pictures of empty cities.

5. Watching Miriam search for eggs. Don't get me wrong, I had fun hiding eggs and enjoyed watching all the children search for eggs, but Miriam spent last night (glow-in-the-dark eggs) and this morning running around the yard yelling, "Wow! I found one! I found another one! Wow!" How can you not just love that?

Day 26

This morning we woke up to a blustery wind and a desire to turn on the heater for the first time in two weeks. We know the weather will warm back up next week, but it will be a cold, wet, and windy weekend until then.

On this, the first day of the children's spring break, I have them doing chores while I attempt to catch up on school work. Later today, we'll work in the garden (Good Friday is the traditional planting day around these parts) and make some hot cross buns (without the dried fruit, most likely, since my assistant will be Caroline). I've long counted on our church congregation, play groups, and school to help my children celebrate holidays so we can focus on a simple celebration at home,* but this year will be different. It's up to me to mark Easter in a meaningful way...so hot cross buns it is!

The cold weather has me dreaming of just a few days ago when it was warm and I took this picture:

Come back to me, warmth!


*We didn't do our own egg hunt until a few years ago. The kids pretty much assumed that only happened the day before Easter at the park. Whoops!

Day 25

Jonah has been joining me for computer work most days.I like seeing what he's working on, he enjoys having an audience when he's being funny, and he is suitably impressed with my math homework, so it's a win-win-win.

Then he tried to be goofy while I was documenting today's work session and he deleted his slide. Serves him right for being so funny! We both laughed for 10 minutes and I remembered that THIS is the best part of being home day after day.

Day 24

A better day, if not a perfect one. We finished our first homeschool read aloud (Adventures with Waffles by Maria Parr*), which feels like a success for me!

Little Pig died in the night, so it was a bit of a sad day around our house. Despite that tragedy, everyone went to bed with our work done and feeling a bit better than we had the night before.

 *It was cute. It wasn't my favorite book we've read, but it was heartwarming and funny enough that I would heartily recommend it to the 7-10 set (though Miriam stuck around just fine) and Miriam asked if there was a sequel or a movie, so she must have liked it! For the next book, I'll try to find something a little more on Jonah's level (while still a fit for his sisters).

Day 23

Quarantine today: I attended an online class and did 3 (yes, THREE!) math problems while overseeing school for the younger two and fielding five separate crises:

1: "I can't find the pen I want." 
2: "Someone is using my eraser without ASKING." 
3: "Everything is so messy around here. There is nowhere to put the food away in the fridge because everything is in the wrong place and there are DISHES IN THE SINK."
4: "..." (That silence was accompanied by an eye roll and a sigh that I dare ask for a pencil case* to be put away.)
5. "I CAN'T go to the bathroom before I eat because I am STARVING!"

I have not assigned names to each crisis because my children are of an age where they enjoy reading about their cute antics and do not appreciate their low moments broadcast online. While I do my best to respect that, I need a little virtual therapy here since Josh is locked in our room working. 

Can't we all just calm down a little and be patient with the woman trying to hold it all together? While I didn't find the pen in question, I did find a fun marker that did the trick. I restored the eraser to its rightful owner and I had food on the table after the offensive bathroom trip. The fridge isn't organized and the dishes aren't done yet because I'm writing this, but it will be before another soul steps foot in the kitchen to see it. As for the pencil case? There was nothing to do about that one but pretend I didn't see the eye roll. I can't beg for grace if I'm not willing to give it!

*It's apparently a pencil BOX and cannot be called by any other name, thankyouverymuch.

Day 22

Garden Day 3.0! After school, I treated myself to time planting in the garden. Weeding is not nearly as fun as planting, but I did a little bit of that too. Just a little bit, though, because I have much less patience for weeding.

Here is how quarantine has been going, according to the me and the children (Josh is busy working, so we'll see if we can get his answers later):

What do you miss most about school?
J: Seeing other people, specifically my friends, but really anybody.
C: Seeing all of my classmates there and Ms. Hoyle.
M: Seeing all of my classmates.
Me: My stats class and the in-class discussion especially.

What is the best part about school at home?
J: Uhhhh....you can do your work whenever. You basically make your own schedule.
C: Doodling!
M: The best part is that we can stay with our family and that we're safe from the coronavirus.
Me: The only good thing about school at home for me is that I spend less on gas. Having my kids do school at home has lots of positives, especially more time for reading together.

What is something good that happened this week?
J: Well we didn't get baby chicks this week (Caroline: Yes we did! Jonah: No, that was last week), but we went outside with our baby chicks.
C: Hmmm...I watched Onward.
M: I'm thinking. That we stayed with our family.
Me: I played outside in the pretty warm spring.

What have you learned since being stuck at home?
J: That I like bread pudding and I'm lactose intolerant.* Also, I learned the most famous celebrity in the whole world, who is so successful and famous, is having a birthday soon. I made him a card!
C: That being stuck at home is boring.
M: I have learned what homeschool is like!
Me: I do not want to work from home.


*He is not. He just says this to annoy me. 

Days 20 & 21 (the third "weekend")

Saturday was the day of the chicken. I spent most of the day outside planting my garden (did I mention yet in the past 10 seconds that spring is my favorite season?) and the children spent the day outside with their baby chicks.

The highlight of the day was watching one of the chicks (Forest?) find a worm. She snagged that worm in her beak and ran as fast as she could away from the other chicks. The worm was much too large for her to eat, so all she did was carry it around, but she was NOT letting anyone else get near her treasure.

On Sunday, we got all cleaned up for virtual church, followed immediately by the children changing clothes and heading back out to nap in the sun with their chicks. We'll see what happens when they reach that awkward teenage stage with funky feathers and when they're too fast to easily catch, but so far, the chickens are getting plenty of love.

I've been feeling a bit disordered mentally (maybe because I'm jumping back and forth between so many roles and doing none of them particularly well?), so our church conference was a welcome break. I'm feeling more optimistic and energized, plus the weather should be nice all week!

Day 19

When I went to bed Thursday night, I was planning on sleeping in until 7:30 until I rolled out of bed for my 8:00 calculus class (online, of course). As much as I wanted to wake up early and drive down to Renfrow Hardware for chickens and plants, I told myself to wait until next Friday so they would have worked out the kinks in their system and I would have a better chance of avoiding a crazy crowd.* I *really* wanted to go because I wanted my baby chickens NOW (and they're quite a popular commodity these days), but I was being so mature in my decision to wait.

Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler had other plans. Around 5:30, she decided to move from sleeping near my feet to sleeping (and purring) on my neck. "If it's after 5 and early enough to get to Renfrow before they open," I told myself, "I'll go. If not, I won't." Sure enough, the timing worked out perfectly. I was the third person in a line that ended up stretching around the block (one person every 6 feet, of course). When it was my turn to step up to the counter (separated from the employee by two tables and a plexiglass screen), I gave my chicken and plant order, paid, and collected my chicks. From there, I walked over to the greenhouse and picked up my plants. It was well organized and quick. Multiple times, employees thanked me for supporting their business whereas I was feeling like the grateful one that they were still open and had found a way to help all the gardeners and chicken farmers in our area while still observing the state-mandated restrictions.

Determined to raise friendly chickens, the children have divvied them up and named them. Somehow, Jonah convinced his sister that he should get 4 of the 6. Considering the fact that he does most of the work, I don't mind.

Barring any hawk, cat, raccoon, possum, or snake interference, we're adding the following to our flock:
Eddis
Forest
Pig
Pigeon
Blacky (short for Blackbird)
Lemon

*A crowd in that there were lots of people eager for chickens. Not a crowd in that there was little interaction and at least 6 feet between each person.

Day 18

I've noticed a trend: most of the really good days we have at home are warm ones and most of the oppressive ones are cold and/or rainy. Turns out spring is still my favorite season whether anyone goes to school or work. I love seeing the trees leaf out and planting my garden. I REALLY love planting my garden.

If I love planting my garden, my children love running over to Grandma's house to do school over there. It might be because they love their grandmother or it might be because she gives them snacks. We may never know what is the real reason (we absolutely know the real reason!).

Day 17

A few quotes* to describe today:

Miriam: I bet the teachers really miss us.
Me: I bet they do, too! They wouldn't be teachers if they didn't want to be around kids!
Caroline: I bet they even miss the ones who get in trouble.
Me: Honestly, I think you're right.
Caroline: But what if we all got in trouble the very first day back? They probably wouldn't like that.

Jonah: I would sleep outside in the grass if it meant I could sleep with Vex.

Miriam: Let's go get my hair dyed today!
Me: Well all hair salons are closed right now.
Miriam: Oh, right. Just like dentists offices are closed.
Me: Yep.
Miriam: Because of the corona virus.
Me: That's right.
Miriam: I kind of wish we did have the corona virus so we could stay home, but I kind of wish we didn't. I can't get my hair dyed. I can't get my ears pierced. I can't even go to the DENTIST!

Jonah: All I want for my birthday this year is to go to SCHOOL!

Miriam: Can you take me to Target today to buy a new notebook?
Me: Nope. We're not going anywhere unless we have to, like for food.
Miriam: Oh, right. Because of the [imagine the sound of an eye roll with her voice] coronavirus. 
Miriam (The next morning): Mom, can you take me to Ohio tomorrow?
Me: ....

*Remember when I said it's hard to follow the exact same routine every day? Well when I committed to writing a brief description of each day in quarantine, I didn't quite grasp how many days it would be.

Day 16

I call today "recalibration day." When the schools cancelled class, I assumed the original two-week hiatus would be extended at least another two weeks. Using that, I planned what I wanted to cover and how I wanted our days to go (schoolwise and others). I ran to the grocery store for some extra chocolate chips and frozen vegetables so we could stretch our food a little longer in case there wouldn't be any trips to the store for three weeks or so. I was rather proud of myself with the organization, honestly.

And now here I am, facing the prospect of an additional six weeks of this new normal and it's time to recalibrate my plan. It is one thing to know children probably won't be going back to school this year and another thing entirely to wrap my mind around what that looks like for us.

Here are some updates I'm considering making:

1. Focus more on a weekly schedule than a daily one. This worked well for us when we homeschooled the first time, and giving ourselves the freedom to stop school early or dive into a project on any particular day is very freeing. As much as we love Doodles with Mo, that means we've been doodling a few times a week instead of every day, for example, with good results all around.

2. Pick a few extra skills/topics I'd like each child to master while we're home. I have no doubt their teachers will get them back on track if we miss anything, but there are some things they just don't have time for at school. We're going to learn our states and capitals, for example, and maybe finish the illustrated Periodic Table Jonah and I started three years ago.

3. Set new, more flexible goals for myself: First, get *something* done in each class each day, even if it is only one problem. Second, get outside everyday. I know, it sounds like I've just given up on anything productive at all, but I tend to either spend hours on homework (to the detriment of everything else) or to put it off defiantly until it can't be put off any longer. This is a lifelong habit, so we'll see if I can try the one-small-bite-at-a-time approach for the first time in my life.