Our Week - The One with Quarantine, Week 6 (House Projects and a Chipped Tooth)

Another week, another editorial calendar changed up at the last second because I just don't have enough time to get all of the posts done.  Sigh.  No Five on Friday Goals post for you today because I still haven't recapped last week!  I know these posts have been super lengthy, so I’m going to try to keep this one shorter today… we’ll see how that goes.  ;o)

Monday, April 20 (Day 38 of Quarantine)

Monday was another day of school at home, and we ended up having enough time to work on some of the kids’ specials for the week.  Olivia had a recycling project for Library, and she made some super hero cuffs out of toilet paper rolls.  ;o)

The rest of the day was filled with laundry and work and movie time, and then we had breakfast for dinner.  Dinner was pretty early because Olivia had her first live Zoom dance class at 6.  Her dance school is trying to keep them in shape in case they are able to proceed with their recital that has been rescheduled for June.

We are still experiencing some trouble finding some items we need at the grocery store, so each time we get groceries now, we end up going to multiple places.  B decided to go ahead and get a jump start on the shopping Monday evening at the local grocery store up the road from us, and he was able to get a little more than half of the items we needed.  They are pretty reliable when it comes to staples like flour and sugar and ground beef, so we’ve been using them to supplement our Publix trips.

Tuesday, April 21 (Day 39 of Quarantine)

Tuesday morning, I got up early so I could get to Fresh Market right when the senior hour was over at 9 AM.  I’ve always purchased our chicken from there because it’s cheaper and better than anyone else’s.  They also haven’t seemed to have any trouble keeping it in stock like the other stores have.  I was able to load up on it, and I was also able to get a few of the produce items that B wasn’t able to get at the mom and pop store the night before. 

A lot had changed since the last time I was there, and they had put tape on the floors to keep people from standing too close while waiting in line.  They also had signs outside the door stating that you had to wear a mask to shop, even though there were several people in there who ignored the warning.  You can bet I wore mine, though!

When I got home, I got all of the groceries cleaned and put away, and B left to go to Publix in search of the remaining items on our list.  He had total success, but he did have to substitute a few things… the butter, breakfast sausage, and cinnamon rolls we like are still impossible to find.

I spent the rest of the morning cleaning out the refrigerator and the pantry.  Since we’re buying slightly more than usual to spread out our grocery store trips, it’s hard to figure out where to store everything.  Our pantry was bursting at the seams (not a bad problem to have), but there were many expired items that I was able to toss, and that made room for the extra items.

All the while, the kids did their schoolwork, and they even managed to complete their art projects for the week.  They had to spell their names out using items they found around the house… NAILED IT. 

After lunch, I had another Zoom meeting with my therapist, and then I did some work while the kids had some screen time.  When I came downstairs from working, the kids had planned a “party” for B and me.  Lol.  They through confetti they’d made in the air and they had planned a little scavenger hunt + a couple of activities for us.  I ended up winning and my prize was that I got to keep Olivia’s big Hatchimal in my bedroom for one day.  Hahahaha.

I was feeling a little crazed by 4:30 (just one of those days, I guess) and I was ready for a beer, so I popped the top while I cooked dinner.  After dinner, I was in a better frame of mind and we went on a family walk to the other side of the neighborhood so the kids could play in the dirt pile some more.  They are going to be crushed when the house is built and they can’t play there anymore. 

When we got home, it was clean-up time and time to get ready for bed, and clean-up time was like pulling freaking teeth.  Neither kid wanted to cooperate and both of them were whiny and misbehaving and it was just not the best evening.  They’ve been so great throughout all of this, though, so I try to give them grace when they do have a bad day every now and then.

Wednesday, April 22 (Day 40 of Quarantine)

Wednesday morning was school, and then B made mini pizzas for us for lunch again.  They are now one of Jacob’s favorite things ever.  He could not stop raving about them! 

After lunch, we worked on Jacob’s Drama project for the week.  He had to read a specific play about Greek mythology and then design a costume for one of the characters.  He chose Zeus, which was perfect, because he already had a lightning bolt (a wall decoration in his bedroom) and a long white beard (from his wax museum project at school).  We shaped a white sheet into a toga, and voila, DONE.

The rest of the day was spent working, cooking dinner, and then playing soccer in the back yard with the kids.  After soccer, I set out to go for a run on my own and I ended up having one of my best runs yet.  However, my knees have been killing me since I started running again, and by the time I got home from this run, they were beyond done.  I spent the evening icing them down and massaging them with Panaway, one of my favorite oils, and it made them feel so much better.  I haven’t been able to run since that evening and I’m now on the hunt for new shoes.

Wednesday evening was another live bedtime story with our friars, so we made some popcorn and livestreamed them on TV.  Olivia has been wanting me to draw with her in her sketch pad, so she and I sat down and colored a picture of our popcorn bucket and another picture of a car driving down the street next to a lake (her request after she saw the one I’d drawn with Jacob in his sketch pad when he was little).  Lol.

I’d had a giveaway going on Instagram since Monday evening, and it was such a success that I finally hit 10K Wednesday night just before bed… a goal I’ve been working towards for a few years now.  Woot woot!  Now I just need to keep it there!

Thursday, April 23 (Day 41 of Quarantine)

Thursday was rainy, so we had a lazy morning in the dining room doing schoolwork.  I started using a new diffuser blend that day with an oil called Vetiver, and it made the house smell so amazing.  Vetiver is a calming scent and it’s also helpful for focus and concentration, so it’s the perfect oil to diffuse while studying or working.  I didn’t love the scent when I first smelled it in the bottle, but diffusing it with orange was a game changer.  So good, and it’ll always remind me of that cozy, rainy morning in the dining room with my babies. 

After lunch, Olivia put together the costume for her Drama project.  She had to pick a character from Jack and the Beanstalk and she chose Milky White, the cow, because she already had cow gear leftover from Chick-Fil-A Cow Appreciation Day.  Lol.

After that, the kids did a yoga class on YouTube downstairs while I did a yoga class on YouTube upstairs.  I got some work done after that, and before I knew it, it was time to head downstairs and cook dinner.  Since it was rainy and I knew we were in for the evening, B and I opened a bottle of wine and then after dinner, we finally put our 2,000 piece Disney puzzle back in the box and started working on a 1,000 piece NYC puzzle.  We also went and took a peek at the driveway to see the pile of pine straw our local nursery had delivered earlier in the day.  Another house project!

B and I have been in a TV rut lately, and I’m still having trouble getting into The Office, so we surfed Netflix for a good 30 minutes before finally settling on The Blacklist.  I thought the first episode was pretty good, and I think the show has some potential.  The best thing about it is that it has a lot of seasons so it’ll be something we can watch for a while if we end up sticking with it. 

Friday, April 24 (Day 42 of Quarantine)

Jacob had his two fun Zoom sessions on Friday morning.  One of his teachers did a Mo Willems drawing session with them, and the other teacher read to the class.  They had started Pippi Longstocking in class and never had the chance to finish it, so they’re picking up where they left off. 

Friday morning shortly after breakfast, I felt something weird stuck to my front bottom tooth.  I picked at it with my tongue and immediately realized that… it was a piece of my tooth.  Yep, I had somehow chipped my front bottom and a small piece of it was randomly dangling.  HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN?!  I rushed to the bathroom to look in the mirror, praying I was wrong, but nope, my poor tooth was jagged on the top and you could clearly see the chip.  I have literally never chipped a tooth in my life, and of course, it had to happen while everything is closed.  Sigh.

My dental office is closed right now along with all others in the state of Georgia, but I called them anyway, praying that had someone on standby for emergencies.  Unfortunately, there was no answer, and there was also nothing on their recording saying what to do in case of emergency.  I called and called all morning until, miraculously, the recording had updated, listing each of the dentist’s personal phone numbers to text in case of emergency.  I texted my dentist, and he responded almost immediately, asking me to send him a picture of the chipped tooth.  I sent it over and he assured me it’s just cosmetic at this point and it doesn’t look in danger of chipping or cracking anymore.  He told me he’d get in touch with someone at the office and have them make an appointment for me, so now I’m just waiting until May 4, praying that no further damage is done until then.

After lunch, the kids and I went for a walk around the neighborhood and we had some more drama… one of our neighbor’s giant dogs got loose and he came running at Maui and me full-throttle.  We don’t know them or the dog, so I didn’t know what to expect, but it was scary the way the dog was being so rough with Maui.  Fortunately, its owner came running out behind him about ten seconds later, and she was able to get him off of Maui, and Maui was, thankfully, unharmed.  She apologized profusely and assured me that he would never hurt anything and that he’s just rambunctious and overly excited.  Thank goodness for a happy ending.  Although, the lady had to come within about one foot of me to get the dog, so social distancing protocol could not be followed.  Ugh.

Olivia had her live Zoom fun meeting Friday afternoon, and she played Guess My Noun with her teacher and all of her friends.  I was thinking it would be pretty chaotic doing that kind of activity with a bunch of kindergartners on Zoom, but it went very smoothly and she had a lot of fun.  Once she was done with that, we got all of her work turned in for the week and we shut everything down for the weekend!

B got off of work shortly after her meeting, and we left the house to go run some errands and get out of the house.  My uncle’s girlfriend was diagnosed with Covid-19 a couple of weeks ago (hers was mild, she only had bad headaches), and we wanted to bring her some goodies.  We stopped by the liquor store drive-through for some Ginger Beer (her request) and then we headed to her house to drop it off on her sidewalk, along with some essential oils and some get well cards from the kids. 

She had dressed up like a clown for the kids and it was just the sweetest thing!  We got to chat with her for a few minutes, but we stayed suuuuper far away from her.  B and the kids never got out of the car, and I only got out to leave her bag on the sidewalk about 20 feet away from her.  Haha.  She has since been retested and her ‘Rona is officially GONE!  Woo hoo!

We had a Target order to pick up afterward, so we went there next.  This was our first time ever doing a car pick-up and it went smoothly until we got home and realized we were missing an item.  Cue all the tears!!!!  We ended up having to go back and I had to go inside to the guest services desk with a billion other people (GRRRR) but they made it right quickly, thank goodness.  I wore my mask, so I’m praying no germs got through.

After our initial trip to Target, we headed straight down to one of our favorite pubs near our church (one of our Saturday evening hangs) to pick up dinner and take it back home.  They had closed a couple of weeks prior, but had reopened for pick-up so I was excited to get my fix!!  We headed home and ate our delicious dinner and it was so nice to have my beloved camel rider again.

My mom had called to say that they were going to social distance visit my Mama Cass that evening, so we met my parents and uncle over at her house at 6:30 for a quick visit.  Everyone stood at least 10-12 feet apart and we all stayed out in the yard.  It was nice catching up with everyone and seeing people in real life for the first time in weeks.  What a weird time we’re living in!

When we got back home, we watched Lego Movie 2, and then after the kids went to bed, B and I watched more of The Blacklist.

Saturday, April 25 (Day 43 of Quarantine)

Saturday morning, B had to get up to work at 3 AM for a project they had going on that day, so he was already up when the kids and I came downstairs.  I made waffles for breakfast, and then I decided to paint our laundry room once and for all.  It’s been on my list for years, and even though I really didn’t feel like doing it, I made myself.

B napped and the kids played while I painted, and by lunchtime I had trimmed the whole thing.  We all went down for lunch, and then afterward, B helped me move the washer and dryer around so I could roll the whole room and finish the trim behind those.  The lighting in there is terrible, but trust me when I say that the grey brightened it up TREMENDOUSLY.

All trimmed out!

Aaaand DONE!!

By 3, I was beat, so it was time for some relaxation.  The kids and I got into our swimsuits, and I read and lounged while Jacob and Olivia played and ran through the sprinkler.  B did some more pressure washing and put down some of the pine straw that we’d had delivered the day before, and it was a productive day on the home front.

I headed up to shower around 5 and then I jumped on the end of a Zoom meeting with my grandmother and some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins from my mom’s side of the family afterward.  She’d texted me about it earlier in the day and I’d forgotten about it since I’d been in the middle of painting, but the whole fam bombarded me with texts to remind me.  I’ll have to make sure I’m ready next time!

The kids spent the rest of the afternoon playing video games and B went out and picked up Five Guys for dinner.  We’ve been so good about only supporting local businesses during this time since we know they need it the most, but Five Guys will always and forever be our favorite burger place, and we all needed our fix after more than two months without it.  #NoRegrets

I made us some Moscow Mules to go along with it, and it was such a delicious dinner.  We all sat down and watched more of The Imagineering Story after dinner, and then the kids went to bed while B and I watched The Blacklist.  We also started that new show on Netflix called Too Hot to Handle.  Omg, y’all, if you want some trash to watch, that’s your show!  Lol.  It’s like The Bachelor, but 10 times more shallow.  Good, light, mindless stuff for these times we’re in.  ;o)

Just as we were getting ready for bed, I got a text from my mom saying that my oldest brother, Zach, was being taken to the emergency room for severe pain in his abdomen.  I knew it must have been bad if he and my SIL had made the choice to go, since NOBODY wants to go to a hospital right now with all of this crap going around. 

Sure enough, an hour or so later, I got the text from my mom saying that his appendix had started to rupture, and he was being whisked away to emergency surgery (keep in mind it was after midnight at this point).  I ended up laying there, unable to sleep until I got the success text from my mom.  I got the text around 2:30 AM and was finally able to fall into a peaceful sleep.  He ended up having to stay in the hospital for three days, but he’s home now and he’s doing great.  We are all just praying that he wasn’t exposed to the funk and that he stays ‘Rona free.

Sunday, April 26 (Day 44 of Quarantine)

Sunday morning, we made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then we watched church.  After church it was time for some house projects… I’m happy to report, my project mojo is back!  Haha! 

B hung our new ironing board/iron organizer in the laundry room, and I got the laundry room put back together since the paint had completely dried.  It looks so much brighter in there and it’s just THE BEST.  I spent some more time after that organizing a couple of boxes in the downstairs closet, and then I made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

B was supposed to have been off from work on Sunday, but he got called “in” and ended up working the entire afternoon (from home).  I was bummed because I had some more house projects I wanted to work on, but I told myself we’re lucky he has his job and we’re even luckier that he’s needed, and I spent the afternoon out in the sun reading a book instead. 

B finished working around 4:30 and then he and the kids played video games.  I made a frozen pizza for dinner, and we ate out on the back porch.  It was another gorgeous day, and only 70 degrees, so we made the most of the evening.  We turned on the twinkle lights and poured some wine and turned on some Michael Buble and it was just the best evening.

After dinner, I pressure washed the back porch while B put down more pine straw, and the kids played out in the yard.  Nights like these remind me of my childhood when my brother and I played outside while my parents worked in the yard.  We always loved when they did yardwork in the evening because it meant that we got to play outside a little later, and I love that our kids are getting to experience the same thing.  It’s probably something that wouldn’t really happen if we weren’t in quarantine because we’re always so busy with baseball and dance and life stuff, and rarely take the time to work in the yard… especially in the evening. 

It was the perfect end to a wonderful, productive, relaxing weekend, and I’ve been so grateful for weekends like these.

And now, since it’s the last weekly recap of the month, I’m adding in my currently section... I know I promised to keep this post a little shorter, but I’d forgotten about this section until now.  Haha.

Currently Reading

I finished Class Mom earlier this month and I thought it was cute, although, there was definitely not much substance to it.  I still haven’t been inspired to pick up Christmas Shopaholic again… probably since it’s no longer Christmas season.  Instead, I picked up Elvis Duran’s book, Where Do I Begin?  He’s my favorite morning show host and I love him to pieces, and I’ve been wanting to read this ever since it was released.  I also started reading 10% Happier, which is Dan Harris’s book about how meditation changed his life.  I’ve been really into meditation for several months now, so I’m wanting to learn as much about it as I can now.

Currently Watching

This month, we finished Shark Tank, Modern Family, Lego Masters, Better Call Saul, and Tiger King, and we started The Office, The Blacklist, Too Hot to Handle, and Outer Banks.  I’m still not loving The Office (don’t hate me), The Blacklist is pretty good (at three episodes in), Too Hot to Handle is a hot, hot mess (for real), and Outer Banks is gooood!!  We’re only two episodes in and I’m hooked!  I’ll probably just want to finish that before continuing with anything else.  So far it’s only one season (10 episodes) so we’ll probably finish it super fast and then it’ll suck because we’ll have to wait forever until the second season is released.

Currently Listening To

I’m still listening to Elvis Duran and the Morning Show (syndicated from NYC) every morning while the kids are in school, and during the afternoon and evenings I’m playing a random assortment… sometimes Jazz for Studying on Pandora (my happy station), and also a mix of other random faves like T Swift, Ed Sheeran, and Chris Stapleton.  I’ve also been on a Justin Timberlake 20/20 kick lately, too.  What a fantastic album that was!

Happy Friday, y’all!