Our Week - The One with Quarantine, Week 18 & Summer, Week 8 (School Uncertainty and Mask Mandates)

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Happy Monday, y’all.  Today should be interesting because our school is announcing their revised plans for returning to school.  They had finalized everything a few weeks ago when cases started to decline in our area, announcing we’d be able to return in person, but then our city reopened, and half of the people who live here refuse to wear a mask, so cases started to increase again.  Our city is now shattering record highs every single day, and because of this, our school had to reevaluate, and we are not-so-patiently awaiting the outcome. 

We’re supposed to be hearing something this morning and I’m on pins and needles to find out what the word will be.  Will the kids be going back in person with a mask requirement?  Will they be distance-learning instead?  Will we have to choose between one or the other?  Will we be able to do both?  It really, really sucks to be the parent of a school-age child right now, y’all.  How are we supposed to make these decisions?  Every single decision is lose-lose.  Any way you look at it, our children’s lives will be largely disrupted, and it sucks.  If you’re not wearing a mask when you’re out in public, I urge you to reconsider… there are millions of people in this country who would like to be able to send their kids back to school in the next few weeks and we need this virus to slow down so our kids have a fighting chance!

Now for the recap… :o)

Monday, July 13 (Day 122 of Quarantine)

Monday was laundry day, so I spent the morning working on that while B ran to Walmart to grab some necessities.  Mid-morning, the kids and I went for a walk around the neighborhood because it was cloudy and cool.  On our walk, we were treated to a firetruck sighting as the local firefighters were making the rounds, checking the fire hydrants.  They even slowed down and waved to the kids as they drove by.  A few minutes later, they must have received an emergency call, because the next thing we knew, they were turning on the siren and blasting past us… the kids were so excited!

We played a couple of games of Candyland and the Frozen 2 game when we got back home, and then B joined us for lunch.  Right around lunchtime, our wine delivery arrived, and B and I were excited to think about sipping on glasses of wine from our favorite vineyard in North Georgia! 

After lunch, I went into Jacob's room to see what he was doing and I found him doing this... reading a Lego instruction manual.  Lol.  If this kid doesn't become some kind of engineer I will be shocked.

That afternoon, the kids put away their laundry that I’d washed that morning and I’m LOVING that they are helping out around the house more now.  We spent the rest of the afternoon playing, watching TV, and working. 

After dinner, we all played wiffle ball, and then the kids played Monopoly (their own made-up version) before bed.  I guess B and I need to teach them how to play for real.  Haha.

Tuesday, July 14 (Day 123 of Quarantine)

Tuesday morning, I had to run a few errands – UPS dropoff for an Amazon return, Target, and Fresh Market.  I made sure to get there right when they opened so I didn’t have to be in a crowded store full of a bunch of people without masks. 

That afternoon, I had a Zoom appointment with my therapist and then the rest of the day was spent with the kiddos and getting some work done.  After dinner, the kids and I played wiffle ball in the back yard while B finished up some work.  He’s been swamped lately, and has been having to work more hours, but we’re just grateful that he still has a job.

When the kids and I came inside, they got ready for bed, and Olivia came downstairs asking to put socks on Sheepie, her favorite stuffed animal.  Girlfriend refuses to wear a sock herself, but Sheepie must wear them.  Haha.

Just after the kids went to bed, we got the news that four out of five of our friars at our church tested positive for Covid-19, all of whom are showing symptoms.  As you all know, my mom works directly with them on a daily basis, so she has been exposed. After the church’s announcement, my phone was blowing up with concerned friends wanting to check in on my momma, so I spent the evening sitting on the couch with Maui and texting and talking on the phone.  

I had a nice, long conversation with my friend, Jeannine, and it was awesome actually talking on the phone with her instead of the usual texting that we do.  I also talked to my momma and daddy for a bit, too.  To have so many of them test positive at once has been a bit worrisome for our whole church and school family, so please keep all of them in your prayers for complete and speedy healing.  And please pray that my momma doesn’t get it at all or expose my daddy to it.  So far, fingers crossed, they are both well.  And full-on quarantining again.  Sigh.

Wednesday, July 15 (Day 124 of Quarantine)

Wednesday, the kids and I worked on summer homework for a good long while.  Jacob is only three hours away from completing his Khan Academy math work, and then he still has one more book to read, plus book reports to do.  Olivia has completed all of her written work, so now she and I are focusing on review items, completing her reading log, and handwriting practice… because she likes to write her letters her own way instead of the proper d’nealian style that her school requires.  Haha.  That girl.

After lunch, I drove to the Red Cross for my first blood donation appointment ever.  At the beginning of 2020, I added it to my list of goals for the year, and then Covid happened so I put it on the back burner, unsure whether or not I wanted to unnecessarily expose myself since we’re rarely going in public.  Well, the Red Cross announced at the end of June that they’d be offering free Covid antibody testing with all blood donations in the month of July, so I thought that was a great incentive to go ahead and get it done since I’ve been wanting to do the antibody testing, too.  It’s a win-win! 

When I arrived, they immediately took my temperature and gave me some hand sanitizer at the door, and I was required to wear my mask the entire time (which I would have done regardless of the rules).  I had to read over some literature, answer a bunch of questions on a tablet, and have my blood pressure and pulse taken, and the nurse also had to do a finger prick to test my iron before we could proceed.  I was given the all-clear and then it was time to get down to it! 

The overall process from there took about 25 minutes – a few minutes to prep my arm, around 8-10 minutes to take the blood, and then five or so minutes remaining in the chair and sipping on juice before they would let me try to stand. 

I’m not scared of needles and having blood drawn/seeing blood has never bothered me, but I have to say, I was really anxious about this because of the sheer volume of blood that they take (one pint)… I was convinced that I’d pass out, or at the very least, get really dizzy or lightheaded, but fortunately, I felt totally normal the whole time (aside from my own nerves, of course).  Once I was done, they asked me to wait in the refreshment area for at least ten minutes (or more if I needed it), and after those ten minutes I was good to go… and I got to enjoy some mini Oreos and cranberry juice while I waited.  ;o)  I felt perfectly fine driving myself home, but I did feel kind of weak for about six hours after I donated.  I was able to cook dinner and clean and all that, but I felt reeeeally worn out after doing so.  By 8:30 that evening I was totally back to normal, though.  I think I didn’t drink enough water prior to going, so next time I’ll know to drink more. 

I’ll be receiving my Covid antibody results in 7-10 days and I’ll let y’all know what they say.  For some background information, I’ve been wanting the antibody testing because I think I may have possibly had Covid back in February (I’ve mentioned this here before) before testing was available in our area.  I came down with a horrid cough – the worst cough I’ve ever had in my life – and nothing helped it.  During the worst part of it, I lay awake at night for 5-6 nights in a row coughing incessantly… and when I say that, I mean, legit nonstop.  I didn’t sleep.  Ask Brian, he’ll vouch for that… I’m sure he was probably ready to kill me.  Anyhoo, the cough lasted for six full weeks, the worst of it lasting for about a week, and at its worst, I also had two days of severe fatigue where I would drop the kids off at school and go home and sleep for the rest of the day.  My dad had the exact same thing, starting about a week before mine did, and lasting for around the same amount of time, and he also said his was the worst cough he’s ever had.  Those were the only two symptoms I had, but they were both extreme. 

While we knew that Covid existed in the world at that point, there were no known cases in our area, so I assumed at the time that it wasn’t possible for me to have it, even though I had my suspicions since my cough was so violent and different than normal (and I’m totally used to having a bad cough… it’s the one symptom that I pretty much always have with any sickness, probably due to my asthma).  Now that studies are being released saying that the virus likely hit the US way earlier than originally thought, I’m convinced that’s what I had.  However, since that was almost five months ago, I’m assuming any antibodies that would have been in my system from it would be gone, and therefore, I’m expecting the antibody test to come back negative.  I guess we’ll see…

And before I go any further, a side note about mask wearing – my anxiety has always manifested in breathing issues (shortness of breath, feeling like I can’t breathe, etc.) and I have legitimate asthma, so I’ve always hated anything that messes with my breathing including wearing a mask.  Wearing one makes me feel panicky and almost immediately messes with my breathing every single time, so when all of this started, I was worried more than anything about having to wear a mask.  However, I’ve powered through and continued to do it time and time again because it’s the right thing to do, and after months of wearing it, I have to say, I’ve finally reached the point where I’ve pretty much gotten used to it.  I completely forgot about it altogether while I was donating blood Wednesday for the first time ever.  If you struggle with mask-wearing, too, I urge you to keep on trying.  I also know that not everyone is like me, and some of you may never be able to get over that sense of panic, but the more you try, the more likely you are to succeed.  It’s worth a shot.

Wednesday afternoon we had thunderstorms roll through so the kids colored and crafted and watched TV while I worked, and then we had dinner.  I was so pooped by the time I finished dinner that I put my PJs on and sat on the couch for the rest of the evening.  We watched some America’s Got Talent with the kiddos and then B and I watched our shows when they went to bed.

Thursday, July 16 (Day 125 of Quarantine)

Thursday, I wore my new leggings that I mentioned in my Five on Friday post, and after wearing them for an entire day, I think I've come to the conclusion that I like them even better than the Zellas!  That is a BOLD statement, but I stand by my word.  These leggings are truly so light and comfortable and non-slip that you really feel like you're wearing nothing.

That morning, I cleaned out Jacob’s closet and drawers and started making a list of the things he needs for going back to school… assuming they’ll even go back to school at this point.  Fortunately, he doesn’t need much, but Olivia is going to be another story.

After the closet-cleaning, the kids and I made a Hershey Pie to freeze for dessert.  It’s only three ingredients, you don’t have to bake it, and it only takes about 15 minutes to make!  You can see the recipe here… it’s soooo delicious!

After lunch, the kids and I headed out to get some time away from the house.  I had ordered some oils for my uncle’s friend that we needed to deliver, and we also had some library books to return.  We were so excited to see Steph, even if just for a few minutes, and of course, we kept our distance from her.  I think that goes without saying… from this point forward, y’all can just assume that.  Haha.  While we were at Steph's house, Olivia was thrilled because a moth/butterfly landed on her arm and she was able to hold it for a while.

Since we had to drive right by my parents’ neighborhood on our way back home, I thought it would be nice to stop by and say hello.  Obviously, we had to be careful since my mom was exposed to Covid earlier in the week, so they came outside, and we stood super far away from them while they sat on the porch.  It was sweltering out, so we only stayed for about 20 minutes, but at least we got to see them in person for a bit!

Thursday afternoon I spent a lot of time contemplating the current state of things here in Georgia after I saw an article about our governor forbidding individual cities and counties in the state of Georgia to order mask mandates.  When I thought it couldn’t get any crazier, our governor took that even further and decided it would be a good idea to sue Atlanta’s mayor for a previously issued mask mandate.  It’s shocking and appalling and it makes me sad that our leadership has been so poor throughout this whole ordeal.  We pulled our kids out of school and shut everything down when there were barely any cases of Covid, and now we’re expected to send our kids back with new cases shattering records every day because people won’t wear a mask?  No thank you.

I personally know nine people right here in our hometown who have Covid right now and all of them are having symptoms… most of them are only having moderate symptoms and a couple of them are having severe symptoms that are not life-threatening, but three of them are having life-threatening symptoms.  I personally know three people right now who are fighting for their lives with Covid.  Let that sink in.  And these numbers don't even include all of the people who I know who have already had it and recovered.  My count is nearly up to 20 now.  I think it may actually be higher than that, but I didn’t start tallying until last week, and I'm sure I’ve forgotten a few.  My point is, I know personally that the virus exists, and it can be very, very dangerous.

With cases skyrocketing here in town (and in the state of Georgia in general), I just don’t understand why more people can’t be considerate and wear a mask.  Unfortunately, it seems that “freedom” takes precedence over human decency for the majority here in our town (don’t get me started on that), and because people can’t do the right thing, it seems to me that the only thing left to do is issue a mask mandate.  Since our governor can’t seem to make those kind of hard decisions, I was ecstatic to see that a bunch of mass retailers took things into their own hands this week – Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Publix, Starbucks, CVS, Kohl’s, Trader Joe’s, etc. will all be requiring masks in their stores.  I know where we’ll be shopping!  And I applaud them for stepping up since our government will not. 

I know nobody wants to be told what to do, but the right thing to do right now is to wear a mask, and if that’s the only way to get people to do it, so be it.  And even if it turns out that the virus isn’t as contagious/deadly/etc. as experts are saying, then the only harm that’s done is that we all had the minor inconvenience of wearing a mask for a few weeks/months.  No big deal.  I would rather err on the side of caution and not put others in danger, and I would appreciate it if the same was done for me.  As I said before, I have to send my children back to school in three weeks, and I should not have to send them back with a potential deadly virus running rampant in our city.  We need to get a handle on it before then, and one of the scientifically proven ways to do that is for everyone to wear masks.  #WearADamnMask  And thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Now that I have that out of the way, let’s get back to the rest of our day, shall we?

We made breakfast for dinner and I surprised the kids with mini cinnamon rolls to go along with it, and then the kids and I played tag in the back yard while B mowed the lawn.  I had felt totally back to normal all day after donating blood the day before, but when I started running around the yard, I thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest!  I’ve been monitoring my heart rate for the past few months since I got my Apple watch and the highest my heart rate ever gets is around 160… and that’s only when I’m doing max cardio for a long period of time.  Typically, it hangs out around 120-130 during exercise, and 65-70 at rest.  Well, I checked my watch after just three or four minutes of running around with the kids and my heart rate was 175, y’all.  EEKS!!  I’m assuming my heart was having to work overtime since my blood hadn’t quite replaced itself??  Science!

After our outdoor time, Olivia wanted me to step into her "library" and read a book with her before she cleaned it all up.  The kids have been really into fort-making and I couldn't resist that little face... even if I am tired of stepping over pillows and blankets all the time.  Haha.

We finished AGT that evening, and then B and I did some TV-watching, too.

Friday, July 17 (Day 126 of Quarantine)

Friday morning, Olivia and I drew and colored together and then I started cleaning out her closet.  She had lots of hand-me-down school uniform shirts from Jacob plus an array of plaid jumpers in different sizes that needed to be tried on, and then we decided what to keep and what to donate.  I made a list of things we need to buy for her and for Jacob, but it just seems so dumb at this point to even think about that… will they even go back?  Will they go back only to be sent home a few weeks later?  Nobody knows.  Hopefully I’m not about to waste a lot of money buying new stuff. 

After lunch, the kids worked on summer homework, and then I sat down with Olivia for some shoe-tying practice.  Jacob learned years ago, of course, but he still prefers the Nikes that have Velcro, so I tested him to make sure he remembered how to do it, too.  Lol.  He, of course, remembered.  Until that point, I hadn’t really worked much with Olivia with regard to tying shoes since she prefers the Velcro Nikes, too, so I sat with her for about five minutes showing her how to do it with my shoes.  Within ten minutes, she was tying them over and over all by herself.  That was easy! 

The kids and I played a couple of board games after that, and then they settled in to watch a couple of shows while I worked. 

Friday evening B picked up pizza for dinner, we spent some time running around in the back yard, and then we watched Wall-E… one of the last few Disney movies the kids haven’t seen.  I did a good stair stepper workout while I watched, but apparently it was too strenuous (or I’m just getting old) because I somehow managed to pull a muscle in/around my SI joint because I was so sore the rest of the weekend.  After my workout, I lay down on the couch, and clearly I can't hang, because Brian snapped this picture at just 8:45 PM.  Hahahaha.

Saturday, July 18 (Day 127 of Quarantine)

Saturday was a pretty lazy day as most of our Saturdays are these days… homemade waffles for breakfast, back yard and pool time before and after lunch, video games and work in the afternoon (B and the kids finally beat the Zelda game they’ve been playing), and then Five Guys takeout and another movie night at home… live action 101 Dalmations.  I wanted to do a dance workout that morning, but I after walking into the playroom and seeing that mess, I just decided to skip it.  Haha.  (And in case you're wondering, the play room is the only room that has enough floor space, and a TV, for my dance workouts.)

Brian also worked on fixing a computer issue that I’ve been having for a long time… I’ve been having connectivity issues between my iPhone and my PC for the last year or so, and it won’t allow some of the videos on my phone to transfer to my computer.  It’s been soooo frustrating, and we just can’t figure it out.  I/we spent several hours trying to solve the problem Saturday afternoon and we had no success… let me know if you’ve had the same problem and have been able to figure it out!

After the kiddos went to bed, B and I watched another episode of All American, and season 2, episode 7 wrecked me, y’all… it was intense.  So SO good.

Sunday, July 19 (Day 128 of Quarantine)

Sunday morning was cinnamon rolls and church on TV (a priest from Savannah came to do our masses as ours are sick), and then I got in a yoga workout.  I had to find a gentle one since my right SI joint and leg were strained all weekend.

My MIL and step-FIL were quarantining since they’ve been out and about, so we didn’t get to go to lunch over there.  Instead, we had a quick lunch at home, and then we took the kids to see the new turf football/baseball/soccer field that was just installed at their school.  Fun fact, the turf is the same stuff that the Atlanta Falcons use, and the same people who installed it for the Falcons did ours, too!  Pretty cool.  I’d never seen this kind of turf up close before, and I was surprised to see that it was filled with gazillions of these little tiny bean-like things… clearly, I do not know the official name of them.  Haha. 

The kids enjoyed running around on it for a bit, and then we stopped by Dairy Queen to grab Blizzards to go because Sunday was National Ice Cream Day!  FYI, the Blizzard of the Month for July is Drumstick and it is reeeeally good.  I usually end up being disappointed when I stray from my usual cookie dough, s’mores, or pumpkin pie, but this one didn’t disappoint at all! 

It was a billion degrees Sunday, so the rest of the day was spent indoors working while B and the kids started a new video game.  B picked up Cracker Barrel veggies for dinner (we went crazy with the takeout this weekend) and we opened one of the bottles of wine we’d had delivered from our favorite winery.  After dinner, we spent some time outside and then watched some old episodes of Supermarket Sweep on Netflix along with an episode of the making of Frozen 2.  Do y'all remember Supermarket Sweep?!  I LOVED that show as a kid and it's just as good as I remember... 80's hair and outfits and all!  ;o) 

And that was our week!

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