Our Week - The One with Quarantine, Week 25 (First Fall Baseball Game and House Projects)

Well, this week was worlds better than last, and I’m happy to report things went well!  Come on, September, let’s turn this year around!

Here’s the recap.

Monday, August 31 (Day 171 of Quarantine)

Monday morning, I dropped the kids, ran home for an hour to get some work done, and then as soon as all of the stores opened, I headed back out to run a few (fun) errands. 

The first stop was Hobby Lobby to grab a few things that I needed to complete our fall décor.  I was pleased to see that they are enforcing the city-wide mask mandate (some local retailers and restaurants have opted out), and every single person in there was wearing their masks.  That was the first time I’d been there in quite some time, so I lingered way longer than I normally would have, just soaking up all of the fall surroundings.

The next stop was Marshall’s.  It wasn’t even on my original list of places to go, but I hadn’t been there since before March, so I thought I’d pop in and look at all of their fall goodies since it’s right near Hobby Lobby.  I ended up grabbing the cutest copper pumpkin cheese spreaders for our Sunday charcuterie boards along with two Rae Dunn Halloween mugs.  Score!

The third stop was Bath and Body Works to load up on all of the fall soaps, and then I swung by Academy to try to find some new running shoes.  As I’ve mentioned before, I bought some new Nikes a couple of months ago, and I don’t like the way they feel on my feet, so I need to try to find something different.  No luck there, though.

By the time I arrived back home, I was feeling rejuvenated, and possibly the most normal I’ve felt since early March… it’s amazing what a little bit of retail therapy will do for you.  That, and just being out and about around real live people.  Haha. 

I tinkered around with some of the new fall décor, trying to get everything just right, and then B and I ate lunch. 

Monday evening, we had nothing going on, so we spent the evening in… I cooked dinner, and then we got out for another family walk.  B is allowed to walk 1-2 miles a day as part of his recovery, so we got in a mile for him.

Tuesday, September 1 (Day 172 of Quarantine)

Tuesday morning, I got in two miles and then worked for the rest of the day before it was time to pick up the kids from school.  Jacob had baseball practice Tuesday evening, and since B is still recovering from his surgery and can’t drive, I took Jacob. 

Since there are no spectators allowed at practices, I spent the hour and a half cleaning out B’s car, responding to some emails, and reading.  B sent this picture to me of Olivia and Maui per Olivia's request.  Haha.

We swung by Chick-Fil-A on the way home since it was after 7 when we left the ballpark, and then we all ate a quick dinner before getting the kids showered and in the bed.  A couple of episodes of Schitt’s Creek, and then B and I called it a night as well.

Wednesday, September 2 (Day 173 of Quarantine)

Wednesday morning, I got in two miles, got showered, and then headed straight to my office to be on EmilyLey.com at 10 AM sharp to grab my new planner for 2021 before they sold out!  I was able to get the one that I wanted, and I cannot wait to receive it and get it set up for the new year.

The rest of the day was spent doing the usual weekday things – working, picking up the kids, homework, dinner, TV.

Thursday, September 3 (Day 174 of Quarantine)

Thursday was a typical weekday, and then Jacob had his first baseball game of the fall season Thursday evening!  Our little league typically combines with another little league for the fall season since fewer kids play, but since we were robbed of our spring season, we are having an independent season on our own ballfields this fall. 

Jacob was excited to be back on the field and he ended up having a great game!  His batting has improved so significantly that he was moved up to second in the batting lineup.  During his first season he was somewhere around seventh (I think?) but he’s been so consistent with his hitting lately that the coach moved him up.

Sure enough, he ended up getting two hits during the game, one was a double and one was a single, and both were RBI’s.  He also scored runs on both of his hits.  His other two turns at-bat resulted in hits, but he was thrown out at first base both times.  Four at-bats and no strikeouts!  Woo hoo! 

He also did well playing at second base again.  He had a couple of balls get past him, but he did well making plays the rest of the game, and he threw a kid out at first, too.  At this stage of little league, they either play six innings or one hour and fifteen minutes, and if the game ends in a tie, then it ends in a tie.  This one ended up ending at 16-16.  It was an exciting last inning, too, because we were down by five runs, but we managed to hold the other team and get the five runs we needed!

With regard to the whole playing baseball during a pandemic thing, everything went well.  The boys weren’t allowed to sit in the dugout, and instead, they sat on the bleachers so they could spread out.  Spectators were not allowed to sit on the bleachers and, instead, had to bring their own chairs.  

Most of the spectators for our team were grouped a little too close together for our comfort, so we set up our chairs on the side in right field suuuuper far away from everyone else.  My daddy and my father-in-law both came, and we had plenty of space for our three different groups to spread out while also being close enough to talk.  Since the kids are in school again, we’re being careful not to mix germs with them. 

After the game, the boys tipped their hats at each other instead of high-fiving (a new rule... praise be) and then we picked up Panera on the way home, ate a quick dinner, got the kids showered, and then down for a very late bedtime.  Good ol’ baseball, wrecking bedtime for our family since August 2019.  Lol.

Friday, September 4 (Day 175 of Quarantine)

Friday morning, I dropped the kids off and ran to Walmart Neighborhood Market to grab a few things for the weekend, and then I got in a dance workout because it was way too dang hot to even think about going outside. 

I picked the kids up from school at 3, and then we headed home to settle in for the long weekend.  Waking up at 6 AM for the past four weeks has been kicking my butt, so I was looking forward to sleeping in for the next three days.  Haha.  How do you early risers do it?  I’m just not wired that way.

I picked up Mex for dinner and B whipped up some margs for us, and we had a delicious dinner at home.  As soon as Olivia sat down at the table and saw our margaritas, she started singing Luke Bryan’s song One Margarita and I’m not sure whether to be proud or worried.  Hahahaha.

I threw together some festive fall treats for the kids (candy corn, marshmallows, and googly eyes), and then we all settled in to watch old family home videos for the rest of the evening.  We try to do that once a year or so, and the kids always enjoy it so much.

After seeing all of her old baby videos, Olivia wanted me to swaddle her, so we found a big blanket and I wrapped her up like the pro that I am. Still got it after all these years!  Jacob then decided he wanted to be swaddled, too, so I did my best… they’re both getting too tall for the blankets!  Haha.

As I was getting Olivia in the bed, she asked me if I could show her how to swaddle Sheepie, her beloved stuffed animal, so I showed her the steps and we wrapped Sheepie up nice and tight… I bet she slept really well.  ;o)

B and I watched Love Guaranteed after the kids went to bed, and it was cute, but a bit cheesy.  It’s a Netflix original and it’s basically a fall Hallmark movie, so those of you who love Hallmark movies will love this!  I did love the lead actor and actress, though… Damon Wayans, Jr. was the lead actor and he is so handsome!!  And Rachael Leigh Cook was the lead actress… do y’all remember her?  She played Mary Anne in the 1995 Baby-Sitters Club movie and she was also in She’s All That?  I used to LOVE her when I was a teenager and I haven’t seen her in anything in years, so I was excited to see her in this movie.

Saturday, September 5 (Day 176 of Quarantine)

Saturday morning, I made homemade waffles with the new fall leaves sprinkles I found at Hobby Lobby, and then I spent the rest of the morning cleaning like a crazy woman.  I cleaned all of the countertops, cleaned the toilets, dusted, swept, mopped, and vacuumed the whole house, washed all of the sheets, washed all of the towels, tidied up the house, and I washed, dried, and put away several other loads of laundry.  By the end of the afternoon, I was beat!

Saturday was also the first day that ESPN College GameDay was back on TV, so we had that playing in the background.  You can file that under sounds that make me soooo happy!  #SoundsOfFall

When it was over, we turned the TV to a college football game that was on… the teams weren’t any that we would normally watch, but we’ll take what we can get until the SEC starts playing in a couple of weeks.  I can’t wait!  (Please oh please let it actually happen.)

Saturday evening, I went out and grabbed dinner from our favorite local pub, and B whipped up some Moscow Mules for us while I was gone.  After dinner, we had another family movie night, this time to watch Night at the Museum.  The kids loved it, and Jacob loved it so much that he declared it his second favorite movie of all time… just behind How to Train Your Dragon.

Sunday, September 6 (Day 177 of Quarantine)

Sunday morning, I went out and grabbed donuts for breakfast.  Krispy Kreme just released their pumpkin spice donuts, and those are a must for us every year!  This year the kids even got in on the pumpkin spice action – they usually stick to their everyday favorites – and both of them loved the pumpkin spice ones.  I was surprised as they don’t usually like when I make pumpkin spice versions of anything.

After breakfast, we watched church, and then the kids watched a couple of cartoons while I worked on hanging up our new painting of Maui that my friend Amanda did for us.  I’ve been wanting to find something for one of the smaller walls in our dining room, and this looked absolutely perfect there.  Mark another thing off of the master to do list!

By the time that was done, it was time to get showered and ready for the day, and once that was done, it was already time to figure out what to do about lunch.  We pretty much always eat lunch in every day, but Sunday we decided to change it up and grab pizza from one of our local lunch pizza places.  We hadn’t had it in over six months (since before the pandemic began) so it really hit the spot.  The kids enjoyed it so much that they both ate their entire pizzas. 

After lunch, we all went outside for a bit.  It was hot as hades all weekend, but the humidity dropped to an extremely rare 38% so it really didn’t feel that bad out.  After this weekend and our low humidity, I’m very jealous of those of you who live in the desert areas.  Haha. 

Sunday afternoon I finally spray painted all nine of the frames for the travel gallery that used to be in my office.  That gallery was just too big for the wall that it was on in my office, so I decided to move it to our bedroom instead.  The gold frames didn’t match anything in our bedroom, so I painted them silver a few months ago and I hated the way they looked.  So, I spent Sunday spraying them white and now all is right in the world again.  This project has been on my list for months, but I just haven’t felt like doing it, so it feels good to finally cross this one off.

Sunday afternoon was a little bit of work for me while B and the kids played Zelda, and then I put together yet another charcuterie board for #CharcuterieSunday.  I had grabbed some new cheeses and various other sundries at the store earlier in the week, and I was dying to try all of them! 

After dinner, we went on a family walk (1.5 miles this time... good for B and his recovery!), and then after the kids showered, we got caught up on America’s Got Talent.  B and I watched a couple of shows after the kids went to bed, and that was a wrap on our week! 

We were also off for Labor Day yesterday, but I’ll just recap that in next week’s post.  :o)

Happy Tuesday, y’all!