Our Week - The One with Quarantine, Week 51 (DMV, Hair Appointment, and Flu)

More sickness in the house last week again, y’all, but we were all grateful it wasn’t Covid.  Let’s get to the recap!

Monday, March 1 (Day 353 of Quarantine)

The week started out with early morning grocery shopping first thing Monday morning, and the rest of the day was just a regular day – working all day, getting the kids from school, baseball practice, dinner, TV, bedtime.  Pretty boring, so I’m not going to bore y’all with the details since there’s not much on which to elaborate.

Tuesday, March 2 (Day 354 of Quarantine)

Tuesday was Read Across America Day, so Olivia was allowed to dress as her favorite Dr. Seuss character.  I found a picture on Pinterest of a girl dressed as Cat in the Hat, and we went with it since we had everything on hand.  Red Solo cup hat for the win!!  ;o)

I dropped the kiddos at school, and then I headed straight to the DMV for my 8 AM appointment to renew my license.  The state of Georgia allows you to renew online these days, but when I attempted to do so, I was told I didn’t qualify since I have to wear contacts/glasses to drive.  So dumb since they don’t even do anything at the DMV to check your vision or anything.  I don’t understand why I couldn’t just do it online. 

Anyway, since the website was so user-friendly and made it easy to make appointments, I thought my experience there was going to be a breeze… especially considering the last time I went (7-8 years ago) I was in and out in 10 minutes.  Right?  WRONG.

When I arrived, I was greeted by a full parking lot, two different lines at the door, and about 20 random people standing between the two lines trying to figure out where they were supposed to go.  There was no signage anywhere and nobody there telling anyone what to do, so I had no clue what to do either.  I should also mention that it was pouring down rain.

Someone working there stepped outside a minute or so after I arrived, and she started telling people they weren’t supposed to be lined up by the door, and that they were supposed to be lined up under a makeshift tent they had set up on the side of the building.  Everyone rushed over there in a big mob, not a single person taking care to stay in the original lines they had formed, and instead rushing to try to be at the front.

I headed to the tent, too, where everyone was standing nearly shoulder-to-shoulder.  Everyone was masked, but that tiny tent didn’t allow for any social distancing whatsoever.  I was not happy.

My mother-in-law just so happened to arrive as I was walking to the tent, and she ended up in line next to me, which was great, because I had somebody to talk to!  Just as we had settled in, the lady from the DMV came over and asked which line was for people with appointments and which line was for people with no appointment.  Well, none of us knew they had two separate lines for this, so everyone had to mix up yet again to get in the correct line.  And then she asked which was the front and back of the line and everyone shifted around again.  I swear, you can’t make this stuff up. 

When all was said and done, I somehow managed to be third in the appointments line as most people who had been there before me didn’t have appointments at all.  They were obviously prioritizing the appointments line, so I was led inside by the lady working there about five minutes later.  Once I got inside, everything was organized and ran smoothly and I was in and out, but the whole process took 45 minutes because of the cluster outside. 

We’ve been in this pandemic for nearly a year now, so I was aggravated that they hadn’t figured out how to run things smoothly there… I mean, just put up some signs with instructions on where to form lines and call it a day!!  I feel terrible for people who didn’t have appointments because I guarantee they were there for hours.

After that I headed home to warm my bones with some hot tea and a warm blanket, and then I had to head back out into the cold and rain mid-morning for my hair appointment.  I was due for my appointment back in November, y’all.  November.  So, my hair was looking ROUGH.  To give you an idea of just how bad it was, when I pulled my hair back in a ponytail, my roots nearly reached the elastic, so the top of my head was dark brown, and my ponytail was blonde.  This pandemic has been especially rough for my hair.  Lol. 

I had planned to go back in January after the new year, but that’s when Covid cases exploded here because of everyone getting together for the holidays, and the last thing I wanted to do was sit in a salon in close quarters with my hair dresser.  So instead, I held off until cases started trending downward again.

My hair appointment went well, and there were only five other people in the building the entire time I was there, four being employees, three of whom were nowhere near me.  The other was a very elderly lady, who I would assume is probably vaccinated by now, so it all felt very safe.  Everyone wore masks the whole time, too, obviously.  It felt GREAT to get my hair done after months of looking rough, and it was also nice to have an in-person conversation with someone other than Brian, Jacob, and Olivia.  Haha. 

The rest of the day was spent working, hanging out with Olivia while the boys were at baseball, eating dinner, and TV-watching.  Olivia got a friendship bracelet kit from my parents for her birthday, and the two of us (or should I just say I – haha) started a bracelet.  I made a ton of friendship bracelets as a teenager, but didn’t remember how to do any of them, so I was thankful for some step-by-step instructions.  We got about half of one done (they are tedious and time-consuming, y’all!) and then we called it quits since I had to start cooking dinner. 

Wednesday, March 3 (Day 355 of Quarantine)

Wednesday morning, I dropped the kids at school and got in a short cardio workout at home.  The rest of the day was spent working and catching up on a few little things that I’ve been putting off, and then we did the whole car line/after-school ballet/tap/jazz routine. 

At dance, I ended up standing out in the parking lot and chatting with one of the other dance moms the entire time, and it was so nice to have more human interaction… two times in one week!!  Haha.  The girl I chatted with actually graduated from high school with me and her daughter has been in Olivia’s class for the last few years, so we’ve known each other for a long time.

Jacob’s baseball practice was canceled because of all the rain we’d had the day before, so the rest of the evening was spent at home.  Wednesday was the last day for the parents to turn in their baseball raffle tickets, so since practice was canceled, we had to do a lot of scrambling to get them collected, but we got it done!

B and I made breakfast for dinner, and then we watched American Idol with the kids by the fire.  We had a chilly snap last week, but it’s been warm since, so we probably won’t get to have too many more evenings by the fire…

Olivia had some birthday money, so we let her pick out a Lego set from Amazon, and it arrived Wednesday.  She ended up putting the whole thing together Wednesday evening and she was so proud of herself!

Thursday, March 4 (Day 356 of Quarantine)

Thursday morning after I dropped the kids at school, I had to stop by a fellow baseball team mom’s house to drop something off, and then I headed home to get everything organized for the upcoming season.  I can’t even remember if I mentioned it here on the blog or not, but I was asked to be the team mom for the season.  This is my first time, so I have no clue what I’m doing, but my first impression of it is that it’s going to be a ton of work.  Haha. 

There is so much to orchestrate with the raffle, barbecue sales, concession duties, team pictures, uniform try-ons and pick-ups, and the end-of-the-season celebration and all that goes along with that.  It is A LOT.  Oh, and did I mention that we have practice or games scheduled for seven days a week from the second week of February to the last week of May?  Yes, you read that correctly.  We have something scheduled for baseball every. single. day. (including Saturdays and Sundays!!) for three months straight aside from the one week of spring break.  Thankfully, some practices will be canceled because of rain, so I’m sure we won’t be there seven days a week every single week, but my goodness, baseball may do me in this year.

Baseball planning literally took up my entire morning, as we had some issues with the timing for team pictures, and B was kind enough to step out and grab us some takeout for lunch, so I didn’t have to worry about making anything.  We got it from our favorite Greek place, and my gosh, it was divine as always. 

I had an appointment to donate blood in the early afternoon, and that went smoothly.  The first two times I went, I drank about 32 ounces of water prior to my appointment, and it took about 15-20 minutes to donate.  This time, I drank about 64 ounces of water prior to my appointment, and my donation time took less than 10 minutes… I think it was probably somewhere around 7-8 minutes.  The nurse even commented at how quickly the bag was filling, so apparently, the more water you drink, the faster and easier everything goes. 

My body always feels exhausted for about 24-48 hours after I donate, so B picked the kids up from school for me, and I spent the rest of the evening relaxing with the exception of cooking dinner.  Jacob had his first late baseball practice, and he was scheduled from 7:15-9, so he and B headed out after dinner, and Olivia and I did her whole bedtime routine and finished her AR book together. 

After she went to bed, I had the whole house to myself, which NEVER happens in the evening, so I fired up some Dawson’s Creek and watched that until the boys got home.  Fortunately, our coaches decided to end practice a little early, so they were home just before 9, and then Jacob got his shower and got off to bed.

Friday, March 5 (Day 357 of Quarantine)

Friday morning, I got the kids to school and got about two hours into tackling a VERY long to-do list for the day, when the school called me and told me that Jacob had a persistent cough and a very low-grade fever of 99.1 and I had to come get him.  Noooo.

I jumped in the car and made the drive to the school, and on the way there, I called his pediatrician’s office to see if they were offering rapid Covid testing.  I knew it was probably already too late in the day to make a same-day appointment at the other facility we had gone to the prior week, so I knew we’d need another alternative.  Fortunately, the pediatrician’s office said they were doing the rapid testing and that we didn’t even need an appointment. 

Jacob didn’t look so good when I got there to pick him up, and by the time we got to the doctor’s office, his low-grade fever had risen a tiny bit more to 99.4 (although, it could have been the difference in thermometers).  They were able to get us right in a room, and the doctor decided not only to run the Covid test, but a strep test and a flu test as well.  Covid was negative, praise the Lord, but he did test positive for Flu B which was a shock to us all.  She told us his throat and ears looked good, his lungs looked great, and that he could go back to school on Wednesday as long as he’s fever free for 24 hours by then.  That’s a long time, y’all!

The doctor said they haven’t seen as many flu cases this year since everyone is masking and social distancing, but she did say that she’s seen several cases of Flu B this week alone, so it must be on the rise.  Our whole family did have flu shots, and she told us that was a good thing because that meant his case should be much less severe.  She did mention that our flu shots are probably starting to wear off by now, though, since we got them so early on in the season. 

We have no clue where he got it, but since he only goes to school and baseball right now, it had to be one of the two.  If I had to guess, I would say most likely it came from baseball since they’re a little more lax with the mask rules. 

Our school has had very strict protocol in place since August, and the kids haven’t been sick all year until March, so it seems less likely that he would have gotten it there.  As a matter of fact, last week, the pastor at our church sent out the weekly bulletin as he always does, and he said that our school was just applauded by the city’s health department for doing such an outstanding job keeping our kids safe during the pandemic.  They’ve been collecting data (positive Covid cases in classrooms) from all schools in the city, and they said that our numbers are awesome compared to other schools in the city. 

I can’t even tell you the peace of mind that gave me.  When we first sent the kids back to school last August, I was a nervous wreck.  As the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months, and we had very few positive cases, my anxiety over having them there has subsided some, but there’s always a part of me worrying in the back of my mind.  To get that information was so comforting, and I pray that our school continues to keep those numbers low.

Anyway, back to Jacob’s diagnosis – we were all bummed because being out until Wednesday meant that he had to miss opening day of baseball the next day, plus team pictures, plus his first two baseball games.  On the bright side, though, at least it wasn’t Covid or he (and the rest of us) would have been missing a whole lot more than that.

By the time we got home, Jacob had chills and his fever had risen to 100.5, so he changed into his long PJs and I gave him some Ibuprofen.  His temperature typically runs around 97.5-97.8 (can you tell we’ve been taking temperatures a ton because of Covid?  Haha.  Otherwise I would never even know this), so 100.5 was nearly three degrees hotter than his norm.  He ate some lunch, and then I got him set up on the couch with some blankets, a pillow, the remotes, and a big ol’ bottle of Gatorade.  The doc told us that the most important thing to do for the flu is to drink tons of fluids.

He got settled in with Netflix, and I spent the next little bit contacting his teacher and baseball coaches to let them know he’d be out for a few days.  I was supposed to have been in charge of getting the baseball team’s jerseys distributed Friday afternoon, so I had to pass the baton to someone else… I’m sure nobody wanted us to be handling anything with our germs!

I picked Olivia up from school at 3, and then the rest of the evening was spent eating takeout Mexican food from our favorite local place and watching Bigfoot Family by the fire. 

Saturday, March 6 (Day 358 of Quarantine)

Brian had to work all day Saturday, so the kids and I were on our own.  He headed to his office at 6 AM and he only came out, like, once all day.  Haha.  I popped in and out to check on him and bring him food, but he was busy, so we left him alone all day.

Jacob woke up fever-free and remained that way all morning, but around lunchtime he told me he had a headache, so we gave him some more Ibuprofen.  He seemed pretty much back to his normal self aside from a horrible-sounding cough for a couple of hours in the morning, and he played all day.  I didn’t let him do anything too strenuous, though.  We need that sweet boy to heal so he can get back to school and baseball!

Saturday was supposed to have been opening day for baseball, so we ended up missing team pictures and his first baseball game.  We did get word from one of his coaches that our team had won 11-10, though, so we’re off to a close – but good – start! 

Saturday evening, I ran out to pick up pizza while B finished up with work, and then we watched the new Disney movie Raya and the Last Dragon.  It was pretty good, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I could have seen it on the big screen.  I miss going to movies. 

B and I ended the night with a few episodes of New Girl and then he and I were off to bed.  He’d been up since 5:45, and worked nearly the entire day without much of a break, so he was exhausted.

Sunday, March 7 (Day 359 of Quarantine)

Sunday morning was church and cinnamon rolls, and then the kids got some homework done.  Jacob had slept until 8:20, which is incredibly late for him… he’s our early riser and is almost always the first one up in the house on the weekend, so his little body must have still been a bit tired from that flu.  Side note, he's not super into taking pictures lately, so that's why you haven't been seeing much of him lately.  Haha.

He felt fine all of Sunday and he seemed to be back to his normal self with the exception of the occasional lingering cough.  He and Olivia played outside a lot of the day, and we all went on a walk after lunch, and it just seemed silly that we had to keep him out of school for two more days after that.  Doctor’s orders, though… don’t want to be spreading those germs! 

Sunday was gorgeous, so like I said before, we spent a lot of the day outside.  The kids, of course, got their video game time in the afternoon (they don’t get screen time at all during the week but we do let them play on Saturday and Sunday), but once that was done, we all headed straight back outside where we stayed until after sunset.  We had some leftover pasta and green beans for dinner, and we ate that on the back porch to soak up every last second of the warmth and sunshine. 

After the kids went to bed, B and I watched the Harry and Meghan interview with Oprah, and boy, did they tell all!  I was shocked at how much was said!!  While I'm sure they did put their own spin on things, even if half of what they said was true, then I feel for them.  I can't imagine being in that kind of situation with my own family or my in-laws.  Did you watch?  What did you think?

Happy Wednesday, y’all!