Four Days Down

Great news! I survived the first week of school. It was borderline brutal, but I came out from under hundreds of emails a day (I wish I was exaggerating), Zoom office hours, so much information, and what felt like just a constant whirlwind relatively unscathed. I feel like I can sum up the past 5 weeks of my return to work by saying I feel like I have never worked so hard, or so relentlessly, to have what feels like so little progress made. The first year of anything is hard, but this is a lot of firsts on top of each other. Thankfully, I have a very supportive team, and I am quickly learning to be more patient with myself not knowing everything yet.

We are still finding time to have some fun as temperatures seem to finally be falling into tolerable numbers. Last weekend, we went into DC with the intention of walking around Roosevelt Island when we got there it was so crowded we couldn't even get a parking spot. We ended up just going to see the FDR Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and walking around a bit. When we were walking back to our car along the river we winessed a Trump rally on the water...definitely interesting.

Quinn wanted to see the White House so we drove over closer and started to walk into the park but they wouldn't let us in. We walked around to the back so she could see it from there. On our way back up, we could tell something was about to happen, so we decided to stop and wait for a couple minutes. We were able to see Trump's motorcade returning to the White House. This blog now says the current president's name about two more times than I am comfortable with. After this we went to the Black Lives Matter plaza before heading back home and stopping by one of our favorite places to eat on the way home and having a car picnic. Safe to say we saw all parts of the DC political spectrum this day. 

We spent this weekend outside and doing a few things around the house. We played some games, got some ice cream (a rare treat for us with the peanut allergy), and we are finishing the weekend by watching Trolls World Tour. I'm hoping this week slows down a bit as we work toward this new and hopefully temporary new normal. I miss school energy! Good luck this week friends!

Summer's End

Today we said goodbye to summer as we have known it, and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. Just like everyone else we have had a summer like no other. We made the best of it. I think the highlights include the "vacation" I posted about earlier this week, a few swims in a real pool, the flamingos (who I think might be the MVPs of the whole damn pandemic), walking/running hundreds of miles, Quinn learning to read, so much together time (for better or worse), getting things done around our house, and discovering things close to home that we otherwise still would not know exist. It's been a crazy time, and there's been a lot hanging in the air with the return to school. I'm anxious to begin my new position tomorrow (high school counselors report a week before teachers and elementary counselors), but I am also sad to see summertime go. 

Finally got some garden tomatoes

We squeezed in a few fun things this week - the biggest probably being a trip to Burnside Farms to see the sunflower fields. There was also a tropical storm because why not 2020. There was also a lot of playground time. Friday I took Quinn to Target (for I think the first time since March 12th) for some retail therapy. Appropriately, we said goodbye to our beloved neighborhood flamingos this week. We happened to run into the flamingo owner and we chatted for a few minutes, mainly I thanked her profusely for entertaining the neighborhood for all these months and giving us all something to look forward to. There was also one day this week where Matt and I both had to work. Matt and I both now have a desk setup in our extra bedroom. Say a prayer for our marriage. While you're at it, say an extra prayer for Matt because he's my IT department during distance learning. 

The office 2020

School supplies 2020, two stop signs for when we can't be interrupted, colored and cut by Quinn

Attempting to make my own pickles...I'll let you know how it goes in a couple weeks. 

Vacationish

I use the term vacation loosely here. It was a vacation in the time of Coronavirus. And by vacation I mostly mean Matt didn't have to work and we went places together on not a weekend day. So anyway, vacation week was last week. We made the best of it and it was actually a pretty good time. 

Monday: we went fishing in our creek. That was about the extent of it cause we had a few other things we had to do this day. 

Tuesday: Backstory- Matt has always wanted to go to Luray Caverns. I have never wanted to go to Luray Caverns. I am terrified of Luray Caverns. I always told him that would be a great trip for him to go on with Quinn and have some bonding time. Well here we were 137 into a pandemic and the thought of going to Luray Caverns was less terrifying than one more day stuck around my house. Lucky us that we were about the 3rd people to check into good old Luray that morning and pretty much had the dark, wet, underground cave to ourselves. Clearly, I survived and it wasn't that bad. We had to wear masks the whole time and my glasses were either fogged or I just quit wearing them, so maybe it helped I couldn't really see. 

After Luray Caverns we took a little drive over the Shenandoah National Park. We did the Stony Man Trail, which ended up being perfect. It was about 3 miles roundtrip. There was minimal complaining and Quinn was super proud of herself once we got to the summit and hung out at viewpoint enjoying the mountain views. 

Wednesday: Quinn wanted us to take her to DC so we could all touch the Washington Monument. We went in the middle of the day. It was crazy how empty it was. If you have ever been to DC in the summer, you know how many tourists there usually are, but it was almost like we had the place to ourselves. We visited the MLK memorial, WW2, Washington Monument, Lincoln memorial, and the Korean War memorial. We decided to quit while we were ahead and head back home because DC is also unbearably hot in the summer. 

Thursday: We planned to go to Pittsburgh for the weekend, but stopped off at Shenandoah again. We had planned to just do the first trail in the park, but when we got out of the car there was someone reporting a bear a few minutes down the trail to a park ranger. We decided to drive a little further in and ended up at the Land's Run trail. It ended at a nice little waterfall that made the steep downhill and uphill worth it. 

Pittsburgh: We were able to see lots of my family, enjoy cooler temperatures, celebrate Matt's birthday and my Grandma's birthday. It was a nice relaxing visit minus a 6:30 wake up call from Quinn which including a concert on the piano.

It was a great week and it was really nice to finally visit with family since we haven't seen anyone for the duration of pandemic. We are look forward to making Shenandoah a more regular visit since it's not that far. This is my last week of summer before my official contract starts. I'm hoping to squeeze in a little bit more excitement!

It's Been Awhile

Hey Coronavirus subscribers. As I mentioned in the title - it's been awhile. This past week we have been busy being tourists close to home, but more on that later. I wanted to just drop off some pictures from a few weeks ago, just to document life. It's still been deadly hot. I'm definitely ready for some cooler temps here soon. I mean I'd take anything less than feels like 103. 

I mentioned in my last post mid-July that my school district has decided to go back virtually for at least the first quarter. Quinn's school decided shortly after to completely shut down for the entire school year. While we had been leaning toward not sending her anyway, this was still a very sad email to receive. I have mentioned many times on this blog how much I love her school and the staff. I was making it through Spring thinking that she wasn't done there, but now she is. The next time she goes to school it will be real public school Kindergarten. So crazy. I'm referring to this as Quinn's gap year. Matt should be working from home for at least a few more months, and my schedule is still pretty up in the air. We decided to hire someone to come mid morning to early afternoon to entertain Quinn so that we can both focus on work for those hours, and then we will adjust our own schedules as necessary to cover the rest. 

The highlights of the week before last include the first harvest of peppers from our potted garden, a week full of VBS activities, making our own chocolate ice cream, and we did get to go to Quinn's school to pick up all her projects from her teachers. Other that that we were still moving rocks around the neighborhood, trudging ourselves through miserable heat to get out of the house, and visiting our flamingo friends. In my next catch up post you can look forward to a change of scenery. 

Pizza Bagels

It has been 116 days since March 13, 2020. I have cooked dinner probably 108 of those days. We have had take out four times. Matt cooked something a few nights, and then I decided Quinn should take a turn. She hasn't made dinner in 4.5 years after all. I declared this as law last week. She would start making dinner every so often, and something that requires little to no help from me. She was not too happy about this at first, but once we got her into it she was super excited and proud. First up was pizza bagels with cucumbers and tomatoes and ranch on the side. All I helped with was the set up and the putting in and removing from the oven. It was perfect.

We're Still Here

I haven't posted in awhile. Mainly we are doing the same old stuff around here. I have hit a bit of a wall, honestly. We have entered what I like to refer to as the Virginia summer. It is hot. I was very content walking around my neighborhood multiple times a day exploring trails, looking for rocks, checking in on flamingos, but now it feels like we walking around in Satan's oven. The pool also officially closed for the entire season. I'm glad I bought that insurance policy of a pool back in my pandemic panic days. I also invested in water shoes for Quinn earlier this week so she can splash around in the creek. She's super happy about this. She also caught a turtle and was so thrilled for herself. I'm seeking any ideas of things to do with a 4.5 year old to change things up around here - seriously give me something friends! In other news - I cut the grass for the first time in my life today!

Flamingos at the Drive-In 

Flamingo in rain gear

Quinn loves to visit our neighbors and talk their ears off everyday.

Part of our daily walk now includes finding empty playgrounds (we live in walking distance of many playgrounds) and just play a few minutes on each one until people come. I'm glad my child still has gross motor skills after having to put practicing those on hold for 4 months.

Junior Kindergarten Graduation

Last day and first day of Junior Kindergarten

Quinn graduated today via Zoom! While it was not the day originally planned, it was fun. They sang their daily songs and the teacher described each student as she held up their certificate. This year Quinn's description was: "a born leader, loved being the teacher helper, and being allowed to direct the class. She is a girl with brown eyes." Last year she was awarded the "popcorn award" for always popping in to help others, and let the teachers know if someone needed help. I mean those of us that work in education can translate...lord help me. Of all the regular things I miss during this, Quinn's school is at the top, so I am glad that she will get to go back if there is traditional school in the fall.

In other news...this week has been FULL of Zoom meetings. It's been a lot this week. I am ready for a break from virtual obligations and anxious to find out what next year will entail for us in K-12 education. Other than that it's been getting outside in the heat and humidity between meetings as well as trying to keep Quinn busy while on meetings. We tried Q-tip painting today...it was something new and different!