It's been three years since things shut down

Three years ago today the governor ordered all schools to close, and that was our last day for the year.  I think, three years later, we are finally feeling the "end" of the crisis.  While it was scary, I still remember how simple life seemed then without other things to worry about, and I loved all of the time we spent together as a family.

We lost an hour of sleep this weekend.  That is never fun.  It's always nice to have that extra hour of daylight though.

Things have continued to be a little crazy, but it is getting better.  My grandmother was in the emergency room again on Friday, and work was stable enough that I was actually able to leave and go be with her.  My poor sister.  She is really taking the brunt of caring for her, and Grandma is being challenging and not following directions.  I can't imagine all she has to deal with.

One more week and then I have spring break.  Let's get 'er done!

Sunday afternoon drives

I just took Thomas back to school.  He was home for spring break this past week, which was ridiculously early.  But I always love having time with him, and enjoyed having him around.

He's been home every weekend this semester except one.  With his cat not being there and the one friend he had ending communication (not entirely sure why), he is lonely.  It is heartbreaking for a mom, but I can't change it.

I also don't judge.  I went home every weekend (almost) my freshman year, and so I am not about to tell my son I won't do for him what was done for me.  I handle the Friday evening pickups, usually, and I've also handled about half of the Sunday afternoon returns as well.  And I really don't mind.  Today was a lovely day and I truly enjoyed the drive home completely by myself.  It's a nice opportunity to just have some quiet and sing along with the radio.  I remember my dad, who took me back to school nearly every Sunday, tell me he never minded those Sunday afternoon drives, and I get it.  Missing him today, but always feeling he is with us.  I'm blessed to have my family.

Our lives right now - it's been a lot

I didn't write much in February.  It wasn't necessarily that I didn't want to write, it was just that there was A LOT going on, and I spent most of the month being absolutely exhausted.  The good news is that it was mostly only work related, and for that I am grateful.

Our February at work was absolutely insane.  We have one employee who was hospitalized and has yet to recover.  We had one employee who had COVID, along with three family members, and her family is still fighting strep and other things, and her father is entering Hospice care.  We have one employee whose son needed to be hospitalized for suicidal ideations, and of course that is an ongoing concern.  We have one employee who had surgery two weeks ago, and the doctors did not handle some things well.  We have one employee who had surgery three weeks ago, and also developed strep this past week herself.  We have one employee who had COVID, and her daughter was hospitalized with illness as well.  We have one employee whose daughter was diagnosed with a chronic illness last fall and needed to be hospitalized again for a few days. We have one employee who lost her grandmother three weeks ago, her husband had surgery this week, and her step-father passed away Wednesday.  All of this was just in the last month!  I mention this because it means I worked extra hours to help clean, I covered classes as needed, and I worked to put pieces together so we had enough people working where they needed to work.

At home, it's been less crazy, but I can't call it peaceful.  The biggest challenge has been having Thomas's cat here.  She jumps on everything, and we've had to put away all of the picture frames, which I don't appreciate.  Additionally, she and one of our cats are constantly fighting, and the howling/hissing/running into things sounds are not remotely peaceful.  Our sweet pup has had her slipped disc issues again, although we caught it early and she's on the mend.  My grandmother was in the emergency room on Monday due to some reactions, and it's hard on her.  My mother was in the emergency room Thursday after taking a serious fall and doing a face-plant.  Thank goodness my kids were able to stay with her overnight Thursday so I didn't have to miss work.  I can deal with all of these relatively minor things, but it's hard after coming home from work which was challenging all day.

This past week we had a lady from church who was going to be evicted if she didn't get her apartment cleaned.  We were able to do some cleaning ourselves and get a company hired, and many generous members helped to fund that.  That was a blessing.

And we were thrilled that Catherine passed her state STNA exam.  She is looking for a job locally, and we are thrilled for her and proud of her.  It's a step in the right direction.

I'm hoping this week is much calmer, although I laugh because I thought that last week as well.  Monday brought a tornado warning where the students and staff all had to take cover, and Friday I had to clean up vomit at school.  So who knows what this week will bring??

I'm especially grateful that we have no students tomorrow, and that March and some lovely weather have arrived.  Looking forward to calmer times!

First college band concert

Thomas loves being involved in music, and we were thrilled that he wanted to participate in the concert band at college.  He was asked to switch from alto to tenor saxophone, and has taken that as a compliment as well.  Tonight was his first concert, and I'm so glad that we were able to be there.  This particular band is an eclectic group of people, and we are so glad that Thomas is enjoying it.  We've always told him that no matter what, music can be a part of his life! 

Brownies

At the beginning of the month, my school held a fundraiser by doing a Trivia Night.  We weren't able to attend, but I think we will next year!  Regardless, part of the fundraising is a bake sale.  Whatever isn't sold is brought back to the office.  There was a giant pan of brownies, and I was happy to give it a taste.  As soon as I took a bite, my eyes began to fill with tears.  They tasted exactly like the brownies my Aunt Cathy made before she became ill and passed away years ago.  Everyone in the family loved those brownies, but her daughters couldn't find the recipe.  I haven't done it yet, but I'm going to reach out to the baker (a parent at the school) and ask if she would share the recipe.  I don't know that I'll be able to bake them, but I'm sure someone in the family can!

A weekend away in Chicago

Since Andrew and I just celebrated a milestone anniversary, we decided to celebrate with a get-away.  Originally the plan was to fly to Vegas, but the budget was not "airplane friendly".  We decided Chicago was better, and our dear friends love that city and are excellent tour guides.  Forty-eightish hours away is exactly what we needed.  We shared so many laughs, and good food and lots of good drinks.  I'm so, so grateful we did this!

Our anniversary

Today my wonderful husband and I celebrated a milestone anniversary.  It's really so very hard to believe all these years have passed by.  I am so incredibly grateful to share each and every day with Andrew, and I look forward to so very many more.  Our gift to each other is a get-away over President's Day weekend to Chicago with friends.  I pointed out to Andrew as we were driving home that we know for a fact that twenty years ago today there was snow on the ground!  

I'm so grateful for the life we've built together.  Catherine and Thomas both sent us a text today, and we had a lovely dinner out.  We also volunteered our church's community meal this evening, where an announcement was made that it's our anniversary and we were given a small cake.  It was so incredibly thoughtful!

I also appreciated that today was a Wednesday which means I only work until Noon or so.  It allowed me to take a two-hour nap, but I'm still planning on going to bed early.  There is so much going on and a lot to write about, but that will be another time.  Today I just want to enjoy my special day with my amazing husband!