Serve

 I get to do a lot of service this week.  Today and Friday I volunteer for the Crisis Clean Up hotline.  A hurricane just went through Louisiana.  People are without power/water and it is 111 degrees and there are trees on their houses.  The Crisis Line allows volunteers to be connected with people who need help just from making a phone call and getting their info in the system that 1000 organizations can access.

On Wednesday I'll help distribute food for the Epic Cure food bank.  I am so grateful for organizations that have the vision and continuity to make it possible for folks to be connected with help.  I love volunteering.

Show up

 I read the Jon Acuff book "Start" a few years ago and was inspired to draft a book called "Show up" with pithy life advice on how to show up in your relationships.  It didn't get far but I haven't mastered the art of showing up yet either.  A lady I know had Covid and I struggle to call and see how she's doing after the first flurry of calls and bringing a dinner.  I do think showing up is one of my life goals and I'm very happy when I do.  I'm very grateful for P who is awesome at showing up early and communicating. 

When we came back from Utah my watch wouldn't shift back to Eastern Time.  I have another watch but it's kind of fancy and so right now I don't wear a watch.  I have been blessed lately that I go to bed and just wake up around 7 to go on walks.  When the kids start school I'll probably like to have an alarm to get me up at 6:30 so we can start the day earlier.  

I finished the Percy Jackson series of 5 books and don't intend to read further in the series.  It had a nice ending, good closure.  I am now reading "Stuff Matters" and feeling smarter every day.  I never even knew that Materials Science was a field of study.  It's very interesting.

I love my morning walks.  I feel like that is showing up for myself.  In learning about boundaries in the last year, I am fascinated to learn to see them in others.  I hope to raise my children with strong self advocacy and also compassion.

Sign Class

 I've been teaching sign classes for the last 2 years.  I did a full year of classes for my Woodbadge ticket goals.  Then I offered a few shorter sessions.  A lady in the community, K who likes my classes asked me to teach a zoom class and so I offered that in August.  It was nice to get on and teach.  I used the Sign-it movies and screenshare in zoom so that most of the class, I was just showing a video.  That made it a lot easier to teach.  I'm so glad we bought the sign-it course.  It's very high quality and now I feel like I have a resource to teach all my children a higher level of sign language.  

I've had really positive experiences over the years of teaching sign language.  I think it is a skill and culture I will always enjoy sharing whether through library classes or through the school system.  When my kids grow up I think I'll work in the schools with deaf children.  Who knows what opportunities will come along.

I'm so grateful for our life right now and the peace we enjoy here in this home and beautiful city.  I have a super power for loving whatever life brings.  It helps that P does a lot to help us have a fantastic life. 

P recently saw a firehouse that was for sale and he got interested in that idea.  I am OK with whatever and wherever our life leads.  It takes me a while to get used to new ideas but my ability to love the moment is a great blessing and I'm very grateful for it.

cleaning the blinds

 Today G asked if he could clean the blinds.  I suggested he use the furniture polish instead of a wet towel because I thought there were rust spots on the blinds.  It turns out that the furniture polish removed whatever it was that looked like rust spots.  I was so thrilled that I joined his effort and now the blinds in the front room are beautiful!  I love it when something that I had resolved to accept, turns out to be something that can change.

preparation again

 We stocked up in Feb/March, then have tried to stay topped up since then.  We prepared for a storm last month that thankfully swept by without hitting Florida.  School is starting soon so I want to avoid stores as I imagine suddenly larger infections as teacher sand students are in contact again in concentrated groups for the first time in 5 months.  

We moved the furniture around in the boys room so it is much more open.  They don't have much books or toys in there.  Just beds, clothes, a TV/VCR, and a string of lights.  I hope their room can stay more neat going forward. 

The girls want to re-arrange the furniture in their room but I don't see that as useful since they like their separate areas and don't keep a common area clean.

We have too much stuff.  It has to be managed.  I've been working on paring down the kids clothes.  They just wear clothes and toss them around until the floor is covered.  Then they wash the clothes, some that were never worn, and it's too much to put away.  Clearly too much.  lP is able to take hand me downs straight from M so I don't need to be storing a lot of in between size clothes.  They need less stuff.

We made a ton of progress on the playset yesterday.  When we let L come out to play he declared it the best playground ever.  We still need to put on the roof and swings.  It's a very nice playset.  I marvel at the amazing abundance the children have in their lives.  I'm very grateful that they have 2 parents who are super in love and the gospel.

Lucky Cheetos

 P and I were married for 20 years before we realized that Cheetos are our mutual favorite snack.  It's one of those treat foods that are expensive and generic options are not really as yummy.  Now that we can afford to buy in bulk, a 1 oz bag of cheetos is a really nice treat. 

I'm really grateful for our marriage and how even after all this time, we're still learning about each other in nice ways.  Lucky us.

organizing the office

 G is going to be doing 10th grade via distance learning this year.  I let him use my sewing corner last spring when he got on for zoom meetings a few times a week.  This fall he'll need to be on for hours a day, like all day, every day!  So I did a major move of the furniture in the office and I really like it.  I'm not ready to take pictures yet, but I did come up with some tricks for keeping cables contained.  I coiled some up and put them inside toddler socks.  Other large cables I put inside a tissue cube so it's easy to dust around these things. 

I have the scanner to the right of the monitor now with the ipads on top so everything is so convenient for charging and scanning.  I can also still access things on the bookshelf easier now.  With this set up, we'll be able to come in and out without entering G's screen area, and signal to him out of camera range.

The kids are watching a show called "The magical healing properties of Dude" about a teen with social anxiety.  I hope they know we're not getting a dog, and that they can use mindfulness techniques to overcome anxiety.  The show has some elements I really like, but also portrays school life for kids who have actual obstacles to overcome, not just typical drama.

moving furniture

 I have a compulsion to move furniture.  P tolerates this.  Today I was converting a bed back into a platform bunk with a space underneath.  L is very excited to have a high bed.  He often sleeps in other people's beds so we'll see how this works.

I like moving furniture because with a growing family our needs are constantly changing.  I also like moving furniture because it is an easy way to get the clutter that accumulates behind furniture.  Once it is out of the way, I like moving it around.  I like change.  I wish we had less furniture but it's hard to throw things away.  

After saying that I knew 4 people with Covid, I learned of another 4 people + children that have had it.  A friend told me that 18 of our county firefighters have had it and that 78 were quarantined because of it.  That sort of information isn't in the news at all.  We're just fighting over whether to wear masks or not and not given the data to see that it is an actual threat.

Virus close to home

 I learned this past week that 3 families in my area have the virus.  They are connected to me via church and homeschool community.  Did they catch it from the luncheon they attended, or the outlet shopping they did, or from work?  I don't know.  I'm glad I don't have to do any of those things. 

I still do most grocery shopping via pick-up and sanitize the groceries before they come in the house.  

In other news, the kids are chopping up a giant block of ice with plastic animals stuck inside.  It's an animal rescue.

Anxiety and control

 God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

 I know that I can only control me even as I do control my childrens freedoms a lot.  I can't control what programs are available, but I can tell them what to not watch.

 I can't control if people come to church sick or don't wear masks, or where they went without masks in their daily lives.  I can choose to not be there to see someone wear a crochet mask like the one I saw posted in the Aunties Sewing Squad.  It was so disturbing to see a picture of a women taking a selfie during the sacrament, in an obviously LDS service, with everyone spaced out but there she is in her pink crocheted face mask.  Someone taking a selfie of themselves during the sacrament has some issues.  I can't control that.

I do have anxiety about all these things that can impact my family that I used to not need to be worried about.  Truely, if my family gets the virus, we'll probably be OK.  I'm more offended by the idea that people don't care and won't limit their movements to be cautious.  Yep, I have taken offense.  My bad.

So I need to just not participate in it and stop being bothered by what other people do.  But P has to go every week.  So I am anxious about his participation, and I can try to change that anxiety.

Sitting out for a year

I have the wonderful fortune of being able to sit life out for a year.  P works from home for an online school so we're fine financially, and job security wise.  I don't need to go to church, or send my kids to school.  I don't have to work and that is huge.

When G had cancer as an infant, we were isolated for a year.  P kept working but G and I sat the year out.  He hardly grew, we didn't go anywhere but the hospital.  It was definitely a disruption, but it was a blessing too.  The alternative was unthinkable.  I can't imagine accepting the risk of having a child contract Covid from church or school.  Some are sure their child will be fine.  They don't believe the death numbers are real and are willing to assume people are lying about how bad their sickness is. 

When we were picking up the green car from Gtowne last week (it had broken down when P went to help his sisters move the previous week) P ran into the Dr. we had when G was diagnosed with Leukemia.  He is such a sweet, godly man.  I am so grateful for the wonderful doctors and nurses who took care of us during that year. 

A lady I know

I know this sweet lady who now has covid.  She is the first person I personally know that has covid.  I've been cautious about it for the last 5 months and it is so appalling to me that people still think it is a hoax or not that bad.  I pray this woman and her husband recover.  They are both over 70.  Today there are 5446 new cases (way down from 15,000) and 247 deaths (way up from 100).

So I made chicken sandwiches, tuna salad and crackers and chocolate chip cookies for this lady and her husband.  I'm grateful to be healthy and able to make food for someone.  It was kind of nice to make food for someone who had covid and I didn't have to be extra stressed that I might be an asymptomatic carrier and give covid to her!  But horrible that she has covid.

Eye Doctor

I took B to get an eye exam and the staff at the office didn't wear masks.  I worried that would be the case and was prepared to leave if there were other clients not wearing masks, but then I didn't.  We were the only people there at the beginning.  The Dr. wore a mask over his mouth, not nose, during most of the exam, but took it off in his office.  He wanted B to take off his mask to use the optical flip lense tool.  I said B couldn't take off his mask unless the Dr. wore his.  The Dr. started to say that B's mask protects the Dr. but stopped, maybe recognizing that I was pointing out that the Dr.'s lack of mask did not protect my son. 

When we were done and getting checked out a patient wearing a mask was telling the other Dr. with no mask about how she had Covid and is now the safest person because she had it.  She tried to warn them all, the staff not wearing masks, how she was an asymptomatic carrier and that masks are a good idea.  The other Dr. said he hadn't believed that but would maybe take her word on it. 

B has a hard time reading at a distance and the Dr. referred us to a specialist because B's prescription for his right eye is worse, but the left eye sees worse.  So we'll go get that figured out in 10 days, unless we caught covid today. 

It's hard to wear a mask, I know, how annoying.  But it's worth saving people the sickness, permanent damage, expense of hospitalization, or death that Covid is causing.  Much easier to claim it's a hoax and show that you refuse to be owned.  I wish I had just left.