First a meme of lasts, then a bunch of news-less news.
Gacked from meathiel: The COVID-10 meme of “lasts.”
Last time I travelled abroad: Scotland, Amsterdam, Euro Disney/Paris June 2015
Last time I slept in a hotel: Sept 2019, Disney World.
Last time I flew in an airplane: Oct 2019, visiting my father.
Last time I took a train: June 2015, train from Amsterdam to Euro Disney.
Last time I took public transit: Oct 2019, BART train for super-short visit with my mom after seeing my dad.
Last time I had a house guest: Family friend, Christmas 2019-New Year’s 2020.
Last time I got my hair cut: Uhhh. Last fall? Last summer?
Last time I went to the movies: I’m trying to think if I’ve seen anything since Knives Out.
Last time I went to the theatre: Hamilton on Feb 2, 2020.
Last time I went to a concert: Decades. Possibly not since Peter, Paul and Mary somewhere around 2000, give or take a couple years.
Last time I went to an art museum: MFA in Boston, June 2019.
Last time I sat down in a restaurant: Will and I went to lunch for Valentine’s Day.
Last time I went to a party: Probably my husband’s aunt’s surprise birthday party a couple of years ago.
Last time I played a board game with more than two people: Last month, actually - family friends were visiting and the son (age 10) played Life with Two and me.
Last time I went to the office: My “office” being school. Friday, March 13.
Most of my answers wouldn’t have changed much, except: The last time I went to work, the last plane trip - I would have been on a plane this past Thurs and at my dad’s house now, if the world hadn’t come to a screeching halt - and the last movie, given that there were several I was really eager to see this month.
And speaking of my dad - today is his 93rd birthday! I wish I could have been there, but I’m holding out hope that maybe by early summer I might be able to go? The neighbor who takes him his groceries was going to make him some goodies and bring them up to him, and I was hopefully going to get to talk to him then (she lets me know when she’s going up, and then reminds him to stand by the phone so when I call a minute later, he’s likely to answer), but her 7-year-old son and boyfriend ran unexpected fevers this afternoon and she was understandably freaking out. I’m disappointed, but I also totally think that takes way higher priority than my dad right now, so … hopefully I can wish him well another time.
So, day to day life is, of course, pretty monotonous these days. I’ve been trying to find projects to keep me busy so I don’t feel like I’m just lolling around while everyone is working or studying. I’ve cleaned out an old file cabinet that had been overlooked (there were receipts for things Will bought before he met me) and shredded a bunch of stuff (more still left to do). I cleaned my bedroom. I organized some of Will’s tools. I started a project that will lead to our hopefully being able to FINALLY display the zillions of Disney pins people in this house collect; it involved power tools, so that’s been fun. :-D. I’ve exercised and read some and cooked dinner most nights and bought groceries and all that usual stuff. It’s not as productive as it could be but at least I don’t feel like a total slug. I’ve tried to make a point of baking on Friday evenings, as well, as a way of rewarding all of us for surviving another stressful week. Brownies last weekend, lemon squares yesterday.
Oh, one thing that was nice - Two took an hour to teach my mom how to use Google meet, so we can have video chats. Since she’s self-isolating, she’s feeling pretty cut-off from the world right now, and appreciates seeing people, not just talking to them. Given that Two doesn’t really like my mom all that much, it was exceptionally nice of him to volunteer to do this, all on his own.
Groceries are starting to return to normal now, at least around here. You can now get bottled water again, chicken, spaghetti sauce and most pasta, most canned goods, potatoes/onions/garlic, and some paper products. It’s a not fantastic supply (the paper products) but at least there’s a little bit. Still no cleaning supplies. For the most part, we’re ok for actual surface cleaning, but we’ll run low on dish soap (for handwashing dishes) soon and none to be had yet.
One of my Dutch cousins made me SUPER happy by sending me the link to Keukenhof’s announcement that, since people can’t visit this year, they’d be offering virtual tours, instead. I only got to visit once, when I was 16, but I remember how gorgeous it was. Am now following them on Twitter so I don’t miss anything. :D
The high school principal announced this past Thurs that, starting Monday, the high school day will be pushed back one hour. Instead of running 7:20-11:35a, it will run 8:20a-12:35p. (They’ve been on an early-dismissal schedule since going online.) I’m sure many kids will appreciate that, but MiniPlu does not. She’d rather be done sooner, have lunch sooner, and have that extra hour of afternoon to get things done. She doesn’t work well late at night, so it’s not like she’ll be able to readily stay up an extra hour in exchange.
On a more amusing note, the high school also announced they would have a virtual “spirit week” this week. For those of you who don’t remember or never had anything like that, it means each day has a theme, where kids dress a certain way to support that theme. Homerooms get points for the number of kids who participate. So, tie dye day, or school colors day, or crazy hat day, or … whatever. So, the kids will show, via their computer cameras, that they’re wearing the item in their first period class, and get participation credit. Fine, ok. However, some Brainiac decided that Monday’s theme would be … pajama day. Now, pajama day is often part of spirit week. But, please note: right now, EVERY day is pajama day for these kids! What, you thought they were all dressing up smartly to attend cyber class? :-P. The only requirement school has made for on-camera classes is that they wear pants of SOME kind (and by “pants” I mean sweatpants, pajama pants, jeans, something) and a shirt of some kind (because some teenage boys were rolling out of bed and turning on their computers without putting shirts on first, lol). But still - pretty much nobody is bothering to wear anything other than PJs/sweatpants to school these days. So how is Monday’s theme different from usual? Sheesh!
And finally, I was the recipient of a wonderful surprise from brumeier yesterday. She sent me the copy of a kids’ book we had both loved, and which she owned, so I could re-read it. Don’t know if anyone else (in America) ever read Dreams of Victory by Ellen Conford, but it’s a darling middle-grade chapter book about recognizing that everyone has different strengths and it’s ok not to be amazing all the time. Anyway, it was the sweetest, nicest gesture, and I spent some happy time re-reading an old favorite. Thank you again, Bru! ♥
This concludes the “news” from here, such as it is.
Last time I travelled abroad: Scotland, Amsterdam, Euro Disney/Paris June 2015
Last time I slept in a hotel: Sept 2019, Disney World.
Last time I flew in an airplane: Oct 2019, visiting my father.
Last time I took a train: June 2015, train from Amsterdam to Euro Disney.
Last time I took public transit: Oct 2019, BART train for super-short visit with my mom after seeing my dad.
Last time I had a house guest: Family friend, Christmas 2019-New Year’s 2020.
Last time I got my hair cut: Uhhh. Last fall? Last summer?
Last time I went to the movies: I’m trying to think if I’ve seen anything since Knives Out.
Last time I went to the theatre: Hamilton on Feb 2, 2020.
Last time I went to a concert: Decades. Possibly not since Peter, Paul and Mary somewhere around 2000, give or take a couple years.
Last time I went to an art museum: MFA in Boston, June 2019.
Last time I sat down in a restaurant: Will and I went to lunch for Valentine’s Day.
Last time I went to a party: Probably my husband’s aunt’s surprise birthday party a couple of years ago.
Last time I played a board game with more than two people: Last month, actually - family friends were visiting and the son (age 10) played Life with Two and me.
Last time I went to the office: My “office” being school. Friday, March 13.
Most of my answers wouldn’t have changed much, except: The last time I went to work, the last plane trip - I would have been on a plane this past Thurs and at my dad’s house now, if the world hadn’t come to a screeching halt - and the last movie, given that there were several I was really eager to see this month.
And speaking of my dad - today is his 93rd birthday! I wish I could have been there, but I’m holding out hope that maybe by early summer I might be able to go? The neighbor who takes him his groceries was going to make him some goodies and bring them up to him, and I was hopefully going to get to talk to him then (she lets me know when she’s going up, and then reminds him to stand by the phone so when I call a minute later, he’s likely to answer), but her 7-year-old son and boyfriend ran unexpected fevers this afternoon and she was understandably freaking out. I’m disappointed, but I also totally think that takes way higher priority than my dad right now, so … hopefully I can wish him well another time.
So, day to day life is, of course, pretty monotonous these days. I’ve been trying to find projects to keep me busy so I don’t feel like I’m just lolling around while everyone is working or studying. I’ve cleaned out an old file cabinet that had been overlooked (there were receipts for things Will bought before he met me) and shredded a bunch of stuff (more still left to do). I cleaned my bedroom. I organized some of Will’s tools. I started a project that will lead to our hopefully being able to FINALLY display the zillions of Disney pins people in this house collect; it involved power tools, so that’s been fun. :-D. I’ve exercised and read some and cooked dinner most nights and bought groceries and all that usual stuff. It’s not as productive as it could be but at least I don’t feel like a total slug. I’ve tried to make a point of baking on Friday evenings, as well, as a way of rewarding all of us for surviving another stressful week. Brownies last weekend, lemon squares yesterday.
Oh, one thing that was nice - Two took an hour to teach my mom how to use Google meet, so we can have video chats. Since she’s self-isolating, she’s feeling pretty cut-off from the world right now, and appreciates seeing people, not just talking to them. Given that Two doesn’t really like my mom all that much, it was exceptionally nice of him to volunteer to do this, all on his own.
Groceries are starting to return to normal now, at least around here. You can now get bottled water again, chicken, spaghetti sauce and most pasta, most canned goods, potatoes/onions/garlic, and some paper products. It’s a not fantastic supply (the paper products) but at least there’s a little bit. Still no cleaning supplies. For the most part, we’re ok for actual surface cleaning, but we’ll run low on dish soap (for handwashing dishes) soon and none to be had yet.
One of my Dutch cousins made me SUPER happy by sending me the link to Keukenhof’s announcement that, since people can’t visit this year, they’d be offering virtual tours, instead. I only got to visit once, when I was 16, but I remember how gorgeous it was. Am now following them on Twitter so I don’t miss anything. :D
The high school principal announced this past Thurs that, starting Monday, the high school day will be pushed back one hour. Instead of running 7:20-11:35a, it will run 8:20a-12:35p. (They’ve been on an early-dismissal schedule since going online.) I’m sure many kids will appreciate that, but MiniPlu does not. She’d rather be done sooner, have lunch sooner, and have that extra hour of afternoon to get things done. She doesn’t work well late at night, so it’s not like she’ll be able to readily stay up an extra hour in exchange.
On a more amusing note, the high school also announced they would have a virtual “spirit week” this week. For those of you who don’t remember or never had anything like that, it means each day has a theme, where kids dress a certain way to support that theme. Homerooms get points for the number of kids who participate. So, tie dye day, or school colors day, or crazy hat day, or … whatever. So, the kids will show, via their computer cameras, that they’re wearing the item in their first period class, and get participation credit. Fine, ok. However, some Brainiac decided that Monday’s theme would be … pajama day. Now, pajama day is often part of spirit week. But, please note: right now, EVERY day is pajama day for these kids! What, you thought they were all dressing up smartly to attend cyber class? :-P. The only requirement school has made for on-camera classes is that they wear pants of SOME kind (and by “pants” I mean sweatpants, pajama pants, jeans, something) and a shirt of some kind (because some teenage boys were rolling out of bed and turning on their computers without putting shirts on first, lol). But still - pretty much nobody is bothering to wear anything other than PJs/sweatpants to school these days. So how is Monday’s theme different from usual? Sheesh!
And finally, I was the recipient of a wonderful surprise from brumeier yesterday. She sent me the copy of a kids’ book we had both loved, and which she owned, so I could re-read it. Don’t know if anyone else (in America) ever read Dreams of Victory by Ellen Conford, but it’s a darling middle-grade chapter book about recognizing that everyone has different strengths and it’s ok not to be amazing all the time. Anyway, it was the sweetest, nicest gesture, and I spent some happy time re-reading an old favorite. Thank you again, Bru! ♥
This concludes the “news” from here, such as it is.