Exhaustion

Peppermint Patty knows what I am talking about! I’m so tired, I should just go to bed! I think going back to work after an extended vacation is highly over-rated… even when the “vacation” is as stressful and cumbersome as mine was!

It was a nice work weekend, not too slow, not too busy, but I am impossibly tired.

This could be my culprit… my arm was pretty darn sore this morning, but I barely notice it now. Its amazing what the human body can endure! In two weeks it will have made an army to protect me from this nasty invader. In an unprecedented year… “BUILD ME AN ARMY!” body! One thing I know for certain is that I do not need to contract COVID 19 AND influenza!!!!

Ok, seriously, I’m going to bed. Tomorrow is sure to be another grueling day!

Clorox

Before the pandemic, approximately every six months, I received a shipment of Clorox wipes as part my subscribe-n-save subscription on evil Amazon. I know it’s evil, but I live on a budget on borrowed time, so some evils are necessary. I found if I purchased my cleaning products this way, with a reoccurring replenishment, then I was better at using them. Thus, my bathrooms were clean with sparkling toilets and showers/tubs. And with a big child whose potty skills are less than apt, well we find an abundance of need for the use of harsh wipes! Of course I never used as much as I had, so I found myself at the beginning of a pandemic of a novel virus overstocked with Clorox. Who could be happier!?!

Fast forward about three months of mad daily cleaning, and my stockpile was nearly gone (and not as much stockpiled as I had thought). I decided to leave the Clorox on my list, even though I was fully aware that it would be quickly out of stock for awhile. Every month it told me it was out of stock and I deferred it to the next month. Well, today it came!!! I got three fresh new bottles of disinfecting bliss!!!

Our COVID routine has transformed with knowledge, social distance, and lack of access to abundant Clorox, so I will likely continue with Lysol spray and reusable cloth in favor of saving these wipes for Wes’ messier accidents. I sure am grateful to have them again!

I haven’t tried to reload in gloves yet. We still have a little more than half a box, but that need will come soon. Fingers crossed 🤞🏼 that they will be in stock when we need some. That thin glove is often the only think that keeps us from loosing our lunch! There is a really good reason that most almost 12 year olds are potty trained!

TGIF

Since I usually work every Friday, TGIF is not usually in my vocabulary, but today, TGIFF!!! I can see how live interactions with teachers and other students is helping most of my kids, especially Liv. But I can also see how stressful it is for them trying to follow their schedules, keep track of zoom links and assignments, and focus on what needs to happen in an environment full of things they would rather be doing. We all need this weekend. We need to regroup, rest, revitalize all that crap. Even my dogs look stressed out.

Wes is having a lot of behaviors. I think virtual classrooms are too busy for him and he can’t follow what is happening, so he just doesn’t try. He talks constantly to us or his PSW, but can’t seem to say a word to his class. The microphone goes on and he freezes. He screams and whines about every 5-10 minutes. He is excited for Halloween, which I can’t seem to emphasize for him enough, will not look anything like he is used to. I do t even know how to make Halloween fun this year. He hates that it’s fall, that we have a family of 6, the number 6, that he has to be in school, that we read books together, that his IPad has time limits, that 8 is bedtime, that the sun comes up, that Cheerios and pancakes don’t fall from the sky in unlimited quantities… I can go on, but I won’t.

It’s been raining for three days, on and off. I’m so grateful for rain, but I’m also feeling constrained by it. This morning I curled up on a chair next to an open window in my bedroom and just tried to hear the rain, feel the wind and the light. Loose myself in nature. Sure, it was a woo-woo moment, but sometimes our brain and bodies need woo-woo!

One week down!

Winds of Change

Taylor as King george III in his class to the past presentation. He spent hours gluing each gem to his homemade crown, sewing his cape and hair, and learning to act like a king!

The winds of change never really stop blowing, but I think sometimes they are more noticeable than other times. Right now is a time of much change around the Stanis house. We tend to notice change around this time of year as we round the kids birthdays which are inevitably tied to their annual medical check ups. While no one has any major medical stuff going on, it seems to me that these “preventative” visits always stir up the dust. For example, Taylor hasn’t had an eye exam since we left Wisconsin. At that time he and Wes had slight far sightedness that was actually fairly normal for their age. Still the doctor wrote a slight prescription and all were fitted with glasses. Wes quickly broke his, and Taylor went rogue, choosing simply not to wear them. Well Taylor failed his vision screening at the annual check up. Guess who is getting reacquainted with his glasses and an eye exam?

Liv as Harry Truman and their friend Okami as Japanese Commander Yamamoto Isoroku, class to the past presentation.

My insurance, through my employer, not surprisingly finds it important to support its own industry (yep, I’m a nurse, and I work for a major hospital). I don’t normally get too upset about this, but it seems like everything at my employer takes months to get into, and, even though my insurance doesn’t require it, everyone seems to require a referral. It makes getting services really annoying. So until April, hopefully Taylor’s old prescription will help him to see. I mean, its only vision, right!?!

Wes and Ava were playing in her room when suddenly there were screams and tears. Wes-0, Ava’s bed-1. The details around how the bed gave Wes a black eye are a bit unclear… as is often the case when it comes to Wes… choose your own adventure…

Ava is really excited to join Tay and Liv at CAIS next year. In the photos above, she is working with students at CAIS during an open house day. Her teacher this year says that she cannot hold her attention for more than 60 seconds in class, but for hours during the open house she was attentive and fully engaged.

Half Marathon

A couple of months ago Jon suffered an overuse injury that has been really slow to heal.  Unfortunately he was already signed up for the Green Bay Cellcom Marathon that runs next week.  So back then, I committed to take over his run for him if he couldn't run it, but I was only prepared to run the half.  The rules say that it would disqualify the time, and you would get the finisher medal for the race you signed up for (since that is what they were planning on you running) but otherwise it wasn't a big deal.  If the half hadn't been full, we could have switched his registration to a half, but it was already full.  So anyway, it was a big commitment for me.  I had formed and signed up a team for the relay in September, but running any sort of marathon was not in my mind's eye at the time.  

Since then, however, Jon has worked up to walk/running, and was able to complete a 20 training activity last weekend in around 5 hours.  So, he is confident that he can use this strategy to run his own race.  Therefore, I am not needed to run, but I did all the training for it... So I decided to run my own half today.  

My phone died at mile 12, which besides being tired and low on energy, I was sort of bored too.  So my last mile sort of sucked.  There was also a crazy head wind on the way back from Kaukauna that slowed me down quite a bit.  I never thought that all the cheering people and the hubbub of spectators who don't know me actually did anything for my running, but I am convinced now that they play a pretty big role in helping you get to the finish.  I think they might have helped me hit my goal of 3 hours and 30 minutes too.  

So in the end, I ran all the way to Kaukauna and back! Which is incredible.  The trail I took goes right past the school I went to for 6th-8th grade... (although now its an elementary school...) I remember them making us run the mile in gym.  I hated those days.  So many sprained ankles and windless hours... If I finished the mile, it was like 30-45 minutes...  It is so crazy to me that I can do it in 15 now... and that I literally ran from where I live now in Appleton, all the way to that school in Kaukauna, and back!  I'm proud, and sore, and probably not much of a long distance runner... I mean, Jon did this in an hour and 39 minutes...  

I'm glad I did it, I would do it for him again, but I don't think I will be signing up for more halfs (or fulls...). 

Grow

I planted my herbs from seeds in late March.  A lot have done well so far, but they are all still pretty small.  I planted a dozen or so bean plants, but this is the only one that grew at all.  It is growing really well too.  I even broke off one of the leaves while I was trying to put an extension on the climbing skewer. Just like last year, the parsley is growing like a weed...  I think I have lost most of the dill and thyme... not sure about the rosemary...

I put the remaining basil and other herbs in these egg cartons. I found some fungus on the surface of the plants, so I took them all out of the little biodegradable bags that the starter soil came in.  I really hope it helps.

Out in the garden things are slowly blooming too.  The most impressive to me thus far is the asparagus. It is slowly getting bigger and it amazes me.  I felt like I didn't know what to do with it, but it turns out I was doing just what I needed to.

I planted one whole garlic bulb last fall (individual cloves, obviously)... so far only one is growing :(  I guess I will have to get more tips from Greg Millar, whose garlic from a couple seasons ago was amazing!

I am also staring to see little tiny red leafs poking through where I planted beets, so I have only to assume that my beets are doing well too.  Here is hoping that my carrots, lettuces, and potatoes are also brewing under ground.  Hopefully we have seen the last of the frost and I will be able to plant the rest of my gardens soon.