Corona Chronicles: Day Eleventy Billion

 Y'all. Sometimes I forget how incredibly weird the world is these days. 

This week we went on Monday to the sports medicine doctor for Keaton's back. Tuesday the boys had dentist appointments. Today I took Keaton back to the doctor for an MRI to make sure there's no additional damage to his back. (They're pretty sure it's just the fracture, but are being extra careful.)

Each time we walked into an office, the person at the desk took our temperature. I mean, we leaned across a desk and had someone check our body temperatures before we were allowed to enter. And it was perfectly normal. 

Only it isn't.

Every time we leave the house someone says, "Everyone got a mask?" Because we need to have masks to go anywhere. Don't get me wrong, we want to have masks to go anywhere because it's a small thing that we can do to support public good and keep ourselves and others a tiny bit safer. 

But it's so not normal.

As of this week there is a vaccine for COVID. It's first going to health care and other frontline workers, and then people in nursing homes and over 75, and then people with underlying health conditions, and then other essential workers, and then anyone who is left, I guess. 

There is controversy about the vaccine because it was created and approved so rapidly. There have been vaccines in history that were disasters - making people sicker than they were before and causing birth defects and such. But there are many more vaccines that save millions of lives. I have been a vocal proponent of vaccinations for children, particularly several years ago when misinformation about common, widely used vaccines took over the interwebs. 

But here's the weird part with this vaccine: Famous people and politicians are getting their vaccines live on television. I'm quite sure this is in an effort to convince people it's safe, but it just creeps me out. 

Medical professionals who I know personally and trust have said this vaccine is just as safe as a flu shot, and I have no reason not to believe them because they are smart and have devoted their lives to medicine. Several of these friends have posted on social media about getting their vaccines this week, and I am so happy and comforted that doctors and nurses and hospital custodians and other workers are now able to have something to combat this crazy illness. And I'm incredibly grateful that their families have this vaccine to mitigate some of their fears for their loved ones. 

But watching people get vaccinated on tv is weird.

I'm home from work this week and watching morning tv too much. Every interview with every person includes a version of this question: "When it's your turn to get the vaccine, will you get it?" Today it was an actor and a person who runs an online basketball camp. It feels like they are having these perfectly normal interviews and then finishing up with "Do you eat enough fiber?" or "When was your last physical exam?" 

So. Very. Weird. 

I started writing The Corona Chronicles on March 18th, numbering each day that I deemed Texas to be essentially shut down because of the virus. I stopped on Day 47. Since then, things have gradually opened up a bit more and the number of cases has trended up and down (Brazos County has had 13,571 total cases as of today). We made it through a whole semester of school without having to shut down. The amount of effort that has taken is astronomical - and a huge shout out to school nurses and our custodians for being our frontline workers. 

I personally know people who have been sick, hospitalized, and who have lost loved ones (in some cases multiple loved ones) to COVID. And I know people who tested positive with no symptoms. And I know people who are sure they had it early on but tested negative for antibodies. And every so often I open up the coffee container and take a big whiff to reassure myself that I still have a sense of smell (don't judge). 

I started writing these posts as a sort of primary source for my grandchildren when they study these weird, weird times. My first post about COVID was 280 days ago. 

I think that makes today Day Eleventy Billion. 

Yet here we are. Many of us - the lucky ones like us - really no worse for the wear. We have our jobs and our health and our faith and such. And we're especially thankful for all of those things in a year when we see some around us who do not. 

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve which marks the beginning of the weirdest Christmas ever in the weirdest year ever. I saw the picture below earlier this week and immediately saved it to my phone. I pray that in these next few days we can all stop thinking about all of the weirdness and come faithful, joyful and triumphant to simply rejoice. No matter how weird this world is, we have steadfast hope because of a baby in a manger. That is worth rejoicing about!

Merry Christmas. 

The Mediocre Mommy? Still?

When the boys were little, I frequently referred to myself as The Mediocre Mommy. I felt like (and still feel) that there's all this pressure on moms to be perfect little mommies, and that sounds exhausting. When other moms were throwing perfect themed birthday parties with monogrammed party favors, I was grabbing a cake at HEB on the day-of-the-birthday. 

There was one year we didn't get a plan together for Keaton's birthday (God bless teacher kids whose birthdays are early June), so we told him we had a huge surprise adventure planned for him. We got in the car and headed toward Houston while I googled "fun things for kids" from the passenger seat. Don't judge. It ended up being a pretty fun day. 

But this is not about birthdays. It's about Mediocre Mommies. 

In started with The Adventures of the Mediocre Mommy Then Red Ribbon Week at school. And then the time that I left Keaton alone with his very own pocket knife at the ripe young age of 8.

I am also a serious under-reactor. When I was a principal, the running joke in my office was that I believe Advil solves all problems. If one of my personal children wasn't feeling well or was hurt or something, my response was always "Take some Advil and give it a minute." Headache? Sniffles? Cut your arm off? Advil and time. You'll be fine. 

It mostly works. 

Fast forward to this week. Keaton came home from gym on Monday night complaining that his back was bothering him. He's a gymnast. He's hard on his body. Something is usually bothering him. Also, he's got a little touch of the dramatic. I know because when I was a teenager, I had a little touch of it, too. Hard to believe, right? Just ask my mom. 

Keaton: My back is kind of hurting. 

Me: Take some Advil.

Tuesday came. I got a text during the school day that his back was hurting. 

Me: Well, take it easy, and when you get home take some more Advil.

He went to gym like normal. 

Wednesday. 4:19 p.m. text from Keaton: Do I have to go to gym?

I called him. "You have to get your hours in. So you can go today or tomorrow, your choice."

He chose to go. Good on him. Tough kid. 

See, I want my kids to be tough. I want them to tough it out. Make choices and live with the consequences. Not think that mom is going to save them when they get in a bind. Understand the world doesn't revolve around them. I am 100% committed to NOT participating in snowflake culture. 

I've found this to be harder with teenagers than with little kids. Sometimes teenagers are dumb, and every once in a while it's okay to save them. But my job as a parent is to save them just barely enough. I worry about the mental health of teenagers these days, and I want my kids to know that I think they can do anything on their own if they are willing to put in the work. I also want them to know that I will go full-on-fight-to-the-death-crazy-mom if necessary. I want them to know I'm in their corner, but I also want them to want me to stay there while they handle their own business. 

The point of all this? Keaton's a little dramatic and I'm a purposeful underreactor. 

When I picked him up from his work out on Wednesday, he got in the truck and said, "Mom. Seriously. I think my back is broken."

Broken? Uh, okay. I told him I'd try to get him in to the doctor if it wasn't better in the morning. I may have made a comment to him about the healing powers of an x-ray because of that one time he got an x-ray, confirmed he wasn't seriously injured, and was magically healed. 

This morning the pain wasn't better. But I was busy. I planned to try to leave midday and take him to urgent care, but things got a little crazy at work and it was 5:00 before I knew it. The extra three or four hours didn't make much difference since we were on day three anyway. Finally, at 5:45, we saw the doctor.

They gave him some Advil (see? it's like I'm a doctor), and took him back for an x-ray. When he returned to the room they told him it would be about ten minutes for the results. We waited.

And waited.

And waited. 

It occurred to me that this was not a good sign. I was right.

The kid has a compression fracture in his back. He's worked out twice since it happened. Been to school every day. Taken finals. 

Oops. (I didn't actually say Oops. In my head, I said much more appropriate and inappropriate words.)

Once he got over the initial panic of what this might do to his competition season, he looked me dead in the eye and said, "Let it be known that I WAS RIGHT!  My back IS broken. Ha!" I think he enjoyed that a little too much.

For some reason, my first thought was, The Mediocre Mommy strikes again. 

But now I'm the Mediocre Mother to Tucker (if he really wants to make his point to me, he snaps, "mother"). To Keaton, I'm the Mediocre Momma (he likes to shout "MOMMA" with an emphasis on the "A" when he wants my undivided attention). 

I have teenagers now. It's like I've graduated from Mommy-dom but nothing too much has changed. 

And so we'll visit the ortho, pray our prayers that he heals quickly, and in the end he'll have a great story about how his crazy mom made him tough it out. 

And next time something happens maybe I'll prescribe two Advil. 

COVID Confessions

I have a confession. 

I hate hand sanitizer. 

I know COVID has increased the popularity of hand sanitizer by about a million, but elementary teachers have been sanitizing kids' hands since the beginning of time. Lining up for lunch? Everyone gets a small dose to rub into their hands to try to keep them all healthy and happy. 

That being said, when Keaton was little I emailed more than one teacher to request that they not put sanitizer on his hands at school. I don't think I have many helicopter mom moments, but this could be one of them. His hands were usually filled with deep cracks that would get infected and bleed and such, and rubbing alcohol all over them was not exactly helping him feel better. (I wish I had a picture of his childhood hands for dramatic effect, but I can't seem to locate one at the moment.) As soon as I pointed it out, every single teacher was happy to send him for legit soap-and-water hand washing instead (because teachers are awesome and will do whatever kids need to be happy and healthy even if they have helicopter moms).

This has nothing to do with why I hate hand sanitizer. It was a only slightly relevant sidenote. 

I shall continue. 

Hand sanitizer is the same consistency as snot, and snot is gross. 

I can handle blood, vomit, and any other bodily fluid. Someone having a disgusting medical emergency? I'm your girl. Working with kids and having kids of my own proves this to be true. I don't get rattled by the gore of life. 

Except snot. And hand sanitizer reminds me snot. I have always had this aversion, but there have only been a few times in my life when it became apparent to the rest of the world. 

The first time was when Trey and I were serving communion at church. 

A few years ago, our church started hand sanitizing the people who were going to serve communion. We have communion once each month, and church members serve to the congregation. Trey and I were in the rotation, and I hadn't thought one thing about the addition of the sanitizer. Until, of course, I was standing up in front of the church next to my husband watching one of our pastors passing it out, pumping a single dose, person-by-person, as we prepared for this holy moment. 

Pump. 

He was one person closer.

Pump.

Closer still. 

Pump.

I began to panic. He was getting nearer by the second. There was no where for me to go. I couldn't just leave - everyone was watching. I couldn't refuse the germ-killing snot blob that was about to be pumped into my hands in front of everyone - no one would come to my line. People will think I'm gross. That I'm germ-y. I started breathing hard. 

And then the pastor was standing in front of me. I took a deep breath, held out my hands, and tried to think about anything else as I rubbed my hands together and tried not to audibly gag. You know that feeling when you really want to gag and your throat is seizing and you can't breathe and you start sweating and think you might pass out? I did that in front of the whole church. 

I did that silently in front of the whole church during communion, of all times. It's a good thing I serve a forgiving God. 

The second time was this summer when some friends and I were shopping in Brenham. 

Mid-COVID, some shops seemed like there was no pandemic at all and some shops had their very best protocols in place. Almost everyone had a pump of hand sanitizer at the door with a sign that requested you sanitize before entering. A sign I could very easily pretend not to see so that I didn't spend my shopping experience trying not to vomit in the store whilst rubbing snot all over my hands. 

(You can judge me if you want, but you know I'm right. It's totally snot-like.)

Then, we entered one store where the person working stopped us at the door and asked us to use the sanitizer. Two things went through my head: 1) I am all for community care and I can do this exceptional thing in order to keep others safe, and 2) I am a rule follower. So I gave myself the quickest mental pep talk in history, and pumped it up. 

I'm pretty sure the thing was broken because one actual gallon of hand sanitizer came out directly into my hands. It dripped onto the floor, ran down my arms, and the pungent smell of alcohol made me dizzy in my terror. Frantically I rubbed and rubbed, but I swear it was multiplying. I gagged, audibly, while looking around to see if anyone noticed what was happening. My face contorted in disgust as I locked eyes with the employee. 

"I'm sorry, but do you have a paper towel that I can use to wipe this off?," I asked through gritted teeth.

She found one, and I removed the wretched almost-liquid, and I swore to never ever ever subject myself to that kind of torture again. I mean, a person has limits, and I have found mine. 

To conclude this post, let me provide some comfort for those of you who may think I'm part of the problem when it comes to germiness these days and may be inclined to put on your judgy-pants. I wash my hands like a boss about eleventy billion times every single day. I can move in and out of rooms in public without ever touching a blessed thing with my hands...feet, elbows, even wrists can be used to open doors, push carts, etc. 

Also, I have spray sanitizer both in my office and my house. It's a mist - like water (instead of snot) - and I use it all the time. I saw a commercial today for some Dove sanitizer that appears to be lotion-y, and I can definitely get on board with that. The Google tells me I can buy it at Walgreens, so I'll give that shot tomorrow. 

So don't judge me when I politely say "no thank you" if you offer me a pump of the traditional stuff. Neither of us wants to see my reaction if I have to use it. 

Two things from 'Rona times

Two things. One is vastly more important than the other, but they share this post. 

Thing #1:

Today I went into two public bathrooms. In both, I had the same corona-induced experience. 

Now that we're not touching anything, I'm super careful to use a paper towel to open the bathroom door as I exit. In most places, the trash can has been moved next to the door so that the paper towel used for this purpose can be disposed of easily. It goes like this: 

1) wash hands thoroughly

2) use paper towel to open door

3) hold door open with foot

4) DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING

5) toss paper towel in the trash

6) exit

Today's complication (in TWO places) surrounds the use of trash cans that require you to step on the pedal at the bottom to open them. To be clear, I LOVE these types of trash cans as they do not require me to touch them to open them. They are great in non-corona times, but even better now. 

The problem becomes when you have to keep your foot on the untouched bathroom door in order to exit. Are you following me with the use of feet here, people?  

Today it went like this (twice):

1) wash hands thoroughly

2) use paper towel to open door 

3) hold door open with foot 

4) DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING

5) realize you need your other foot to open the trash can

6) mentally measure how far the door and trash can pedal are from each other to determine if you can actually do both

7) hold your hands out to steady yourself, make sure one foot is securely holding the door open 

8) attempt moderate splits to reach the trash can with foot #2, and toss the paper towel in the trash

9) DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING

10) remove yourself from splits position while still holding the door open with foot #1

10) exit the bathroom

11) see how many people were watching you acrobatically hold two separate things with your feet while throwing paper towels with perfect aim and trying not to fall down on the bathroom floor

Who knew going to the bathroom could be such an exercise in balance and flexibility!

Thing #2:

I listened to a couple of Brene Brown's podcasts today. In one of them, she made a statement that I said over and over again to myself to help me remember it exactly. I'm not sure it worked, but here's the gist of it: Shame is not an avenue for social change. 

Dear news, social media, friends and acquaintances and others, if you're publicly shaming someone because they don't agree with you then you are not working for change, you are being mean. So stop it. 

The end. 

I Ran.

Yesterday news broke about a black man who was killed by two white men who thought he was guilty of a string of burglaries. He was out for a jog.

When quarantine started, I started running again. It seemed like the best time to start because we didn't have anything else to do. I remembered that running is good for me - for my health and for my mind.

Back in 2016 I ran a marathon. I ran A LOT over that year or two, and while I'm happy I ran the marathon (hello, bucket list!), I think I got burned out on running. I realized as soon as we were locked down that I needed to see the sun and move every day, so I started walking. That made me think I might as well run, so I started a Couch to 5K program and starting running. And I remembered that I like it.

I like it even better when I'm just running. Slow. No goals to meet. No pace. I decided I would not run more than every other day because I don't want to hurt and be sore and stop running. So I walk, and the next day I run.

Never have I been afraid that someone will think I'm a bad guy and chase me down or hurt me while I run. Never have I worried that someone will think I don't belong here and call the cops on me. In fact, during quarantine I've been the world's friendliest runner - waving and smiling at everyone to get some kind of social interaction. Calling all kinds of attention to myself even though I'm not a svelte, runner-looking runner.

Today I can't stop thinking about this man. I've so appreciated how my runner friends of various skin colors have shared that they think often about how they'll be perceived when they are out on a run. How someone might think they don't belong in the neighborhood they're running in. How they feel they have to be extra aware. My friends who see their own children in Ahmaud Arbery. I'm glad they speak up.

I am newly disturbed. I know this exists in the world, but suddenly here we are again. A black man was running and some people cornered and killed him. In America in 2020. It's incomprehensible. I feel helpless to change it.

I don't know what to do about it. I have no giant solution. I told my boys (again) how important it is to me that I am raising men who know that others cannot be judged by their color or religion or orientation or anything else. That people are people and deserve our respect. They tell me they know. That they really do know. For the future of our nation and our world I pray they do.

Today I added an additional life lesson. Never, under any circumstances, is it acceptable to chase an unarmed person down, corner them, and kill them because you think they might be guilty of something. Never. Nothing makes that okay.

So today I ran. And I thought of all the people I know who run, and I prayed they feel safe while they do so. Because it's all of our responsibility to make sure they do.

TCC, Day 47: The end?

Today Texas opened back up. Basically that means that restaurants can have customers dining in, but can't go over 25% capacity. Does that mean quarantine is over?

We tried to go to The Dixie Chicken. It's spring, and sitting on the porch at El Pollo del Norte would make me extraordinarily happy. It seems everyone else had the same thought because the line outside was long. Perhaps we will try again later this weekend.

My next favorite porch is at Torchy's. They aren't open to dining-in yet, so we pulled over in the parking lot and ordered online, then took our tacos to go.

Eating dinner with my husband in my kitchen with Flatland Calvary on the radio is never a bad thing, even after 47 days of social distancing. It's crazy to me that we haven't eaten in a restaurant in 47 days.

Today I was stressed about work and making up things to worry about my kids and stir crazy and generally crazy. Trey came home, we drove around town looking for porches to sit on, and I word-vomited all of my crazy on him. And then I was better.

Today's pro tip: Marry someone who makes you feel better about yourself and also just generally makes you better. Trey is really the very best person I know, and sometimes I can't believe I get to be married to him. Find you someone like that or don't waste your time.

I'm not sure what The End looks like. This may be it. Or maybe it's months or years in the future. Will we even know when it comes?

I don't know.

The end.

Really.

Maybe.

TCC, Day 46: Video and Parks & Rec

My friend and colleague asked me to be her guest speaker for her school's morning assembly online program this week. I had to record a video about writing - why I write, tips for writing frequently, what to write about, etc. Today was the day it went live. I was honored she asked me, and I was so happy to talk to kids about writing (even if none of the kids were actually in the room and the ones who are at home may or may not watch it).

I put it off until the last minute because seeing myself on camera is not my favorite. Then I had to get it done, and I was tired and had had a super busy day at work (let it be noted that "at work" means "at the computer in my home office off my bedroom"). I made some notes, channeled my inner elementary principal, and went for it. Maybe I put on some lip gloss first? I don't remember. Preparation of my appearance was minimal.

After one take, I listened to it without watching too much because, again, seeing myself on camera is not my favorite. I liked what I had to say, so I didn't record it again. This was not about what I looked like but about talking to kids about writing.

Looking at it today, I have some pro tips. Primarily, if you have a 17 year old camera man he will not tell you that you should sit up straight so that it doesn't look like you're trying to create as many rolls as possible in your midsection. Also, dry shampoo doesn't look the same as actually washing your hair.

Trust me.

*insert clever transition here*

Right at this moment Trey and I are watching a salute to Parks and Rec, possibly the most hilarious television show of all time. Coming up next we'll watch the updated episode of how the characters are coping during quarantine. I am so excited about this I'm giddy!  I suppose it's the little things...

Best things about Park and Rec:
*Little Sebastian
*Ron Swanson
*Treat yo' self
*Rent-a-Swag
*Galentines Day
*The Knope-Wyatt Unity Quilt
*Evil April


I could go on and on and on. If you haven't watched this show, what are you doing reading this?  Stop it right now and go watch every episode and don't eat or sleep until you're done! 

Maybe that's excessive, but you should really watch it. It's a happy show with happy people who take care of each other. Even Jerry.

If nothing else good comes out of this quarantine we at least got one more episode.

The end.

TCC, Day 45: Haircuts and Mexican Food

I didn't write a post yesterday. I was busy. Busy at work all day, then I went for my walk, then ate dinner and cleaned up. We attempted to install a new smart light switch in Keaton's room and it wasn't quite working like it should, so that took a bit. Then we played what Tucker said would be a "short" game of Skipbo that ended up taking ten hundred years. Then it was bedtime.

On Monday the governor made announcements about his plans to reopen Texas. This Friday restaurants and retail stores can reopen as long as they only have 25% capacity in their businesses. They have to adhere to social distancing practices and some pretty specific requirements. Salons and gyms can't open yet. If everything goes well with phase one, then on May 18th more business may be able to open. We're hoping for hair salons and Keaton's gymnastics gym! 

Some people are scared. They think Texas is reopening too soon and that doing so is dangerous. I certainly understand their feelings, but personally I'm happy to be taking a small step toward normalcy. We'll keep social distancing and limiting our interactions with others while hopefully helping local businesses to stay afloat.

Trey and the boys haven't had hair cuts in more than six weeks. They usually go about every three weeks, so they all feel like they have super long hair. Only Keaton actually has super long hair, and it's curly and getting bigger by the minute!  He let Tucker use some clippers to trim up the sides because it was driving him crazy. It's funny to me that the thing my family collectively misses the most might be haircuts. Stylists have definitely earned some new appreciation during this pandemic!

Tonight we ordered Coco Loco for dinner - our favorite local Mexican food place. We haven't had it in months. It was soooo goooooood! Like, the best meal I've had in my whole wide life. With green sauce on top. Did I mention it was delicious? 

That's all I've got for a Wednesday. At least I think it's Wednesday. 

The end.

TCC, Day 43: Croissants

I started making croissants nine days ago. I started a levain from scratch. I thought levain was a special croissant thing, and then as I was re-reading instructions I realized it's just "starter" in French. So I started a starter nine days ago, only it was fancy because I called it levain.

I'm not convinced the starter is exactly right. It worked fine, but there's something about how it gets watery that may or may not be like it should be.

You feed the starter for at least five days, and then you're ready to start the croissants. You do a tiny step, refrigerate overnight, do a tiny step, refrigerate overnight. On the last two days, you do a tiny step, refrigerate for two hours, do a tiny step, refrigerate, etc.

When you make the dough, you also make a butter block. Softened butter formed into a perfect 7x7 square. I liked doing that.

When it comes time to start forming the croissants, you place the butter block on the square of dough and you fold it like origami. And you roll it out. Refrigerate. Origami. Roll it out. Refrigerate. Origami. For like two days. You get the picture.

Before you complete the final step to create the croissants, the dough has this really awesome layered look and you feel like you accomplished something very impressive.

At one point I misread the directions and did two steps in a row without refrigerating in between, but what was done was done. We went with it. The croissants were a little fatter than they should have been, and I think it was a result of my error.

Then they rise and you cook them and you say little prayers that nine days of croissant making aren't a total waste.

And then you have croissants!  Some of them look a little blobby rather than croissant-y, but I just put those on the bottom for the picture - problem solved!  They are bread-ier than I think they should be. Is that a thing? I wish I new if it was my starter or the step I missed. I'm thinking of getting another batch going and adding chocolate chips when I shape them. Even if they're still bready they'll also be chocolaty and that can't be bad.

Tomorrow for breakfast I shall have a made-from-scratch croissant with some honey and butter. It will be lovely.

In corona-related news, the governor announced today that some things will be opening up again on Friday with social distancing guidelines. Perhaps I'll talk about those tomorrow.

Today I wanted to talk about croissants.

The end.

TCC, Day 42: Sunday

Sunday. We slept in. Watched church. I bought groceries. Trey cleaned out the laundry room. I helped by cleaning out the plastic bin full of craft stuff. Mostly I threw away old craft paint and junk. I took a quiz (twice because it didn't go so well the first time). Turned in a paper.

I've been working on croissants for eight days. Tomorrow we may be able to eat them. Or they might flop and be terrible. Either way, tomorrow we'll know.

Since I finished my Mexican cooking Master Class, I've been browsing some of the others. The croissant are from a French pastry class. So far I've learned that French pastry takes FOREVER.

I've watched a few episodes of Gordon Ramsay's first cooking class. It's interesting and all about basics so far, and I think it will get to some recipes I'd like to try. I've learned that when Gordon Ramsay talks about hhhherbs he gets very excited. And everything is "beautiful."

I watched about four episodes of Bobbi Brown's makeup class (each episode is less than ten minutes). She's very uplifting and doesn't see makeup as something we should use to correct anything. We look like we look - we can enhance that but the notion of correcting indicates there's something that needs to be fixed, and we're all fine. I can get on board with that.

I've learned that I should know my undertones so I can buy the right color foundation. I don't know what my undertones are or how to learn them. I'm pretty sure they're not pink because that's what fair-skinned people have. I think I'll keep watching. I have so far drawn the conclusion that someone else should do my makeup. We'll see if that changes.

I think when quarantine ends we should all emerge with new looks and act like we've always been exactly like that. Maybe I'll show up to work in Doc Martens, dressed in black like it's 1992 and I want people to think I'm angry. When people comment I'll just say, "I'm not sure what you're talking about. This is exactly how I've always looked." We could all pick random old fashion trends and go for it! Now is our chance!

Tonight we had Brussels sprouts with bacon fat cooked in the air fryer. That little jar of bacon fat you keep for emergencies? (That's not just us, right?) Dab a little on some Brussels sprouts and fry 'em up. You're welcome.

Tomorrow I believe the governor is going to announce more businesses opening up gradually. I'm praying that restaurants and salons will be able to expand their business so they won't be permanently closed. And also because I still need a pedicure.

The end.

TCC, Day 41: Birthday

This post is for me. I'm going to want to think back on today when I'm old and remember it, and I'll read this post, and I'll remember that it really was as great as it becomes in my memory.

We slept in, then I drank coffee in my bed while I watch the Food Network and Facetimed with the best friends a person can have. During this call I cried and belly laughed. It was awesome and wonderful.

I was supposed to be in Fredericksburg this weekend with those friends. Ten years ago we went to New Orleans together, and for months we've been planning this trip to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the NO trip and another decade of our friendship. This weekend was literally the only weekend we were all free in the entire spring semester. Times have definitely changed.

Later my niece Charli called me from my mom's house, and I face timed with mom and Charli, and I loved seeing their faces.

Trey picked up breakfast from Another Broken Egg, and after I enjoyed my Benedict and city grits I decided to tackle the wild disaster that is our side yard. I dug and pulled and raked and dug for about two hours. It's almost completely cleared out, and I feel super accomplished about that. I wish I had a burn pile for what I pulled up, but that's likely frowned upon in the CG.

Dad called to tell me happy birthday while he was on his way to buy a gander. He asked if I felt older, and I told him I probably will tomorrow because of the yard work. Seriously. I may not be able to get out of bed tomorrow. Pray for me.

After my yard work, I showered and sat down to watch an episode of Call the Midwife. Suddenly I heard horns honking and wondered what on earth was going on outside!  The boys and I ran to the door to find the first grade teachers and music teacher from SC outside parading by the house. I was shocked! One of them, Venette, has the same birthday as me. They paraded by her house and then came to mine. It was the nicest surprise I could have gotten!  I especially love this teacher kid's poster that her mom sent me a close up picture of later.

Sidebar: When they left Venette's house, she hopped in her car to come by my house, only to see that her class was on their way to parade by HER house, so she got out of the car and enjoyed her class parade! What a fun day of parading!

I came back in the house (maybe fighting off a tear or two) and started watching my show again. A little while later, Tucker called from the driveway. He was about to go to work and discovered ANOTHER PARADE!  Venette had gotten in her car and directed her class parade to my house!  I got to see a whole class full of awesome first graders who I knew last year as kindergarten kiddos!  I waved and laughed and it made my heart so, so full to see them! Venette organized them all to do something so very spontaneous and kind, and that's why she's so amazing at what she does!

We ordered dinner from Mad Taco, and my sweet husband sat on the porch with me watching the Billy Bob's concert to raise money for the Texas FFA Foundation. For hours we watched Texas Country artists - Aaron Watson, Cleto Cordero, Randy Rogers, Cody Johnson... it goes on and on. There was a chill in the air so we lit the fire and enjoyed the music.

Finally the boys came home - Tucker from work and Keaton from fishing. When they found us outside they each pulled up a chair. Together we heard Parker McCollum, Tracy Byrd, William Clark Green.

Tracy Byrd sang Keeper of the Stars and it was like prayer sitting on my patio with the three biggest parts of my heart.

We had a family sing-a-long to Will's "She Likes the Beatles" as we watched the sliver of a moon take over the sunset. And it was perfect.

Then we enjoyed the delicious German chocolate cake Trey made from scratch. It was beautiful and yummy. Perfect.

To close out the day, my in-laws created their own parade to wish me happy birthday from the driveway.

Today was not what I had planned, and I had been making plans for the trip I was supposed to be on for months. But it was wonderful. Friends, family, good music - all the things I love most.

When Wade Bowen played in the concert tonight, one of his songs was "Sun Shines on a Dreamer."

The sun sure shone on this dreamer on the day her 30th birthday became a teenager. It was a fine day.

The end.

TCC, Day 40: A Short Post

It feels like day eleventy billion. It's Friday, though, and weekends are still awesome.

I painted my own toenails today. I'm thinking that should guarantee that the salons will open soon. Kind of like carrying my umbrella to ward off a rainstorm. If it works, you're welcome.

I'd like to go to Vegas. The open, fun Vegas. Not the closed, lame Vegas.

The end.

TCC, Day 39: Draft Day

The NFL draft has always been a national holiday in our house. Tucker was born obsessed with sports, primarily football. I can remember him being a tiny little person glued to the tv during the draft spouting off stats about teams and players, making his picks before each announcement.

Back in the fall he started providing video content for a web site about high school football, and this week he's been working on graphics for that web site to share during tonight's draft. This one is the most impressive to me (he spent an entire day on it):

(This is the only one that's gone live as of this posting, so I'm pretty sure there will be more later tonight. Probably not as elaborate.)

The draft this year is happening virtually. I've been hearing details about it all week - the commissioner is running things from his basement. Only a small number of people are allowed in there due to social distancing. If there is a technological problem, the clock will stop. Coaches and managers are being streamed from their homes talking to players in their homes. Apparently a tech person is living in a camper outside an NFL person's house?

I really don't care much at all about the draft, but I'm intrigued to watch how this develops.

When the technology glitches (and it invariably will) every teacher in the world will think about a time that they were being observed and the technology didn't work. And they will laugh and laugh as it happens to the NFL in front of the world. I'd really like to hear someone's dog barking or a toilet flushing in the background.

Keaton's primary concern during the draft is how we're going to boo Roger Goddell.

It occurred to me today that all of the things different about life during corona are interesting, but only for a moment.

Can the NFL draft happen virtually? Yes.

Should it always happen this way? No.

Life is better together. In person. With cheering that makes you think your eardrums will burst. With collective gasps of crowds. The crack of baseball bats. The grunt of a tackle in a football game. High fives.

Can we live without these things? Yes.

But we don't want to.

The end.

TCC, Day 38: Family Meetings

I didn't write a post yesterday. I just forgot. Oh, well. What are days anyway?

As of today, people have wear masks in public in Harris County. Just when I think things are becoming more normal (or are soon to become more normal) something else happens that is so far from our normal. Will people wear masks all the time from now on? Currently in Harris Country, not wearing a mask is subject to a fine. Like speeding.

Today was gloomy. It was supposed to be big storms, but it mostly just rained off and on. I worked. I also picked up a big box of meat from Rosenthal - the meat science department on campus. I ordered it on Monday for pickup today. For $75 we got a brisket, two racks of pork ribs, two racks of beef ribs, and a pork butt. A pretty good deal and supporting TAMU, so win/win. Tomorrow we'll have pork ribs and brisket because Tucker will smoke all day. And it's something for the boys to do.

For two days Tucker has been sitting in a recliner designing graphics. He provides content for a web site that will be covering the NFL draft, so he's been prepping designs for them. What he made today was So. Cool. I'll share it once it's shared officially with the world.

Keaton slept late - I fear he's become mostly nocturnal. He made pancakes and did school work, tumbled for a few minutes between storms, and then went back to his room.

When Trey got home I made him get up and come in the kitchen to hang out with us. I asked both boys if they were sad (they said no), then I casually reminded them not to do drugs or get human trafficked on TicTok (if that's a thing) and not to send or receive naked pictures of people and that vaping will make your lungs turn black and explode. I'm not sure why they laugh at me when I have these serious conversations with them, but they did. I'm just trying to save their lives.

Keaton decided to go for a run after our little family meeting. Maybe I inspired him to get up and get moving a little more! 

The end.

TCC, Day 36: Apparently I can only write about food.

It was super nice to wake up this morning to a clean house. And a working light fixture in my bedroom/office. A bright Monday morning!

Last night I used the leftover crawfish we had to make some dip. One of my favorite cookbooks is John Bonnell's Waters, so I used his recipe for crab dip and subbed in crawfish. Trey said it was redneck crab dip. He wasn't wrong.

Sidebar: We ate at Bonnell's Waters Restaurant in Fort Worth in the last six months or so, and it was one of the best dining experiences I've ever had. I've wondered recently if it will still exist after the pandemic. Sad face.

Anyway, I cooked so much on Saturday that I told everyone on Sunday that I was having crawfish dip for dinner and they were on their own. I scooped it onto some crusty baguette, and it was delicious.

This morning I took my breakfast break about 9:30. It seems like every day I get out bed, pour my coffee, and sit down at my desk thinking I'm going to see what's on my agenda for the day while I sip coffee. Then hours later I realize I should get dressed and eat breakfast.

One fun thing about working from home is that I can eat cereal. When I'm going into the office I take my breakfast to go, and that doesn't work for cereal. Today I had Raisin Bran, which I love. Strangely, I don't like raisins at all.

Lunchtime came around 1:00 when I was hungry. I went into the pantry and got out the bread, then opened the fridge for some ham and cheese. That's when I saw the dip.

Over my shoulder I could see the leftover baguette. I looked from the dip the baguette and back to the dip. It occurred to me that sandwiches are basically bread and filling, and I had come into the kitchen to make a sandwich.

So I had crawfish dip and bread for lunch. Then I realized that two out of three of my meals in a 24 hour period were bread and dip. Oops.  Good thing I had that Raisin Bran.

Tonight for dinner we had sweet and sour chicken and fried rice. But only because I delivered the rest of the leftover dip to my in-laws and my niece so I would stop eating it. Desperate times and all that.

The end.

TCC, Day 35: Sunday

I'm a little afraid to say this, but we may be getting used to having nothing to do on the weekends. 

Today we slept in, watched church, Trey made breakfast. We cleaned house - I cleaned the bathroom (not my favorite). I grocery shopped. 

In the most exciting development of the day, Trey and I installed a new ceiling fan in our bedroom. I'm a little embarrassed to say that only two of the four lights in our old fan worked, and it's been that way as long as either of us can remember. I bought a new fan a few weeks ago, and it's been sitting in its box in the living room. 

We've been taking turns looking at it and deciding it's not the right time to start a project like that. 

Until today. I was minding my own business doing nothing and I noticed Trey getting some tools out. So, of course, I jumped in to provide invaluable assistance since my dad is an electrician - that makes me like a junior electrician or something, right?  

With mostly nice words and in a reasonable amount of time, we have a new ceiling fan with four working lights!  It's quite an accomplishment. 

I also finally figured out how to stream the new season of Call the Midwife (by downloading the PBS app on the Firestick). If you need to watch sometimes heartbreaking and always uplifting, you need to watch it. 

Not much else to report today. I'm reading a book that only kind of entertaining but requires very little emotional engagement on my part. 

The end. 

TCC, Day 34: All of the Mexican Food

Even when I barely leave the house during the week, Saturdays are still awesome.

I finished watching my Mexican cooking class, and I planned an entire homemade Mexican food meal for tonight so I could graduate myself.

I made refried black beans, pescado a la talla (red and green roasted fish) fresh tortillas, and strawberry tamales for dessert.

Here's the low down:

The fish was fishy. The recipe called for a butterflied snapper, but HEB didn't have that so I used cod. I have absolutely no idea if those two fish can be swapped out or not, but I did it. I made both the adobo rojo de chile sauce (the red one) and the green sauce from scratch. Trey preferred red. I preferred green.

I'm getting good at tortillas. Today's were the best so far. Yum!

The refried beans were delicious. So very good. I cooked the dried black beans in my InstantPot and then "refried" them. Yum!

Tamales.  I've always wanted to try to make tamales. The last session of my class was on guava tamales, so I was excited to give them a shot. However, I've never tried guava so I was reluctant to put so much work into something I may not like.

When we were in Cabo one summer we tried strawberry tamales, so I decided to swap out the guava with strawberries and give it a shot. The only other thing I did differently from the recipe is that I didn't add star anise to the masa. I think we've already established how I feel about licorice flavor. I should have left out the cinnamon stick because cinnamon and strawberries are not usually together, but it still tasted pretty good.

The corn husks I brought were sort of cumbersome. I'm not sure if that's always the case or not because my tamale-making experience is limited to the last six hours. Some of them were split and some were small. My skill in assembling the tamales needs some work. I steamed them in my Instantpot.

They aren't beautiful, but they taste good. We tested one to be sure. If you're a tamale pro, please feel free to leave me your tips and tricks. I'm going to have one of these later with macerated strawberries and whipped cream on top, so I'll be sure and share a pic of that so you can be jealous.

My friend Gabby (a.k.a. Gabriela Camera, the Master Class teacher) uses butter instead of lard in her dessert tamales, and she is a genius. You can taste the butter, and that can't be bad, right?

As a grand finale to the class, today I received an early birthday present from my friends - a tortilla press and Gabriela Camera's cookbook! It's a beautiful book, and I can't seem to put it down!

I've now started the French pastry class. I began a croissant starter last night, but it will be a week or so before I know if that works out like it should. You know I'll keep you all posted.

Even in quarantine, Saturdays are still awesome.

The end.

TCC, Day 33: No Wallowing

Today the governor announced that we will not return to school for the 19-20 school year. There are many, many heartbroken educators today.

On the first day of school, you meet all of these people who will be part of your life for ten months, and during that time you get to know more about them than you ever thought possible. You know what make them happy, what scares them, how they like to be celebrated. Sometimes you worry about them when you should be "off work." You wonder if you're doing enough to help them become the people they deserve to be. You get on their nerves and nag them and get frustrated when they don't put in full effort. In a very short time they become your kids.

On the last day of the school year, you bid farewell to your kids and you hug them and you hope that they'll come back and visit and you hope that they'll remember your name when you see them in the grocery store in five years. You hope they realize throughout their lives how very capable they are because you see it in them.

(You hope, too, that you remember their names when you see them in five years because you're old. Maybe that's just me.)

No one gets that day this year. And it's sad.

I've had several conversations with my friends and my kids and myself about how it's so very okay to be sad. Many parts of this stink, and we can own that. We just can't live in it. I hope my educator friends own this crappy development and then can make the choice not to wallow there. We've still got good work to do.

When I feel down or overwhelmed, my mantra has been "no wallowing." I should get a shirt with that printed on it.

In the spirit of not wallowing, I have other stuff to talk about today.

I participated in my first virtual job fair today, and it was fantastic!  I had my own "room" and when candidates entered a little doorbell went off to alert me. Then I could un-mute my camera and mic and visit with them, exchanging information. Once the conversation was done, I muted everything again and went back to working on other things. I have two more of these in the coming weeks, so I'm interested to see if they all go as smoothly.

At one point I was active at the job fair waiting on candidates, on a chat with colleague, and on a chat with technical support for a program I use troubleshooting something. I stopped, looked around, and realized how incredibly happy I was in that moment. It was busy and productive and I was handling it like a champ. It felt good deep in my brain for it be so engaged!

Speaking of work, on Monday I started a spiral notebook to jot down what I do each day. As the days run together and I spend hours and hours in my home office, I find myself wondering if/when I took care of X, Y, or Z. My new spiral notebook keeps from questioning my sanity. It's also perfect college ruled paper and written on with a good pen, so basically it's awesome.

On my last trip to the grocery store I bought jelly bellies. I always keep some in my office because they power my brain when I need to focus, so I'm excited to finally have some at home. I eat them one at a time, picking out the black licorice and juicy pear as I go because they are disgusting and only gross people eat them (sorry if that's you).

Today I was working and popping in jelly beans and making my tiny little pile of black and green ones to put in the trash later, and something caught my eye. Half of the "black" jelly beans in my pile were actually a dark purple. Grape. In the light from my office windows I could distinctly tell the difference. I wonder how many innocent grape jelly beans have been victimized because I thought they were black.

In my last bit of news, last week we ordered Keaton a tumble track. He hasn't been in the gym since spring break, and you can't exactly do gymnastics without a gym. I didn't tell him I had ordered it, mostly because I couldn't deal with him asking me when it would be here every eleven minutes until it showed up. Today it arrived, he was surprised, and it was wonderful. He's flipped all afternoon. When he came in to get dinner he remarked that his abs are already sore. Watching Keaton tumble in the front yard is a whole lot of fun for me.

As I was writing this, I got the email that the rest of the gymnastics season is officially cancelled. Now I'm sad again.

But only for a bit. Because no wallowing.

The end.

TCC, Day 32: Crawfish

A nice person I know boiled crawfish and shared with me. This post is late because I've been peeling and eating crawfish and enjoying the heck out of it. There may be crawfish juice all over my kitchen now, but that's a problem for another day. I couldn't find any Shiner Strawberry, but Leinenkugels worked just fine. Tastes like summer is coming.

I used to be a pickier eater. I never ate much seafood when I was kid. I think it's because my dad is allergic to all shellfish. Crawfish is a delicious gift of my adulthood.

My oldest niece had a beautiful baby this week. I don't want to talk too much about it because it's not my story to tell, but he's a big, healthy boy! I can't wait to meet him, even though it may be a while due to this stinking virus. I recently learned that one of my uncles didn't meet his son until he was eleven months old because of Vietnam. I think I can wait a minute to meet my newest nephew.

Today I made myself giggle thinking that I need to take a day off from work to do some things around the house. I really do!  Especially now that I've added crawfish juice to the mix.

The end.

TCC, Day 31: Avocados and Voicemails

Someone ate all the avocados. Trey said Keaton did it. Keaton brought up some guacamole Trey made when he was sure there was only one avocado in the fridge. They both accused me of eating said guacamole. All I know is that I needed an avocado, and there was not one to be found in the whole of the Hickman Hacienda.

These are desperate, avocado-necessary times, people.

Today was busy. I got up early to finish a grad school assignment that was due today. It wasn't hard - I just hadn't taken the time to do it. Once I wrapped that up I dove into my email. Then it was 5:00. How did that happen?

The boys are tired of eating "house food" all day and so am I. Today I let them order Double Dave's pepperoni rolls for lunch, and they were the best food I've ever eaten in my whole entire life. Warm, cheesy, and delicious.

I listen to a lot of voicemails during the day. My email address is out in the online world so people have a contact for our offices, but I just can't seem to put my cell phone out there. I'm not sure why because I give it to every single person I talk to, but options for the general public are to email me or call the office number.

Our various district office numbers go to voice mail, and those voicemails are passed along quickly and appropriately, sometimes to to me. So I listen to a lot of voicemails.

As a result, I have put together some pro tips for leaving great voicemails for people you don't know (You shouldn't do this when calling your husband or BFF because that would be weird):

• Talk slowly
• State your name
• State your purpose
• State your phone number slowly
• State your name again

I am a fast talker. Fast. Even faster if I'm excited about something. I often begin presentations by making eye contact with someone in the back and announcing that someone back there is responsible for waving at me if I start going nine hundred miles an hour and everyone is lost.

Listening to so many voicemails makes me want to send apology cookies to everyone I've ever left a message for. If that's you, please accept my sincerest I'm sorries.

In our current situation, I talk to employees but also to many outside entities unaffiliated with the district, so it's pretty fun to hear what people think my name is when we don't know each other and are talking on the phone:

Person: Can you tell me your name again?
Me (slowly and using my best articulation skills): Stormy
Person:Toni?
Me: No, Stormy. Like the weather.
Person: Can you repeat that?
Me: S T O R M Y. Stormy. Like the weather.
Person: Oh! I like that!  Stormy! With an I?
Me: Nope. With a Y. Like in the dictionary.
Person: Thanks!

(Then Person invariably sends me a follow up email with my named spelled Stormi.)

It's Wednesday. Day 31. A month - one of the long ones. Some day are better than others, but we're still kicking. I'm looking forward to looking back on these days and seeing that we learned how capable we really are.

The end.

Love,
Stormy
Like the weather
With a Y
Like in the dictionary

TCC, Day 30: Blah Blah Blah

I started counting days on the Monday we were supposed to go to work and school but couldn't. That makes today day #30.

I've been hopeful this week that a re-opening of the world is around the corner. Either I'm right, or we're about to get hit with more days of shut down. I pray that things start gradually and safely opening back up.

The haircut situation around here is rough for everyone except me. The other three get their hair cut every three weeks. We are well past that. Tucker has threatened to get the clippers out, but the fact that prom could still happen in mid-May is stopping him. Perhaps his girlfriend also has something to do with that. I feel pretty strongly that Keaton's hair should only be cut by a professional (those curls are wild!), but soon he'll be forced to wear a headband or something so we can see his face!

Keaton is SUPER stir crazy today. He's happy but full of energy with no good way to burn it off. He really misses the gym, and I really miss it for him. We've often discussed how it's as good for him mentally as it is for him physically.

I don't have anything too exciting to write about today. I find that work is frantic and busy earlier in the week and less so later in the week. I don't know if that's really true or if it's a reflection of my perception or energy level or what. Nonetheless, today was mostly just work.

So this post is mostly blah blah blah.

The end.

TCC, Day 29: Covers

I don't really have anything to write about today. I worked, bought groceries, made dinner. The usual.

Trey and I are watching The Voice tonight. We don't normally watch it, but we have caught a few episodes this season because we ain't got nothing else to do.

Some girl on the show sang Kelly Clarkson's Piece by Piece. It wasn't great. I went into a rant about how Kelly Clarkson's slow songs might be songs that other people shouldn't try to sing. I'm not always a fan of her voice, but she owns songs like that.

I feel the same way about Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. Only like five people in the world should sing their songs, and one of them is named Mariah and one of them is no longer with us.

Then a sixteen year old boy sang The Scientist. It was not a good choice for him. The song is so unique he would either end up being a bad comparison to the original or "making it his own" and, therefore, making it terrible. The latter was true. Poor kid.

I commented that probably no one should sing The Scientist except Coldplay.

Then I remembered that Willie Nelson covered it, and it was fantastic.

Then I decided that some people can sing whatever they darn well please, and this list includes Willie Nelson. As I continued making that list in my head, I added Johnny Cash because of his cover of Nine Inch Nails's Hurt.

That song reminded me of Not Ready to Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks and how I used some crazy contraption to capture the video for it from the interwebs to play it on the computer in my classroom as an introduction to The Scarlet Letter a very long time ago. It was before we had the capability to stream YouTube in classrooms, so I had to get creative. Teaching kids about books is the best job in the world.

Not Ready to Make Nice and Hurt came out four years apart. I wonder why one led my thoughts to the other. Perhaps the darkness of the videos? Brains are weird.

Basically I'm a back up judge on The Voice now.

I'll probably spend the rest of the evening googling "best covers" because we ain't got nothing else to do.

The end.

TCC, Day 28: David

For the first time in my life (that I know of) I wasn't in a church building on Easter Sunday. We had breakfast together as a family and then we watched the 8:00 service at around 10:30. I think the boys could get used to that schedule!  It was mostly reverent and joyful, as an Easter service should be.

Here's our family Easter picture with Trey and I in our Easter shorts and with the boys wearing shirts. (I made them put shirts on for the picture - last night I set the guideline that no one attends Easter church in their underwear, so that bridge had already been crossed):

Did you know this is the 103rd day of the year? I know this because I've been following a Bible reading plan to read through the whole Bible in one year, and today is day 103. That means that over one quarter of the year we've been social distancing. Weird.

Rarely am I right on with the Bible reading plan. Sometimes I'm a day or two behind, and sometimes I accidentally read ahead. I primarily listen to it, but I've done more reading now that I'm home so much. This afternoon I caught up on about three days' worth, currently reading in first Samuel.

I love the story of David and Goliath. It has to be a favorite childhood Bible story for lots of folks. As I read it today, I was struck by David's retort to Goliath when Goliath laughed at the possibility of fighting such a wimp. In I Samuel 17:45, David said, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied."

Basically, he said, "Uh, I've got God. I'm not scared."

I also read the section a little earlier when Samuel anointed David as the future king. Jesse paraded all of his sons in front of Samuel. When the Jesse's oldest son showed up, he looked impressive. Samuel thought "surely this must be the guy."

"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'" I Samuel 16:7

How appropriate it is that these versus were in my reading during this strange time. Many of us have countless worries these days:

Are we doing enough?
Will this ever end?
The experts say this could last until the fall.
Will my loved ones get sick?
Is my family safe?
Will the economy recover?
Will life ever be the same?

When those thoughts start creeping in, let's all think of David. Let's remember that we've got God, so we're not scared. And let's be people who have hearts that delight the Lord, shown in the way that we treat others and respond in times of crisis.

Maybe, just maybe, we'll come out of this whole thing better off than when we started.

Happy Easter!

The end.

TCC, Day 27: Saturday

It's Saturday. It was going to storm this afternoon, so we got going this morning on our chores.

We had Another Broken Egg for breakfast. It was delicious, as usual.

Trey took care of the lawn.

I did some sewing. Went for a walk since it was going to storm all afternoon. Completed my one grad school task for the day. (I've made a list of everything due for the next two week and have decided to do one thing every day until I'm done.)

I sat next to Keaton while he did school work for almost three hours. He doesn't need my help, but sometimes he needs my presence.

At home learning has one very exciting quality. I can see what assignments my kids have due and also see if they've turned them in. I know they're in high school and should be responsible for themselves and shouldn't need their mom checking in on them. I also know that teenage boy brains are mostly made of spaghetti and you don't teach organizational skills and responsibility by saying, "Okay, you're in high school. Be responsible. See ya!" And I also know there's no magic age or grade where a particular kid is ready to be on their own - we just have to get them there before college.

If you've ever gotten me started about the boxes we try to put kids into, then you know I feel strongly about this. (I'm referring to the royal "we" - society, culture, whatever.)

I have two children who may or may not turn in all of their assigned work. They are smart and capable and kind and hard-working. It's possible to be all of those things and not make straight A's, despite what our culture sometimes does to rank or rate teenagers.

One of them is pretty good about making sure he does enough to make the grade he cares about making without much intervention from me. The other one gets overwhelmed and his perfectionism flares and he can't see the way out. I don't usually know this is happening until he's really far gone.

With at home learning, I can make him make a list, then check his list and make sure it includes everything. And I watch him check items off of his list. And I can check to see if he actually pressed submit on the things he checked off his list. It's not like school is suddenly easier or less work, but I can hold him accountable before he's drowning.

I wonder how this can translate when real, in-person school starts again.

It still hasn't rained. Since I didn't water my flowers, we better at least get a sprinkle or I'll have to send a strongly worded letter to the weatherman.

We ate a delicious dinner and are now spending a lazy Saturday night at home. Life is pretty good in quarantine today.


The end.

TCC, Day 26: Are we still doing this?

I now find myself several times a day being caught off guard. "Wait. Are we still doing this?"

There are currently 116 positive cases in Brazos County, 80 of those are still active, and there have been 9 deaths. I'm watching less news these days, but I'm hearing that in New York things are bad. I heard a report that New York now has more cases than most other countries. I didn't verify that or anything, but it doesn't seem good.

Today was a school holiday, so I told myself I was going to treat it as such. That doesn't mean I didn't work at all - I responded to emails and took care of a few small things - but for the most part it was a day off. I cleaned the living room floors, did grad school work, watched some Criminal Minds.

I haven't really been out in public (out of my car, at least) since last weekend. I think we're now supposed to wear masks. That seems so strange to me, but if it's what we have to do to keep our community healthy I suppose I'll wear one. I never could have predicted that in my lifetime I would wear a mask to HEB.

It's Good Friday. We've been talking about our plans for Easter. We'll all watch church together, and I've been trying to pin the boys down on something I can order for a nice lunch. After I gave them the 500th option, Tucker finally said, "Can we just have French toast?" Of course we can. I was trying to get fancy, and they just want Trey to make them French toast. It was a good reminder that simpler is better most of the time.

I had two boxes of books from Keaton's room clean out sitting in my living room. This morning I put them out on the sidewalk with a note that they were free and had been Lysol-ed. I had put one of the boxes out a week or so ago, but it started to look like rain that day so I brought them in soon after. This evening, however, I went to bring the leftover ones back in before it got dark and found them all gone. I'm so happy about that!  Someone is enjoying some great books this evening!

Our currently shelter in place lasts three more weeks. Will we really be able to go back to normal on May 4th? What is normal now anyway?  Our economy needs us to get out of our houses, but our collective health may not be ready. My current prediction is that things start to reopen gradually beginning May 4th. There probably won't be a big "Corona's Over!" announcement, but rather a gradual release of us all back into the world. But I guess no one really knows.

I'm also hearing that we should never go back to shaking hands.  I appreciate a good handshake, and as a professional woman I've always found it important to look a person in the eye and provide a hearty handshake when I meet him or her in a work capacity. If that goes away, what will take it's place? I wonder if my grandkids will think it's weird if they see someone putting out their hand for handshake.

The end.

TCC, Day 25: Mexican Food

I've been taking a Mexican cooking class on Master Class. It's taught by Gabriela Camera who owns restaurants in Mexico City and San Francisco. So far I've watched classes on making tortillas, two kinds of raw salsas, tacos al pastor, pescado a la Talla, refried beans, and huevos rancheros divorciado.

It's like Gabby - that's what I call her now - and I are BFF's.

Now, I should be spending every moment I'm not working learning about quantitative analysis, but that makes me feel dumb and my brain hurts, so instead I learn about cooking. Those three major assignments due this Sunday aren't going to do themselves, so I've stopped myself from all things fun and done one each day the last two days. Tomorrow I'll do the last one, and then I will block them from my mind forever because they are evil. I don't seem to have the capacity for this particular level of difficulty these days. The semester will be over soon enough.

Back to the fun stuff.

In my tortilla making class I learned how to grind my own masa out of heirloom corn, but I seem to be fresh out of heirloom corn. Instead I bought masa, and Keaton and I have been practicing our tortilla making skills. (FYI - They sell tortilla presses at HEB.) At first they stuck to the plastic. Gabby said not to use plastic wrap but to use a heavier plastic instead, but Saran Wrap was all we had. She was right. They stuck. She is so smart.

Keaton had the genius idea of cutting up a gallon ziploc bag to have heavier plastic, and the sticking problem improved dramatically.

Our tortillas are still a little too thick, but we'll keep working on them. If anyone has tips for us, we'll take them. Gabby was right when she said they are best if you eat them fresh with a sprinkle of salt.

We've also made salsa verde cruda. It's a raw salsa made by throwing various raw veggies and herbs into the blender (super complicated). It's delicious. Since all of the measurements are in grams, I estimated a little too heavily in some cases. I think I over estimated the tomatillos, and with fewer of them the sauce would be creamier. Also, I bought large tomatillos and later learned small ones are preferred. I will definitely make this again and it will be even more delicious.

Next on my list is tacos al pastor. I was able to find all of the chiles I need at HEB except one. I got ancho, guajillo, pasilla, and chili de arbol. Isn't HEB fantastic?  I couldn't find any cascabels, but I've ordered them from Amazon and they should be here Saturday. I am SO EXCITED to make this! Maybe my tortillas will be a little closer to perfect by then.

I'm super intrigued by the fish. I was thinking it's not something I would attempt until I watched the class, but now I might have to try it. It's a butterflied fish with green sauce on half and red sauce on half, and you serve it with tortillas and refried black beans. It looks beautiful. We shall see if I get brave enough to try it.

Lots of Gabby's recipes call for epazote. It's an herb. I wonder if I can grow it here. I don't remember ever seeing it in the store, but I've never actually looked for it.

It's a good thing Trey likes Mexican food.

The end.

PS - So many words in this don't spell check. Perhaps my friend April will point out anything I've spelled wrong.

TCC, Day 24: Hickman Children

I'm currently in the middle of a complete emotional meltdown as a result of the Modern Family series finale. We've watched it since the beginning. Even when it wasn't at its best it was good for a belly laugh. The finale was perfect. I may have sobbed.

Sometime during the middle of the two hour event I decided I needed a treat. I went into the kitchen to retrieve one of the delicious and wonderful Cadbury eggs that I knew was there waiting for me. Trey had to go to Walgreens yesterday, and he brought home two just for me. He knows the way to my heart.

I was saddened but not shocked to find they were gone. There were no Cadbury eggs. They were gone. Missing. Vanished. I remembered this blog post from WAY back in 2012, when the culprit was young and innocent, and I knew who ate them.

Keaton. When he was six it was kind of cute. Now it's evil.

The Hickman boys awoke today to a list of things I required of them. They made donuts for breakfast, seemed to get along pretty well all day, and thought a lot about doing the things on my list. They informed me early this morning we would be having a red carpet steak dinner tonight. I wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but I was working so I did not ask additional questions.

Finally, late this afternoon, after some perfectly sane yelling by me, Tucker started cleaning. I know this because I heard the ensuing fist fight from my make shift office. I have no idea what actually happened, but I'm sure it had something to do with Tucker being a jerk because he had to clean and Keaton being a hot-head.

I broke up the fight and mostly gave up on everything. This was evidenced by my placement of myself in the recliner with a glass of sweet tea and a bag of cheese puffs to watch an episode of Criminal Minds. Hashtag winning.

I had a facetime meeting for my grad school class a few minutes later which I totally forgot about. I opened my computer to send a work email while it was on my mind, and then I remembered the meeting, and joined like that was my plan all along. Turns out I had also scheduled a Zoom hangout with some awesome friends at the same time, so when I finished my class call I chatted with them, and it made my heart happy.

What day is it anyway?

Imagine my surprise when I came out of my room to find that red carpet dinner was not, in fact, cancelled because of the fist fight. Tucker had grilled steaks, and the boys attended dinner in full dress attire. I attended in my shorts and t-shirt. Because Hashtag Winning.

Did you know that if you ask Alexa to play fancy restaurant music she will play a song called "Fancy Restaurant Music"?

These children. I suppose I should check to see if they actually did the items on my list. Maybe tomorrow.

For good measure, here's a picture from yesterday with one of them in a dinosaur costume and the other with his flowing locks braided.

These children.

I wish I had a Cadbury egg.

The end.

TCC, Day 23: Random Things

This is kind of a stream of consciousness thing. It's what I've got today, so just go with it. :)

I need some roller blades.

When I'm out walking, sometimes a person rolls past me on their roller blades and it looks so fun!  I was a very good roller skater back in the day, so maybe it's time for me to take it up again. Trey says I'll have to wear a helmet and elbow pads and knee pads. It's almost like he doesn't think I'll be awesome at it or something.

I have a flower buying problem. When I see flowers I like, I buy them and plant them in my backyard. Social distancing has really cut down on this since I can't go to Lowe's as often as I like. I have been once since we started staying home, and I bought purslane (I finally found it!) and some hyacinths. I've never had hyacinths before, but they spoke to me so now they grow in my yard. I have no idea if they will live, but the label said "full sun" so that's where I put them. My landscaping plan is called "Flowers I Like Planted Randomly."

We have a brick sidewalk down the side of our house, and the weeds that grow around it are the bane of my existence. It's junky and overgrown and terrible, and it has been that way as long as I can remember no matter how hard I try. I've now decided I want to rip up everything and throw down some wildflower seeds and see what happens. It won't be worse, that's for sure.

I'm a terrible teacher-mom. My kids told me they did their stuff the last two weeks, but I didn't check it or anything. I kind of checked Keaton's last week so I'm feeling okay about that, but the only thing I'm pretty sure Tucker did is statistics because he loves it. Everything else is questionable. Tomorrow I'm going to be better.

I am really, really, really tired of dishes.

Today, April 7th, is Brownies and Blessings Day - an officially unofficial holiday to celebrate the life of my late brother-in-law, James Barrett. We started celebrating on James's birthday the first year after he passed away. In my husband's family, birthdays are a big deal, so we couldn't let the day go by without acknowledging it. Traditionally, celebrants eat brownies (James's favorite) and share what they are thankful for. Today seems like an especially good day to do that, so feel free to participate.

We'll be having our brownies with Blue Bell and spending some time looking for the good in these unusual days.

Perhaps I'll be thankful for the ability to order roller blades online.

The end.