This blog doesn't contain photos. I just couldn't get it together to actually take photos and then go that extra step and drop them onto my laptop. Seems like an issue the Jetsons would encounter. I'm more like a Flintstone, it feels like. Anyhow, use your imagination.
Amira has finished out her sophomore year "Distance Learning". That is to say that she spent the last months of the school year in Google classroom (accessing it through the computer at her home desk). She really misses school. We took a bike ride through the neighborhood one night a couple of weeks ago and spied all the neighbors out walking dogs, riding bikes, cooking marshmallows over front yard campfires and enjoying the Bob Ross style sunset colors as they kaleidoscoped across the sky above us. I was thinking that events like this made me a little grateful to see a positive side to a stay at home order. People are very resilient (whether they want to be or not)! Amira said to me that she missed the "before time". Yes, we all miss our routines - and people - and the freedom to get together with those people. She said she never really appreciated going to school until she suddenly couldn't do it. And last year at this time she was gearing up to live and work at a scout camp for the summer. This year all the camps are closed. Well, she is a trooper. She's kind of hitting her wall, as we all are. Hopefully she can get out for more bike rides and park walks. It's not the same as seeing your friends everyday though.
Rex had been staying home from work but has finally gone back. I think he likes having a daily routine of getting out of the house and earning money again. He is looking forward to going back to college in the fall. He's very concerned it will be mostly on-line. But he will be taking some science classes that will have labs. He's hopeful that the labs will be in-person. I think he is kicking off his student career with an English class that will, unfortunately, be on-line. He has been taking on side jobs at home during this time too. I often come home to find another car in my garage being worked on. He'd gone out to an orchard of a family friend to take care of the "squirrel problem" there and came home with a rusted out project car. He got all the walnuts and dead animals out of it. Now it's up on blocks in the driveway. If everyone is home and has their cars parked in the driveway, you can't see it. But if anyone moves their car, it's right there. Yes, we are THAT house.
Valerie has a new best friend. Her name is Rosie. She is a couple months old and is half German Shepherd half Husky. I think Rosie has been wonderful for Valerie. She is a tremendous therapy animal. Valerie is an awesome and involved dog-mom. She is working well with Rosie keeping her trained and cleaning up after her. Although Rosie is very shy toward other people, she has really taken to Fun Aunt Amira. They splash about in the little kiddie pool they got for her in the back yard, play chase, go to drive-through Dutch Bros. and Fro-Yo places for treats. Rosie is very well behaved and sweet. If you're looking for Rosie, you can find her shadowing one of the girls.
Michael has taken on a few little jobs here and there. But, let's face it, the bread and butter was traveling to and running large, live events. I don't see that coming back anytime soon. But he has been very proactive about reaching out to people for work. He even re-activated his teaching credential just-in-case. Mostly he is taking this time to really embrace the poultry farming. I cannot tell you how many chickens and turkeys we have in the back yard at this moment. I mean that. I literally cannot tell you how many birds we have out there. Michael probably can tell you to a number. He's also been maintaining the yard and garden. I'm grateful for that! I feel like I'm the one who isn't home much. (That's because I'm the one who isn't home much).
For me, I continue to work at the school district office. With so few people actually coming in to work, I've been basking in the space to myself. Of course, it gets a little lonely there at times. But it is still surprisingly busy. I'm actually busier since the schools shut! And now we are already trying to plan for every different scenario possible for next year. Are the students coming back? How do we keep them and the staff safe? What if we have to jump back into distance learning? How do we effectively do that better? What if we have a hybrid model? Also, the state budget just got hacked. Now what? So many unknowns. Well, it's an interesting job for sure. And I love the people that I work with.
For fun I've gone out on a few hikes. Last weekend Michael and I took the kayaks out. That was magical. We thought maybe we could still camp this summer. It doesn't look like that is going to happen as all the campgrounds and facilities are closed. So, we will have to be adaptable. Lots of day trips for fishing/hiking/kayaking. If I could keep my eyes open past 8:30 p.m., I'd say star gazing too. But, alas, the sun is still up when my eyes slam shut at the end of my days lately.
We are going to have to drag in our critter sitter to help maintain the Zookeeper's Cafe we are running here. Over the years we have collected two rabbits, a cat, a guinea pig, a cockatiel, a parakeet, two rats, a puppy and a couple flocks of assorted poultry in the back forty. I don't know. We might be animal hoarders? This place sure would feel empty if any one of them were missing though. They all talk to us, sing to us, beg for kitchen scraps from us ... let's face it, they are family members. And they are pretty stoked about the stay-at-home orders. But this will be the first time in years I've gotten a paid vacation. So, gosh darn it! We are going to head for the hills for a little R&R for one week this summer. It's going to be awesome.
