What's Up Wednesday: April 2020

Welcome to What's Up Wednesday for April. Who would have thought back in March that we'd still be in coronavirus quarantine today? Not me, that's for sure.

image from here

What we're eating this week... We've been eating a lot of Goldfish this quarantine for some reason -- pretzel, extreme salt and vinegar, and the new Disney related ones. It's really weird that suddenly Goldfish are our quarantine food.

What I'm reminiscing about... I'm reminiscing about when we could travel. And Rachel's past dance performances. We were supposed to have both of these things in the next few weeks and now we're not and I'm missing them.
Rachel as a gem in Aladdin in her first performance in 2017 * Rachel as a peppermint twist in Mary Poppins in 2018 * Sam as a flying monkey and Rachel as a rainbow in Wizard of Oz in 2019

As for travel, we were supposed to go to California next week to celebrate Dave's cousin's wedding. They have postponed it for now, and while I'm sad we're not going to California, I'm even sadder for them. Hopefully we'll be able to celebrate later...

What I'm loving... All the Coronavirus memes. I could laugh at these all day long!!! 

 Rachel asks once in awhile if she can bring me a drink from the fridge so I think we're on the right track career wise! Bring me a Corona, sweetie :)

What we've been up to... We're probably up to what all of you have been up to -- staying at home, working on online learning, and trying not to go insane :) Thankfully our weather has been warming up so we've been able to spend more time outside which is nice. (And for your reference a "warm" day around here is between 10-15C (50-60F)). We've also been playing a lot of family games which has actually been (mostly!) fun :)

If you're really interested in what we've been up to, I documented a "day in the life of quarantine" which you can read here. I should clarify this was a "good day" where we were able to spend a lot of time outside, which always helps!

online learning * going for a walk

What I'm dreading... We found out earlier this week that our schools are now closed until May 31. Our official last day of school is June 25 so it's possible we'll be able to go back in June, but right now I'm dreading another whole month of this. Can we be done now?

Please hear me here... I don't want to "be done" in the sense of "I don't agree with what is happening" -- I don't want to put people at risk. I just want life to go back to normal because this is hard. No matter our circumstances, this is hard.

What I'm working on... Trying to maintain a positive attitude. It's hard a lot of days. Until the schools are open, I don't have a job. I was unemployed for three and a half months at the end of 2019 and so I was just getting my working groove back when this hit. Now my job has been unexpectedly taken away again and I don't like it. We're safe, we're healthy, the kids are doing great with all this, and my husband has a good job so this is totally a "me" thing. In our family, I'm probably the one struggling the most in this time of quarantine so I'm trying not to let my attitude drag the whole family down.

What I'm excited about... Every single day that is somewhat warm and sunny. We've had a lot of wet, cold days this Spring so on the nice days, we're outside A LOT. I think the kids and I spent six hours outside on Monday.

I'm also excited that, inspired by an Instagram friend, we started a family newspaper. I love seeing the kids' interpretations of our days, or what stood out for them. If you want to read about what's been happening during our quarantine, we each try to write a contribution every day. The KC Post is published every Monday, except for this week :) You can read our latest edition here. Also, KC is our family's last initials, thus we are "The KC Post" of the KC Unified Territories (KCUT, for short).

What I'm watching/reading... Sportsnet has been airing something they call Blue Jays Rewind on the weekends. Every Saturday and Sunday they show an entire Blue Jays game from 2015 and 2016 (the years when the Jays were pretty good.) It's been fun to watch our old favourites (Kevin Pillar, Russell Martin, Marcus Stroman, etc) play together again. Also, we started watching Star Wars with the kids. We've watched the first two (original) movies. That's been fun!

This is from Opening Day 2019, but this is my view almost 

every Saturday and Sunday at 4pm during quarantine.

I'm so happy to say that my quarantine reading has finally evened out. I read all the time and normally I'm devouring everything I can get my hands on. Well for the first five or six weeks, I couldn't focus on the types of books I normally love so I was devouring a lot of regency romances and JD Robb's In Death series. I'm currently on my fourth (or fifth?) re-read of the In Death series. However, these past few weeks, I've been able to add a little more of my regular types of books (fiction, mysteries, non-fiction) into my reading and I'm so happy about this.

What I'm listening to... My family. All. The. Time. Does anyone else just want their family to go away for a few hours? Yeah, me too :) Also, when the weather is nice, we hear a lot of birds outside which is so lovely!

What I'm wearing... I'm so excited that it's warmed up enough that I can wear one of my favourite Spring outfits -- my yoga capris, shoes without socks, and a sweatshirt. It's so lovely. We can sometimes leave the house without jackets. Did I mention we're excited about the warmer weather!?!

We're wearing a mix of stuff, but I'm sporting one of my favourite Spring outfits in the picture on the left. Sam pulled out the shorts the other day, but I think he was a little premature!

What I'm doing this weekend... It's my birthday on Saturday so I'll be having a low-key day with some reading, some baseball watching, and a physically/socially distant visit with my best friend and her family who I haven't seen in person since this all started. I'm so excited!!!

What I'm looking forward to next month... Honestly, I already know that we'll still be in quarantine for at least another month, so it's hard to find things to look forward to. However, I'm definitely looking forward to being able to spend more time outside as the weather gets even better around here. And maybe by next What's Up Wednesday, we'll have some hope about how/when this will all end... Maybe.

What else is new... My husband and I started this blog in June 2007 as we were preparing to move across the country for my husband to attend grad school. Eventually it turned into a family blog and today is my 2000th post! What the what?!?!? Never did I imagine that this blog would be going strong thirteen years later. It's almost died a few times (end of 2016, end of 2017) but it keeps coming back.

I have had the chance to form some really great blogging friendships through the years and have been able to meet some of my blog friends in person, which has been amazing! And during this time of quarantine, a couple of blog friends and I have had a Zoom happy hour, with another one in the works. Hey -- if we're having virtual happy hours with out IRL friends, why not with our blog friends as well!

So anyway, thanks for reading one (or all!) of my 2,000 posts and being a part of my blogging life. I'm so thankful for my blogging community.

The Fourth Edition Of "The KC Post"

April 20, 2020
KCUT royal family goes for a walk
by Sam

Today Natasha, Sam and Rachel went for a walk. They picked up contact lenses for Natasha, and then went to the house of some friends to get clothes for Rachel and to talk. After a long talk with their friends, Natasha, Sam, and Rachel headed home to get some rest. They also stopped at Sabletine Bakery to see if it was open. It wasn’t.

Building a bird's nest!!!
by Rachel

Today Rachel and her dad built a bird’s nest. While Rachel and Dave were building the bird’s nest, they had to be careful of two things. One thing was: is it strong enough to survive a windy day? The second thing was: is it strong enough to survive a storm? Rachel and Dave built the bird’s nest out of sticks, cedar, stones, a flower, leaves, twigs, and pieces of birch bark. First, Dave started the bird’s nest by taking a stick and bending it so it could make the base of the nest. Then, they put twigs and sticks inside, around, and on top of the frame, so they could create the shape of the nest. Next, Rachel put cedar inside the nest, so the birds would have a nice, comfy place to lay their eggs and rest. After that, Dave and Rachel put the eggs (actually, a stone) into the nest, and put some more padding, some stones, pieces of birch, and the flower on, and around, the bird’s nest. Finally, Natasha, Rachel, and Dave went outside to test the bird’s nest. First, Dave blew as hard as he could, and the bird’s nest didn’t budge a bit! Then, Rachel tried to blow as hard as she could, but the bird’s nest wouldn’t budge! Next, Rachel dumped a bucket of water on the bird’s nest. It didn’t even budge a bit! It is a good bird's nest!

April 21, 2020

Ma Famille

by Rachel

Ma famille
énervant, joueur
Regarde Star wars, jouer, peinture, lecture
Sammy, D2L original, Minecraft, bonbon á la gelée jour
Marche, vélo, sauté
ennuyeux, heureux
La quarantine

English translation:
My family
annoying, playful
Watching Star Wars, playing, painting, reading
Sammy, D2L moose, Minecraft, jelly beans
Walking, biking, jumping
boring, happy
The quarantine

Boredom, a haiku 
by Sam

I am very bored
Inside all day is no fun
Very bored, I am

KCUT Royal Family Celebrates Food
by Natasha

The KCUT (KC Unified Territories) have decided to celebrate every food that ever was during this time of quarantine. The prince, Sam, invested in a "Every Day's A Holiday" calendar at the start of 2020 and celebrating the unusual food days have given the royal family something to do.
This past Monday was Lima Bean Day and, while the humble bean normally gets a bad rap, the royal chef concocted a recipe where the bean, while playing a part, was not the main attraction. "I don't like lima beans," Dave commented, "but the chef's touch of overwhelming them with rice, eggs, soya sauce, and shrimp was inspired. I didn't even know I was eating them."
"Let's declare every day Lima Bean Day," he added.
Another humble bean holiday which the family celebrated this week was Jelly Bean Day. "I'm ready for that holiday to not make another appearance for at least a year," groaned Natasha and Rachel in unison, who may have overindulged in the not so healthy jelly bean.
"Give me all the yellow ones," enthused Sam. "And while you're at it, throw all white and green ones in there as well."
The royal family will continue to keep an eye on the upcoming food holidays to be celebrated -- coming up, Shrimp Day...

April 22, 2020
STAR WARS!!!!!!
by Rachel

Rachel and her family started watching The Empire Strikes Back. It was really good. Rachel would give it a 9/10. They have not finished it yet. It was confusing when Luke met Yoda and when old Ben showed up. Darth Vader and the admirals keep trying to catch the Millennium Falcon. I don't want to be an admiral who gets force choked to death by Darth Vader.

Secret Society Uncovered
by Dave 

This week, investigative reporter Dave had a unique opportunity to catch a glimpse of the secretive Warrior Society. This shadowy group of highly-trained warriors has a long and storied history, and induction into their ranks is based on completion of a rigorous training regimen. Combining elements of martial arts, dance, and gymnastics, along with guiding principles such as promptness, neatness, and focus, the Warriors are a well-disciplined, battle-ready force. Dave was allowed to participate in an introductory class with Miss C., where he learned manoeuvres such as the full-body stretch and the squat/jump combination. Although Dave was initially reprimanded for his poor belt-tying skills, he eventually improved his technique and received a passing grade from Miss C.

April 23, 2020

PINK PANTHER – A REVIEW 
by Rachel

Tonight Rachel and Sammy watched a show called “Pink Panther.” Rachel thought it was good because Pink Panther is cute, and he’s silly, and he has lots of good ideas. For example, in one of the shows, Pink Panther tries to do his laundry, but then a whole lot of other things happen, like he rides on a cart and big nose gets mad at him and tries to stop the cart, but then he gets in the cart and they go around the Laundromat over and over again, and finally his washing is done. Rachel also likes this show because there are lots of good episodes, and they’re long. So, when you go on an airplane and it has TVs, you can search up Pink Panther and watch one or two hours of Pink Panther. If you want to watch and learn more click the link below: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pink+panther&sp=EgIQAQ%253D%253D  or watch an episode by clicking here.

Puzzle Corner

By Dave
Have social distancing and isolation got you down? Perk up your brain with these mind-bending puzzles!

Word Scramble
Unscramble each of the following words, all of which have a common theme. Then, take the letters in each circle, and rearrange them to form a word that fits the theme. Good luck!

 Rebus
 A common phrase is hidden in this puzzle; can you find it?

April 24, 2020
Meepbob vs Uni Unicorns
by Sam

Today Meepbob played the Uni Unicorns at Meepbob’s Backyard Stadium. The final score was 8-7 Meepbob, going all the way to the bottom of the 3rd (it was a 3 inning game). In the top of the 1st, the Unicorns started it off with 2 runs, but were countered in the bottom when Meepbob scored 3. Then, in the top of the 2nd, Uni scored another run. In the bottom half of the inning, Uni star pitcher Uniez shut down Meepbob’s offense, stopping them from scoring any runs and keeping the score 3-3. Then came the 3rd. In the top of the inning, Uni got the bases loaded after Brandon Morrow replaced the starter Zack Greinke, and then scored a run while keeping the bases loaded. Then Adam Liberatore replaced Morrow, and got 2 outs before giving up a bases loaded 3 run triple. Liberatore then got the next out, but it was 7-3 Uni. In the bottom of the inning Uniez gave up a double and a home run, before being replaced by closer Ken Giles. Giles then got 1 out and gave up another homer to make the score 7-6. Then up came Cody Bellinger. He fouled off what felt like 1,000,000 pitches before poking a ball over Robbie Alomar’s head for a single. Then Dee Gordon came up and took a strike. On the next pitch he cracked the ball over the left field wall to make it 8-7 Meepbob and win them the game.

Uni Unicorns pitching to Meepbob

Beautifying the KCUT Royal Gardens
by Natasha

Today, the royal gardener, Natasha, was finally able to add some flowers to the outside of the castle. After weeks of spring snows and freezing temperatures, the weather took a turn for the better. "The gardens were a mess after I removed the winter greenery a few weeks ago," Natasha commented.
She was able to plant 36,000 pansies around the outside of the castle, adding pops of colour to the dull brick walls. Passersby were amazed at the transformation.
However, Natasha has already had to defend the gardens from the dastardly squirrels who have been attempting to dig up the pansies and drag them off to new homes. "I sprinkled chili powder throughout the gardens," Natasha explained. "I hope they start licking their paws, after digging up all my hard work, and realize who they're up against."
Despite the squirrels, this reporter was in awe when she received a personal tour of the changes and highly recommends you book your own garden tour soon. They are definitely worth a trip to the KCUT palace, just don't smell the flowers lest you get chili powder up your nose.

Endless Food Supply Discovered

Cure for world hunger in sight, say experts

by Dave

The international science community was astounded to discover the existence of an apparently endless food source, thanks to cutting edge research from the KCUT National Food Sciences Laboratory. This scientific marvel was the result of the extraordinary efforts of Dr. NJ Kreinstein, lead scientist of the KCUT National Academy of Sciences. She embarked on a ground-breaking experiment with the Uzbek pilaf and beef dish known as plov this past Friday, creating an initial batch of sufficient quantity to feed 3-4 hungry army brigades. Local resident Dave was heard to remark “Wow, that’s a lot of plov!”
Dr. Kreinstein’s laboratory colleagues made an initial dent in the large mound of rice on Friday evening, and the scientists placed the remaining food in a chilled storage chamber for the next several days. However, after retrieving the leftover quantity and dishing out a significant helping on Monday, scientists were shocked to observe that the supply of food was apparently undiminished. They immediately ran some tests, and discovered that there was still over 1.5 tons of food remaining.
Word of this startling discovery quickly reached international aid organizations, which quickly began making plans to distribute the food to malnourished regions of the globe. World leaders were also quick to respond to the hopeful news. “This is reminiscent of the manna that fed the Israelites in the desert!” expounded Chief Rabbi Shmuel Aryeh Rabinovitch. “While the origin may not be quite as mysterious, the bountiful quantities are nothing short of miraculous!” Aid agencies were equally enthusiastic: “It’s wonderful news for people in so many parts of the world,” stated Rachel C., head of the UN World Food Programme, “... as long as those people can learn to like slightly undercooked rice and spiced vegetarian beef.”
As of press time, it is still unclear whether the plov supply is, in fact, limitless; however, one thing is certain: the KCUT citizens will be enjoying this meal for a long time to come.

How Well Do You Know Your Mother?

The editor of The KC Post would like to inform you that publication of this week's newspaper has been delayed until tomorrow. She did not have enough time to get the edition ready in time for this morning. Thank you for your understanding.

I found this post through Dara at Not In Jersey Anymore and thought it was really fun! You can see her post here. Since Saturday is my birthday, I thought I would dedicate a few posts this week to ME! Hahaha!!!

I am watching TV, what am I watching?

Rachel: random stuff

Sam: I don't know, we don't have one. Grey's Anatomy???

Sam is right in that we don't have a TV. However, Dave and I did last watch Grey's Anatomy and it's clear that neither kid considers "streaming Blue Jays games" as watching TV. Good to know :)

What dressing do I eat on my salad?

Rachel: multiple different ones

Sam: a clear one, vinagarette

I like oil based salad dressings. We go through a lot of 

Greek Feta & Oregano dressing as well as Italian.

Name something I hate.

Rachel: Daddy being a perfectionist

Sam: Meat

I do get annoyed with Dave's perfectionist tendencies. Since I'm a vegetarian, Sam decided it was meat. I don't hate meat. I just don't eat it. My answer to this would have been "dogs."

If we go out to eat, what do I order to drink?

Rachel: Coke or iced tea

 Sam: Coke

Well you know both kids are right on this one.
I order iced tea if we visit a Pepsi establishment. Ha!

Favorite music to listen to?

Rachel: Kfun (a radio station which plays 70s, 80s & 90s music)

 Sam: Old music

If 80s music classifies as "old" than both kids are right.

What is something I collect?

Rachel: necklaces and tea mugs

 Sam: books

I would have said mugs in general but Rachel is right -- 
I forgot about my necklace collection. 
I don't know that I collect books as much as I just read a lot of them.

What would I eat every day if I could?

Rachel: Pizza

 Sam: Pizza

Both kids are absolutely correct!

And it doesn't matter if the pizza is homemade, 

from a restaurant, or from frozen -- it's all good.

What is my favorite color?

Rachel:  I'd have to go with ... ah, gosh... green?

 Sam: I don't know

I don't have a favourite colour, so both kids are technically correct.

What would I NEVER wear?

Rachel:  leggings

 Sam: Like if it wasn't Hallowe'en? A cardboard box

I would have gone with make up or heels but since I never wear them, I don't think they're on the kids' radars. And Sam is right, if it wasn't Hallowe'en, I would definitely not wear a cardboard box!!! 

What are my favorite sports teams?

Rachel: Blue Jays

 Sam: the Blue Jays

What is something that you do that I wish you didn’t do?

Rachel: jump inside the house

 Sam: play baseball inside

These are both things I tell them to stop doing ALL THE TIME!

You bake me a cake for my birthday. What type?

Rachel: chocolate

 Sam: an edible one

They'd better figure out the answer to this one before Saturday :)
I mean, I guess Sam is technically correct.

What is my favorite animal?

Rachel: You don't have one

 Sam: a moose

Rachel is more right but Sam is also right.
If I had to choose, I would probably choose a moose.

What could I spend all day doing?

 Rachel: reading and drinking tea and Coke

Sam: reading

It's like they know me or something...

Three Things On A Friday

Given how many of you re-posted your own "Three Things" post after I posted one in January, I figured you wouldn't be upset if I did another one. You can read the first one here. And really, you all are people after my own heart because I just can't resist these either. This one comes from a newer blogging friend, Rebecca Jo. You can find her original post here.

Places I never want to go

*the dentist
*dog parks 
*Las Vegas -- I don't know why Vegas has no appeal to me because it seems like it might be an interesting place to go and you all know I love travel.

Places I always want to go

*the library
*baseball games
*New York City

 I miss visiting the library and New York City :(

 And baseball games... :(

Appetizers I will eat at any time

*cheesy dips
*bruschetta bread
*escargot -- especially on a Disney cruise!!!

Wall colors in my house

*blue -- in our kitchen
*green -- in our office
*blue-ish/purple-ish -- in our bedroom

 bedroom * kitchen * office

Can you tell I LOVE colour?!?!?!

Things I'm looking forward to this month

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Okay, seriously...

*Dewey's readathon -- happening this weekend
*watching old baseball games -- on YouTube and when SportsNet replays old games
*the weather warming up and finally being able to plant my pansies -- maybe by today??? We seriously had snow a few times this week. Ugh, I'm so over it already.

Places I enjoyed in my youth

*library -- obviously!
*school -- I really did like school.
*basketball tournaments -- Weird but true! I was paid to be a scorekeeper, a timekeeper, run the 30 second clock, and run the scoreboard. I worked big games at one of the best known high school basketball tournaments in Canada. You can read more about it here.

Things 10 year old me never expected to spend so much money on

*my kids allowance -- Gah.
*coffee -- I mean I only drink it mixed with hot chocolate but we buy fair trade coffee so we spend a not insignificant amount of money on this.
*travel -- Probably our biggest expense outside of our house payment and groceries...

 Cruising with my parents.

Sidenote: I miss my parents and, thanks to Covid-19, 

I have no idea when we'll see each other again :(

Visiting our friends in the Yukon last summer.

And checking out Alaska.

We miss these friends too :(

Day In The Life: Quarantine Edition

Allena posted a Day In the Life: Quarantine Edition a few days ago and I was inspired to do one too. After all, right now it feels like this will never end but I know eventually we will be back to (closer to?) "normal" and I will wonder, "What did those days really look like?" So welcome to our Monday.

I have been setting my alarm so I don't sleep until all hours. I set it for 7am and then I usually check e-mail, read blogs, look at Instagram in bed for awhile. This day I came downstairs around 8am. The kids were playing Minecraft on the couch. They can have unlimited screen time from the time they wake up until about 9am.

I took this picture around 8:15. I'd started coffee, and was commenting on blogs on my laptop. Yes, I read them upstairs on my phone and comment later on my laptop.

By 9am, I'd started on my first coffee-hot chocolate of the day. Sam had put away breakfast dishes and Rachel was getting her oatmeal toppings. For the sake of documenting, Sam has been eating a HUGE bowl of MiniWheats every morning and Rachel has been loving regular oatmeal with chocolate chips, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Nothing like a sugar rush to start your day! I think I also put a load of laundry in the washer during this time.

By 9:30 our bed was made. Dave has a regular 9:30 team meeting and, since his office is in our bedroom, our bed needs to be made by then. And since I hadn't gotten dressed by 9:30, I got dressed in Rachel's room. No flashing of Dave's co-workers over here :)

I read a post on the weekend about how day planners are more important than ever these days because we're all out of routine. Honestly, I'd been making a daily schedule ("to do list", more than "a schedule") on recycled sheets of paper but I have to put that 2020 planner to use somehow.

Sidenote here: When this all started I asked the kids if they wanted a daily schedule to follow or to have every day be different. They both voted for "different" and so, while we have fallen into somewhat of a routine, every day does look different. Thus, I wrote our list for the day (and some items for the next day) in consultation with the kids around 9:35-9:40.

I had this dream that one kid could work on their iPad for online learning but their iPads are too old so they can't submit their documents online. Thus, Rachel uses Dave's laptop and Sam uses mine and I find offline things to do. This day I decided to start tackling my mending pile. I also texted with some friends, ate a banana muffin and yogurt for breakfast, and drank some coffee-hot chocolate. And banged my head against both Grade 3 and Grade 5 math. Ugh.

I'd like to point out that this is the first time in his entire school career that Sam has ever needed help with math. Another friend and I were comparing notes on this particular lesson because it was hard.

By 11:04, online learning was done, my breakfast was done, my mending pile was done, and we headed outside.

 

I hung a load of laundry out, washed our winter outerwear, hung that out, watered my pansies (it's still too cold to plant them outside - boo), and the kids played trampoline soccer the whole time. I didn't get a picture of them but I did get this one of my pansies. And the winter wear hanging on the line. Whooo hoo!!!

One of Rachel's assignments last week was to build a bird's nest. Well, it was too cold for me to help facilitate that so yesterday was the day. We ended our outside time by gathering some more bird's nest materials around 11:53.

We ate lunch around 12:00. This week Rachel and Sam have gotten excited about muffin tin lunches. They like splitting a 12 cup muffin tin. They had goldfish, cheese, summer sausage, kiwi (for Sam), cucumbers for Rachel, seaweed (for Sam), green apples and I don't know all what. Hey -- if they eat a variety of food I'm calling it a win.

The other thing that almost never changes is that we do dishes after lunch. I wash them and Sam and Rachel dry and put away. I forgot to get a before picture, but this is the after picture, taken at 1:02pm.

Since I knew it was going to be a gorgeous day, we went on a long walk. We left right after dishes and didn't get home until 3pm. I had to pick up a pair of contact lenses because my appointment from March has been delayed at least until the end of May and I don't have enough pairs to keep me going.

Then we stopped at our friends' house and picked up a bunch of hand me downs. We also had a socially distant visit for about half an hour and it was sooooo good. We haven't done that much this quarantine and it made my week. They stayed on their porch and we were on their driveway. Also, Rachel was so excited about the clothes, she immediately pulled out this black fuzzy cat sweater and the pink Uggs to wear home!

We got home a bit after 3pm and I grabbed a picture of Rachel and the bags of hand me down clothes and shoes. Then she had a quick snack.

By 3:30, Rachel was doing modern dance on Zoom and Sam and I were reading and eating a snack.

By 4:30, I'd moved my reading upstairs (along with a Coke) and Dave was finishing off his work day. When he finished work (around 4:45), he and Rachel went outside to build the bird's nest and I had a nap.

Rachel woke me up around 5:20 to check out their bird's nest. It held up to having a bunch of water poured over it and the wind test, so we counted it a success.

Dave and I don't always cook supper together but fried rice requires both of us. I boil the veggies and the shrimp and fry the rice while Dave makes the scrambled eggs. This was us working on supper at 5:53.

By 6pm, we were sitting down to supper. It was National Lima Bean Day on Monday and this is the only meal we make with lima beans so that's why we had this for supper. Yum!

After supper I checked my work e-mails (very few of them actually pertain to me), while Dave and the kids did dishes. I also brought all the laundry in from outside.

At 6:45 I decided it was time to deal with the disaster know as the playroom. This is after the kids had spent ten minutes cleaning it. I hung up the winter outerwear downstairs, we cleaned up the last few pieces of cardboard, and most importantly, I swept up all the teeny tiny bits of dried paint while Dave shook out the rugs. It looked so much better afterwards.

Also, I'm fine to let the kids get creative and play in there for up to a week, while keeping their projects on the go, but every once in awhile we need a fresh start. As of this writing, the kids are putting together a 500 piece puzzle in the playroom and Rachel has part of it set up like a classroom with her whiteboard and her workbook. Plus they have a Minecraft card game in progress and Rachel has pulled out the paints again to paint a birdhouse.

Like everyone else in quarantine, I'm attempting to grow celery. I don't know how it's going. I also have a basil plant growing in there. I tried lettuce but it just rotted. I spent some time watering these guys and cleaning up the dining room.

By 7:20, Dave was back from a quick errand. We'd been attempting to buy a bottle of Sprite for over 24 hours. Things conspired against us like the corner store was closed and the other store I went to only took debit (I don't know my debit card pin because I never use it). Dave finally took his debit card to the store so we all enjoyed a glass of Sprite.

After, I started working on this blog post and around 7:45, I decided to FaceTime my parents. We talked with them for quite awhile.

I headed off to bed around 9:15 and was going to read my book while I ate some goldfish. However, I got sucked into the news about the mass shooting in Nova Scotia. Mass shootings are fairly rare in Canada, and this is the largest Canadian one ever (22 victims thus far, and they're expecting more). It's just such a sad and horrible situation, compounded by the fact that people can't grieve in regular ways :(

After that, I read for a bit and probably fell asleep around 11:15 or so...

And this was a day in our quarantine life.