Day 104

Going to the dentist is a whole different experience than it was pre-COVID.
I parked outside the office, called the office to ask for permission to enter, and was told that  we could come in with masks and sit on the bench in the hall outside the office, because the lobby was full (meaning there were already two people in there).

Sarah got called almost immediately, but by the time I got called 30 minutes later,

 the lobby was empty. 

Instead of the old man dentist I've been seeing for years, I got a new young cute one.  He peered into my mouth and said, "I wish I could replicate you."  Nobody has ever said that to me before!  He said he wished I would give some of his other patients tips on brushing and flossing.  I said, "They wouldn't listen.  My own children don't.  You'll see my son at 4:00."  He said, "Oh, you can bring him in sooner than that."   I thought that was weird and said, "Well, he's bringing himself, and it's already 3:15..."  He said, "Oooohhhh, you mean he has an appointment at 4:00?  I thought you meant you were going to bring him in when he turned 4 years old."  

There's some debate about whether we're going on the Epic Road Trip.  Mike said he doesn't want to go if only half of Glacier National Park is open, but I have a bad feeling that things are going to get worse, especially around election time, and who knows if we'll ever be able to go anywhere again?  So I just want to go and see whatever we can see.  They can't shut down the beauty of the entire West. Surely we'll see something.

Day 103

Today I wasted a lot of time on the phone with the dentist's office, learning the new protocol for getting our regularly-scheduled checkups and cleanings.  She asked me a bunch of questions that I had to answer for each of us about symptoms, contact with infected people, recent travel, etc.  Then she told me that we have to call from the parking lot at our appointment time, and someone will come out and get us when it's our turn to come inside, and we have to wear masks.  I assume we can take the masks off during the cleaning, or that would be a real trick. Then she emailed me a slew of forms that I had to fill out for each person, which literally took me an entire hour to complete. 

I found out today that marching band season is going to start on time for Sarah.  Yay!  That girl seriously needs something to do. Her first rehearsal is in a week.  They can only rehearse in small groups, not as a complete band.  I wasted another 20 minutes transferring all the rehearsals and competitions to the calendar.  It's good to have that done. 

Now I'm going to clean the bathroom, go to my appointed pool time, get groceries for us and the in-laws, and deliver them. That should take the rest of this ridiculously hot, humid day.  Poor Noah is out there working in it all day, and I see he forgot his water at home.  I resisted the urge to fire up the helicopter and deliver it to him.

Day 102

Nothing to say today. Too hot and humid.

Day 101

Friday, June 26, Illinois finally hit "Phase 4" of the reopening plan.  We can now eat in restaurants again. We didn't though. We can also gather in groups of 50 or less.  We didn't do that either.

I gathered with Sarah and the 2 cats and 1 dog she's pet-setting for, but that's it.  I took my first full feature-length caption job for a movie, so that is taking all my time.

Mom told me that she just found out that Colorado is still in Phase 2 of reopening, so the pool at their condo is not open.  Hopefully that will change in the next 2 months.  There is some question as to whether hotels, and even rest stop bathrooms will be open, so we are prepared to sleep in the van and pee in the great outdoors on our trip if necessary. It's very difficult to plan anything anymore.

Day 100

I volunteered Sarah for a car detailing job.  This was the filthiest car I've ever seen, and she made it look like new!  I was impressed.  I helped her a little because it was a big job and I got her into it, but she did most of it herself.  She got paid $15/hour, and it took her 6 hours.

When I wasn't working on that, I was working with my friend Denise, who actually likes trimming bushes and trees.  She asked if she could come over and trim ours.  Of course I said yes.  I didn't feel right about sitting inside while she worked like a slave, so I went out and picked up debris, hauled branches, held the ladder, etc.  

Then Mike and I walked 7500 steps, because he said it's time for "Operation Glacier" where we get in shape for our huge hiking trip.  I did so much physical activity yesterday that I actually only ate one meal, and it was a healthy one, so that was a good jump-start to Operation Glacier too.  Doubtful that I can maintain it for 2 more months, but I do have a good motivating inspiration.  

Day 99

Such a perfect morning to work the garden.

 Rhubarb.  I already harvested it down to nothing this spring, but it's coming back. 

 The blueberry bush I planted 2 years ago is getting bigger.

  I'm hoping maybe it will bear fruit next year.

 The wrens have been remodeling this house for weeks.  I saw them having sex in our tree today, and they've been flitting in and out of the box several times, so we should have babies soon.

 Lots of tomatoes coming.

 Cantaloupe.

 Arugula.

 Beets.

Always plenty of catnip for the babies.  I started it in that pot, and the huge bush started itself last year and returned this year.

Mike and I have a swanky date at a vineyard tonight.  Fancy gourmet meal, but we have to listen to some spiel from someone who wants us to buy something.
It was a beautiful evening at the vineyard.  We tried several times, without success, to take a decent selfie.

 Sarah told me I looked like Susan B. Anthony.  I had no idea what Susan looked like, so I looked her up.

Day 98

Mike found out that he's going to get an extra 2 weeks of vacation this year, because he has worked in the office since the beginning of the pandemic, while many of his coworkers had paid time off.  So we decided that this is the year we're taking our epic road trip west.  We're planning to take a couple weeks to visit several landmarks, including Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain National Park, the Grand Tetons, and the ultimate goal...Glacier National Park.  My parents will be in Winter Park, Colorado, during that time, and I invited ourselves to stay with them a couple days and take them to Rocky Mountain National Park with us.  We're planning to leave in about two months.  So exciting!

I decided I should try to lose a few pounds before we go, because we'll be doing some serious hiking, and that would be a lot easier if I didn't have to haul all this fat along with me.  I did pretty well for a few hours, but then I fell off the wagon already and pigged out.  I'll start tomorrow.

I saw our wren couple flitting in and out of the birdhouse several times yesterday.  Hoping to see babies before we leave.

I had a bad brain day today.  On the way to the gym, I realized I forgot to bring underwear and a shirt to wear home.  This would have been a problem, because I wear my swimsuit there and would have had to wear a towel home. I came back and got those items and was pleased with myself for remembering.  Standing by the pool about to get in, I had a feeling that I was forgetting something, but I decided to think about it while I was swimming, to give my mind something to do.  I got in and immediately realized what it was.  I was still wearing my shorts, complete with tissues and gum in the pockets.  I fished those out of the pool and wrung and hung my shorts, because those are the ones I had to wear home.

It has been a very strange year.  The pandemic, the shutdown, the murder hornets, the race riots, people are tearing down statues because they're offensive to them.  There's a black bear roaming through central Illinois, and now I just heard there's a giant plume of sand heading for us from Africa that is going to lower our air quality and make the sky look milky.

Noah is working in Princeville, building an entire house.  What great experience for him!

Day 97

Father's Day.  The kids gave Mike some of his favorite candy and a tool he wanted, and this card:

Mike went to see his dad, and Noah drove me in his new truck to see my dad. 

Day 96

The boys went shopping for truck supplies and tools and a tool belt.

I spent over 4 hours at church learning the new projection system. 

Day 95

Back to reality.  I did little catching-up things that I was too tired to do last night when I got home.  Cleaned the bathroom, did laundry, finished putting my stuff away, reorganized the fridge and freezer a little, did some caption work.  Tonight I'm going to the gym and the grocery store and the in-laws'.

New desk!

Mike and I went for a walk the night before I left for Missouri, and we happened upon a beautiful piece of trash that someone up the street had left on the curb.  I stayed with it, and Mike ran home to bring back the van.  He and Noah hauled it in and did some measurements to figure out where to put it. Who would throw away such a perfect desk? 

Mike disassembled our old homeschool desk that we bought from Goodwill 9 years ago.  It served us well, but we're at a different place in life now.

 The most wonderful thing about this one is that it's adjustable! 

 I can stand up or sit down when I work.

Day 94

Up early to clean the house, wash the sheets and towels, pack up, and load the van.  Played a little Bananagrams and left.  Stopped at Canterbury Hill Winery (or something like that) in Jefferson City for a late lunch.  It's a beautiful place with great food.  I got a cranberry pecan salad and sweet potato fries with maple syrup, which the server assured me would be life-changing.  Stopped in Kingdom City, MO, to fill up at $1.65/gallon and then Bev drove my van all the way back.  Nice to be home.

Day 93

We went for a walk, and Denise and I checked out the quarry nearby.

We went to some thrift stores and ate at The Branding Iron, a new restaurant close to Bev's house. Then we played games tge rest of the day.  We're up to 49 games now.

Day 92

Breakfast with the girls on the deck. Denise and I went for a walk while Bev and Leslie played Bananagrams.  We went to The Landing and bought matching shirts 50% off.  We bought candy and had lunch at Yankee Peddler Tea Room.

One more shop and then back to the house for a game marathon and dinner. 

 The list of games we've played so far.

Sometimes we can't all reach the game pieces.

 We tried to take a selfie. Thankfully a nice lady saw the struggle and offered to take our picture.

Days 90-91

Yesterday I picked up Bev and Denise and drove to Leslie's condo in Osage Beach, MO.  We stopped for a picnic on the way.  Also made a quick gas stop once we crossed into Missouri, where I filled up for $1.79/gal. Its $2.39/gal at home. Noah bought the truck for $6,000.
We girls took a tour of Leslie's condo, which is very nice, and then Leslie came with us to Bev's house in Sunrise Beach, after a stop at a grocery store to get dinner.

The salad bar where I usually get my dinner is closed because of the virus.  It was filled instead with little bottles of booze. Most people were not wearing masks, and there were no one-way aisles. Things are much more relaxed down here.  We hauled in our stuff in the heat, ate dinner,  hung up the decorative bananas, and played games till about 10:30.

This morning we ate breakfast on the deck, played games,  went for a hot walk, ate lunch, played games, got in the lake, and completed a project  (tying buoys on a rope and attaching it  to the docks to mark off a swimming area.

 A flock of geese swam by to inspect our work. .

An otter jumped up on the dock and left us a present

I also saw this heron take off from the dock. 

We took showers, played games, ate dinner, and played games. So far we've played 20 games. So much fun.

Day 89

After the disappointing truck news last night, I told Noah that that must not have been the right one for him and that I was sure God would provide him an even better one, because that kid has always been blessed.  Then Mike and I went for a long walk and ended up at the new Monarch Park, which is just gorgeous and romantic and peaceful.  We were gone a long time, and by the time we got home, Noah had found another truck.  It's an hour closer and has 40,000 fewer miles, less rust, is the same price as the other one, Noah likes it better, and it has a bed cover!  They're going to get it on Sunday.  Noah said, "I was annoyed when you told me God was going to give me a better truck, but you were right again.  That's the third thing you've been right about in the last couple days!"

So today Mike is redoing the cashier's check made out to the first guy and having it made out to the new guy.  Noah is working with Grethey in Bloomington all morning and then he's doing landscaping for his solar boss all afternoon.  I'll be making food and packing for my trip, and I have a swimming appointment at 3:00.  Sarah will sleeping, eating sugar, and doing nothing.

Day 88

I looked in the nest this morning, and was shocked to find it completely empty of all life. I cried.  I knew it was coming, so I don't know why I was surprised. Matthew 28:6 immediately came to mind: "He is not here; he has risen."  I miss them, but I'm so grateful that I got to witness their life.

In other sad news, the seller of Noah's truck backed out today.  His son wants to buy it.  We already had the cashier's check made out to him, and I already said I would drive the van on our girls' trip next week.  Now Noah needs the van to haul to mower.  He already told everybody he was buying it and was excited about it.  Back to square one now.

Day 87

I have an appointment at 1:00 to swim laps for an hour.  I can take a shower if I bring my own stuff and disinfect the shower afterwards.

2 of my birds flew away today.  3 left.

I sold the trampoline for $75.  Noah and I took a last jump.

Day 86

My babies are getting ready to fly.

I told them it was too windy today and that tomorrow will be a perfect day to fledge.  I hope they listen.

The pool at the gym opens tomorrow!  But you have to make an appointment and they're only allowing 3 people at a time, and you have to swim laps.  I want to take classes with my friends, not swim laps with 2 other strangers.  Guess I should just be happy that it's opening.

Noah did landscaping at an apartment building in Peoria today, and the owner of the building took him out for lunch.  He finished in time to turn in his application for apprenticeship at the steamfitters union.  He paid a $25 application fee and also bought a $15 study guide for the test.

Day 85

The remnants of a tropical storm are blowing in today, so it's very windy and humid.  Not a good day for these babies to fledge, so I hope they don't.

If it weren't for the 45 mph wind gusts, they would be strong enough.

I swept out the garage and beat the rug.

It was so dirty.  I beat it for 20 minutes, and dirt was still flying out of it.  I was tarred with sweat and feathered with filth, so I decided to go for a walk.  I got caught in the rain, and dirt was flowing off my arms and legs in little rivulets.

Noah came home after a half day of work because of the weather.  He was dirty and grouchy.