Work

 After 18 years of doing absolutely nothing but raise kids, I suddenly find myself with 5 jobs, 3 of which actually pay me.  

1. My caption work at Rev, which I really like. Pay is pitiful, but the work is steady.

2. My census job, which I just started, and it won't last long, but the pay is great.

3. The COVID study, which pays great, but I absolutely hate it.

4. My volunteer job at the Share Closet.  I could take it or leave it, but it's not bad.

5. Editing the livestream at church.  No pay, somewhat enjoyable, pretty stressful.

I like feeling like a productive citizen again, so I'm making up for lost time. 

Epic

 Things are lining up for ERT.  Mike ordered a waterproof topper for the van, and it arrived today.  Our park passes arrived, Mike's dad is doing better, the kids agreed to the responsibilities I assigned them, my period finally started so it will be over before we leave (yay!!!), Shiloh's injury is completely healed, and my COVID study appointment scheduled for the morning that we leave got rescheduled to the day before!  Mike brought the suitcases up from the basement, and we're starting to pack. Less than two weeks till we leave for our adventure.  

In other news, I have training tomorrow in East Peoria for my census job.  They are aware of ERT and said it wouldn't be a problem.  

And closer...

The library opened briefly (so briefly that I didn't even have a chance to get there) but is now closed again because one of the employees has COVID.  Some band students and a teacher at Morton High School have it too.  I now know several people that have tested positive.  One of my friends had the test a few days ago and is waiting for results, so she's isolated herself. 

Today was Sarah's first day back at school since March.  They are required to wear masks. She had band practice tonight.  I treasure every moment that I get to watch, because I know the whole thing could get shut down with no notice at all.  COVID has taught me not to count on anything manmade. It really is a beautiful show.  I wish they could perform it and go to competitions and football games like usual. 

Creeping closer

One of the gym members has COVID and so does the teacher of my favorite class there.

KSN Noah buying a house

Noah earned his second degree black belt in Kuk Sool Won today during a test in which one guy puked and one girl cried.  He and Randi, his training partner for the last 8 years were rock solid. Their new title is Kyo Sa Nim. It wasn't the pomp and circumstance they would have received if it weren't for the pandemic, but it was better than testing alone in the basement via Zoom in front of his mom wearing elephant slippers, which is what we were afraid it was going to be.  Mike and I were the only ones allowed to attend in person, but others were able to watch the livestream.

When he got home from testing, he mowed through pretty much the entire refrigerator, and then signed the counteroffer documents on his house.  He finally heard back from the realtor that the seller accepted his offer, but the bank has 90 days to approve it.  It's a long, complicated process, because it's a short sale.  It's ironic that it's called "short".  It just means that the seller fell short on her payments and is trying to avoid foreclosure.

Taking it easy and buying cat treats

Feeling good today and lots to do, so I started right in.  Did some captioning while the laundry was going.  Halfway through folding the laundry, I had to lie down.  After I cleaned the bathroom, I had to lie down.  I wanted to weed the garden, but thought that will be past my limit.  I put food in the crockpot for dinner and told Noah I was going to the gym.  He said, "Take it easy.  You don't want to end up naked on the floor, eating some stranger's nuts."  That sounds terrible, but he was referring to an actual incident where, after fasting for 5 days, I went to the gym, exercised for an hour, got in the hot tub and then the sauna, and almost passed out in the shower.  I put myself down so I wouldn't fall down, and there I stayed until a nice woman came along and gave me a bag of peanuts and a towel.  I took it easy today.

I went to Kroger to buy cat treats.  They had their flashy "SALE" stickers on the shelf of one particular brand, so I gravitated right to it.  The sticker announced the price as "4/$7.00".  I don't appreciate the tricky marketing that tells me how much 4 of them are when I only want 1.  I know they're hoping people will be drawn in by the sale sign and won't bother to do the math.  I bothered.  $1.75/bag. Guess what the regular, non-sale price is?  $1.79/bag.  I bought a different brand.

Prom

The church had a prom for  the high school kids who didn't have one this year because of the pandemic, so both of my kids got to go.

 Noah and his buddy were the only two available men.  They went to the roof, maybe to escape all those girls?  Or maybe because Noah just wanted to try out the new ladder I found him for free.  

 The Lord gave them a gorgeous sunset for pictures.