zoo time

We had planned on leaving for Texas yesterday to visit family, but the virus forced us to stay home. Annabelle was devastated. She had been counting down the days until she saw her cousins for weeks. She prayed every night that the days until we left would go by quickly. More and more things in her life are being touched by the virus and it makes me really sad. We already had a reservation at a hotel near the airport so we still spent the night there and had a fun weekend.

Every time I stay in a hotel I'm reminded of a hotel story from 2016. We were driving home from my cousin's wedding in Tennessee and spent the night in Virginia. Mom and Annabelle stayed in the car while I checked in and ran to the room to use the bathroom. The handsoap was unwrapped and the wrapper was in the trash can which I thought was odd, but nature called and I didn't time much time to worry about housekeeping not cleaning well. When I opened the door to leave the bathroom, I noticed that the tv had been turned on. I peered around the corner enough to see there were suits laid on the bed. The front desk had given me the key to an already occupied room. I never saw anyone, but the tv went on so someone was in there. I saw my life, and AB's short life, flash before my eyes in the few seconds I stood there frozen. I tried to leave the room as quietly as possible but I couldn't get the door unlocked. I was sure whoever was in the room would, rightly, try to stop the intruder in their room. Finally, I got out and went to the front desk to discuss the issue. The two workers looked at their computer then asked me if I was sure the room was already taken. Yes, I was sure! Clearly, someone was already in there! Did they need to check my blood pressure and pulse to see how worked up I was?! All that to say, I'm always cautious about entering hotel rooms now!

Annabelle loves a good hotel experience as much as I do. She inspects the light switches, the phone and opens all the drawers. We had gotten take out dessert so we sat on the bed sampling and ranking the sweets. We discovered a new show on Netflix called The Repair Shop and she instantly began pretending she was a "toy fixer" and I was her assistant. She was a picky employer and did not pay well.

Sadly she does not enjoy the actual sleeping part of staying at hotels. She didn't fall asleep until after 11 o'clock which means I didn't either. Christopher slept like a log and was not the least bit phased by the conversations that went on in a stage whisper. "Mom, I need the bathroom. Mom, can I have a drink? Mom, I'm so tired. Mom, have you ever eaten a plastic bag?" Sleeping in the same room as your child is a real treat.

The next morning we went to the zoo. We didn't make it to Texas, but we went to see the animals of the African safari and Chinese pandas. 

The zoo was set up with a one-way path with painted yellow lines where it was "appropriate" to stand. I always feel like I have to justify anything we do in public these days which is unfortunate. We understand there's a virus and we are making life changes accordingly. We washed our hands like crazy and wore masks when required, but it was mid-90* and I did not make Annabelle wear a mask the entire time in such heat. A couple had matching black masks that said "6 feet apart" on them which seemed aggressive. The zoo is not a necessity. If you're worried enough that you need to literally spell it out on your mask, maybe you shouldn't go to the zoo. Speaking of heat, I wanted a sweet picture of us but instead, we have forever captured me trying in vain to fan myself and wipe the sweat off my face. What a family heirloom. 

This is significantly better.

I watched Hermione while the others went into the reptile center. Belle Belle is as attached to this doll as she was to Mr. Lion the pacifier as a baby and as she has always been to her Memere blanket. She bought Hermione with her own money and she goes everywhere with us. Much like my work at the repair shop, I was not well paid for babysitting the doll.

I seldom sit in the backseat but I did on the way home and Sesame held my hand as she fell asleep. 

She did the same exact thing on the way home from the hospital.

our best guy

We celebrated our best guy on Father's Day with a day trip out of town. We went to the park to play in the rocky river, got lunch from Jason's Deli and swung by Aldi. Aldi is the dream destination of fathers everywhere!

I had a small logistical problem with Christopher's Father's Day gift. Namely, I forgot to order one in time for a Father's Day arrival. I actually had two problems. The second is I didn't realize it was being shipped from a questionable source in China, therefore I may have ordered a personalized box for coronavirus for twenty-five American dollars. 

Annabelle wanted to send herself to Christopher in the mail, but the closest we could get to that was her hiding in a suitcase outside the front door. She was so excited about it she couldn't wait until Sunday to arrive. 

Annabelle and I have Mama and Sesame sleepovers in the living room every few months. She's been wanting to have a sleepover with Christopher for a few weeks and they finally did it last night. I told Christopher she would want to talk for a while before going to sleep and he said it would be no problem. Before she and I knew what was happening, he was snoring away. I don't think he made it through the first story. The dude can't handle the sleepover scene!

Our church is doing virtual VBS this year. The children's director made huge boxes for each child with snacks, craft supplies and lessons for each day of the week. She put so much effort into it. We made a tie-dye shirt the first day and got as much dye on our hands as on the shirt. 

On one of the days, we were talking about prayer and how we can talk to God about anything. She had several cards to fill in that said "God, thank you for ______,'' "God, please help my friend ______," etc. Her answer for the card that said "God, please help me______" cracked me up. She wrote, "please help me with my disappearing act." We did talk about praying for anything!

We also prayed that we were thankful for Dad. He snores, is unobservant and says things that make us both roll our eyes, but he's the best dad around.

tiny dancers

Annabelle's dance studio had a little tiny recital last week. Only eight girls from the original class signed up and one had to drop out on the day of the performance so it was a small group.  I offered to take the spot of the missing girl but I was turned down. Each dancer's family was given two seats in the audience so it was only parents and a couple of siblings.  

She had two practices before the show and after I picked her up from the first one, she said her dance shoes didn't fit anymore. We never wore shoes when we practiced at home so I didn't know she outgrew them during the quarantine break. I had to track down shoes from a friend whose daughter is in another class. We did try the costume ahead of time but we couldn't get the skirt to line up evenly. It always looks like a shirt badly tucked into pants. That's because it was an asymmetrical skirt so it wasn't supposed to be even. I believe the words you're looking for are, "what a great dance mom you are." 

I love watching little dancers. They're so precious in their tutus and very little idea of what to do.

The tap song was "Animal Crackers In My Soup" and the ballet song was a version of "Baby, Take a Bow." At two points in the tap song she was supposed to do a wiggle with one hand on her hip and the other in the air. AB was SO embarrassed anytime she did it. I honestly didn't know if she'd do it in the recital or not. The lyrics at those points were "who's that bunch of personality?" and "here's the future Miss America." I showed her several times how to do a convincing Miss America move but she was never impressed. When she did it at the recital, she shrugged and stuck one arm up. It was the most minimal effort she could have put forth while still doing it. 

If only she had looked to her mother for guidance. I'm very experienced with the hands-on-the-hip move.

I didn't win the game but I kept my crown

This is the story of my life.  

Yesterday Christopher called around 1:30. I told him I was going to do a second coat of paint on the cabinet doors then sit down with the heating pad. The next three hours were a snowball effect of little jobs. I painted and washed the brushes, made supper (I'm constantly forgetting I'm the adult responsible for meals around here), got AB in the tub and washed her hair, washed several pans, loaded the dishwasher, swept the floor, threw away some old food and took out the trash, got a snack, washed paint off the floor and went out in the pouring rain to shut the car windows. When Christopher got home around five o'clock I had just finally sat down. This is why I feel like I get none of my things done. I'm always doing one thousand other things!

We finally had church on Sunday. They had the parking lot split into three sections- people with lawn chairs, people in golf carts, and people in cars. We were in the car group. 

AB and I dressed in our church clothes like normal even though no one would notice what we wore. I thought it might help her remember that even though we weren't inside we were still worshipping. At one point I looked in the back of the car and she was doing a headstand against the driver's seat and her dress was bunched under her arms. I should have put her in a gymnastics leotard.

We were given these little all-in-one communion cups, complete with a wafer on top and the dove of the Holy Spirit printed on the top.

That afternoon we participated in the holiest of Sunday games, an online murder mystery with my relatives. It's a little known fact that I can be very competitive. It usually only comes out when playing games with my siblings and has weaseled its way into my marriage. I cannot count the number of times Christopher and I have started to play a game and I start with the smack talking and he responds with, "Ok." Ok? That's not the kind of competition I'm looking for! Elizabeth brought the same level of nonchalance when I asked if she was playing. 

The theme was 80s Prom Gone Wrong and everyone dressed their part. I was given the role of Peter Prez, the class president who was hoping to be crowned Prom King. I made myself a crown since I was sure to win and a winner is always prepared with accessories. 

Maybe I'll wear my crown to church next Sunday.

"Bought some graffiti proof paint. It’s unremarkable."

Happy Friday! I spent an embarrassing amount of time untangling my headphones and trying to find the right earpiece only to remember it was in my ear the whole time. I blame the paint fumes.

It may be the months of pandemic speaking, but we're redoing our kitchen. The world is full of germs, riots, and chaos right now so why not add a project that has the potential to last several weeks and bring added stress? We don't have anywhere to be and we aren't participating in protests so carpe diem and all that. I have several months where we're at a standstill with fertility treatments which means months guaranteed to be free of nausea, so I had no real reason to not start. We started with the cabinets.

It's the middle part of projects that I don't like. I hate the clutter of everything being out of place, the cats sneaking down the stairs after AB accidentally opened the upstairs door and the floor getting so messy. I HATE a messy kitchen floor. As long as the floor is clean I feel like I have some small part of my life in order. The painting supplies are bleeding over into the dining room. 

My entire life I heard how cabinets are so hard to paint because of sanding and stripping and wanting to give up partway through, but I could only take the brown cabinets with the brown floor for so long. I found a cabinet refinishing kit at our coronavirus home away from home, Home Depot, and it had good reviews so we decided to try it. We're 54 6 days in and so far so good. 

Several times I said, ''This better work because if not we'll be stuck with them" but now that we've seen the improvement, I'm so happy with how it looks. It's so much brighter and more cheerful.

Once all the cabinets are done we'll paint the walls. I have to get it all done at once before I sniff too many paint fumes and lose all momentum. 

A Tuesday in June

Our library finally opened back up! We were so excited to go in and not rely on curbside pick up. They had directional arrows taped on the floor and I went the wrong way because I have issues with going the right way in one-way parking lots, aisles, and evidently between library shelves. I am constantly going the wrong way now that the grocery store has become one way.  "Mama! You went the wrong way again! Didn't you see the sticker?" We stocked up on enough books to last us a week and Sesame is already asking to go back.

We didn't get to church this Sunday after all. They had everything set up outside and ready to go, but it rained so they called it off. Instead of watching the service at our church online, we watched the service at our old Fort Campbell church. We loved that church. Everyone in our Sunday School class was so kind.  It's where AB had her baby dedication. Even now when we move and need to find a new church we talk about how we wish we could go there. When I was pregnant with AB she would move all through the week but barely move on Saturdays and Sundays. I don't know why she took the weekends off but every week she had the same pattern. An older man named Kevin led the traditional service we attended and every single time he sang a solo, she would move. It didn't happen with any soloist but Kevin. After she was born, she still had the same reaction to him. Low and behold, Kevin sang a solo this Sunday. It made me so happy for Annabelle to see him after she'd heard about him for so long.

Sesame had ballet for the first time last week. Going from nothing in the books for months to two ballet classes in one week seems like a phenomenon. What is this life where we have to be somewhere at a particular time? Only half the girls were there but the teacher wants to have a tiny recital this week and they need practice. During quarantine the teacher videoed herself doing a class as well as the recital songs, but doing ballet at home did not work for us. Annabelle only has a moderate interest in doing ballet in person so doing it through a screen was a flop. I practiced the recital songs with her and more than made up for her lack of enthusiasm. I made myself available to the studio for an "Animal Crackers in My Soup" ballet solo but I have yet to hear whether they'll add me to the program.

We've been doing a lot of sewing together. Annabelle is constantly asking to use my thread and fabric. Most of what she sews are elaborate pictures to her but like her handwriting, nearly impossible for others to decipher. I'm cross-stitching a gift for friends who are moving to Japan and she asked to make one too. 

I'm trying to say "yes" to more these days. At our old house, most of the yard was dirt so playing in the rain meant tons of mud and I didn't feel like cleaning it up. I guess you could say it's selfish that I didn't allow it often but I know my limits and getting mud out of rugs is not good for my patience level. We have a great yard at this house and it's been warm enough so I've happily let her play in the rain several times. By all means, go play in the rain and have the time of your life. 

I captured this heartwarming and crystal clear picture of her joy. 

Look for my photography class coming to a blog near you! 

it's all fun and games until you don't know how to dial the phone

 This about sums up 2020 so far, wouldn't you say?

For all the horrible things that happened last week, I present two bright spots- Americans went into space for the first time in nearly a decade and I doubled my previous Tetris score. They are both of equal importance and value to society. As many people want to interview me for my accomplish-ments as want to interview the astronauts. I'll happily offer my advanced gaming critical thinking and block organizing skilz to Bob and Doug.

Thursdays aren't the most exciting day of the week to have a birthday but Christopher and Annabelle made it festive for me. Annabelle drew me this picture with the following note which translates (I've been told) to "Happy birthday! Yum yum we're making strawberry shortcake! Snuggle contest!"

Normally I go to the florist and pick out my own birthday bouquet, but this year I sent Christopher a list of flowers I wanted to be included or left out along with the number to the florist and he got them for me. Linus has since eaten half a rose and several hydrangea flowers.

Rumor has it that yesterday was the last Sunday before we can go back to church like normal. "Like normal" is a generous term as we'll be meeting in cars or chairs in the parking lot like we're attending a little league game but at least we'll be with others. If you had asked me when this pandemic started what I thought I'd miss, not going to church wouldn't have been the top of the list but after 13 weeks away I'll be so glad to be back. 

That being said, I've kind of enjoyed the Sunday morning routine we got into these last months. Christopher sleeps late while AB and I play. At 11 we gather at Gray Couch Church and watch the service. I usually cross stitch and Annabelle either colors or does sewing. We have logged in late a few times which is pathetic considering we have to travel exactly zero miles to be at church.

It's only Monday but this has not been a great week for homeownership. One of the lights and fan in the kitchen went out several weeks ago and we haven't gotten it fixed. The dishwasher is on its last legs and when I went to unload it, most of the dishes were still dirty so I unloaded it and washed everything by hand. Annabelle washed her hands in the bathroom and says she only touched the light fixture ("I promise I didn't swing on it!"), but the bathroom light, the remaining kitchen light, washing machine and dryer, as well as the dishwasher all stopped working. I didn't know the dishwasher had stopped working until I loaded it all with the supper dishes. I had to unload and handwash all the dishes I had just put in. The circuit panel was installed upside down and it's unclear whether the paper labeling which switches goes with which room is also upside down. The handle on the door to the backyard that we use dozens of times a day fell off in my hand. It wouldn't open from the inside but would from the outside so it became a oneway door. Christopher got the handle to go back on but it's hanging on by the metal equivalent of a thread. 

Actual footage of money leaving our bank account to pay for these repairs.

The electrician and I played phone tag all day. I called both their numbers this morning and left two messages but heard nothing back. I went to call them an hour ago and saw that earlier I had dialed the area code wrong and called someone in Ontario. Bob and Doug will not be asking me to head up their communications department.