April 2020 Happenings! (Quarantine Continues)

April 2020 - We spent the entire month in a Stay at Home order for the State of MN. Traffic seemingly halted. Anytime I went out it was to get groceries or take-out food. I didn't have to buy any gas. In looking at my bank records it was so weird to see barely any entries. When I was commuting and working downtown, there would be almost daily entries for coffee or lunch or shopping trips. Now, it was just INSANE large entries for Groceries. I have never in my life been spending so much money each trip to the grocery store. I used to freak out if my grocery trip was over $100. In April, I wish it would have been $100 a trip! But, we were eating at home almost all of the time. Breakfast, lunch and dinner and SNACKS all the time at home. It's crazy. 

Trips to the grocery store were much different in April. We have been wearing masks and gloves. It wasn't a mandate, but people are encouraged to wear face masks while in public places. No one is supposed to use the 3M N95 masks because those are the masks that health care workers are needing. The personal protection equipment (everyone now knows this is called PPE) was and is in short supply, so we are supposed to use cloth masks or non-surgical masks to help protect others when in public. The Today Show had a correspondent on one morning who demonstrated how to make a face mask using a bandana and some hair ties. So, I went that route. Only after I made it, I realized that I have WEIRD FLOPPY EARS! LOL! My ears will not hold up a mask that uses hair ties. I tried all types of hair ties in our house (and believe me, we have a lot of them) and nothing works with my floppy ears. HA!!! It still makes me laugh, but I was talking to my mom about this weird issue I have and she thought maybe I should try pipe cleaners! So, I dug in our craft supplies and made my bandana mask using pipe cleaners for the ear bands. Well, it works for my ears. Take a look...

However, we apparently only have NEON pipe cleaners in our craft supplies, so talk about a strange color combo! Maroon bandana taken from Ella's hip hop costume together with bright neon green pipe cleaner ear bands. LOL! When I was wearing this to the store I had to make sure my hair was down to cover up my ridiculous ear band situation. 

Another thought about wearing masks while grocery shopping: I get SO HOT! I don't know what the deal is, but I'm usually fine until I get to the check-out. Now, I have stopped going through the check-out line with a checker-outer and just do self check-out so that I'm the only one touching our stuff. But I think I start to get panicky with others in closer proximity to me (doing their own self check-out) and then I'm trying to hurry up and scan and bag and get the hell out! Half the time I can barely see what I'm doing because when I wear a mask it's like I can't look down? Do you know what I'm talking about?! Maybe it's just me. But, the struggle is real for me during self check-out. As soon as I'm back in the car and can remove the mask - HALLELUJAH!

And one last thing about the bandana mask. The first time I wore it was to Kwik Trip (best gas station ever) and I literally felt like a bank robber. I went to get some eggs, bread and butter (best spot in town for these items!) and wearing this mask I was certain that they were watching me thinking I was about to tell them to stick 'em up! 

I have now received an actual sewn face mask and have ordered additional ones with filters for each of us. I expect that this mask thing isn't going away any time soon, so I want us to be prepared.

This mask works well right now and the fabric is really great (ordered it from Love Your Melon), but I do wish it had the bendable nose piece so that I could form it over the top of my nose better. The additional masks I ordered will have that feature.

Other April happenings:

This one has been enjoying our constant company and I believe considers herself to be human. Here she is sitting across from me at dinner one night! She randomly decided to jump up on the bench on the other side of the table and sit there like - where is my dinner plate?! Umm....

 Our letterboard continues to amuse us - this one is courtesy of Ella:

Thankfully, the MN weather is starting to warm up so we have been able to get outside and go on walks! Ella is still pretty nervous to handle Ruby's leash, so we're trying to have her do it more and more so she will be comfortable...

As a 5th grader, Ella is able to participate in Holy Communion at church. It was going to be a big celebration on Maundy Thursday during Holy week, but due to the pandemic, church is closed, there is no Sunday school and all activities are cancelled or postponed. Our church is holding church services virtually, so Holy week was much different in 2020! For the First Communion celebration, we had a packet to read through to remind us (and teach Ella) what Communion is all about and why we do it. Then, during the Maundy Thursday service, Ella participated in her First Communion from our kitchen. We were asked to bake our own communion bread and offer either grape juice or wine. Let's just say we loosely followed these directions. I didn't want to waste flour on baking communion bread so I used a knife to carve the cross into a few vanilla wafers, and in a trip to Kwik Trip (still best gas station ever), they didn't carry any grape juice, so Grape Kool-Aid it was! :) 

We watched the entire service and then realized that we never did the Communion. I thought the pastor would have given a little message to the kids and then ask us to do the communion. Apparently we were supposed to pause the service at the time of communion, do the communion and then resume the service. Whoopsie! So, we did the First Communion after the service was over. And, I may have flubbed the words spoken with communion as well. Hey, what do you want? I'm doing my best here! LOL! It was a memorable experience that's for sure!

 Watching the service on the laptop computer

Our communion "bread"
(we all took Communion, but I forgot that I hadn't taken a picture, so Ella had already eaten hers....)

In thinking back to that night it was pretty much a circus, but such is life sometimes!

EASTER 2020

This year we were supposed to travel to be with Grandma Deb for Easter, but that couldn't happen this year so we stayed home, watched an Easter service, had an indoor egg hunt and made a feast for Easter lunch!

 Easter basket goodies! The Lego set was a hit - SOMETHING TO DO!!

Ella and I made Easter bunny cinnamon rolls for breakfast. 

They were HUGE!

For lunch, I made a ham (first time ever) with a bunch of sides!

 (before picture - never took an after one)

This was a giant amount of meat

 I got dressed in a dress, did my hair and makeup for Easter Sunday. So, I thought I should snap a selfie to commemorate this monumental quarantine achievement!!

So much meat!!!

We had to freeze a bunch of it, so we'll have to get creative on our recipes to use up ham.

Tina...come get some ham! (sorry, Napoleon Dynamite reference...which we have watched during quarantine and I'm happy to report that Ella loves it just as much and Jay and I do!)

The rest of Easter was spent like this....

it snowed out and it really felt like Christmas with all the food and the chilly snowy day! 

I apologize for how long this post is becoming!

But, here are some other April 2020 happenings and memories

 Ella worked on her typing skills

And this Meme (is that the right word?) that I saw online is probably my favorite of all time! I replace the word "second" with the word "fifth" and that's SO ME! 

yes!!!

We have been getting quite a few donuts to survive the pandemic.

Seriously, a lot. 

They are delicious.

I recommend a donut to save your sanity trying to work from home, be the teacher, do the laundry and all the other crap we are doing at home right now!!

I'm still baking...

Chocolate Chip cookies seemed like a good comfortable April choice

I was looking for something to do one weekend, so I elected to organize our supply of disposables:

From this madness:

To this:

So proud.

Also got through a bunch of old documents that needed to be shredded. 

As you can see, our circa 1995 paper shredder is still working! LOL!

 Our puzzle game is going strong. Ella is a master puzzle builder. Seriously, she is GOOD!

We tackled this one which is holographic and super hard. We first attempted it in the winter of 2018 (oh those were to days!) but it was too hard so we packed it up. Quarantine brought it back out (we have so much time on our hands!) Sadly, we somehow misplaced one darn piece! 

I'm sure we'll find that random piece someday and then we'll be all set! 

Ruby Pearl has been loving the sunshine on the deck 

(we need to refinish the deck! the home improvement project list is really getting long...)

It was my week to put up the letterboard message...

Newly added event: Pants Check Friday!

Due to all the donuts and snacks and basically wearing black yoga pants and a different top every day, I decided I should check in each Friday with my jeans to be sure I can still get those babies on!

 So far so good.

Bean Bag Toss was ordered, delivered and added to our backyard happenings!

Super fun with adult cocktails (kid only gets a kiddie cocktail)

Who doesn't love to read while on a deck and lounging in the sun?

People, let's be real. I miss a lot of stuff while abiding by the Stay at Home order. 

But, possibly most of all, I miss fountain pop. I love fountain pop so much!

There are few drive-thru options for Mountain Dew. 

But then I realized that Taco Bells offer Pepsi products!

Hurray!!! A Mountain Dew fountain pop for Taco Tuesday in April to the rescue!

Delicious.

April 2020 was a month of complete quarantine. The news was grim and the world is basically in lock down. The WORLD. It's something that our grandchildren will learn about. How we adapted. How we struggled. What our leaders did right and what they failed to do. 

I hope we all come out as better human beings and as a stronger world.

And hopefully, that time will be soon. We're all starting to get a little stir crazy here!

March 2020 - The Longest Month Ever Known - The Month Quarantine Began - Coronavirus 2020

Friends, I am writing this recap of March 2020 in May 2020. I can't explain why it has taken me 2 months to recap March when I've basically been home for the entire time. But, it is what it is. I hope I can capture some of our feelings and happenings from March, which I think felt like the longest month ever, as it was the beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the United States and we went into the stay at home order here in MN.

The month started strong, coming off of a busy February with dance! Grandma Deb and Randy came up to visit us the first weekend of March! The Friday of their visit, the news here in MN was reporting the first case of Covid-19 in our state. It was a little jarring to hear, but we were still able to go to the stores and eat out in restaurants! I was worried about our stash of hand sanitizing wipes, so during our trip to Target with Grandma Deb, I went to grab some to find the shelves completely empty. YIKES! This was when it started to hit me that this Coronavirus was going to impact us even here in MN. I was very worried about the wipes and felt like I NEEDED to get some. So, I ran to the CVS Pharmacy near my house and was able to snag the last 3-pack of Clorox Wipes. That felt like a small victory to have those darn wipes. I should have been grabbing hand sanitizer too! That stuff is impossible to find now. We look each time we are at the store and the shelves continue to be bare.
(Note that I have zero pictures from our weekend with Grandma Deb and Randy - oops!)

Also in early March, Ms. Ruby Pearl got a haircut! We went to a new groomer in Lakeville and it was a fabulous experience. She looked so cute and her fur was super soft. Looking sweet and smelling fresh...

 I mean...could this be any sweeter?

(I am terrible at getting a good dog picture)

March 16:
The last time since this started that I commuted to Minneapolis
The last time since this started that Jay commuted to the Best Buy corporate offices
The last day Ms. Ella walked the halls as a student at Meadowview Elementary

Feels like ages ago that I set up my office at the kitchen table, Ella set up the card table in her room and Jay took over the office. We were working from home and Ella was going to soon be learning at a distance. The governor announced that Minnesota would be under a stay at home order for all but essential workers. Restaurants would be closed. Most retail stores would be closed. Most offices went to a work-from-home situation and then the gauntlet came down when the governor announced that schools would be closed and students would do "distance learning". 

Home office (Sara)

 Home Office (Ella)
I mean, she is the cutest. She wanted her home desk to be like her school desk, so she added her name and assigned school number and look at her room door (below) - she took great pride in being a PAW Rep at school this trimester, so she added that to her door. 

I thought I had a picture of Jay's office, but I can't find it. 

His name tag: Jason Abbas, President and CEO
(obviously I just let him *think* that is true) LOL!

Everyone was talking about Coronavirus and how everyone is adapting to life and work and school at home. A radio station talked about a daily schedule to help kids adjust and thought that sounded like a good idea for Ella. Our MN schools had 2 weeks of planning before the actual digital learning was supposed to start and since Jay and I were both working from home, we needed her to be able to keep busy during the 2 weeks. Here is the original schedule I found from which we made Ella's daily schedule during the 2 weeks before digital learning started. 

It really worked well for her, and is still loosely following it today but adjusting it to allow her actual school work into the mix.

I don't think any of us knew that we would still (in mid-May) be working from home, staying home and learning from home. But, we are. And we are doing pretty good! Staying healthy and trying to think of things to keep us busy and from getting too stir crazy!

 Some days it really felt like this!

One of the first weekends of the stay at home order, Hallmark started to play Christmas movie marathons on the weekends. It was so perfect! I watched one of the movies and then remembered that I had been gifted my all time favorite Hallmark Christmas movie  - Christmas Cookies!! So, I took an afternoon and watched that one too. I will say that the cozy Christmas movies really helped to reduce stress and make all the togetherness seem like the holidays! I noticed that social media was blowing up with people getting on the Christmas in March trend - some even baking Christmas cookies!

Social media was also giving me some great mantras to remind myself that this too shall pass

S

Obviously I have been baking! 

I made birthday cake coconut macaroons which were really tasty, but the recipe made a LOT and Ella doesn't like coconut....so, that was sort of a flop because most of them went to waste.

A big hit though were these PB&J bars. 

They were fantastic! I believe almost the entire pan was eaten up by just the 3 of us!

YUM!

Because I don't want to forget, our dance program had to adjust to some virtual lessons while everyone was figuring out how to move forward with a dance season in the midst of a pandemic. JFK started out doing live classes which Ella participated in. These were instructed by the Brainerd team, so it wasn't her regular coaching staff, but it was kind of cool that she got some different perspectives and instructions on dance. It wasn't interactive, but was a great way to keep dancing!

And then, Kenny Rodgers died. 

An author that I follow on Instagram posted this statement below. It rang so true because of how terrible the world seemed at this time, how dire the pandemic numbers were becoming and how isolated we all are! It was moment of comic relief that I needed!

Our schools were closed and Ella was missing her friends and teachers and just "school" in general, but our teachers were missing us too! They organized a big parade that went through all of the neighborhoods near the end of March and I may have been more happy about it than Ella! I tear up thinking about it now! It was something to look forward to, to get outside and see our neighbors (from a safe distance) and just wave and cheer and say HI! One of Ella's BFFs (Julia and her mom Michelle) drove over to our house and joined us to watch the parade from a safe distance. 

It was a really neat event and was so appreciated by us!

We put a big message on the driveway for the teachers to see as they cruised past!

We've been burning through sidewalk chalk here! Scrolling online for things to do, I came across a cool idea of making mosaic chalk art on the sidewalk! So, I designed the first square of our walkway to the front door and Ella designed the second. She worked super hard to chalk it all in and it turned out so COOL! Ella received many compliments from neighbors and others walking the neighborhood!

And that friends, is a recap of the longest month ever. March 2020 will go down in the history books and it's so surreal to know that we are living through this Coronavirus pandemic which will become something that future generations will read about and learn about. I wonder what they will think about how all of us navigated through it all?!