March 29-April 4th, 2020 Migraines, Garden, Hiking with Henry, Zoom, Online lessons

March 29-April 4th, 2020 

Migraines, Garden, Hiking with Henry, Zoom, Online lessons

Signs of Spring!

  

Hello Friends,

Another week of social isolation, which for me isn't a huge change!  I haven't gone grocery shopping since March 9th, but since I truly hate shopping this isn't hard for me!  



Staying home is easy for me, except for breaking my routines, I do like my routines and it feels weird not shopping (even if I don't like going!).  Dh worked from all again all this week, but they have informed him he *has* to go in next week.  He is really not looking forward to being around the germs and we've set up a protocol for how he comes in the house and puts all his clothes straight in the washing machine before he takes a shower.

Migraines:

Every single day this week I suffered from migraines.  I'm so tired of being in pain and sitting on the sofa.  To top it off, I'm not sleeping well; waking up most nights.  I know one would think I must be upset about the COVID 19, but I feel so much better now than I did 6 weeks ago when I was horribly upset that no one was taking this seriously.  I feel so much better now that people are paying attention and being careful, at least the majority of people are following the guidelines.  I think my increase in migraines is due to the weather and my hormones.

Check out this enormous GRAPE VINE!  It wide enough to be a tree.  There are three sections visible in this photo--the vine is brown and the trees are green.

Garden:

In the moments of respite from my headaches, I've been working in most of the gardens--flower, herb, and veg.  They all need so much work and it was warm enough to work outside a few times this week.  If nothing else I pulled out the old dead plants and vines from my garden beds; not exhaustive work, but little things that needed to be done.  It is nice to be outside.  

I had planned on only having a very small garden this year, so I could repaint our house, but with only shopping as infrequently as possible it would be a good idea to do more than I planned.  Dh turned over the compost in a few sections and put some of the compost in a few of the front gardens.  Next, I will be able to plant some lettuce, kale, spinach in those beds soon.  I'm sure we will get more snow during April so I can't plant most seeds.

FaceTime Heather:

Again this week I was lucky to have another chat with my friend Heather on FaceTime.  It has been a blessing to keep up our friendship over all these years.  What a treat to watch her children grow!

Bible Studies:

I'm continuing to do my two Bible Studies, but instead of meeting in person, we meet up on Zoom.  I'm learning so much.

Hiking with Henry:

Thankful for my long walks in the woods with Henry.  I've pulled two ticks off Henry already.  I wish ticks would stay away longer.  




Dh Work:
I think Dh was able to work from home all this week.  He thinks it's funny to say comments about his "commute" to work each morning as he walks downstairs to the basement!  He had a hard time staying focused but did his best.

Seth's Roller:
On Friday, after Dd went over to her boyfriend's house.  Around 4pm she texted asking us to come over in the truck to haul the yard roller and a trailer from his parent's house to his house.  Eric was in the middle of work and I was chainsawing on bushes, but after 5pm we headed over to help him.  When we got to his parent's house we had a long-distance chat with his folks for around 45 minutes. They go to our old church, so we know them.  It was nice to chat with them, but also pointed out the fact of how not one of our old church friends continued being our friend after we left...so very sad.  You think the people you hug and pray for will be your forever friends, but it somehow doesn't ever work out that way.  In the end, we got both things Seth needed to his house so he could work on his yard.

Seth:
This week was Seth and Dd's 6 month anniversary.  I never would have imagined Dd's first relationship would last this long!  They are all gangbusters...which scares me to death!  I didn't get any gradual transition from her 'childhood/teenhood to adulthood,' she just woke up one day deciding to be an adult and I'm still trying to wrap my brain around all of this change.

Dd's Progress for the Week:

Church and Daily Devotions




Work:
Still working at the pizza shop, though we are discussing her taking some time off. 



Papers: 
Completed two papers:
Romeo and Juliet and King Lear, both by William Shakespeare.



Foreign Language: German:
DuoLingo: 5 short lessons



Physical Education:
3 sessions= 8 1/2 hours



SAT Prep: 4 sessions

Grace Co-op Classes: Classes Online Now:

Science: Anatomy and Physiology (Apologia)

Art: Painting Studio

Writing/English: Analytical Writing for Essay's and Research Papers (IEW)

There was an interesting yellow growth on this tree.

Math: Algebra II:

With tutor

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March 22-28, 2020 Bunky, Zoom, FaceTime, Stairwell, MI Lock Down

March 22-28, 2020

 Bunky, Zoom, FaceTime, Stairwell

By the end of the week, we managed to get the three new stringers properly installed and the under-layer of runners down.  We can finally go up and down the stairs again!  Who knew was a big job it is to replace your infrastructure in stairwells!  As you can see we had to replace a lot of drywall that had been damaged when we were taking out the old stairs; we'd made a lot of holes! 

Hello, Friends!

The beginning of the week was snow, but by the end we had sunshine.  I thought I'd just save the snow-free pictures for next week.  Dh and I are still getting over our flu, but are spending more time off the sofa and having some hours of relief. 

 This flu is weird because you feel like you are better one day and then the day after that you feel totally exhausted again. 



 We had one day where we got to 99.5, but most days we were actually 95 degrees, much colder than we normally are which was a surprise to us.  



This week my lungs continue to mildly hurt each day, but this wasn't a problem for Dh. 

Reunions:

With the government shutting things down and making our state closed brought an awakening to all our family members that had been believing this outbreak was a "hoax."  



Now, even the farthest right family members are coming to terms with reality.  Dh had so many phone calls this week!  Most of his family only talk to him at the Christmas party, but this week BOTH his brothers called him!  Even my brother, Bunky, that hadn't called me in about a year, called me and chatted for around 2 hours!!!!  It was so great!   

 

Church:

Dh and I watched my church's live-stream at 11am on Sunday morning.  I'm thankful Dh is not only willing to watch with me, but is really enjoying it!  I'm hoping Dh will slowly get used to Pastor Jeff and then maybe he will be willing to try going with me when churches open again.  

Stairwell:

Whenever we felt like we had a little energy, Dh and I would spend an hour or two on the stairwell.  We progressed a little bit each day, but we also had a few days that we felt so awful we didn't get anything done other than holding down the sofa!  This picture is of the three new stringers.  You have to use balances and make sure each one is placed absolutely perfectly.

Bible Studies:

On Monday our Thrive group met online at the Zoom platform and it worked out great!  We are still working on:

 The Unexplainable Church: Reigniting the Mission of the Early Believers: A Study of Acts 13-28

On Wednesday our Bible Study Fellowship, BSF, group met online at the Zoom platform and it also went well.  We are working on: Acts and The Letters of The Apostles--which is awesome!

I'm really learning a LOT!  I've always been very active in my Bible studies, but this year has been extra intense.  Although I do worry that I 'share' too much in my classes and hope the other ladies don't think that I dominate too much air time.  Some women go the whole class without answering one question and I have a hard time not adding something to every question...I do make an effort to let others share but if there is dead air or something vital isn't brought up I often will contribute.  It is a fine line and I do make an effort to "read the room" in regards to my class participation.

Dd's Pizza Job:
Dd gave her notice to take the next few weeks off due to concerns over Covid-19.  Her boyfriend suffers from asthma and Dh and I have isolated ourselves, so she was our weak link working with contact with people at the pizza shop.  





Grocery Store:
Another week without grocery shopping, or anything outside of our home.  My last time at the store was on March 9th.  It looks like I will shop next week as we are out of all produce and Dh keeps asking for a salad.  It's almost funny how he craves things he hasn't wanted for months now that he can't have them!

Michigan Lock Down:
Michigan, among other states, declares state lockdown.  From what I am hearing there isn't full participation.  Dd's pizza shop had been switched to take-out only, but that still brought people into the shop and in contact with her.

It's hard to believe that in a few weeks I'll be turning over the soil and getting it ready for greens~!!

Dd's Progress For The Week:

Bible and Devotions:
Dd went to church with Seth again this week, but now they watch together online.  Dd got all dressed up this week, she's a hoot.  



Grace Co-Op Classes: 
Due to Covid-19, the classes are now being held online.



Science: Anatomy and Physiology (Apologia)



Art: Painting Studio





Writing/English: Analytical Writing for Essays and Research Papers (IEW) (They are doing this online)



Math: Algebra II (Spring Break)



Foreign Language: German with DuoLingo 



Drawing at home: 5 sessions at 20 min each



Physical Education: 4:00 hrs 



Audio Reader: 
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin





Read Aloud:
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolfe







Work: Dd is still enjoying working at the pizza shop, but gave her notice that this was her last week until the pandemic improves.

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