Year 5, August 21st-23rd, 2020: Homeschoolers Do Socialize!

 Phew! I feel like I haven't sat down all day! I purposefully let the kids sleep in a little today and it showed. We didn't do Morning Basket, we barely got work done, we didn't know what to do next, etc. We ended up finishing around 1:30pm, and then Jared texted he was on his way home. So I decided to wait for him to go with us to Dairy Queen to celebrate the first week of school. Meanwhile, Grandpa wanted the three kids to help in his yard. The kids had been asking for jobs so they could earn money, so despite protests from Justin because it messes with his screen time, we dropped them all off at 4pm to Grandpa's house. We high tailed it home so we could unpack Jared's stuff and rest before going out to get groceries. The kids were only gone for 1 hr. We watched an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and ate leftovers. We did a full load of groceries in 35 minutes, including bagging and putting them in the van. Then it was pjs and bedtime. I knew not to push too much on Abishai because he was so antsy today. So we will do handwriting next week. He knows the answers when he's fully concentrating. But he just wanted to take a nap he said. Justin was also a little off and spent too much time playing around with his spotify music list. And it showed in his math homework. He should have reviewed the terms or tried to look them up. Maybe I should make him rewatch the lesson before he begins his math every day. Plus, he got distracted doing something for Abishai on the playstation. Then Keturah kicked the HDMI cord and broke it. She did some writing yesterday and it was full of capitalization errors. I think we are a little rusty here. And we need to stick to our routine. I just know we have to get up early tomorrow, pack a lunch, and outdoor games so we can got to our IAHE picnic. 

The picnic should be fun and interesting. I know names, but not many faces. And the faces I do know, won't be there. And Jared and the kids know even less people. But we have to try. I need these people. And I need to understand the organization's history so I can understand why we do what we do. So, we'll see. I'm really, really tired. It wasn't a long week by any means, but it was somewhat busy and enough people time for us. What can I say except that the kids did very well for their first week, with just a bit of a hiccup yesterday and today. We are making progress!

And drumroll....Here are the "first day of school" pics for the year! I didn't have to wait for Benaiah to be available to take the photos, which is bittersweet. I only had to print out 3 (well, 4 because of mine) First Day of School signs and questionnaires.  So weird. But, here we go.

I wanted to copy everyone else and have them wear their masks and then poke fun that we don't have to. It's just a way that makes this year special I guess.

Of course wearing the school uniform of pj's. And yes, this kid is in Kindergarten!

She did not want to participate so she's representing how kids at school will sometimes wear their masks.

Practicing our social distancing.

Nah, we don't have to social distance because we live together! Put those masks away!

I hate the masks so much! Sigh.

Then Abishai wanted the camera to take pictures of things, so here's some shots from his perspective.

Aw, he loves his stuffed animal friends.

Watching Justin play Fortnight or Apex or whatever.

Oo! This is what we want to do this fall! Well, what I want to do this fall! Sweet story, too, of how older couple waited and waited for this decades long closure to end because he proposed to her at the top of it.

Yeah, those stairs aren't really enclosed. I'm not sure if I can make it to the top. The top is enclosed in glass though, so it's safe. It's just the 10 stories of stair climbing.

We finally went to Dairy Queent to get ice cream to celebrate the start of school. I got a cherry slush, Keturah had a freeze of some kind with strawberry kiwi and soft serve. Abishai got mint cookie dough Blizzard, Justin got a Reese's peanut butter cup Blizzard and Jared got a fish sandwhich. $17 later...for ice cream! Gee whiz! Next time we'll got to McDonald's and only get the $1 sundaes or something. Eek!

Yup, we watched an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation together. It's so weird to see all the actors so young. I do follow a few of them on social media. And this is a shot of when the saucer portion is separated from the ship's body portion, which doesn't happen very often. It's probably the first time it's happened in the show because Jared started in the beginning. That means, these episodes are 33 years old. Yes, 33 years old!! It's a bit hokey at times now that I know about TV/movie sets and green screens and CGI. But good moral, too. Those were the best days of TV.

I'm wiped. The kids are wiped. I'm so mentally exhausted. Today was the IAHE Volunteer Picnic. It was a 90 minute drive down and a 90 minute drive back. We did adventure along some backroads, which were actually more scenic and fun than the highway. In fact, when we were on the highway, we had a huge scare. This guy comes up behind us weaving in and out of traffic at top speed. Jared beeped at him. He then proceeded to drive right next to us, on my side, beeping his horn and yelling "I'm going to kick your ass" like he was drink or high or both. He was extremely angry and I had to keep my head turned toward the inside of the van because I as so scared he was going to smash in the side of the van! Jared kept a cool head and I didn't raise my voice because I didn't want to scare the kids and voice my actual fears, and Jared kept saying, just hold on, he'll turn off soon, just ignore him. But it shook at least me and Abishai up a lot. Even on the way home 4 hrs later Abishai asked if we would see him again. We did talk about it after he did make a turn off the road and that sometimes people are just really angry, especially if they don't know Jesus. You could tell by the questions Abishia asked that he was really thinking about it. He wanted to know why the man was that way. How would Jesus make him better. Was he going to hurt someone, etc. I think just that knocked out any wind I had left to socialize today. 

But we managed to do ok. I ended up sitting somewhat in the middle of two groups of conversation, so I could pay attention to either one. I didn't talk much, but nodded and laughed, taking it all in, trying to remember names, trying to get a sense of who each person is and match up stories. The women all ended up together and the men did, too. But the men were in "in charge" of the kids because they were closer, lol. We joked about that. We did have several serious conversations about IAHE related things, just chatting, it's hard not to talk about it, because we are all so passionate. Unfortunately, a lot of people didn't come because they live in all the regions flung wide across the state. There's something like 92 counties in Indiana, which floors me because I think NH has something like 13. We don't refer to ourselves by county, but by city or town and perhaps area. It's just a NH vs IN thing. I just don't have time or energy to memorize 92 counties. Yikes! Tell me where you live in reference to a big city or Indy herself. Than I'm good. I think pinpoint Bloomington, Marion (where my college was), Wabash, Kokomo, Shelbyville, Greenfield, Fishers, Carmel, and Fort Wayne. That's about it. Brown County, but I don't know how many counties are in between. Marion/Hamilton/Hancock/Shelby/Rush/Johnson counties, and maybe, just maybe, Monroe County. Never mind which person lives where. I just assume they all live near Indy. And that's not the case at all! Crazy! So I spent a lot of mental energy just on that and the conversation at hand. I didn't venture hardly an inch from my chair. And we forgot chairs!

But we remembered a change of clothes, food, water guns, water, and the like. The kids seemed to have fun and I hardly saw them. Keturah got "hungry" aka bored and ate half the bowl of freshly picked grape tomatoes in front of everyone. She even tried to eat more food on the way home and then complain about being tired and she hardly did anything. Her habits could easily turn into some very, very bad habits. I hate to be hard on her, but it's just the truth. Eating out of boredom is real thing as I cram as many lifesavers in my mouth to keep me awake while I type. I need to eat more real food in a minute because I didn't have a real dinner. Abishai got completely soaked in his bathing suit, but had a change of clothes, thankfully. He did NOT fall asleep on the way home. I did give everyone anti nausea medication though. And I told Jared I want to try to expand our field trip circle to about 90 minutes away (that would be Cincinnati, Bloomington, etc.), so it was a good test to see how it goes for us. But yes, just the driving and being there for 4 hrs exhausted each and every one of us. Molly's crew came just a little bit before we wanted to leave. Whoops! The boys made their video game switch so they were happy. I did remember sunscreen for Abishai and I, although I stayed on the covered porch under a fan the whole time. 

Everything was peachy until 2 minutes from home when I had had enough and Jared and I had to argue about which house project is next. He wants structural things done and doesn't realize the bathroom IS structural. Peeling paint, mold on the ceilings and a huge hole above the light fixture that has been there for 4 years. The bathroom does have a hole in it, who knows what the plumbing looks like, and the whole thing is an embarrassment. As the woman of the house, I should be able to as for an upgraded bathroom. It's one of the first things people use in your home. And it's an embarrassment tome. Cosmetics do matter. And when I have I EVER asked for cosmetics to be done. I set aside that money from the tax refund in January. It's not fair to be embarrassed by this. Not when I walk into all my friends' homes, poor or rich, and they all have nicer bathrooms than me. It's not vain. There's peeling paint. There's drywall patches. I tried to be content and clean up the bathtub and nearly poisoned myself. The door and step down into the sunroom to wait. The "squishy" part of the kitchen floor is not an easy fix and it's a messy project because we will want to replace the whole floor and we shouldn't do that until the cabinets are fixed. Structurally, they are not good either as one door is falling off and who knows what paint is on them, and wood shavings fall into my pots and pans every time I open the silverware drawers. So, talk about structural. It's pitiful. And I've put up with both the kitchen and the bathroom for 4 years. Enough is enough. I deserve and I want better. I've had how many homes and I've never asked for a kitchen or bathroom makeover. I add a touch of whatever with a shower curtain and leave it alone. It's time to make it my dream bathroom. Seriously. Not that hard. A new bathtub and shower, hole patching and paint. The floor is already redone. So, when I'm tired and he pulls that argument out, of course the emotions start flying. If my firend Debi can show us her kitchen backsplash and every other person I know can share their household makeovers, why can't I have one when I ACTUALLY HAVE THE MONEY. I have the money. That's not the issue anymore. I've been careful in my spending. 9 months of discussion and I want my bathroom makeover. Period.

And that's how we'll end the day. Mad at each other. I put in the pizza while he went to the store to buy his favorite coffee because the 4 other bags we have won't do for him. But he won't let me update the bathroom. Don't tell me about making do when you won't use the church's water, you have to have certain coffee, and certain olive oils and you won't eat certain foods because they make you feel uncomfortable. And then he goes and tells me that we can't go to any event I want to go to if I'm going to act this way. Um, I've had 3 days of social time. And I'm not looking forward to another one tomorrow with church, annual meeting, Indy 500 race, and Keturah house class. So, I'm skipping church at Smith's and will do it from home, I'll go for lunch and I guess we'll watch the annual meeting together or I'll watch it here, affirm the elders and then go over there for lunch and come home. I don't think I can get the race at home. So, Jared can stay over there at Gary and Leah's. Karl is supposed to help Benaiah with his brakes. I don't want to cook, and Gary has some information about cell phones, so I need to have that conversation. Otherwise, I'm done. I'm coming home. I'm that tired of people. Plus I have two appointments on Monday and my first 101 on Tuesday. But does anyone else think about me and my stress and my concerns. Hardly. I bet they won't ask at lunch tomorrow. And that's a shame that they don't want to know about my life. 

At least my voice and opinion wasn't the loudest today. The women can be intense sometimes! That's what makes them good at what they do. Yikes! It's hard to keep up with them! Now back to being the grunt, aka frontline, aka rep aka social media aka too much work to do!

I want to add one to our collection!

Sweet.

When breweries switch to making hand sanitizer.....weird! This was at the IMS track. Normally it's all kinds of other things.

Yup

Who knew Indiana hill country could be so pretty.

Justin age 4. Yes, it looks like Abishai. Same haircut, some color, same little body, same shorts! Old house in Beech Grove with the playground Jared designed and built. The caption on FB read something about "Everyone wants to hear themselves talk, right?" Or something like that.

I woke up moody, but I've had enough caffeine so I'm fully awake and ready to work. I worked on seeing how slides on Zoom work. I'll be a little clumsy if I try to flip back and forth, but we'll see. I'm not going to sweat the technical stuff. It's for the Homeschool 101 I'm doing. I still have to figure out how to either block the sun coming in the sunroom or move my computer to another room. I might do that and put up the IAHE banner I have.  I could even set it up in my garage if I need to. I'll figure that out tomorrow I think. We watched church at home, watched the annual meeting livestream which was prerecorded. I just HATE that you say it's a live stream and yet, it's not truly live. We affirmed the elders and budget per Indiana state law. No voting, just affirmation. Then we had hot dogs and hamburgers at Gary and Leah's house for lunch. Benaiah and our friend Karl were working on Benaiah's truck brakes and hit a snag when I left. We stayed long enough to watch the beginning ceremonies of the Indy 500 and the first few laps. It was similar to us from behind the screen, but when they panned to the stands or the infield it was sad. It felt like a practice day and not a race day. Some fans set up outside the racetrack. There was already one minor crash and a tire fire within the first 10-15 laps. Fun stuff!

Jared and Abishai came home soon after and everybody is doing screen time or napping. Keturah has one last house class tonight. Then I don't know if/when her small group will start meeting again officially. Probably when Crave is back at the church on Sept 13th, which is the magic day that KP goes back as well. That's the first Sunday after Labor Day. Jared won't talk to me because of my madness yesterday. He wouldn't relent an inch this morning either. It's just not fair. I can apologize for snipping but I won't apologize about my opinion.

 Ok, time to get off and do other things. But I did do a lot of preparing for the Homeschool 101. The technology is a bit confusing, as well as finding the right notes and slides.But, we'll go with whatever we have. I know it by heart.

I watched a little Michael W. Smith (far right), Steven Curtis Chapman (middle), and Mac Powell (far left) action last night. I love their voices together! God of Wonders/Agnus Dei remix.

A little puzzle time during the sermon today.

I'm not crazy about packages arriving on Sunday, but these are worth it.

Finally! Drawers for Legos!

It won't hold much but it's a start. And they sort of lock into each other so they can stack. The drawers have a stopper but can also come out easily. The plastic is mid grade and the drawers are bit rubbery. Probably the same quality as Sterilite brand.

Not nice. Hurricane Marco will hit New Orleans Monday night and Hurricane Laura will hit New Orleans on Thursday night. Not good at all. Shauna said the stores are packed.

Finally time for the Indy 500, only two months late! And without any fans in the audience! Very eerie, very quiet, and not right. Same pre race festivities though with gun salute.

National anthem sung and played by two local doctors in honor of first responders to Coivd-19!

It's the Thunderbirds!

They flew twice over the IMS.

Gentlemen, (there's no ladies this year), start your engines!

And they're off! There were 4 or 5 caution flags, the first one being less than 10 laps into the race and the last one being within the 4 last laps!

Empty grandstands. Empty infield. So sad. Nice banner though.

Two seater IndyCar and pace car, a Corvette.

First 3 rows of 11 rows. Hinchcliffe is the Canadian. Spoilers: Sato stayed near the front and won his 2nd ever Indy 500!

There they go in front of pit row!

Vroom!

This is what happens when you work on the brakes on your truck. Some connector broke and they sent Grandpa to get the new part. The new part had to be ordered in, so they won't finish it until tomorrow.

When you have a family friend who is a mechanic like Karl, you learn how to fix your own truck!

This year, there's a whole new windshield thing on top of the IndyCar making it even harder to get in and out! It's still open at the top though! Weird!

His 2nd Indy500 win. Won under a yellow flag with just 4 laps to go. A well known local sports commentator tweeted that it's because by the time they warmed up their tires again, they would be out of laps.I've seen it happen before. I guess there was a big crash or malfunction of part of the wall or something. 2% real milk this time. Good for him!

Well, it cooled off by 10 degrees, but it was 84 degrees today at the racetrack. Pretty normal for the end of May or August.

Laura's husband's name is Marko, so it's quite funy to them anyway. For our New Orleans peeps, it's scary, super scary. The stores were packed, Shauna said. Marko arrives Monday night and Laura comes in on Thursday night. Sounds like the back to back snowstorms we had when Abishai was born. Crazy scary.

The End