Year 5: November 20th-21st, 2020: Last Weekend At Church?!

 Say what?! That's right. After this Sunday, the church is closing down their kid programming again. Three months. That's all it was open. This is insane. And last night, I went out with my homeschooling friends, the ones that are bold enough to not wear masks. I took mine off after I order a drink and never put it back on again, even while switching from the coffeehouse we went to to the Mexican restaurant two doors down. Sure, this was in Greenfield, outside of our county. And they have some restrictions, too. And some would say, "It's because of you non mask wearing people that case numbers are going up." And to that I say, yes, cases are going up, but you've prepared the hospitals and you do what you have to do. 99% will recover. But whatever, close down the schools. Shut down businesses. Continue to ruin the economy. Go ahead. And you'll see other diseases significantly increase like mental health. And obseity. And heart disease from stress and obesity. Go ahead. We all lose at some point. SO, we will all go to church tomorrow and then that's it. We will church again at home. In person church will still happen. Live services will still happen. But you try to keep Abishai still for 5 minutes. Not going to happen. And without kid programming, the kids and Jared don't have any volunteer work. And Crave and Middle School worship and small groups will most likely move to strictly online again. They usually take the Sunday before and the Sunday after Thanksgiving off anyways. I'm guessing if we have in person Christmas Eve service, then we will go and we won't be volunteering in the nursery. Jared mentioned home church with neighbor. Um, I'm not going to do that. Again, I need a break from most people, not because of anything they did, but because my heart is hard and triggered, and needs worked on.

So, yup, get your Christmas clothes on, because this the last Sunday of the year that we will attend church in person! Should we do Christmas clothes or pjs? Because usually the last Sunday of the year between Christmas and New Year's is done in pj's. Lol. We'll see!

Friday, we hurried outside to do the winterizing of the yard, which meant cleaning out the gutters, resetting the drain pipes, putting up the deck furniture, taking tubs of toys and clothes to the shed, sweeping the deck and porch, raking up the leaves that had piled up in ditches and corners, and securing the cover on the "sandbox." It was done with lots of shouting and hustling. But it was done. And then I ventured out to the stores again. Best Buy was a mess and they had almost nothing on display. Target was better. I hadn't been in Target on Southport. It was fine. I browsed some and got what I went for. Aldi's, same thing. Then my time was up. I had to get home in order to go back out. It's a good thing I had cooked a turkey earlier in the week! 

Then on Saturday, we woke up really late, but managed to get a few things done. Jared built the fire for tonight, put the roof on the treehouse, and put up Keturah's net. He also played with Abishai and took a nap and hung out with the guys at Jeremy's for part of a football game. I ran around catching up from yesterday, like organizing the library books I picked up. Abishai and I put up the window clings I bought at Aldi's and the light up candy canes along the walkway. I didn't figure out the electrical part just yet though. I was hoping Jared would help me, but him and projects......He even told me that Saturday's aren't work days. Then Sunday is a work day. Work 6 days a week, not 5. Not 40 hrs a week. Fixing up a fixer upper takes more than that. He doesn't like my "do-ism." My "do-ism" is the only thing that keeps us going. If I didn't light fires under everyone's rears.....And if Abishai didn't wake us up in the mornings......

Plus I showered, cleaned up the toys, did a load of laundry, fixed my Christmas lists and to do lists, bought another thing online, etc. etc. I didn't do my Bible study yet, but I figure I can do that after Jared gets the fire going. And yes, I took a short nap with Jared, too. First time in a month. Dudes, Christmas doesn't happen by itself you know.  I wish all of it wasn't my sole responsibility. It's not do-ism. It's only the real necessary stuff. Trust me. I could be doing more and actual have a house worthy of a Christmas party. Ok? Ok. Now do the things!

BTW, Gary and Leah put up their decorations over the last few days as well. A lot of people are and no one is complaining that it's too early. Probably because everyone is bored and just wants this year to be over. HOWEVER, guess what?! Flu and Covid season won't end on December 31st, y'all! It's only going to get worse and we'll be locked down until May or June again until the country gets vaccinated. THEN maybe the big wigs will think it's safe to be with people again. So, let's just get over it and move about anyway, ok? Ok. I guess it's a good time for me to hibernate at home most of the time. But it's colder and my body hates the cold, so this is normal for me. NORMAL. As in I'm used to and I like it. But those kids and those extroverts NEED to get out and do their things. And I'm just tired of hearing people talk about it. So I don't want to be with them anyway nor see it on social media. Being out and about shopping keeps me from watching social media, so, it helps me be happier. Mostly. I don't know. But go away. I need to think. Ok? Ok.

Helping Grandma with those hamburger cookies yesterday.

I missed a couple of those maple leaf "helicopters" and then their growth, so now we have mini maple leaves in the garden! Nice pop of color!

Ah, much better! I had 4 big boxes to put away in the shed. Plus some large toys. Now we have room for more, right? Hm,....

Grandma, what were you thinking? Actually, I love the rainbow cakes! Noah's Rainbow and all the colors of the world, not the LGBTQ kind of rainbow. #takebacktherainbow And why do I even feel the need to clarify it? Because the rainbow, God's symbol to the world that He would never flood the whole earth at the same time ever again, has been hijacked.

He dragged all his "stuffies" out here and more pj's because he thinks he'll be sleeping here! Yes, he used the Canadian word "stuffies" probably because he watches YouTube videos about kids around the world.

This expensive coffee and (board) game parlor I went to last night had some very unique, and very expensive games! Who knew there were so many!

Almost bought this for Jared because he won't play games that have to do with rolling dice. But the price is too much.

If Marie, my brother's ex-wife, was still in m life, I'd get her this!

Beauty rest for the little big girl? Maybe Socks had taken over the back half? I don't know. You can't walk in her room. It's a disaster. I can't even begin to understand how she's ok with it.

Baby big boy in his sweet new Christmas jammies! He loves them!

I'm not an elf, Mom, I'm Santa's helper! Yes, you are, because you bring cheer and joy wherever you go. He did all the window clings himself and only ripped one!

And he put them on in the right order!

Baby toes!

Even if we don't plug them in. I'll enjoy them during the daytime. It makes me happy. I hope to get some signs that Aldis was advertising that would be in the store next week.

Now there's TWO Santa's little helpers.

Jared put up the roof on the treehouse. You wanted have thought this roof took days to do. It's just plywood. And yes, it's at that angle on purpose.

Sit still so I can take your picture!

And this room is clean. I have a few more to go.....

Abishai picked out my coffee blend on Friday morning and left it near my coffee maker before I got up. I don't usually have k-cups, so I didn't want to try and make storage in the coffee/tea/hot chocolate cabinet so the box is in the pantry so within easy reach.

Well, yeah, I didn't get totally triggered at church today. I had to block out the mini announcement video about all the mandate rules and "thanks for being a good sport" kind of stuff. Blech. I did get to vent about the topic, not the video, in a group on MeWe that is all about getting rid of the masks in Indiana, so that felt better and helpful. I think I'll do that again when the need arises.

It was pouring rain on the way to church, but I managed with an umbrella. And then Justin and Jared stayed to serve and I took Keturah and Abishai home. We were not home even 10 minutes and they started arguing over something and I had to send them to their rooms. This month's theme is about thankfulness of course and boom, apparently our children don't listen well to the sermons and teachings. In fact, Keturah didn't sing or take her hoodie off her head. She had to sit with us because there is no middle school worship. They did announce the closure of all of KP for the rest of the year and no big group activities for middle school and high school. Some small groups will meet virtual and some might meet in person. I don't know about Keturah's yet, but there's a high risk relative in Justin's group, so his will be virtual. He's pretty mad about it. 

I totally should have gotten Abishai's teachers something, but totally forgot. I'll try to look them up and see if I can send them something in the mail. Of course, one of the helpers EVERY week is Benaiah's Ava, so that's easy. In fact, Ava spent the afternoon and evening at Gary and Leah's, which meant she spent afternoon and evening with our kids. They went over to help decorate Gary and Leah's house for Christmas. I'm guessing Gary is bored because he NEVER does it this early. I mean he might do it if there was family coming and we were exchanging gifts or something. Or maybe on Tuesday or Wednesday if they were going to be gone the rest of the weekend. But typically, it's the Friday after Thanksgiving. Ok, then, here we go. So, Jared and I had a quiet afternoon at home. I didn't feel good because of cramping so I laid on the couch, read a book, took a nap, listened to Jared read a book to me, rested some more and enjoyed the fire he built for me. He managed to stay awake and watch TV and play Need for Speed. It was all just what we both needed. Quiet. Nothing to do. Ah. I wish I had more of these days. But, I am a doer and life has to keep going.

Then we had breakfast for dinner at Gary and Leah's. Abishai was very upset because Daddy said he couldn't sit with Benaiah and Ava to eat. Well, Benaiah fixed that and he was so so happy! He kept punching Benaiah but then giving Ava lots of hugs. Ava said he's very well behaved in Sunday School, so that's good to hear. I mean, I always hear how great and obedient my kids are, but at home, oh my goodness, fight, fight, fight. And I know their discontentment comes from my discontentment. So, it starts at the top. Sigh. But they all had a good day. Justin and Keturah stayed to watched a murder mystery TV show with long episodes. And Benaiah and Ava were going to go out to get ice cream and come back to watch a movie together. So, great day all around.

I'm glad I rested today. Now I'm better prepared for the week ahead of schoolwork, errand running, Christmas shopping, appointment, Thanksgiving, Christmas decorating and the usual stuff. This cold, rainy weather makes my chronic pain so much worse and my body hasn't adjusted to it at all this year. I have to have my whole body warm, like the feeling of warm you get from drinking alcohol or a hot liquid, or my muscles tense up and it hurts. Oh how I hurt today. I can't remember the sermon or hardly anything about what Jared read because I'm so in and out with sleepiness. I drank my coffee and still fell asleep. Yikes! Here's to Monday!

True words.

Oh wow. I'm so glad I sent Jared to get dog food today. He also came back with a new leash, too. Well worth whatever he paid for all of it. I wish I had patronized them more. Poor things! THIS is what mandates and lockdowns do. They destroy more lives than the pandemic virus itself!

Roaring fire ALL DAY LONG in my favorite room of the house.

At first Daddy said no, and there was big crocodile tears, and then, Miah rescued him and brought him to the table to eat with Miah and Ava. So darn cute! My biggest and my littlest!

Derp face!

Ava! Miah! Play with me! I miss having these two come over our house.

Grandma had bought random ornaments for the kids and Socks in February at the end of the Christmas sales. So, here they are.

Socks, Keturah, Justin (green thing), Abishai (train to paint). The BB-8 was a craft kit Benaiah bought from Hobby Lobby.

Happy 10th birthday to our nephew Auggie!!! He was telling us all kinds of things about his "The Child" aka baby Yoda stuff and his Lego minifigures. Poor guy still doesn't speak well, but I could make out a few words this time. But 10 years old! Crazy!

Shortly after this photo was taken, Abishai bubbled big time on Benaiah!

Rolling up a burrito baby!

Abishai LOVES Ava and I think Ava enjoys playing with him.

Time to use my tools to fix my bus!

I was thinking about how I really like warm drinks in the winter and I really like coffee smells and flavors. Well, my stomach can't handle more than two cups a day so, I remember that Dandelion tea pair with carob and chicory makes the tea much closer to coffee in flavor. So, I'm trying these out. No caffeine, so I won't get the jitters and no beans. I'm going to still try the one with barley in it, although that's technically a gluten product, because I like how they took the time to sample and make sure there was no gluten detected in the tea. So, we'll see. I'm sure I'll add some milk or creamer, too. This will help me get through the day I think. Or have something warm to drink at night.

Thank you, Daddy, for plugging in little guy's candy cane lights! Actually, it was my idea, and they were so cheap! I will try to go back on Monday to find more 3 pack and pick up another gift and make a return. If I get some extra time. Maybe after dinner.

I LOVE them so much!

Still derp face, but check out how Abishai just gazes at Ava.  Super adorable!

The End