January Rolling Along

 

Change is hard! I am simply changing my grocery shopping day to either Tuesday or Thursday. Seems like an easy change, right? It's challenging to juggle all the schedules and goings on to shop on a different day. Monday was my grocery day, finding food on Monday now is really hard! I typically shop at the Walmart down the street because it is close and easy. After the weekend Walmart's stock is half of what they usually carry. Hoping that if I can shop on Thursday I can catch the swell before the storm...the parsley and cilantro before the weekend shoppers. I tried Tuesday this week, it is too close to Monday for much of a difference. I went to Winco this week, they had all the things Walmart is out of, gracious, that grocery bill made me faint. It's no joke when broccoli is $3 a pound when last year it was $1.50. Meat? Holy proverbial COW...expensive. My kids really wanted hamburgers for a meal, just the meat alone was $22! Biden, please stop, you're ruining our already fragile economy. I'm switching days to reduce the amount of stuff I have on each day, I go to the gym MWF, adding shopping to Monday made for a really long day. 

Phillip's school closed Wednesday-Friday this week. He was very happy to sleep in past 6 am for the rest of the week. Phillip went with me to work out Wednesday and Friday at the gym. He also helped me with Art in Everett, Josie, and Evelyn's classrooms. Phillip helped me gather/carry the supplies, collect supplies from the students, and helped with the instructions. Everett's class studied Picasso's Mediterranean Landscape, learning about strong lines, contrasting colors that create the Cubism movement. Everett's class did really well with the watercolor techniques I showed them. That same day we hopped over to Josie's class and learned about Miro and his Singing Fish. The kids loved the idea of an operatic fish! We gave our fish some silly legs and boots. This lesson is mixed media because we used sharpies, chalk, oil pastels, and tempera paint. Friday we went to Evelyn's class after lunch to teach about Warhol and his soup cans project. I think the project is quite involved because the piece is done in pencil, traced in sharpie, then colored with watercolor pencils...then painted with water. We nearly ran out of time! While in the classroom Mrs. Kemp told me that Ronald Reagan was closing for the entirety of next week. Phillip and I stayed an extra 30-40 minutes helping put together homework packets, gather iPads and chargers, and get those items in backpacks. I was happy we could help, she looked rather stressed to get it all done alone. Phillip and Mia will be school next week, so strange! Last week 144 teachers alone were absent on one day. In the three classrooms we visited at least 5-9 kids were absent from each class. These closures are to allow the kids and staff a chance to get better. I've not heard anything about Columbia HS yet, seems like they are staying open for the time being. Phillip did a good job finishing his Math, drumline, and history homework. 

I had three new students start piano this week on Wednesday. Amelia and I taught the 4 year old together, his mom dropped him off so she could get his brother. We've never met so there was a lot of shyness going on. We mostly fudged it this week until our supplies come in. After teaching Konrad his brother Brian was ready for his first lesson! It went well! Wendy was sure Brian knew how to get home after his lesson. I texted her when he left so she could go meet him outside. A few minutes later Wendy was at my door asking if Brian had left, and that he was not at home. I sent Mia to Wendy's house to watch her younger two kids while Everett and Phillip rode around the block. I had my third new student at the piano, Miss Ella, a fun 12 year old from down the street. It was soon apparent that Wendy had not located Brian. I hopped into the van after asking Phillip to sit with Ella. Brian came bopping down the street from the east, he went straight from my porch down the street that leads out of our neighborhood instead of turning slightly to the right! His house is clearly visible from our proch. Poor Wendy was on the phone with 911 and hyperventilating. When I brought Brian up she collapsed on the ground weeping and wailing like it was the end of the world. Brian was like, geeze mom, I got turned around a bit but I found my way home. I am glad we located him, glad Wendy is ok, glad I was not blamed, glad the Brian knows his way home now. Next week, Everett will escort him home. The entire situation was hair-raising. I felt freaked out by the way she was reacting. 

Our family gained a few new members this week. I found a lady selling a rare squishmallow Amelia was looking for, the price was great so I committed to get that item. The kids caught on and spent $20-40 of their allowance for the rest of the lot. I didn't pay a dime, the kids spent their hard earned cash on pillows. I understand, those little guys are so cute. Amelia named her TWO new axolotls Stella and Luna, Stella glows in the dark...too brightly for Amelia's taste. Stella is banned to the bottom of her bed now. Phillip got Tigger and a crab. Everett scored a pile of pancakes and a burrito, he's a foodie. Evelyn got an octopus and a space alien thing while Josie got Dumbo...renamed Ellie. It's very squishy around here. The kids are trying really hard to save their allowances for our Disneyland trip in May with MCO (choir). Each child has at least $100 saved for treats and souvenirs. Justin and I almost fainted paying the choir trip fees and for seven 3-day tickets, it's not everyday we drop over $2,220 on a trip. I honestly don't know how families manage to go so often. The entire trip will cost over $6,000 for gas, tickets, hotel, and food. You better love every second of it because California is going to fall into the ocean before long. Ha ha ha ha. 

Justin let me know on Wednesday that I managed to use up an entire terabyte of storage through our amazon digital storage. I am on a time consuming crusade to clean up my external drive(s). It is exceptionally slow because the hard drive keeps disconnecting from my laptop without an alert. Then after the 8-10 hour scan of one stinkin' folder the drive won't connect so the duplicate files can't be deleted. It may come down to me comparing and deleting files by hand. That's ok, I don't have anything going on. LIAR!

Yesterday was slow. I worked on decluttering the loft yet again. Evelyn helped me sort her LOL dolls and get those into the doll area. We have touched and sorted all the doll stuff into bins and cubes on her side of the shelving unit. I hope the Josie and Evelyn will enjoy playing in that spot for years to come. The kids were kicked off electronics for many hours yesterday. They got so bored that Amelia organized a cafe game. The kids play this game quite often, from our Arizona days. Someone makes up a cafe name, two kids take orders and make snacks, the other kids eat snacks and talk with tea party accents. Yesterday the menu was: cucumber sandwiches, chips, cheese, water or milk, and apples. I nixed the snacks because it was dinner time. The Cafe turned into a restaurant where we served the most delicious hamburgers and gourmet fries. Justin is very busy with end of year filing for 2021. It's always stressful with long work hours. He worked from home all this week because he's still recovering from his Man Cold, plus the 2 minute commute from bed to office is hard to beat...and the hour of Star Wars cartoons at lunch. I volunteered to photograph the girl's new dance studio. Hopefully that will happen, photographing large group events like that are easy for me. Evelyn almost nailed her back walkover already! She loves Acro so far. Choir this week was postponed for some unknown reason. We are slated to start on the 27th of January now. 

I had 40 minutes for Singing Time today because it was Ward Conference. The kids earned the chance to play I Am a Child of God with the handbells! We almost have the Portuguese and ASL verses memorized for the song. Because there was extra time I introduced "Build an Ark" with some fun actions for the first verse. Sara may give me a 45 minute Singing Time once a month! That will give me a chance to teach harder songs and the teachers a chance to attend classes. That's a win-win for us all.