Hi friends. We made it thought another week! The major event of my week was the release of our school district’s reopening plan. There are two choices, 100% virtual or 2 seated days a week, with the other 3 days at-home learning. I really do believe our school district is making the best choice it can to keep everyone safe, but it’s still agonizing in a 2-parent working household to think we’re going back to managing at-home learning for an indefinite amount of time. I fully realize my privilege in that I am able to work from home (at least part of the time), I have a spouse to share these responsibilities with, and I have the means to hire some help (although my very responsible college babysitter seems like a risky option once class & campus activities begin.) All of that doesn’t erase the fact that trying to do school at home last spring AND work full-time was extremely stressful. Whew! Let’s get to the good stuff -
Watching: After all the back-to-school drama, I was in need of some serious comfort-watching. Baby-Sitters Club to the rescue.
Listening: Is there an answer to this question this week OTHER than Taylor Swift? I haven’t always been a super-fan but she is fascinating to me. If you want to dig deeper, I highly recommend the Netflix movie Miss Americana and the Hooked on Pop episode The Oeuvre of Taylor Swift.
Reading: I can’t seem to focus on books when my pandemic-stress flares. I have a huge stack of books from the library right now and I keep flitting between them and not really reading more than a few pages.
Cooking: I’ve made this berry bundt cake for my son’s birthday the past several years and it’s so good. (Fair warning - it’s kind of a fiddly recipe and cleaning a bundt pan is a pain, but once a year it’s worth it. Use real buttermilk.) Be sure and wait until it is completely cool to add the glaze, or the cake will soak it up and your ungrateful children will complain there is no frosting. (even though it still tastes amazing)
Making: A hat! I had two full days of online training at work this week, so I took the opportunity to keep myself busy with a knitting project instead of not-so-secretly doom-scrolling in a separate window. It’s a chunky knit in my college colors (Go Mizzou!) with a pom-pom. I am almost excited for cold weather just so I can wear it.
Gardening: *New section alert!* I am a very optimistic but sort of terrible gardener. We have a 4’ x 8’ raised bed in the backyard where I attempt to grow tomatoes every summer. Last fall I chucked our jack-o-lantern in the garden after Halloween, and apparently the few seeds that were left inside were very persistent, because pumpkin vines have almost completely overtaken the garden and are trailing out across the backyard fence. But there is a little pumpkin growing and I’m pretty excited I might actually grow something, even on accident.
Doing: We’re celebrating my younger’s son’s birthday this week. I sure hope he never gets tired of pool parties because ordering pizza at the pool is my kind of kid b-day party.
Enjoy your Sunday!
I’m going to have to try that cake recipe!
It sounds like you are managing the chaos as well as possible!