The Coronavirus Pandemic Spring Break

I once again I have gone too long between blog posts. I really wish I would blog more, but with so many social media platforms and other ways to record memories it falls to the back of my mind. Another person gave me the idea though of blogging about this pandemic that we are just beginning to live through right now. One day it will be a piece of history.  So here I am on Friday at the end of Week 1 of no school because of the Coronavirus.

First let me start with our actual Spring Break, which was March 9-13th.  Things were just starting to get scary in the US with Corona in Seattle, Washington, New York and on the East Coast.  China and Italy had already basically shutdown their countries and cruise lines were getting docked and people getting quarantined on some ships.

We still got to have some fun during our Spring Break before though.  On Saturday, March 7th, I sent Rachel off with a friend to Galveston for some fun until Thursday. 

 Sunday, March 8th, we got to go to an Aggie Baseball game.  If I had known it would be the last one of the season, I probably would have tried to enjoy it more.  We did blow lots of bubbles and the game got called in the 7th inning because the Aggies run-ruled the other team.  

Tuesday, March 10th, I took Mom to Ulta and out to eat for lunch to Panera while Dad took Joshua to Washington on the Brazos museum and park.  

 

The Corona talk was getting more serious and there was talk of schools being delayed.  The first reports were on Wednesday that A&M and most colleges were going to delay school after Spring Break by one week.  The SEC basketball tournament got canceled just as it got started.  Then Rachel went to George Bush International Airport with her friend to pick up a foreign exchange student from France.  I started to stress a little over that. 

 Then I found out from Jordan that someone on his base had tested positive for Corona and a dining facility worker had as well.  So they shut down the DFAC immediately.  Then my concerns began to rise.  We had already planned to go to Horseshoe Junction in Brenham on Thursday and they were still open so we went for a little fun. 

 That day so many new and breaking news pieces were coming out, such as the NBA had decided to suspend the rest of their season.  Originally the NCAA March Madness tournament was going to be played without fans, but once the NBA canceled the rest of their season March Madness was canceled too.  So sad for a family who loves to watch it and has a competition with brackets every year.  Now almost all colleges had decided to go to online classes only for the rest of the semester.  It was getting crazier by the minute!  Then all the local school districts decided to close school for an additional week after Spring Break.  Now being a teacher and my kids being in school, it was about to get real.  We had one last thing we had planned to do for Spring Break and that was to go to Aggieland Safari.  They were open and we figured this was the last thing we would probably get to do before getting quarantined for good and everything shutting down.  So we went for the first time and had a great time.  Our favorite part was feeding the parakeets!  So fun!!

Then church got cancelled the next day and pretty much all the local churches went to live streaming online.  You know it's getting serious when that happens.  I will save the next blog post for our first week out of school during this world-wide pandemic.

My Children Are So Funny!

My children give me some unforgettable, laugh-out-loud moments at different times, but it is rare when it all happens on the same day. Today the kids were just rolling them out all at the same time so I wanted to preserve it in my memory! 

Jacob had asked me when I was going to trust his driving enough to let Rachel ride with him. I hesitated and said, "Uhh...." and he said, "Remember I wasn't the one who ran into the basketball goal when pulling out the other day." We were parked next to each other at the photography place where we had family photos made and when we left, I accidentally ran into the basketball goal behind the parking spaces. No damage to the goal pole, but a little to the car. Whoops! 

Joshua had gotten food on his shirt when we went to Johnny Carino's and Scot was trying to wipe it off his shirt before we got into the car. Scot said it looked like he had taken the pizza and rubbed it all over his shirt. Then Scot proceeded to demonstrate with a seductive rub down his chest and belly. It was hilarious! Then Joshua copied him and said, "Yes, Papa. That's what I did. I rubbed it all over my shirt like this." We were laughing and I commented that Joshua did that too well and he was a natural at it. Scot laughed and said, "He must have gotten it from you because he definitely did not get it from me!" Then Joshua piped in and said, "No, I got these moves from Katy Perry!" Hahahaha! Oh that boy cracks me up every day!! Here is a little video of what he did way after the fact later that night.

Then as we were driving home from Johnny Carino's, we passed a VW bug and I said, "Rachel when you start driving, would you like one of those: a slug bug?" She said no and Scot was like why not? This was her reply: "That won't hold all my friends!" Oh boy! Not looking forward to that day!!

My latest diaper cake creation!

I made this "Woodland Creatures" diaper cake for my sister-in-law, Sarah's, baby shower.  I made a mini forest to go along with the actual cake.  They are having a girl so I added a tutu and bows to make it more girly.  It was fun to make!

The only upsetting part was I ordered the die cut animals below to put on the cake and they didn't come on time in the mail so I wasn't able to use them.  :-(

Finger Update

4 days after cutting my finger on a mandoline:

5 days after:

9 days after:

11 days after:

2 weeks after:

4 weeks after (getting better!):

Danger: Mandolines!

This blog post is going to take awhile for me to type and after you read it, you'll understand why.  I'm not a chef and don't even like to cook so I thought mandolins (not to be confused with mandolines) were only musical instruments.  I found out on Christmas Day that it is this cool cooking gadget that slices, dices, and juliennes food.  But I also found out that it slices and dices other things as well.

I was helping with Christmas dinner by slicing a cucumber using the mandoline when I accidentally sliced a quarter inch chunk of my pinkie as well (not the tip, but in the middle). My mother-in-law cut the end of her thumb on it right after I cut myself.  So if you plan on ever trying one of these, I suggest using extreme caution as they are very dangerous.  My pinkie bled most of Christmas Day and I can barely look at it, it's so gross and freaky looking. I can't even get stitches.  Nobody took any grotesque pictures of it while it was gushing blood, but here is a bandaged picture.

I liked the phrase I read on another blog that said, "I mandolined my finger."  So true!