Monday December 28, 2020

I am jealous that several of you could stay in PJs most of the day! I have to get dressed first thing every morning to take Justice out. Sometimes it is just leggings, but still...

I had a good visit with the two SILs yesterday. A few laughs, some wine and some pizza. Today DS is cooking pheasant for the 4 of us. Should be interesting. I have no idea how he plans to prepare it.

Not much else going on except that I need to take Justice to the vet for a couple of inoculations this morning and pay my bills in the next couple of days. Maybe a beach walk. I went yesterday and the beach was packed again with a lot of people and dogs including some very large groups. Maybe everyone will be back to working today. It is awkward to have to put the mask on and off and Justice is nervous when there are a lot of large dogs running around.

Have a safe and healthy day!

Things have been very different this holiday and am working to be grateful for the positives. My DS hosted a surprise Zoom retirement gathering for my DBIL last night. There were 31 attendee boxes. I don't begin to know HOW you manage Zoom teaching Peps and Diane !! I felt like I was a lifeguard again, scanning to distinguish between positive feedback, looks of confusion, inattention, wild attention seeking, not to mention identifying the person(s) speaking. This meet did not have a moderator in charge of who had the floor, muting mikes as needed. Hot mess !! The Christmas Zoom with my DDs went so well, we're doing it again New Year's Eve !

Liz, sending positive energy your way. Keep navigating down that path ! Shirl, happy belated ! Love the holiday pictures on FB. Ceci, happy 49^th !! Did you score the lobster tails in Santa Monica ? Peps, at what point are you allowed to weigh again ? DD, love your gorgeous pan ! Did you name it ? Diane S. we had a nammie day on Christmas too, but no drive by ham !

Weight up a titch today, but 0.4 down for Christmas/birthday week isn't too bad! 23.8 down overall.

Woke up to some rain (yay) and mild anxiety (boo), once again that something is wrong or I'm forgetting something, but nothing is there. Weird.

I do have to call and argue with UPS today. I mailed a Christmas present to my cousin in a 12x12x12 box that had scored sides you could cut down as far as 12x12x9, which I did. I got an email that the box was oversized at 13x12x9 and I owed $18. I bought the box from the UPS store, sold as 12" cubed, and it was even printed with their logo! If it was 13" on one side, that was their error. Maybe that's what's nagging at me. I hate confrontation. And I can afford the extra $18, but this is a principle thing.

The birthday was solitary, but I heard from a lot of friends and family, so that was nice!

No lobsters tails yet, maybe I'll go today as I can't imagine many will want to stand in the rain to get in. Southern Californians are rain wimps! Except Fergus. Ferg wanted to lay outside in the rain. Maybe he has so much fur, he couldn't feel the wet.

Happy days being issued all around.

Diane, your zoom description is everything I hate about zoom! Chaos!

Hi everyone!

Zoom is a crazy way to teach. It does work pretty well one to one. My team partner and I limit instruction to 15 or so minutes for the hour. We get them started on the task we're working on, (right now it's research), then we do break out groups and meet with students in small groups and often, I meet one to one with my IEP kids. In the whole class meeting, kids are pretty quiet, they ask more questions in the small groups. We do not require them to turn on their cameras (we've been told we can't), so I look at a lot of grey squares. I always have my camera on so they can see me.

Our elementary schools are going back full-time the end of January. There will be a few more protocols, teachers have to wear shields in addition to masks. Staff will take salvia tests every other week. Students will rarely leave their classroom. Specialists will come to them. They will eat lunch in their classroom. Ugh. Sounds terrible during a cold winter for students and teachers. Recess is cancelled if the temp drops to 0 or below. Bound to happen. No word yet about when secondary will reopen. I put away my computer last Tuesday night, and have done an excellent job, have not checked email once so far.

This morning I broke down all the Amazon and other boxes that brought our Christmas joy. I'm looking at some of the gifts and contemplating where I will store them. Time to get the purging urge. DH is a bit of a hoarder, so it's something I have to do gently. He will let me toss, donate things, but I need to consult him, and give him a little time to process. It's gone much better over the years now that he trusts I don't toss joint items, or his stuff behind his back. I think that's where his anxiety about "stuff" comes from. He was an airforce brat, and his parents frequently tossed things when they moved. I suspect the loss of all that was familiar, coupled with the loss of things a kid considers their "treasures" was stressful.

Haha, as I'm thinking about purging, perhaps I did things in the wrong order. I might need some of those boxes! Well one thing I know, during a pandemic, more boxes will show up. :)