Well here I sit in the bed for the 4th day in a row. It all started over a week ago, when I noticed we had a significant number of kids in my class suddenly coughing. And in kindergarten, some kids still don't wash their hands when they go to the bathroom unless you tell them. Every. Time. They still sit on the carpet during a lesson with their fingers up their noses. They haven't mastered covering their cough. If we notice one coughing onto the kid beside him, we kind of cringe as we try to address it quickly-- before every kid decides they need to show us they have a cough too. There are times my teacher and I will just look at each other and laugh in the middle of a lesson because we can't proceed until the roar of coughing dies down.
The weekend passed and I learn that my teacher will be out sick Monday, which means I teach. There were a few kids out sick that day and my teacher continued to be out Tuesday, along with 7 kids. By then we were getting some confirmed cases of flu and I was started to feel like maybe I was getting a cough. Wednesday, my third day teaching, I woke up knowing I was sick, but not sure how bad it was yet-- no fever or anything-- so I decided to power through, which is my usual mode. I had actually had the thought that (aside from when I got covid along with half my class in 2021) I had not in 10 years of teaching preschool/kindergarten ever stayed home sick, so I can probably just tough it out and I'll be fine. Famous last words!
Wednesday was only a half day but it was all I could do to get through. Of course after 3 days of my teacher out and 3 different subs, the kids were getting a bit rascally too, so that didn't help. I managed to make it through till noon and get a short nap before I had to pick up Allie and Julia and take them to the dentist. By then, everything hurt and I finally succumbed to the fact that I had the flu and would not go to school the next day. Thursday I went to the doctor first thing to see if I did have the flu (I did) and could get tamiflu so hopefully my symptoms didn't drag out so long as everyone else's. Our poor substitute coordinator had quite the time figuring out covering kindergarten that day. Besides me and my teacher, the other K teacher was out too and we heard from the other TA that they had a different staff person in our room every hour, just piecing it together from all over the school.
Thankfully, Friday was a teacher workday so no need to cover us then. But for me, Friday was a challenge too. Matt had been holding down the fort at home while I holed up in our room away from everyone, but he had to work at the hospital Friday and I was scheduled to take Julia to get her permit, which we had long put off due to my forgetting to get a document from the school for her to take it over Christmas break and then life being so busy, with Matt working at the house on all his days off of UNC. This was the one day I could take her without taking time off work, so away we went after dropping Allie off at school. I sat in the parking lot with a mask on, so as not to contaminate the car when Julia returned, and sent her to wait in line alone. I knew she'd be okay and probably chat with those around her to figure out what to do, and she did. Thankfully, it moved fairly quickly for a dmv and after getting there about 7:30, her number was called by 9:15. She did come out to the car to get me to sign something and to make a few adjustments to herself after remembering she'd have to have her picture taken :) and then went back to take the test while I waited with bated breath. She is a talker and though I was barely functional on our drive that morning, she talked through all the things she knew and all the things she was confused about...which had me thinking this test could go either way. But she emerged 30 minutes later with a triumphant smile, so proud she had only missed 2 questions. I had to come in at that point and the rest was kind of comical. The lady that was helping her was having some kind of asthma issue and was coughing more than I was, and disappearing to get her inhaler. She told Julia to do the eye test and read the line of letters and then tell what the road signs meant, but I could barely hear Julia and I know the lady didn't because she was either coughing or had stepped away. At one point I heard Julia say she didn't really know what one meant and I told her not to worry because the officer wasn't even there anymore! She returned and asked Julia what #9 was and Julia told her 'stop sign' and I guess that's all she needed to know!
I was not surprised to learn that Julia had developed a quick camaraderie with the lady, who apparently had talked to Julia about not being so stressed and had reviewed some of the more difficult questions with her before she began. Julia is always telling me which of her teachers or coaches likes her or doesn't- which could change by the week. But I think generally adults like her because she's so transparent. She may do or say anything and just puts herself out there as who she is-- no hiding or pretense. She may misunderstand or take awhile longer than the average person to figure some things out or be a bit disorganized at times, which can lead to mistakes, but she doesn't take it to heart or get embarrassed-- she just laughs at herself and says, "It's fine" and moves on.
Anyway, we have another driver now...which always feels like progress, but at the same time a bit scary. And after getting Julia back to school, I was absolutely worn out and so thankful that Gray could pick up Allie, since he doesn't have a 4th period this semester, and I could have the two of them empty the dishwasher, go to the grocery store, and pick up Julia from her game. All I could do was lay here...which is where I remain on Saturday. Hoping things turn around today and I can get back to normal!
Other happenings over the last month or so...
I really can't remember a lot of the details already, but Julia had her 15th birthday, which was a Sunday, and we got donuts and had Nanny and Pa over in the afternoon. After some pointed conversations about how the boys often ignore Julia's birthday, they did come through with some gifts for her, which she appreciated. We went to get Mexican after church. I think the only other thing we did that day was let Julia (and I!!) have a Gilmore Girls marathon that night. We love that show and don't get to watch it very often.
Matt had to work New Year's Eve and Day, but the kids and I went to the Bakers with Jeannie and fam to ring in the new year, mostly playing games and eating. Joshua went to a party with kids from High School and had a friend or 2 spend the night.
The next morning, I took Addie, who had spent the night with us, and Julia to the mall for Julia's 3rd piercing and some shopping. I don't think the shopping met all of Julia's hopes and dreams, as she didn't find that many things, but it was a fairly fun outing. We had one "Julia oops" when we walked out of store across the food court and she didn't realize she was still holding a shirt on a hanger that she was thinking of trying on. Someone in a booth at the food court had been trying to get our attention, wanting us to come spin a wheel for a deal, but Julia didn't hear what he said and after realizing she had inadvertently shoplifted, she said he must have know and was trying to tell her. :)
We had never paid for a birthday party at a "party place" before-- always had their parties at home or the pool or Matt's gym when they were little. But this year, Julia decided she wanted a roller skating party so we thought that was reasonable after all our years of being cheap! We told her it was for a group of 10 and she had such a hard time coming up with the guest list. Gray suggested she make a backup list if her "A" list couldn't come, so she made a backup list...of 12 more. She has continued her social butterfly-ing around Orange and has quite the list of people that she'd happily hang out with. In the end, she was happy with her group and they were all very sweet girls and seemed to have a good time. I especially enjoyed watching one in particular, who is actually an experienced gymnast- suddenly fall on her skates several times when she was just standing there doing nothing! We made Allie give it a try so she wasn't bored...and because she's often so reluctant to try new things...and she had a good time too. I think Julia was pleased with her party.
This year, winter break started only a few days before Christmas and went on several days after New Year's. We stayed busy with things like appointments, working on the house, Julia's celebrations, and the boys spent an afternoon at the high school watching the extended edition of The Return of the King, part of Gray's English class. Then when they went back to school, it was suddenly time for Gray's signing day celebration. His two other teammates signed with Lincoln Memorial, which is in Mars Hill's conference, so they will be opponents next year! It was nice to hear good things said about Gray and to have friends and family, and teammates past and present, there to celebrate him.
That Friday was a crazy day for Gray. He got his braces off and went to school, which I think let out early that day due to predicted snow coming, then went to work that afternoon and got home at dark, only to tell us he'd be going back in to work at 2am to continue the snow plow/salting stuff! We decided we didn't want him driving in the snow in the middle of the night, so Matt graciously got up and drove him in to work. The next day, we had a sweet (and what would be our last) visit with Matt's grandma, who had been in the hospital with seizures since before Christmas. I remember she couldn't talk very much because of having been on a ventilator but she would reach her arms out for hugs from us and smile and even laugh a little when we talked to her. Matt fed her lots of ice and some tea and we told her goodbye and she pointed to herself and to heaven. She got more hugs and we left her smiling. She ended up hanging on for weeks after that and moved to a hospice facility too, but died later in January.
After visiting her, we went into Hillsborough for some reason and ended up arriving right at the spot to pick up Gray right when he was able to get off, after about 12 hours of work. He was tired! (And loved me taking a picture of him...but hey- that's how I'm remembering to tell this story!)
Meanwhile, Julia had a friend spend that Friday night and Saturday was a weird snow day for me, in that I didn't have to do anything! The older girls and Allie got themselves ready for the snow and went to a neighbor to borrow sleds and walked to the golf course and had all the sledding they could handle. Matt and I had a snowy walk with the dog, had the visit with Grandma, picked up Gray, saw our house, and that was about it for that snow day.
The snow lingered quite awhile in shady places-- for weeks actually, because it was so cold! We didn't go to outdoor recess in my class for 2 weeks! I caught a picture of Joshua and Allie trying to have a snowball fight before he left to go back to Methodist. (He's hiding from her in the bottom right)
We had one last game night together-- I think we played "Do you really know your family?", a new one from the Moores in which you ask the fam a question and whoever gets it right gets to keep that question card. They liked that a lot. And then Joshua went back. And I cried and cried. We'd had a lot of goodbyes between when we dropped him off in August and now, but after he was home for a month, it was so much sadder to let him go. I know a lot of it is grieving the loss of his childhood. Kids are such a part of who a mother is that it hurts to be separated and even more to know that the separation is kind of a sign of how it will be from here on out. But also I just miss him. It feels wrong to not be together. I remind myself that it's probably one of those things about this life that isn't how we were made to be...we are made for deep and lasting relationships, not losing people to moves or falling outs or growing up or death. So one day, I know this kind of ache won't be a part of life anymore, and I am grateful for that. As it turned out, we would see Joshua just a week later in his first scrimmage of the season. We only got to visit with him for a short time after the games, but I was so glad we went and glad to see him get to start too! They didn't win, but I'm just happy for him that he gets to play a lot.
And unbeknownst to us, we would see him again the next weekend because Grandma died that week and he would come home to be a pall bearer. We gathered at Kim's that Saturday night and it was great to see some of Matt's extended family that we rarely see. The next day was an all day thing for the funeral. This is the only picture I got...I guess because it feels weird to take pictures at a funeral. We never do well getting dressed up and out the door on time, and this was no exception. There was some borrowing of clothes, some last minute laundry, some way too last minute showers, etc and (always) the waiting in the car for a family member or two to finally come out of the house. This is a typical Gray-made breakfast (yep- 6 fried eggs and 4 pieces of toast all for him), only the morning before the funeral, he made it and ran out of time to eat it, which would prove a fateful mistake when we didn't eat anything again till 3 that afternoon!
It was a long day, but so nice to see many of the family members that we hadn't seen since we were first married and many of Barnette and Cindy's friends that we hadn't seen in years. It was neat to hear lots of stories of Grandma (and her sisters, which reminded me so much of Grandmama and her sisters), and to see pictures I'd never seen of Grandma when she was younger. There was a viewing, then a graveside service, then the memorial, and then a reception. Barnette did a wonderful job with speaking at her memorial service, telling stories of her jumping on a beach trampoline (and entertaining a crowd with her cries of "Whee!" every time she jumped) and of her driving "expertise", such as when he couldn't find his car one morning because she'd accidentally knocked it in a ditch ("I thought I heard a bump") on her way to work. Grandma would be 93 this week and had lived a lot of life, with many jobs, including raising kids which she began with Barnette when she was 16 and ended with Matt's "Aunt" Amy when she was 44. It's bittersweet, as I guess it should be, to remember the ups and downs of a loved one's life and to be reminded of how fragile and fleeting this life is. We did about all the socializing we could handle at the reception and headed home so Joshua could get packed and back to school again. Today he's in Tennessee, about to play his first real game of the season. We hope to see his next home game in 2 weeks! My main purpose of having an Instagram account is to catch pictures of my kids, particularly Joshua now that he's away, and this week we got see him getting his team's hard worker award.
Somewhere mid-January we got another snow. The kids ended up barely having any full days of school in January, with delays, early releases, cancelations, teacher workdays, and holidays. This snow was very light but Allie and Gray had us out trying to have a snowball fight that night when we got home from community group and I was thrilled to have a very rare snow day off of my school the next day.
Gray didn't tell us he had "snow plow" duty and ended up leaving at 4:45 the next morning to go to work without us even knowing it. I'm always worried about his driving, but the snow took that up a notch when I remembered he'd be driving in snowy conditions a lot once he goes off to Mars Hill. Hopefully he's getting some helpful experience this winter!
Also in January, Run had his 2nd birthday. He's a smart dog and has recently learned to rung a bell when he needs to go outside. He's also still neurotic and will do absurd things like walk into the house with Gray, perfectly fine, then run into the next room and start scrambling around barking like crazy once the two of them get in the house. Sometimes I think it's getting better and sometimes I don't think it is at all. He's definitely not as scared of things as he used to be, but gets so much on edge when Gray (or even Joshua sometimes) are up moving around the house. And he takes every chance he can get to find remnants of his poop outside to eat. Which is just gross. But he will lean into you for a snuggle, put his head in your lap, even sit in your lap if you let him, and is pretty good when we let him meet other dogs. We've been taking him down to the Eno River trail near here and letting him run around and leap over ditches and run in the water. He's really good about not running away and it's so fun to see his greyhound-like body in action. We love him, quirks in all, which I guess is how we feel about all of us in the family!
The last thing I have pictures of from this month was a cheerleading event in which younger siblings, or any little kids from the community, could join the Orange High team to learn some cheers and then perform with them during a basketball game that night. Allie surprised us in her enthusiasm to participate, even once we learned about them cheering in an actual game. I dropped her off and got to see a little girls from my class, who was jumping up and down with excitement to be there and to see me there. Jeannie, Matt and I returned that evening to watch them cheer and man, were they cute. I couldn't get a great view of Allie, because Julia was on the outside of the bleachers, but I could see Allie looking up at Julia every time they would stand to cheer, making sure she had all the moves right. They went down on the court a few times to do a cheer, to do a dance (that Allie had been practicing at home religiously!), and a little "stunt" where they put each little kid up in the air. Allie went right up and gave this stereotypical cheerleader yell, smile, and wave like she does it every day. Couldn't believe how confident she looked. And I think she is totally sold on doing cheer...though she is great at tennis and wants to try volleyball- oh, and really likes running. We'll see what direction this little athlete goes when she gets to middle school in (gasp) 1 1/2 years. And speaking of her confidence, at Grandma's memorial reception, she had to do a lot of talking to people that were complete strangers to her and she totally surprised me by speaking clearly, loudly, and generally being friendly with folks. Think she is growing up. Lately she has been singing along very loudly to the radio (which she still would have playing 24/7 if we let her), which is so cute, even though she doesn't hit all the notes. She is learning to cook more and really enjoys that. She is still into any kind of creating with craft materials and loves any chance she gets to play with friends.
Julia's cheer season is wrapping up in the next week or so and Gray's senior lacrosse season is about to begin. Between his 2-3 games a week and Joshua's 1-2 games a week, we are going to see a lot of lacrosse these next couple months and I don't know how we'll fit in all the other stuff we need to do! We're still leading our community group but have to figure out how to do that when we have games to see so many nights of the week. We've started to have meetings for the Kenya trip and work on fundraising for that. And there's so much to pick out and decide and buy and work on for the house. Matt is working on some of the labor lately- building decks and retaining walls- plus meeting subcontractors, scheduling materials delivery, etc, etc. It's not really a part time job and he's already got another full time job! We want to finish and move in soon, but also have to try to be realistic with the time that the rest of life demands. It's another busy season, but I do love lacrosse season, and I'm ready to get well and get into it!
