April 10th. Day 25.

Day 25.

It's been four Fridays since my kids came running off the bus. Screaming with joy, while I choked back tears.  I can remember hearing the bus, rambling past my house to its final stop. I stood at the kitchen sink, savoring my last few moments of peace for the near future... I've had this feeling before. Right before I made my final push to birth Big E. My life would forever be altered. 

Things I've learned...

I have the patience of a saint. Really. Yes, I lose it, but I'm also going on all four cylinders from about 8:30AM everyday until they finally drift off, only after I've read to them, around 10:30PM each night. No breaks, with the exception of a walk or two around the block or a hideout in the pantry while I eat my feelings. This is usually short lived because I'm pretty sure they have hooked a tracker to my body, probably my cell phone, and they always sniff me out.

I cry a lot. More than I realized. I cry when I see inspiring things. I cry for Big E's loss of his 5th grade activities. I cry for the loss of their summer. They haven't called it yet, but I don't see there is anyway they are headed to NC on June 8th. I cry for all the people that have died and their poor families. I cry for my doctor friends. What is being asked of them is incomprehensible. I cry for our country's loss of normalcy. We will all be dodgy, non-hugging, suspicious Americans when we are formally released from our homes. 

Ultimate boredom opens up new pathways in your brain, good or bad. Our home phone number was once a bakery. Even after almost five years, we still get calls for the bakery at least 2-3 times a day, mostly credit card processing companies and such. Sometimes I ask to get taken off a list. But usually I let it go to the answering machine. Big E asked if he could take the calls and prank them. Because I'm out of my mind, I said sure. And today, Mr. Yoy told me when he called the home phone the other day,  E picked up and said "SHERRIFF'S OFFICE". And I died. Because I told Big E that when I was young, before caller ID, and kids would prank call our house, my hilarious dad would answer "PALM BEACH COUNTY SHERRIFF's OFFICE." And it shut all the shenanigans down. Big E remembered this story and made it his own. And I love everything about that. Judge me if you want.

Things I'm thankful for...

I am thankful for the internet. The memes are outstanding. Because sometimes you just need to laugh. It is such a release. I can FaceTime my friends and family and they are usually available. No more excuses, you are forced to talk to me. And I love it.

I am thankful for my neighborhood. I can walk out to my back patio and have conversations with five friends, all at a safe distance. I can't imagine how isolated I would be without having them nearby. Sometimes, you just need to b*tch about your husband and kids or have an emergency wine delivery.

I am thankful to Mr. Yoy for doing all of our grocery shopping and dinner pick-ups. It's hard not being able to go to my most favorite place in the whole wide world, Publix, but I'll be back one day. Going nuts over a good BOGO and picking out the perfect cake, just like this was all a bad dream. 

We received notice this afternoon from our county that when we return from Spring Break on Monday, they will be moving towards a four day digital learning plan, with Friday being reserved for review. I guess that's one less day I have to fight with my kids to do their work. On the other hand, they are doing so little already, I worry.

But that's next week...

Today, I was only concerned with the straight-up most beautiful day I've seen in quite some time. Big E got out and ran his 5K, although he complained he was having a heart attack. 

I TOLD BIG E IF HE WAS GOING TO DON AN MIT SHIRT, HE BETTER START APPLYING HIMSELF DURING HOMESCHOOL. IN ONE EAR...

Little E and I grabbed the chalk and began working on our next masterpiece. I didn't realize it until we were finished, but we had drawn a bunch of shapes. Little E started pointing out trapezoids, obtuse angles, parallelograms and acute angles. 

HOLY SH*T! I HAD INADVERTENTLY CREATED A GEOMETRY LESSON! AND HE WAS INTO IT! (MATH = CHECK!)

After we were mathed out, Little E laid down on me and closed his eyes to relax in the sunshine.  We just soaked up the Vitamin D and it felt so great. I mean, I could have used a pillow for my booty, but after I lost feeling in it, I was all good.

ZZZZZZZZZZ

Big E finished up his run and we came inside to watch the new trolls movie. Yes, it was $19.99. But if we had seen it at the movie theater, we would have spent $86 on candy and slurpees, so I didn't bat my eyes at this price. During the movie, one of the characters sang a very small sample of one of my favorite 80s gems. So after the movie had ended, and I'm sorry I can't give a review as I slept through a significant amount, I pulled out my record player for a listen. 

WAIT. YOU LIKE RAP MUSIC? - BIG E

We danced through five records and were sweating profusely. Little E always asks what the lyrics are about so I fumbled through some incorrect, awkward explanations. But he was satisfied and asked if we could listen to some more tomorrow. Good news, we are wide open tomorrow. With the exception of a few (hundred) episodes of Ozark.

I hope everyone has a good evening and a great weekend.