2020 - April

The first week of April is one of my two favorite weekends of the year - GENERAL CONFERENCE!! President Russell M Nelson had challenged members to prepare for the conference by studying about the Restoration, as this was the bicentennial year of the First Vision. He said it would be unforgettable. During conference, he said he didn't realize how unforgettable it would be, referring to COVID 19 and meeting outside the Conference Center, with no spectators outside of a very limited number in the conference room. 

Here are some pictures of watching conference, gathered in the living room. Opal joined us and "helped" Aurora as she made a Ball State quilt.

Praying or Sleeping during one of the sessions?

"This is a great blanket. Good job Ro."

With the Corona Virus keeping Indiana on lockdown and the kids finishing the school year virtually, while Eric and I continued working (I went into the office with three others that attend the Fishers office, even though many others remained virtual) I decided I would bring one child at a time with me to work. I figured it was very easy to socially distance, they would have a good wifi signal and an adult to supervise. Additionally, it gave the kids a change of scenery. They also liked the snacks that were available in the office. :)

Neta would take lunch breaks to rollerblade, getting in 3-4 miles each time she came with me. Graigry went walking with me once, until he decided to jog ahead. In that singular event, he got back to the office and didn't find me so he retraced his steps while I turned around. Thus I got back to the office before he did. I as a bit worried that he wasn't there. He didn't have his phone, so I couldn't call him. When he did get back to the office, I was already at my desk and he had put in three miles. Good job!!

Nate went on one walk with me. He also attempted rollerblading once after work. One time, I snuck into my side office that I wasn't using to find Nate in this position:  

He was taking a quick nap to re-energize his brain to finish his school work.

Neta and I also took time, almost each Saturday, to go rollerblading on the Monon Trail. Over several months, lunch and Monon blading totaled 90+ miles. Neta doesn't like her picture taken, so I had to snap when I could.   

I loved spending time with the kiddos in the office. It would have been nice to be remote, but bringing the kids to the office was a decent compromise. 

April 8 - Neta took a liking to sleeping outside. We had three mattresses that she would pull onto the grass and spent many nights under the stars. I joined her a couple of times. Here she and Nate join the dog on the porch on the mattress. 

There was an awesome lightning storm north of us that same night. It was great to watch, not so great on the video. The storm worked its way to our part of town and soaked everything.

April 12 - Here are my Easter dinner contributions to the Scott gathering.

Deviled chicks :)

Resurrection Rolls
one of our traditions

April 18 - Graigry trying on a something that Eric bought for one of his radon jobs.

Pretty decent fit

Spring during a pandemic is different than usual. I'm grateful there is a yard to be in and for good weather so we could enjoy the outdoors.

2020 - March Mayhem

March 2020 introduced Corona to Indiana and the United States in general. Stay at home executive orders began, bringing school and work building closures and the new norm of e-learning and teleworking. Campuses across America were sending students home, including Aurora.

Before that world changing event, we had scheduled to have Aurora's wisdom teeth pulled. I mixed up the appointment time, but they took us in anyway, thankfully. I had to hang out in the lobby while the operation was underway and then was shown back to the room where I found:

I didn't capture much video, but she was a little out of it. I had to go back into work, so Graigry was the supervising "adult" until I got home. He was supposed to make sure bandages got changed every couple of hours, which he didn't do. Mr. I-Want-to-be-a-Neurosurgeon didn't want to deal with pulling out bloody gauze and exchanging it for clean gauze, even though I'd already set everything out for him. Lucky for him, Aurora slept most of the time and he just let her sleep while he did school work.

On Pie Day, I made a cherry pie:

Something I think of doing, but never actually accomplish.

COVID orders came down around March 17. I still went into work with three other people from the Fishers office. It was great how free and clear 465 was. I could leave at 8 and be to work with no problem before 8:30. Fabulous!! I would bring a different kid with me each day. This provided some regular normalcy while giving the kids different scenery with quiet space to get their school work done. When it was lunch, Neta and I would rollerblade along Cheeney Creek. Graigry & I once went for a walk, which he turned into a run for himself and then ran longer because he looped around to the office instead of turning around. He ended up doing three miles that day, which I got a kick out of.

Nate and I went to pick up Aurora from Ball State. She wasn't excited to come home, but didn't want to spend money to stay on campus when she could get a refund to come home. Ball State has carts to help haul things from room to car. Apparently they can also transport students from car to room as seen below.

There was a little accident while waiting to load the car. Aurora's succulents were on a cart that tipped and their little homes were not so whole at the roadside end of the drop.

Kids were excited to not have to go to school, but the novelty wore off a few weeks in and they were looking forward to going back to "normal." A longer spring break was not actually what they wanted, they realized once they were given their wish.

Here is a quick video of Opal wanting to take off a shirt Ro put on her. 

On March 27, Graigry made dinner per my request. He looked up a sweet and sour chicken. It took him hours and when I cam home it was ready to go and it was delicious!!

As quarantine got more underway, Neta and I took to rollerblading. She would come to work with me and we'd rollerblade during lunch or we'd go to the Monon and rollerbladed. It was such fun!! I love spending time with my kids doing stuff outside.