End of school - summer officially begun for the kids....

Well, the end of school went off with a dud.  It's expected.... we were quarantining at home for the previous 2 months.  School ended for the kids on Friday, May 22, but things really started to wind down before their official last day.  

Mercer had a handful of assignments to do right at the end.  He had a bunch of Spanish videos to watch and answer questions on.  One of them was making a Spanish omelette... like what Todd and I had in Spain on our honeymoon.  We had the ingredients, so he helped me make dinner.  It turned out to be a scramble, but hey - it was different!  

I awarded Mercer "Middle School Student of the Month" in our household.  Ha~  

Isabella sort of "checked out" after she had a class party at the beginning of the week.  It was hard to get her to do any classwork after that.  

Here are some photos from her "class party."  The class mom made up goodie bags with items in them to play minute-to-win-it games over an online Zoom session.  She did agree to attend this class party, but usually she is not at all into Zoom.  Since this was a party, she also dressed up (in her Easter dress that she did not get to wear).  

The teacher gave out awards to all of the students.  Isabella got the "Rocking Reading" Award.  She lit up when her name was called.  I'm so glad she attended this class party call!!

The next day - there was a drive-by visit at the teacher's house.  Isabella got to see her teacher face-to-face and catch glimpses of classmates.  (And - there was a different dress for this occasion.  (which was also worn later for "ninja training" at home)

This last photo is of the "goodbye" Zoom on the actual last day, Friday.  This is more typical... Isabella has logged in, but she has disengaged and then walked away.  (Her photo is represented by an image of our painting in the dining room)  :( 

It was hard to get her to do the drive-by parade at her school later that day. 

The only saving grace is that we had library books that they asked people to drop off / return.   

Isabella had her window rolled up, but thankfully, her teacher saw in through Mercer's window... and as we drove by I heard "I love you, Isabella."  Awwww.  

Here's Coach G - he's actually our neighbor and we run into him around the neighborhood sometimes.

And the principal in yellow.   (The school colors are yellow and blue)

The nice thing about going to this... is that a lot of teachers recognized Mercer and were excited to see him.  He got a little last day "hoorah" too.  :) 

I had my final Zoom too - our last staff meeting.  Mercer had nothing. (All assignments were due no later than Thursday for grading.)    

Also, here's something funny that I have seen multiple times... a lot of parents are feeling this way.  I'm honestly glad school is over.... this chapter of juggling is over.  Whew!

Our church held a drive-by celebration for the college and high school graduates.  We did manage to get out of the house for that.  The only thing that motivated Isabella in attending this was that her favorite teenage twins were going to be there.  The girls drove by quickly.  They did see Isabella and they waved at her, although we didn't capture that exact moment on photo.  

It was fun to see their cut-outs in the car across from ours and talk with their mom for awhile.

She's a nurse.... and is exhausted.  I've heard several people talk about how the healthcare industry is losing a lot of money.... and she confirmed for our local healthcare system that this is true... people are NOT going to the doctor or to the hospital for general things.  (It is a business, after all.) 

This was our get-out-of-the-house "event" for the day!  Isabella wanted to wear another dress.  :)  We did not make posters like some did... we brought our New Year's Eve noisemakers and pom poms. 





The pastor's children ran up to each car as it drove by and gave the seniors some sort of memento.  

Across the country, there were all sorts of drive-by celebrations / virtual graduations / etc.  The class of 2020 certainly lost a lot of once in a lifetime opportunities, but people tried to make the best of it and make a big deal about things like prom, honor awards and graduations as much as they could.  

Celebrities and famous people would "pop in" on Zoom proms and give commencement speeches. 






We celebrated the last day of school with pizza and a movie... splurging on a new release rental - which is a new thing during this closure since people aren't going to movie theaters.  It's expensive, but not as much so as going to the theater.  The movie that BOTH kids agreed on (thank goodness!) was Scooby Doo.  

We had our "annual" water balloon fight on Saturday.  This seems to kick off the summer season for us.    (Mercer is such a funny guy -- offering a "target" for Isabella here.)

  


I had to put the camera down once Mercer noticed I was not in the game.  I got doused!  

I sat in line for a drive-through farmer's market for close to 2 hours!  This was in support of the local farmers -- who have been selling less fresh food than normal during closure.  




It's been a challenge to use a box full of veggies - but I'm working on it.  There was a pint of blueberries in there - which are easy, of course, to use.  I made a lemon blueberry icebox pie.  It took me 3 hours.  I told the guys that I would not be making another one... but Mercer has all but begged me to keep the recipe instead of tossing it.  (ugh) :)    What if I bought a key-lime pie already made and added the blueberry topping?  That may be a hack I need to try!  

The same day as the farmer's market - which happened to be the birthday for the former KMB director, Joan - I also went to a memorial service.  The very small service was at a historic cemeteries in Marietta.  There was a small socially-distanced "service" which was really just an informal sharing of stories and laughs.  (Plus some really raunchy jokes!) 

On arbor day, there will be an oak tree planted behind this plaque and a bench placed there on her next birthday as well.

It's getting warmer and starting to feel like summer.  We joined the pool.  (People are supposed to be socially distanced there too -- we are -- but there are several families who are not, unfortunately).  The chairs and tables are spread apart in clusters.  We're also going on lots of bike rides.  On Memorial Day, we went to a new "passive" park that we have not been to before. 

It was mostly a good ride, but it took us past the mall and eventually to a busy road where the bike trail was basically a sidewalk along the road.  The kids did GREAT following directions and crossing the streets with us at crosswalks.  We even stopped at the mall on our way back at Varsity Jr. for some refreshing FO's (Frosted Orange shakes) because we could not find a place to stop and eat our picnic lunch along the trail.  If we want a shorter ride (maybe only ride a couple of miles each way), we could check it out again... but we wouldn't recommend it for a long ride again.  

We were pretty socially distanced along this trail as well.  It was not too crowded and people did try to maintain a 6' separation when meeting on the trail.  The numbers in the state of Georgia, unfortunately, are going up again since the shelter-in-place was removed.  Georgia deaths have reached 2,000 now - which is a fraction, still, of NY and other parts of the north east.  

In the US, the number of deaths have reached 100,000.  Worldwide, the number of confirmed cases is over 6 million and world-wide deaths is almost 370,000.  New York is still the mecca of this crisis here in the US with almost 30,000 of the 100,000 deaths reported.   A critical trend on the John Hopkins' site shows that mortality rates in the US are lower than many countries compared to the number of reported cases.  (Our reported cases are supposedly too low as well - as numbers are reported as being skewed and we did not have tests for quite some time.  But interesting none-the-less to see this breakdown across the globe. 

Unfortunately, now, New York - and all cities across America - are being faced with something else that is a giant threat to people:  RACISM.  

A chapter closes today......

Here are the numbers as of tonight.  Wow.  Over 1.5 million people in the US have been confirmed.  The number world-wide is about to roll over 5 million!  And deaths..... way too many deaths..... more than 300,000.  I heard on the news that yesterday was the largest reported day too.  It just doesn't seem like this is slowing down.

I was talking with Todd's sister, Tonia, last week.  I was telling her that down here in Georgia... lots of people (admittedly, I've thought it too) are wondering why we're doing all of this.  Sure, we have cases here, but everyone I've talked to down here doesn't know anyone who has had Covid.  (I suspect that one teacher I spoke to almost 2 months ago had it, but it was not confirmed / she never went in for a test because they just weren't available.)  Tonia said if we were up there in New Jersey, we would know why all of this is being done.  She started rattling off people she knows who have had it / who have died from it.  There, they have over 150,000 cases and more than 10,000 deaths.  (and... compared to New York... New Jersey is less than half of their cases and deaths.)  

Indeed.  The numbers up there are just staggering.  Our news station has aired this study that they complied a number of times (that I've seen)... it is an interesting comparison.

The newscaster also said that that we "opened up" services (such as hair salons and bowling alleys) several weeks before NC.  It is just interesting how different this is depending on where you live.  This graphic must be several weeks or a month old.  Our current #s are around 39,000 cases now and around 1700 deaths.  North Carolina's #s are around 20,000 cases and approximately 700 deaths... which is quite the jump in both states.  But - the thing that is interesting - is how the populations are similar, and how much lower North Carolina's numbers are.

A neighbor who I walk with several times a week is from New Jersey and has a lot of friend and family in New York City who are moving away.  She says that there is flight from the area... they're not planning on returning.  Our next door neighbor works in downtown Atlanta in a high-rise building.  On her conference calls with the "higher-ups" she says that they're talking about not renewing their lease in their building when it comes up.  Limiting factor:  elevator capacity is 3 in their building AND the shelter-in-place has proven that their employees are doing well working from home.  

Just these two conversations alone make me think about what the real estate market is going to look like this year and next year and the next....

On the lighter side, here is a funny sign that I've seen.  Love the analogy!

And - here's Isabella wearing her mask - for real - out in public.  She picked the fabric from some that I bought a long time ago and a neighbor made it.  Isabella and I went to a small store and we stayed away from the handful of people we saw.  It was her first "outing" other than a park.  Her first store or other building since closure 2 months ago... which seems weird to quantify that amount of time.  (We went to a paint store to pick out samples, as we're having some work done on the house.)  Um, she picked out pink and purple... we will not be painting the house those colors!!!

Well, the past 2 months have been absolutely insanely ridiculous....  I'm not one to glorify and just talk about the good stuff.  It's just been honestly H-A-R-D.  I think the experience of being a virtual teacher these past two months is a very different one based on if you have kids at home or not.  (And if your kids are younger or older.)    My experience was very different from my other science team colleagues' experiences.  (They're sleeping in... starting new hobbies... I'm a little jealous!  I had a pretty good amount of engagement from my Advanced-Content kids.  They both teach on-level and they did not have good engagment.  My on-level class engagment was so-so.)  

Here's an article that the superintendent of our kids' school system sent to parents through the chat over a zoom call.  https://www.ajc.com/news/local/new-reality-for-teachers-minding-their-kids-and-their-classrooms/bU8fEsDGzm6GJsmO37V4sJ/  

He was defending teachers when parent were voicing concerns that they wished their students' teachers had a more dedicated schedule or they wish the teachers would do more live lessons.  He said he gets it.... he understands the value of that.... but he pointed out the challenges teachers face.  He said that some teachers can knock this digital learning out of the park and can be on-call any time of day, but, some teachers are barely hanging on because they've got children at home.  They can't offer consistent zoom meetings or be available between specific hours.  That this time in history requires flexibility and grace.  


He talked about how he's not sure if we'll go back to school like normal... if we'll go back to he online scenario or if there would be some sort of hybrid model.  He did mention that teachers were exhausted - juggling kids and online learning.  He talked about trying to figure out childcare for his teachers with kids because they can't keep juggling both.

(That offers some solace because I'm going to work in this school district next year!)  

Since the last blog post almost 2 weeks ago.... we went for a Mother's Day hike.  (Todd made breakfast and dinner too.)  I graded papers and student projects.  :(  

The place where we went hiking, we've been to before.... 2x.... but from different directions.  Once we went when Mercer was little.  He was in the bike carrier and we were riding on the Silver Comet trail.  I think we just stopped by chance at a little path that veered off of the trail... and stumbled across these really cool ruins of the Concord Mill.  One of my fav photos of Mercer is of him with the steel framework blurred out behind him. 

A couple of years ago, we went hiking on this easy trail accessed by driving / parking at a visitor's center.  We hiked down to a boardwalk and eventually the boardwalk crossed water.  Continuing on, it leads to a trail that goes along a big creek.   When we went last time, Isabella was not up for walking that much.  We did not get too far.  

THIS TIME.... we made it to the end of the trail.... and.... came across those super-cool ruins!  (Isabella started to give up when we were within eye-shot of the ruins... Mercer was texting me: where are you guys?  We've been here.)  Well, it's hard to motivate her sometimes, but when we finally did get there, she was rewarded with a swing!  (Someone rigged a swing off of one of the steel framing members... somehow?!)  Todd lifted her up and she got to drift for awhile.  Mercer was not as lucky -- Todd did NOT pick him up!  But he managed to have some fun on it.  

A friend of mine, Cecilia, lives a few minutes from that park and the Silver Comet trail, so we called her.  She joined us for the hike.  She is pictured here next to Isabella in front of the small ruin of an adjacent building.  (Her daughter lives in another state right now.)  

Last time we went, we saw a giant hornet's nest and some phenomenal fuzzy caterpillars.  This time, we saw a baby snake!  

It's an easy hike and it wasn't too crowded.  People were pretty good about social distancing (except for my friend.... I kept saying "Isabella, let's stay on this side of the path" when we were passing someone and my friend just kept walking down the middle!  oops.    (It was one of the only parks in our county that was open.... a "passive" park.  The visitor's center was closed of course which is fine.  We were just happy to get out!)

Here is some interesting hisory on the Concord (Woolen) Mills at this website... like this advertisement: http://concordcoveredbridge.org/concord-woolen-mills/

















The next weekend was GAME ON busy.  I had several assignments due for teaching classes I was taking.  I worked several nights leading up to this and ALL weekend.  Todd was trying to fix the columns on the back of he house before we have the painters come WHILE watching the kiddos.  (There's always a juggle!!)  I submitted an assignment that I worked on for 4 days on Friday, a quick one on Saturday, another long one on Sunday (well, really Monday at 2 am)... then had to wrap up grading for my science students and FINALLY... clean out my room on Tuesday.

I still had students emailing in late assignments.  My mentor who I was working with on my technology project Sunday told me NOT to grade past Monday... but I have a hard time not honoring their work. I updated grades / re-posted for my classes Tuesday night... and even had two more updates on Wednesday morning.  (I had a lot of student engagement over this process.)

I posted a "Farewell Flipgrid" Video.  (It's a format I learned about during this digital teaching... and I had students submit videos for some assignments... that way they could see each other and sort of connect while they were away from each other.)   I learned about school blogs / grading (which will be the same system my new school system uses... so that was good practice) / online powerpoint types of sites with games embedded in them / interactive sites / etc.   The project I submitted Sunday -- I had to analyze technology tools and student engagement.  I am afraid, these online tools will come in handy next year too, sadly. 

The only fun thing I did this past weekend:  I "went" to a wedding.  (over Zoom)  My childhood friend, Susan's oldest son got married!  I was texting Karla - Susan's mom - asking her "what are you going to wear?"  "are you dressing up?" 

She admitted... the top only was going to be dressy.  (I did the same.  Put on a button up shirt and pearls.  Put on a little make-up, sat in the back yard in shorts and barefoot!)  It was my first Zoom wedding. 

I got to "see" Karla, Steve (Susan's dad) and even "Uncle Bob"  on the zoom.  

Susan and their immediate family went -- they drove to Michigan for the wedding.  Their youngest was ring bearer and the ceremony took place (on a windy day in the bride's back yard.  It was cool to be able to experience this.  This was their Civil wedding.  They will have one in the church (to be "sealed") once the pandemic restrictions are lifted.  

 Last week, we all seemed to finish our work and we had time to go on a bike ride.


Tired of going to the same places over and over again, we went to a nearby park and were checking out a mural depicting the history of the site - the location of a recreation center that was founded by an African-American woman. 

There was local history of desegregation in the area as well.  

I was trying to take a picture of the mural and plaque.... but Mercer had to photobomb the shop.  

And - here are some other random pictures.  



Nothing major going on.... but... just for fun.