We do not have school right now -- we're on "Spring Break."

This past weekend, we technically began our spring break.  Honestly - school was exhausting and really really frustrating towards the end of the week.  (Mercer had SO MANY assignments.... and the work that he was given was ridiculously hard... it was - according to another mom I was talking to - work that she did in high school!)  I actually ended up emailing the principal at his school asking about grace in assignments considering that some people are either working in the home or out of the home / the students may not have guidance.  Also... some people have multiple children to juggle or perhaps to share one computer.  The fact that he had 24 ELA assignments + 2 quizzes, 9 math assignments, 8 science assignments, 2 band assignments (+ practice each day), plus something for Spanish and something for social studies (honestly, those last two - I don't have a grasp of what he had for those two... hoping it was not a lot!)  Because of this, I'm behind in my work AND he's behind / he didn't finish.   (I've talked to several others parents and their kids didn't finish either.   Late Friday - the school system sent an email saying "it's ok..." taking some of the pressure off.  (Still, though, I want the teachers to dial back the assignments.  Some students (including mine) get overwhelmed easily and get deterred from doing the work / it's really hard to talk (him) into getting back in gear.

Isabella has a lot of work as well.  Not as much, however, she requires a persistent eye on her work.  To be honest - sometimes she goes off on a tangent and spends a bit of time on those tangents... and I'm OK with that.  For instance, she was working on geometry (shapes).  Squares... rectangles... triangles.  One of the 1st grade teachers made a video on how to use an online Geoboard.  So, she made her shapes, then she continued to play making patterns for at least an hour.  YES!  go for it.  (honestly - on Saturday - the Geoboard site was still pulled up on the computer and I had a little fun with it too!  :) 

(This shape hearkens back to my college thesis project -- a mathematical, but "fluid" shape that I used for the structural system of my airport.  The roof undulated. I still LOVE this shape, clearly.)  I found a shape online last year in an advertisement -- a bridge built in 2011.  I include here so, 3-dimensionally the visual is included.  My structure was enclosed... and on a larger scale... and didn't have neon lights, but still.... soo soo cool to see in "real life." Of course now, I need to go visit this bridge and walk through it!  :) 

Here's a shot from my thesis project board circa 1995. 

"movement"
"structure"
"perception"
"fluidity"

Here are the numbers as of Friday (4/3).  The number of tested / positive cases topped 1 million.   I looked at the site on the 3rd, but I didn't post.

I feel like we didn't do ANYTHING on Saturday.  And that's OK.  (Well, we did some yard work).  I also didn't check the numbers -- I still haven't 'til now.  Unfortunately, there are 300,000+ more confirmed cases since Friday and 20,000 more deaths.  This is also the first time that New York City has moved to the top 5 on the leaderboard for number of deaths... New York is ahead of Hubei province in China - the pandemic epicenter.  Just looked up some numbers. They have 60 million population.  New York has 8.   They have over 60,000 cases with close to 3200 deaths.  New York has over 70,000 cases with close to 3500 deaths.  China has ~1.3 billion people.  The US has just over 300 million (.3 billion).  Interesting to see how our number of cases is much much higher now.

My grandmother's funeral was on Sunday afternoon.  Here at home, we went to a park in a neighboring county (because our county closed the parks??!!)   I wanted some fresh air and nature Sunday afternoon at the same time.  I said a little prayer at 3.  

We picnicked, then went for a walk.  This is a park we were unfamiliar with -- however -- when we drove up to it, we realized that we had been there before:  Mercer had a  baseball tournament last October there.  We walked through the ball fields, down a big hill and found this lake.  (There were two ladies throwing bread into the pond attracting koi and turtles.  You can sort of see the giant 2' long koi in the photo.  Not to worry - we were at least 10' away from the ladies!) 

On the other side of the pond, we found a gravel trail, so we followed it.  It took us to a little stream and eventually back to the parking lot.

It was low-key.  People were very respectful of social distancing.  It was nice to see some nature.  (Check out this heron that Mercer shot a photo of with his phone!!)  

Yesterday, April 2nd, my grandma passed away....

Grandma -- Inez (Simpson) Nunn -- was my last living grandparent.
I was lucky to have know all 4 of my grandparents -- and that all 4 lived pretty long lives.  Her life was 91 years -- a couple of months shy of 92 years young.    (This photo was taken when we were celebrating her 90th birthday.)  

She spent the last few years in a nursing home.  Each time we visited North Carolina, we went to see her at least once, twice, or more - depending on how long we were in town.

Even during these times with the virus, we were able to call her on the phone.  We just talked to her this past Saturday and she sounded good.  (better than a couple of weeks ago), so it was a shock to hear on Wednesday night that hospice was called earlier in the day.... then to learn on Thursday that hospice care was no longer needed.

My mom, uncle Mel and uncle Eddie were able to visit her Wednesday.  They had to wear masks, of course, when going to see her.... and mom said she didn't recognize them at first with the masks.  Wednesday was her last full day here on this Earth.  





When I was a kid, I used to spend the summers on grandma and grandpa's farm.  I used to gather eggs from the hen house.  Also, I would occasionally go to the big chicken houses down past the pond.   (Example photo here sort of resembles the inside of their chicken houses.)  The best thing about being there when the baby chicks arrived...they used to chase you around like you were their mama.  (Then, the next day you'd go back, they'd run from you.)  I used to love the baby chicks (and then eeewww - I would hate to go when they were big and grown in the chicken houses). 

I wouldn't eat chicken for a long long time!  


I remember them having a grape arbor with muscadine grapes and scuppernongs - walking into it and eating off of the vine.  (Sort of like this.  I wanted to do this with our arbor, however, Todd is allergic to yellow jackets, so....)  

We spent time in the garden.  We hand-washed dishes.  We picked pecans and then shelled them.  We shelled peas.  

Grandma canned everything: their own vegetables or things that people would bring them to the store.  I never did learn how to can with her although I learned later as an adult... when / if I do, always makes me think of grandma.  

We made fried okra and fresh biscuits.  She would always make country ham for me with red-eyed gravy - even into adulthood - because I liked it as a kid.  She made pound cake.  She made Todd coconut cake because he liked it.  (So did grandpa.)  We made no-bake chocolate peanut butter cookies.     Most of the memories revolved around food because Grandma made EVERY meal.  This is what she did for the family - she kept things going... she was certainly the matriarch of the family! 

 Once they no longer lived in the house / they were grown and on their own, I used to cherish visits from my uncles.  Uncle Eddie or Uncle Mel would sometimes come over to pick up lunch for the guys at the store.  Every now and then, I would get to help deliver lunch to the farm-and-garden store... if I could go with someone.  (Grandma didn't want me crossing the street to get there on my own because cars go fast there.)    

I posted some photos found online of "the store" in post last summer when honoring grandpa after he passed:  http://candice-and-todd.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-first-half-of-july-was-really.html

Grandma watched Mel and Eddie's children when they were young.  By the time our kiddos came around - they enjoyed playing with the toys at grandma and grandpa's house.  They were always in their chairs in the back living room when we would visit.  Our kids would play with the toys and entertain.... I remember grandma once saying about our kids playing in their back living room: "It's like watching TV."  :)   

Grandma always had a Christmas cactus on the porch and laundry hanging up in the basement.  She kept things running.  I loved trying to sneak into the (formal) front living room because it was not really allowed...  

Christmas was always a time for gathering.   Many of these photos are from Christmas.  Once Aunt Sandra passed and once grandma started spending time in the nursing home, the Christmas gatherings did not happen as often.    I remember grandma having oranges with cloves in them sometimes at Christmas.  I really enjoyed this moment...when we made orange pomanders at the nursing home.  I thought this was a good activity to do on one of our visits.... bridging an old tradition with a newer generation.  

My memories are tied to their house in Liberty, but I do want to learn more about their lives before they were in the house / on the farm as we knew it.    

I've always loved this photo of grandma and grandpa.  They were married (according to my mom) on July 22nd, 1944 -- married about 75 years when grandpa passed away last year.

Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus, I am not going to the funeral service.  Yes - social distancing can be observed at the service - however now that I have asthma, I'm considered "high-risk" for the virus and more susceptible.  I tried to figure out logistics, but having to stop to get gas / to go to rest areas on the drive / etc. adds extra risk.  Then there's the issue of staying at my mom's... I would either be exposed to germs she's been exposed to... or she would be exposed to germs from Georgia.  

I know it will be a beautiful service and my family in North Carolina knows that I will be there with them in spirit.


Here is the official obituary from the newspaper:

" LIBERTY — Alma Inez Simpson Nunn, 91, of Liberty passed away peacefully on Thursday, April 2, 2020, at Universal Health Care in Ramseur.

There will be a private funeral service at Loflin Funeral Home chapel, Ramseur, with the Rev. Josh Kurtz officiating. Burial will be at Gilmore Memorial Park, Julian.

Inez was born in Surry County on June 2, 1928, to Charlie and Lizzie Watson Simpson and was a longtime resident of Liberty.  She attended Eldora School and Nathanael Greene School of Julian. Mrs. Nunn was strong in her faith, loved flowers and gardening, was an avid cook and enjoyed making many craft projects. She was active in church and homemaking activities during her younger years and cared for her mother for many years.

She will missed and her memory cherished by children, Gloria Ann Moore, Mel Nunn and wife Erika and Edward Nunn and wife Rhonda. She was the proud grandmother of Tracy Lawson Clontz, Candice Moore Groves, Mandy Lawson Byrd, Michael Nunn, Lauren Nunn and Emma Nunn; and the great-grandmother of Cooper Jones, Caitlin Clontz, Mercer Groves and Isabella Groves.

In addition to her parents and three siblings, she was preceded in death by husband, Melvin Cornell Nunn; and daughter, Sandra Lawson.

The family would like to thank the staff at Universal Health Care for the care they gave to their mother. 

School closure - rest of the year.... announced on day 13 of closure.

On April 1st, the governor of Georgia issued a closure of schools for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year.  And... this is no joke!

I am still processing this.  The past 2 1/2 weeks have been hard... now... we've got another 1 1/2 months of jugging work and homeschooling (after a week off  during our "spring break" next week).  

I did play a little April Fool's joke on them yesterday.  I shared this photo of the governor... with the words "Georgia Students will repeat grades in 2020-2021 due to Covid-19"with them.

I said that Mercer would have to repeat 6th grade and Isabella would have to repeat 1st grade.  They looked stunned and didn't know what to say.  (Mercer said he'd be happy to repeat 6th grade because he didn't like the Middle school when we took a tour a month ago or so.)   

I didn't let it go on for more than a minute.  They laughed and thought it was funny when I told them I was kidding. 

This joke was done before Todd and I told them at dinner.... "no joke" about the school closures.

High School seniors.... feeling for them.... they have no prom.  They have no graduation.  (Hopefully there will be some make-up events during the summer!!!)  


Mom sent an email saying that she and her brothers were able to visit grandma in the nursing home and that hospice is coming to help her a few times a week. I read her email late last night and haven't had a chance to call her yet... I am surprised that they were able to go see her, but so glad they did.  She said they had masks on / grandma didn't recognize them at first.  I am praying for them all.   

Here is an updated screenshot from John Hopkins' dashboard.  I just saw on the news this morning that deaths in the US is over 4,800.  (New York City has approximately 1,400 deaths.)  Total Covid-19 cases in the US have now topped 200,000.  Globally - the reported number of cases is nearing one million....  

And here's a new graphic I have not seen before........ a map (from the New York Times) that shows how rapidly the virus is spreading. The title says "Cases currently doubling every...."  3 days / 5 days / 7 days....  (Cobb County where we live is currently is being tracked at cases doubling every 4.5 days)  There's a "hot spot" in south Georgia that is attributed to 2 different funerals in a small town.  Obviously - the more populated areas are higher than more rural areas.

















It's all very surreal.

Week 3 - School closure days 11 and 12

I don't have a lot to update on the virus - just thought I'd post this as a chronicle / to document where things are at.

A cool thing I heard on the news... there's a company that has a sterilization process that FDA fast-paced rolled out yesterday (apparently it was debuted 5 years ago) that can clean 10,000 masks and personal equipment in one shot.  They're in "containers" (like trucking) and they're using vapor-phased hydrogen peroxide that they pump in for about 2 1/2 hours... and then there's an off-gassing period... but they can run 2 shifts with each unit and can take care of 20,000 masks in one day.  The masks are safe to reuse 20 times.  Fascinating and this could be a real solution to a problem.  People are hand-sewing mask covers that can be washed.  High school kids are 3-D printing components that they can make face shields out of.  Just love how all of these problem-solvers are stepping up!  I wonder if this is sort of like in the war when people needed bullets... melt down whatever you have to make them.  (Different, but seems like people are all coming together / problem solving to attack this head-on for our country and for humanity.) Hospital staff are exhausted.  There's a shortage on masks and personal protective gear and there's a shortage on ventilators.  They are being hailed as heroes and being on the "front-lines" of this war.

I called one of my colleagues today - I'll mention why later - but... when I called her... she sounded awful.  Could hardly breathe, coughing, exhausted.  She was so labored.  She said she has not had a fever any higher than 99.9 degrees.  Her doctor recommended that she not go to the hospital... but she said that her doctor believes she absolutely has Covid-19.  Wow... it was so hard to talk to her!    I'm worried about her because she has several underlying medical conditions. 

On the news, there was someone who had it... documented his journey... and the ONLY advice was to rest at home, drink a lot of fluids, rest.  This person on the news did not have it so bad that he had to be hospitalized, but he tested positive and talked about how absolutely horrible he felt.  I am sincerely hoping that my colleague recovers like this reporter did and NOT need to go to the hospital.  

I called my colleague to personally tell her that I accepted a teaching position at another school next year.  (I didn't want to text her or email her this news.)  I knew as of last week, but I started telling people today (I had a science team meeting via Zoom and wanted to tell them personally too.)  I'll write more about the job stuff soon. It's late.... I was trying to post on 3/31 instead of 4/1.

Here are some photos from Isabella's class challenge Monday of making chalk art.

And...

Mercer doesn't have a lot of work right now (He was loaded up at first, but he has had less work than Isabella for the past several days.)  He's been working on some Boy Scout stuff -- finishing a few things he's started... and... working on some drawings to submit to turn into the middle school to get into an art class.  Really proud of him for tackling a landscape and a self-portrait by watching videos on the internet to learn how!!

School closure day 10 was Friday + a couple of things from this weekend...

The kids had back-to-back-to-back zoom meetings before and during my office hours.  I was not very productive until it was all over running between the two of them, trouble-shooting THEIR meetings, etc.  Thankfully, I only had 1 student reach out during my office hours.  I've had tons of them emailing me over the weekend)   The principal just announced to our parents, however, that there will not be grades... so we'll see how / if engagement continues!  

(There's certainly an equity issue of not all students having access to computers.)  The school system where our kids go (Marietta) is providing hot spots and technology to 700 families in order to help solve the equity issue.  The school system where I teach (Cobb Co.) just announced over the weekend that they're raising money to buy chromebooks for students without technology (they had $70,000 of the $170,000 needed as of Sunday)... again... trying to make the situation more "fair" across the board.  

But....  whew. You still can't force the kids to get online.   I had 2 people over the weekend JUST NOW ASKING about assignments and work that I've been posting about / emailing out about for 2 weeks!  This is such a crazy time in the world of education.  Heck... in the world of ANY industry!!

There's something positive that folks in our city are doing.  They started a go-fund-me page to raise money to pay the restaurants in Marietta that are struggling to stay afloat to make meals for the workers at Kennestone hospital -- the hospital a mile from our house.  What a great way to solve a problem AND help people in need at the same time!!   

Residents who live near the hospital have put up heart-shaped lighted displays (Christmas lights) to show support.

In many countries (including the US and even in Atlanta), people in high-rises are cheering the hospital workers at shift changes.  

They are also singing from balconies... doing group exercise classes with an instructor on a nearby roof or ground below.  It is really interesting to see the humanity and solidarity in this situation.  

I mentioned the hospital set-up in NYC at the conference center... well, another really interesting thing is happening to help:  one of two US Naval "hospital" ships is going to be docked in a New York harbor.  On board -- 1000 beds... operating rooms, pharmacy, oxygen-producing machines, etc.  (Not to mention the US Naval medical staff - which would offer a relief to the medical professionals that are already over-burdened and over-run with exhaustion.)   

Unfortunately, the numbers keep climbing.  Here is the latest information according to John Hopkins University portal:  





















New York's death rate has more than doubled in 3 days.  According to NY Times, they're at close to 60,000 cases and just under 1000 deaths.  They also had an infant pass this weekend due to corona.    :(    It was reported too that as a nation, the cases have doubled in 48 hours.

We are all mandated to shelter-in-place.  Our parks are closed.  It's been 2 weeks, but the governor announced that schools will be closed for a month more.  Mercer and I just watched an announcement from the principal of the high school and the superintendent (for some reason it was shared with the middle schoolers) about "IF" we go back to school at the end of the newest mandate....  the school will have to figure out how to host a prom at a venue that can hold a substantial amount of people on the fly. 

They will figure out how to hold the honor court.  They will work on commencement.  There was a *but* at the end of his announcement... talking about "IF" we don't go back on April 27th...

Looking at the way things are going across the county, I'm thinking the 2nd "IF" is the one that would happen... that we may not be going back to school...  




Meanwhile, this is how we are dealing with things:

Here are a couple of images from our 3rd week of "church" on the couch.


And I just hosted "brunch" on the porch (over Zoom) with some ladies that I would occasionally go out with on Sunday mornings.  I ducked inside to attend church, but they were still hanging on.  They just enjoyed the conversation... and they asked to do this every week instead of once a month.

It was another beautiful day, however, we did not go on a hike in the mountains... these north Georgia destinations state that they are enforcing the shelter-in-place mandates and they don't want folks to travel to their locales.  

I hosted another play-date with Mercer's friend online.

We had a Boy Scout meeting over Zoom.  They're trying to figure out advancement too.  

This is such a strange and unusual time.

On a positive note, I updated the post below with the photos and activities that happened before things started changing here.  

March 16th blog post: "It's a new day...."


We are about to start Week 3 of closure then we have Spring Break....

Here are some nice springy photos.  I have been walking some mornings with a couple of ladies from my neighborhood.   We walked up to the square and all of us were snapping up photos of their beautiful flowers.

School closure days 8 and 9

Holy cow.  I have not logged into the Covid-19 dashboard in 2 days.   The US has now surpassed China for the number of cases reported!  In 2 days, the number of total cases has increased by over 100,000 people!

I mentioned two days ago that New York is in a really bad place right now.  Out of the 85,000 cases in the US, they have over 30,000 cases currently.  They have also had 365 deaths.  Since there are no events planned, they are turning the Javitz Convention Center into a field hospital with 1,000 beds.  Here are images posted from the construction.  Looks like it's about ready to roll.

One thing that is AWESOME is that private companies are stepping up and changing their business models... trying to help fill the void of medical equipment for which there is a shortage: ventilators.  Elon Musk (Tesla cars and SpaceX billionaire) is changing over one of their factories to start producing ventilators.  Dyson (the fan and hand-dryer company) is developing a ventilator.  Distilleries across the country that normally produce alcohol are now making alcohol-based hand sanitizer.  It's just amazing!!  

Yesterday, I held my first Zoom class for my students.  I think it went pretty well.  I prepared a small lesson that I did with the students... and asked them if they had any questions about the online platform we're using. I had an hour scheduled and we finished with about 7 minutes left.  I was going to wrap it up because Isabella had a thing with her class.  But my students BEGGED me not to cut the video conference off.  Of the 38 students that joined.... about 20 of them held on for those extra 7 minutes.  They just need to connect!


We're noticing this as well in on-line forums for my own kids.  Isabella has had several more small group Zoom calls.  

Mercer logged into one for his math teacher earlier this week, but the kids just sat there and made awkward noises and random comments.  He has 2 more Zoom sessions on Friday.  Hopefully these are more "productive."  :)   

Mercer's schoolwork is going pretty well.  He's keeping up with what he needs to.  He doesn't have a lot in math, but he has a ton of science work.  He has band practice every day - but this week he also had a research project on a classical compose.  In ELA he had a posterboard due.  I guess he takes a picture and emails to the teacher??   He's pretty good at self-managing and getting done... there's not a lot I have to help him with during the day except for science and also figuring out sometimes where his schoolwork is / IF he has assignments / etc.


Isabella's schoolwork is much harder to manage.  She refuses to do certain things (writing based on the choice board her teacher provides each week) and it's like World War III over here. Some things are too easy (phonics).  Other things that she has to do (based on her MAP testing earlier in the year) are too hard (multiplying double numbers) and she gets frustrated. It's been a really hard balance as Todd has even experienced the melt-downs when he gets home from work.... sometimes I'm still doing school with her (and me) when he comes back and I have to turn it over to him b/c I can't take it anymore!    She has some fun things mixed in as well... little projects.  

Here, she has a paper airplane challenge and measuring.  That... we could manage!  Whew.

Finally - an update on the caterpillars.... the started out at about 1/2" long.  Now, thy are plump - getting fuzzy and several are about 1" long!  This has been fun!








The governor of Georgia has ordered schools to be closed through at least April 24th.  

Closure day 7....

Not too much to report.  School....still moving along.  It takes a really long time (at least 'til 5 +/- between trying to keep the kids on track while doing my own work.  And - many nights, I'm up late still working). It is REALLY HARD for us.  My science team colleagues don't have kids at home, so they're doing much better with things than I am.  (But - also I have the advanced content classes with mostly motivated students (or motivated parents).  I have close to 300 things to grade right now sitting in the submitted "box" on my online portal whereas they have 15 - 30 assignments.  (argh!  of course the one with the 2 children at home has a zillion things to grade!)  

Here is the dashboard again.  It just absolutely shocks me how much it climbs EVERY-SINGLE-DAY!  New York City is in a really bad place right now too... their governor says that their cases DOUBLE every 2-3 days.  it's frightening.  

Sadly, they just closed down a major trail system here in our area... close to 3,000 acre park with 23 different trails.  I give up!  It's a spot where we can get fresh air... exercise....and stay socially distanced from others.  (It's not like they have playgrounds. They don't.)  sigh.

OK - some good news:  it was a big day for Isabella.  She got to have TWO zoom sessions with different classmates... and she was soooo excited / waving / talking and even figured out how to send a specific kid a chat message.  








And, she lost a tooth tonight.  (Less than an hour ago... she stayed up late working on it!)

On the news tonight, our neighborhood was featured for the Rainbows in the Windows (a good-news story).    This is one of Mercer's friends - another 12 year old boy.  (His mom texted me and said to watch the news.  We let Mercer stay up to see it.)  

Kind of cool!





Forgot to mention - we've been going to church on our couch the last 2 Sundays.  We have had a little bit of technical difficulties but we can stream it to our TV.  It's nice to see familiar faces delivering messages of hope.  

Another thing that I've been trying to tune in for:  Jimmy Fallon's intro to his nightly show.  He's broadcasting from home and his kids are there.  It's actually pretty funny.  It's sort of comforting to see that even famous people have this insane juggle with working and kids at home!  (Since I'm photographing the TV tonight... here's a shot from his segment.)  


We certainly need a few laughs!