March 2020

Remember how I thought things felt like they were about to get crazy?  I wish I had been wrong.  March was insane and loooooong!  Welcome to the world with COVID-19.

A little normalcy:  St. Patrick's Day breakfast

A last restaurant meal at Five Guys before COVID-19 restrictions.

Kargeen after restaurants had to close to eat-in service.

Before COVID-19 shut the world down, the boys' school celebrated world book day on Thursday, March 5.  The kids dressed in costume (J as Pikachu and E as Harry Potter), and I spent much of the day at the school helping out in various ways.  I helped the senior library with a bake sale booth then I helped the primary library as they sold books from the author that was in town (poet Valerie Bloom).

At the end of that day, it was announced that extra activities at the school and parents on campus would need to cease.  This meant no more volunteering at school.  This meant no more soccer practice.  And as an extra wrinkle, this meant that all of the pick up procedures needed to change.  It took a couple of days to sort, but everyone was starting to get into the groove of where we were allowed to be to pick up our kids when it was announced that schools were to be closed for a month.

That announcement came on Saturday, March 14.  Our school quickly transitioned to online learning which began promptly on March 15 (schools run Sunday-Thursday here).  The first day was a little rough.  All of the assignments for all of foundation stage (years 2-6 or grades 1-5) were in 1 long email which just meant I was scrolling up and down to instruct the boys on what to do.  But that was really just the school's quick solution to get things rolling the first day.  By day 2, they had Google sites set up for each grade.  I loaded the Google page for each child on different devices, then instructed them to start at the top and work their way down.  It has worked well for us.  The boys are assigned lessons on their Google site with occasional videos or voice memos.  There is even a recommended maximum time to spend on any particular lesson to make sure the children don't spend too much time in front of a device, especially at one go.  Their assignments are often on Showbie which is a site they had been using already.  On Showbie, they can upload completed assignments, ask questions of their teachers, and receive feedback.  The teachers are all available to provide feedback and answer questions during normal school hours.  I say all teachers.  Poor E has lost his teacher through this as he needed to go home due to a family emergency, and he would not currently be allowed to return as our borders are closed.

I said it has gone well, but that doesn't mean it has been perfect.  I haven't been perfect.  I've been short tempered at times.  I've needed me time.  I've yelled.  I've cried.  But I'm trying to remember to show my boys grace and show myself grace.  We are all learning.  I've tried to remember to stop and read the instructions to help answer questions (I don't know about everyone else, but at least my kids are really bad about reading the questions and instructions accurately and retelling them to me).  This small step helps to slow things down and squash any miscommunication frustrations before they start.  And I've restructured my day so that I'm being productive while the boys are doing school so that we can all unwind together with a movie in the afternoon.

So that is our COVID-19 update, but how about I end on a high note?  In early March, my parents came for a visit.  Their plans were changed, but I'm so thankful they were able to come.  They were here March 9-18.  The highlight was taking them to a desert camp for one night on March 13.  We stayed in tents raised above the ground, watched the sunrise and sunset, and rode camels.  The original plan was that they would be here before heading to Dubai on March 18 to take a cruise around Oman, through the Suez Canal, up to Rome with some really cool stops at Musandam, Salalah, Jordan, Egypt, and Israel.  That was obviously cancelled.  No big deal.  There's always next year.  But my mom really wanted to ride a camel at one of their stops, so I'm glad I decided to plan that for while they were with us.

Grammy and Grandpa arrived!

J, Grandpa, and Grammy riding camels.

Sunrise over the campsite

The rest of us riding camels.

Family picture with the camels

Another oddity of the month that ended well was that I had an MRI about mid-month.  Long story short, I found a lump in my breast.  No need to fear, it is not cancer.  But here's the story anyways for those who are curious.

So the long story is I found a lump in maybe December, but I would feel it then not.  I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to feel.  I finally made an appointment to get it checked out in February.  By then, my self-diagnosis said it was probably nothing because it swelled with my cycle.  But I went, had it examined, and was given an ultrasound to confirm that it was nothing to be concerned about.  However, the ultrasound showed a dark spot in my other breast that needed an MRI to see more clearly.  I had to wait nearly a full month for this MRI because it needs to be precisely timed with my cycle.  This meant that I went in after COVID-19 was taking affect here.  (My temp was taken before getting too far into the hospital, and everyone was wearing masks.)  Before the MRI, they set me up to be able to do a contrast.  They used a vein in the side of my wrist (painful), and they did the typical (I assume) test/rinse of saline (again, I assume) before taking me back.  They asked if it hurt.  It didn't, and I told them it was cold.  Then the world started to spin and swim.  I felt like I was going to pass out, but there was little I could do since I was sitting up in a tiny room.  I told the nurse I felt light headed, so I was just going to lay my head down.  Next thing I know, the nurse that was on my left was now on my right.  The doctor that had left the room was on my left.  It all seemed chaotic, and I had no idea what was going on.  Y'all, I've felt like I was going to pass out before, but I've never actually done it.  I have no idea how long I was out.  I asked if I could lay down, so they brought in a stretcher.  After a few minutes of laying down, sipping water, and getting toweled off (I had sweat a lot), I was able to get up to walk to the MRI.  Now you should know that I'm fairly claustrophobic, so I saw the machine and tube but decided to focus on the bed I would lay on.  They had me lay face down which helped me to block out the being in a tube thought.  My hands were above my head which caused them to go numb then (after I shifted my position slightly) my shoulders to ache.  I was nearly in tears by the end I was in so much pain.  After a week, being told I couldn't make the needed follow up appointment with my doctor, then going to the hospital to pick up the results (this time I was stopped outside the hospital to have my temp taken) they scheduled the follow up with my doctor while I was there.  The MRI showed nothing of concern and confirmed the benign lump in the left breast.  I'll apparently do follow up ultrasounds at 3 and 6 months, but I can handle those.  Hoping and praying I don't have to do an MRI again ever!

Here's to a hopefully better April.  Happy Easter to all!