Coronacation

This unintended Coronacation is going just fine.  I think. 

No gym, no school, and no work means no reason to get up early.  Which is so nice considering what little sleep I get.  I blame hormones that must be out of whack.  HOT then cold, then HOTTER and then BURNING UP plus restlessness all night long.  Getting older is fun.  At least sleeping to 8am or closer to 9am is much better than waking at 5am. 

No gym also means I will look like Bella when this is over. 

Rumor on the street is the kids may not return to school until August.  A few teachers we have spoken to hinted that's what they seemed to think.  Who knows at this point.

Schools finally put a few optional lessons online.  Who knows if my kids will do them - I don't care and I'm not going to make them do it.  I know they won't be the only ones who don't, and they are both A students.  Well, Val did make a B in Algebra I this past nine weeks. 

Yesterday was Clint's birthday!!!  Nothing is open!!  We did pick up dinner to go from Copeland's.  I made a from scratch low sugar/diabetic friendly cheesecake.  Clint bought himself a bicycle from Walmart as his present.  Now we can bike around the neighborhood together and maybe not look like Bella when this is over. 

The kids are so bored that yesterday they were bickering over who gets to fold the towels and who gets to sort clothes.  I had Valerie run the vacuum which she said was "FUN" watching it suck up the dirt.  Veronica passed the spray mop afterwards with no complaints.  I think I'm on to something here!!

Busy work:  Over the past two weeks, working an hour or two at a time, I completely ripped apart our flowerbeds.  It's been neglected for a while.  We put down weed fabric probably 8-10 years ago (??) and have added mulch off and on as needed.  Weeds were taking over, growing like crazy in the composted mulch.  Amazingly, under the fabric is DIRT and hardly any weeds!  I also want to make our beds smaller and easier to manage.  And ditch the messy mulch all together and put down rocks instead.  I cut out ALL weed fabric that was buried under 6-8" of junky mulch.  We're moving the brick border way back and trimming/replanting and will see what happens.  In the meantime, my front yard is trashed:

Stay well, friends!! 

Not "buying" the madness

Seriously, what are y'all doing with all this stuff??? 

TP

Lysol

cereal

Rice 

At least some beer is left

bread

TP

cleaning supplies

bleach

little debbies

canned goods

eggs

And that's just some of the bare shelves spotted around my town.

Is this real life?

Yesterday it was announced that our schools were to be closed for five weeks.  FIVE WEEKS!!  I'm still in disbelief.  March 13 - April 20. 

This throws off so many things.... 

Valerie placed second in English I at District Rally and was headed to State Rally at LSU.  Cancelled.

Veronica has choir festival on Monday.  Postponed. 

Valerie was chosen for Talented and Gifted and got in the first round audition.  She has a second round audition on  March 30.  Status unknown at this time, but everything related to the school board is closed.

Veronica had been picked for a science field trip to LSU.  Cancelled. 

I was ready to get Valerie started in driver's ed and we were planning to have her take it over spring break.  In order to do that, she needs a Temporary Instructional Permit from the DMV.  To get the permit, she needs a certificate of enrollment from the school.  School is closed, so no certificate.  No permit.  No driver's ed.  Finding a free weekend for driver's ed is hard because... you know, BAND is all summer long. 

What about PAC?  Performing Arts Club.  Since January, Valerie has been working on the crew for the production of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."  Four days a week, even on weekends. All the kids have put in so much work.  The show is two weeks away.....   now it's postponed. 

Plus spring choir concert.  Spring band concert.  Solo and ensemble?  Any of that still on?

What about required state testing - is that even happening??  Waived? 

AND next weekend we were to cash in our Christmas gift -- tickets to see "Mean Girls" in New Orleans!!   Cancelled. 

I know things often happen for a reason... but damn this lock down we are under seems a bit extreme. 

This whole Coronavirus ordeal is going to be a wild ride.  Hang on tight. 

See ya real soon!

We had such a great time in Orlando!!  Although it was a bit strange being a party of three instead of four.  Valerie was busy running around with the band, so it was just me, Clint, and Veronica. I did pin Val down for a few pictures, but mostly she was off on her own with her band friends.

Clint, Veronica, and I left early Monday morning for the airport.  I was SO nervous.  I hate flying!!  This was our first time flying Frontier also.  Everything went smoothly though and it was an easy flight.  Once in Orlando, we picked up the rental car, made our usual Walmart trip for the necessities, and checked into our condo.  Time to rest after a busy day of traveling.  (Valerie did not leave until 4:30pm and traveled by bus all through the night.  They arrived in Orlando around 6am Tuesday morning and went straight to the parks!)

Tuesday was the band's Hollywood Studios day but I wasn't going anywhere near that Star Wars chaos!!  Instead we went to Epcot instead and had a great day!  Rode what we wanted to.  It was not very busy at all.  I scored three Soarin' Fastpasses.  We walked all around World Showcase.  Ate yummy food.  Lots of fun.

Wednesday was the band's day to march in Magic Kingdom!  There was also 90% chance of rain.  We planned to stay from park open to close -- and we DID just that.  The band was scheduled to march at 2:30, and the rain was supposed to begin around 2:00.  All of us band parents were camped out along the parade route watching the radar on our phones, lol!  Thankfully the kids were able to march, then Festival of Fantasy parade rolled, and THEN the sky opened up.  It poured!  We all ponchoed up and kept going.  A rainy day at Magic Kingdom is better than any day at home.  I managed to score FIVE Seven Dwarf Mine Train fastpasses that day.  I am the fastpass QUEEN!  (pro tip:  learn how to work the app to your advantage!)  Veronica rode it four times and we gave one of them to Valerie.  We stayed until after the fireworks.

Thursday was another day at Magic Kingdom for us.  We were feeling the effects from the long day Wednesday, so we took it slow.  We got there late, did a lot of slow wandering around.  We went to Tom Sawyer's Island and killed a bunch of time over there.  I managed to get two more Mine Train fastpasses, so Veronica got to end our Disney visit with two back to back rides on her favorite attraction.

Friday we went to Universal Studios to check it out.  I had only been there once the summer it opened in 1990.   I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but we really enjoyed it.  Neither of us can handle 3-D motion rides, so we didn't really do any of those.  We were short on time also and I was so tired.  We caught a couple of shows and rode E.T. and the Hogwarts Express.  Of course we had to get a butterbeer.  I found Valerie a few times so at least I got to see my kid again!  I would really like to go back to Universal to explore some more.

Saturday we were up at 2:30am because we had to be at the airport for 5am.  Yawn - looong day for sure.  Valerie arrived home about 5:30am after a night of traveling on the bus.  We arrived about 10:30am.  We were all completely exhausted but glad to be home!

This was probably our last Disney trip for a while.  I said that last year but I really mean it this time!!  We've been ditching Mardi Gras for Disney the past ten years or so.  Time for a break.  The band kids will return in 2022 so maybe by then we'll be ready to go along again.

Until next time....

13 years of wonder!

That was then....

This is now...

It's hard to believe my baby girl is thirteen today!!!  How fast these years have gone by.   She's gone from the little baby who cried ALL THE TIME to a super smart and detail oriented young lady.  Everything has to be just so and if it's not, she will notice.  Can I brag on how smart she is?  From being 5th grade Student of the Year.  Straight A's all through school, all year, every year.  (Ok she made one B in 4th grade!)  My choir girl who sings at home non stop..... my girl obsessed with musicals and theater, but is too shy to even speak one word to anyone she doesn't know. 

 I'm so glad I get to be her Mom.

She will always be my baby, even though she is taller than me. 

Happy 13th birthday, Veronica!!