Teri Parris Ford's Blog

Back to Work, But at Home

This week is prep week for getting back to teaching, only virtually from home. I'll be honest, I'm way more concerned about making the yearbook than my classes (although yearbook is one of my classes). I had a meeting with my editors today which none of the boys made interestingly. I guess boys are too busy playing video games to connect. The girls were on it and I'm guessing if just these gals did all the work, we'd be okay. Then right after this meeting, I had a meeting with my department that was kind of long but it was nice to connect with so many people today.

Jim also had meetings today, so he's set up on one end of the condo and I'm on the end in my bedroom. We have started only having lunch and no dinner to keep us from gaining weight and it's working. We also went for a walk today as it was sunny and bright (40's so still cold). It was a fun day. 

Family Time

When everyday feels like Sunday, I didn't realize today was actually Sunday. I sent out an invite to the family for a zoom meeting at 2pm. When I got on, no one was around so I just worked on my computer. Jessi and Monika joined me around 3 and Erika got on a bit later. I had just talked with Erika yesterday and I talk to Monika almost everyday, so the highlight of the conversation was catching up with Jessi. 

This morning I did my weekly grocery shopping. I got there right when it opened along with 100 other people, so there was a line to get in. I was disappointed to find the toilet paper I usually purchase (Scott) is out and I did not want to get a 6-pack of Charmaine for $7-- it seemed steep. Almost all disinfectant cleaners are all gone. I bought a gallon of bleach instead. I also got pepperoni. I have been craving pizza and I promised Jim I would make a deep dish pizza this weekend. I prepped the dough and let it rise while I did an online "hot" yoga class. I used a space heater but my basement was not even warm. Still the yoga was wonderful. After a shower, I made homemade pizza sauce with some old frozen organic stewed tomatoes Monika had made last summer. I rolled out the dough in cake pans, added provolone, mozzarella, parmesan and cottage cheese. I added spicy sausage and pepperoni, green onion and red bell pepper slices then topped it all off with sauce and baked it for 1/2 hour. It was SOO GOOD! The best pizza I ever made, that's for sure!

Thunderstorms

It was a storm Saturday. A perfect day for chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice and berry shortcake for dessert. Jim and I watched the Tiger King -- the #1 show on Netflix right now. We watched all 7 episodes in one sitting. I made a big fire. We took a break about 1/2 way through but it was interesting enough to keep BOTH of us in. There are not a lot of shows both Jim and I enjoy watching together. 

I spent the morning working out, and working in. Now that my computer is set up in my room, I am sitting at my desk and doing a lot of yearbook work. I am happy to have students helping me and sending me stuff. I stayed up late working on stuff as well. 

Getting out

The reality is that going to the store now means risking your life... In some ways every time you leave your house there is a risk -- a car could hit you? But I really had to think about making a trip to Costco and if it was worth the risk. Anytime I leave the house, I'm really risking both my life and Jim's, and that is kind of scary. I never felt like that before.  Apart of me feels like I've already had it, just because I've been so sick this winter with flu and cold symptoms. Anyway, after an hour of trying to make up my mind if I should go, I just went for it. Costco was pretty empty for a Friday around lunch time. They were out of toilet paper, wet wipes and disinfectant. I asked about the toilet paper and they said they get regular shipments but it sells out as soon as they put it out, so it's all about timing. I spent $200 since I had not gone all month and I won't need to go for another month for sure.

Today I got time to run into school to gather supplies. Grace got in right after me and we had some time to chat but at a distance. We both loaded our cars with more stuff than we needed just in case. I decided to bring my whole desktop computer home for yearbook, so I needed to set up my desk in my bedroom which took most of the afternoon. I started emailing students yearbook pages to work on once I got everything situated. I finished the evening off with a movie.

I'm eating too much

Having Jim here means having one nice meal together each day. Since he practices intermittent fasting, he only eats one large meal and a snack everyday and then goes for a very long walk. I really enjoy cooking up a nice meal. Today I made hamburgers with homemade kaiser roll buns and roasted veggies. I'm already planning to make homemade deep dish pizza this weekend and I promised Jim a homemade chocolate cake for his birthday in a couple of weeks. Yesterday I made sure to not to do any snacking and no breakfast either and it helped. Being home all day makes it hard to not snack but I keep telling myself to drink instead. 

I finally got out some work today. I have been avoiding it for nearly two weeks. I get to go to school tomorrow for a quick trip to pick up stuff I need, so I needed to assess what I might need to teach all of my classes "virtually". I wish I could bring my whole desk, computer and network home with me! Maybe I will. 

Not Much

Today I pretty much did what I did yesterday, only I made tacos, homemade salsa and guac for lunch. I love having Jim here but I'm eating too much. He does intermittent fasting and only eats once a day. Today I joined him and made sure not to get any snacking in so I can get that number on the scale down. I am working out for a full hour every morning since I have no excuse. I worked a bit on my painting, layering white over greys. When everyday feels like a Sunday, it's hard to get going. 

Today Minnesota added stay at home orders along with Wisconsin's and several other states (up to 21 from yesterday's 16). I ran to the pharmacy to pick up my blood pressure medication and was stopped at the door, asked for phone # and told to go back to my car. Once back in my car I got a call and proceeded with my transaction, then someone ran out to my car in protective gear to give me my meds. 

Staying at Home

The governor of Wisconsin issued stay at home orders today to last until April 24th -- that 5 1/2 weeks of being stuck at home; other than grocery shopping and going for a walk/jog. Group sports are banned. What a crazy time we are living in! Wisconsin is the 17th state in order of most cases (nearly 500 as of today-- about 75 in the county I live in). So today, I stayed at home, did my beachbody workout, painted, vacuumed, watched some Netflix and finally went for a walk with Jim, who walks for a minimum hour (we did an hour and a half today and 4 miles). Jim had a busy day with meetings and classes on zoom. He has taken over Erika's room for all of his virtual meetings.

Fresh Air

Today technically started my official spring break, not that it really is any different from last week. But originally it was supposed to start next week before this whole pandemic thing started. I had planned to go visit Jessi but that's all on hold. I think the school district is planning to do some training for us next week to get us started on teaching virtually which will be very interesting. So far I haven't done much at home even though I have all this time on my hands. I've been sick. I've made sure to work out every day. Today I finally started painting and I took a long walk with Jim. He walks everyday for at least an hour, usually 2. Today it was finally warm enough to join him (about 42, so not that warm). It was a pleasant walk and nice to get fresh air. I suppose when all this is over, at least I had this extra time with Jim home, which has been very nice.

Strange Times

I had a few things I wanted to pick up from the grocery store. I decided to go right when it opened at 7am this morning hoping there would not be many people there but it seems that what everyone else was things. I drove into a full parking lot. Jim asked me to wear gloves and I wasn't the only one. I was in and out as quick as possible and it seemed that everyone else was in a hurry as well. I got to enjoy the rest of the morning watching news and sipping coffee with a fire. At 2pm this afternoon I schedule a zoom with my family, and I invited everyone but only my brother showed up on time. My mom got on 15 minutes later, so the 3 of us chatted for a bit more before saying goodbye. It made for a special event. 

I made chicken soup and bread for lunch. Jim worked on grading papers while I watched Tiny Houses on Netflix. I'm still feel sick-- coughing with congestion but no fever.

Sheltered at Home

I had a rough night with lots of coughing. Even with nighttime cough medicine, I'm still spending too much time waking up hacking. Jim took shelter in Monika's room. I take my temperature almost every day now just to make sure I don't have corona. I start feeling better in the day and hope I'm done being sick. I can't wait until I'm healthy. Luckily I'm still feeling well enough to work out. I heated up leftovers of the lasagna for our lunch and made garlic toast out of the loaf of bread I made a couple of days ago. I heated up a blend of veggies and made a salad as well. We ate like kings. 

I ventured out today to Fedex to print some forms since I don't have access to the printer at school.  I wanted to go to the craft store for paint but decided to search out my garage and basement first to make sure I didn't buy things I already had. I started working on a very large black and white painting after gathering supplies and finding I had plenty of black paint but need white.

Happy Spring

Because was coming home for the weekend, I decided to celebrate the first day of Spring with pie! Apple Pie. I made enchiladas, spanish rice, homemade refried beans and homemade guacamole with chips for lunch. I had to get a good workout in this morning. With all this time off, I've been able to get a full hour workout in, as I have no excuse. I'm working longer and with heavier weights. I ordered a 25 lb kettlebell from Amazon since all the stores are closed. Once Jim was home we had a feast, watched some tv and then got to work. He's still teaching a full load and did some computer work. 

Apple Pie Recipe:

Crust-- all thrown into the Ninja on Dough setting. Cut in half and roll out for top and bottom. Use cookie cutter to cut out designs out of top. I used pretty flowers this time.

• 2  cups bread flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1/2 cup Almond flour/meal
• 1/2 cup Crisco shortning
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

Filling -- mix the apples with sugar and spices together and dump into bottom pie crust. Add the butter and creme, then top with second crust and bake for 40 minutes at 375.

• 3  cups cut apples (I leave the peal on for more fiber, but make sure to cut thin slices)
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger, clove, nutmeg, 
• 1 cup organic sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, cut up and 
• 1 tablespoon Half and Half

So much Time!

I'm still coughing which gives me the excuse to be lazy. I felt much better this morning but late in the afternoon I was back to hacking. I had a department meeting on zoom at 9am. We chatted for an hour discussing different ideas about the future. I ended up getting several emails today and had a couple work related conversations. I almost put in 1/2 a day of work!

I got a great workout in and decided to make homemade bread. I wanted to make cinnamon rolls, but went for a crusty white bread recipe from a Game of Thrones recipe book Josh game me a couple of years ago, that was very good. I only ate bread and butter all day and watched The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez on Netflix.

 

Lasagnia

I decided to venture out in the snow this morning and go to the grocery store. I decided to make a lasagna after getting back from the store and washing my hands quite thoroughly. It's been years and I wanted it to amazing.

• 1 pound Italian sausage
• 1 pound lean ground chuck
• 1 yellow onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 (14 ounce) can tomato sauce
• ½ cup water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoons Italian spices
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 8 lasagna noodles
  • 1 large zucchini sliced (to replace middle layer of noodles
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• ¾ pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
• ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

The only thing kind of novel that I did was replace the middle layer of noodles with zucchini slices. I put all the meat on the bottom layer, and after the zucchini, added all the cheese. Baked it for an hour and did an hour work out, showered and then had the best lunch ever. I ate about a quarter of the pan but didn't eat anything else all day. It was very good. I'm hoping Jim will clean it up tomorrow. I did little else, other than make and eat lasagna while watching Netflix.

 

Sunshine

It barely got into the 40's but the sun was shining. I made sure to get outside and start reading my book on prepping for retirement. The 1st chapter is on not paying your kids bills, giving them lots of money or letting them live for free in your home. I pay for all of the girls' phone because I want them to contact me, send photos and basically always have a open line to me without cost. I'm learning. Luckily I have a few years to get ready still. 

This afternoon the governor announced that schools would be out indefinitely. It's all so very weird. Wisconsin doubled its coronavirus cases and all of them were community spread cases. I'm still coughing periodically, have congestion (but no fever) and hoping to wake up well soon. 

Empty Classrooms

I went into work this morning at 8am after getting up at 5am sharp and working out at 6am. I had lots to do and wanted to be done by 2pm, but had until 6pm when the district would be locking out all staff from their schools. I had several students pop in to get supplies, cameras, battery chargers, copy files, etc.  I had a zoom meeting with my newspaper editors at 11:30am and met with the principal to chat about plans for the newspaper and yearbook. My newspaper kids will be posting exclusively online, no more printed papers for the rest of the year, most likely and my yearbook is just on hold for now. I left work with lots of project supplies -- a couple of canvases and large board for a printmaking project.

Once home, I made a quesadilla for a late lunch, made a fire and watched lots of Netflix. I chatted with Jim for a while who has lots of work to do since he's still teaching online. I'm trying decide when to go to Virginia to see Jessi and Monika but I'm still coughing and don't want to leave until totally healthy.

Everything is Cancelled

These are weird times we are living in. I decided to venture out to the grocery store. I suited up with coat and gloves, and stuffed my pockets with tissues just in case I coughed. Woodmans, which normalled is open 24/7 has had to close every evening at 10pm to restock shelves and opened this morning at 7am. There was a line to get in. I got there at 6:45am and waited in the parking lot until everyone was inside and then zoom around to get my stuff as fast as possible. I certainly don't need much. I decided I'd live on celery and peanut butter for lunch and quesadillas for dinner. I got lots more cold and flu meds since I'm guessing I might get sick in the coming weeks. Woodman's only allows for one package of toilet paper per household and while I didn't need any, I figured I'd get my fair shair while I could just in case things get really bad.

This afternoon the county health people announced not only would school not happen tomorrow, but any crowd over 50 is banned. I'll need to go into work tomorrow to take care of yearbook and newspaper business and luckily I can, but I won't be able to access anything after 6pm. I'd like to think this will all blow over by April 6th when I'm scheduled to be back at work. I'm crossing my fingers that my summer won't be extended either. 

While I felt better at times, I am still coughing and have a headache. I felt feverish while grocery shopping but I had my winter coat and gloves on the whole time and just got overheated. I've yet to actually get a fever in the week I've been sick. Other than watching tv, (rented Bombshell), I didn't do much but chat on the phone with Jim, the girls, my brother and my mom all at different times. I'm in bed early tonight.

Might as well...

I felt like I was in self quarantine today-- I still have a cough (no fever) so I can't go anywhere, not that I had anywhere to go really. I would have liked to have gone to yoga but with a cough I'm not welcome, and I'm not sure it's all that healthy. I did get a workout in in my basement. I made cornbread for lunch to go with my soup. I watched lots of tv, mostly news, enjoyed a fire and got to see Jim off this morning. I took Balt out for a very short walk. I cleaned and rested. All I have left is a cough and a bit of headache. I can't wait to be healthy but with my luck this year, I'll get the corona thing next.

Just Waiting

It was a strange day, especially as it progressed. We were waiting for an announcement about school closings. Joe insisted that we would not be at school on Monday, but I just couldn't see the district shutting down so quickly, knowing families need to prepare. I sent my painting kids home with tons of paint and brushes to work from home if needed. I discussed with my yearbook kids what to do about the book, as kids worked frantically, knowing we might not have time to get stuff done. My wonderful worker bees left me a few photos on my phone. These 3 girls work harder than anyone in the class, so I'm pretty grateful for their affections!

Finally during 7th hour the district announced a news conference for the evening and the newspaper shared our spring break was being moved up a week. Then later the governor intervened and shut all public schools after Tuesday. So we'll be in school on Monday afterall but only for a two day week with several weeks off until April 6th (maybe longer if needed, but hopefully not). I went home early, no yoga since I am still coughing and made a fire and grilled cheese for dinner and waited for Jim to come home from Virginia. 

No Fever

Yes, I'm sick again. I've got a sore throat, cough and congestion. My students keep asking me if I have corona and I keep telling them I don't have a fever. I was sick last week, started getting better and then got worse yesterday. I went home after work and went straight to bed. I'm feeling very tired and sneezy, but well enough to work. I haven't gone to yoga because of the cough and right now everyone is on edge because of the pandemic. I went to the grocery store for Ritz crackers to share with my class, the parking lot was full and the place was a madhouse. Everyone was stocking up on stuff, it was crazier than Thanksgiving. I thought I'd be in and out in 5 minutes but it took over 30. Students at school are disappointed about all the cancellations-- a lot of sports events, all field trips, etc. It's just a shit show and things seem to be getting ready to get worse. Joe said the shit hasn't hit the fan yet. I can tell he's really bummed out about all the cancellations just as track is starting. 

I've been doing my best to stay away from my students. I start class and let them work, then I have been cleaning out some storage areas. I went through a bunch of drawers today and yesterday-- tossing out mostly stuff that Geof, Leon and Maryann created, saved or made. All three are retired art teachers and no one wants any of it. Instead, we are all eager to have the empty drawers to store paper. 

Cleaning Up

After watching Geof spend months of cleaning out of stuff after he retired, I decided by the time I retired, I'd be able to walk away at the end of the school year without having to do any clean up at all. I've been taking a drawer or a cabinet every so often to clean out. I have a few years, so no hurry at all. Anyway, today I spent an hour cleaning out a drawer and I found a few things worthing of keeping and few things I just took photos of. I found a couple of things that belonged to Monika too. Below is a black and white triptych I had in a staff show.

My day was productive but I'm still trying to beat my cold. The district shut down all school travel outside of the state so my annual spring field trip to Chicago will need to be re-planned for a museum in Wisconsin-- most likely Milwaukee or Madison. I came home after school and did some garden cleaning. I had soup for dinner and watched an episode of Lost in Space.