Teri Parris Ford's Blog

Keeping on Keeping on

Well, there's not a lot to report... good weather, fall colors, house cleaning, yoga, art making. My painters just started a watercolor still life, so I'm making one (see beginning outlines posted here). I'm doing a bowl of pears with an apple, knowing it's something my mom would have enjoyed. I also have been making small clay gnomes for Jessi. I've started my xmas shopping. Monika continues to work on upgrading her room and is almost done. We need to hang her new shades and she wants a few more furniture items. She left her full sized bed in Michigan, so eventually she'll go pick that up and change out the twin. At that time, I'll take the twin bed to Jim's house in Rochester. Eventually everything is going to have to move there and I'm not sure how that can happen, but there's no need to worry about it for a few years. I'm enjoying the school year-- our COVID numbers are low, kids are engaged and all is well.

Keep it Positive!

I'll be honest, I've been trying to live with overt positivity. About 20 years ago I learned a very personal lesson about "faking it until you make it." It works and well. Within months of deciding to just get through my depression by pretending to be happy, I actually started feeling happy and it kind of surprised me how really happy I felt. This year, after a wonderful summer, I knew this school year would be challenging. We had so much freedom last year working online with classes meeting every other day and we enjoyed long periods of breaks between. Going back to work in the building with daily classes and only 5 minute passing time, while "back to normal" seems exhausting at times, but I refuse to admit it. At some point early on I decided just to take it all in stride and be happy, obnoxiously happy at times. At staff meetings we have these one word "check ins" that I think are dumb. Teachers say they are exhausted, overextended, etc. and I just come in with "happy" or "great" >> syruppy positivity that is somewhat real and kind of fake. If life is not awesome on Monday, it is by Friday.

I've been starting my mornings with Shaun T in the morning on Beachbody and boy, if I don't feel awesome before the workout, I do after. He's crazy positive and I love it. I'm down to my pre-Covid weight, so I had great success over the summer with all the swimming and yoga and eating vegetarian as much as possible. It's going to be a challenge to keep it all off but with Monika home, it should be easy to keep a vegan lifestyle. We'll see.

Grace got married!

We have had wonderful weather to start the autumn season off this past week. Today after a year delay, Grace had her wedding outside at a barn in Spring Green. It really was perfect weather and a beautiful site. She had a whole Memorial table with all the art teachers, her fellow Avid teacher and her co-bike club coach. It was so much fun to spend the evening with friends socializing. Both Jim and Monika came with me, and all my art teacher friends had their spouses/sig other with them as well, which made it even more fun. I was so happy for Grace and even got weepy during the ceremony which was so beautiful and completely absent of all religion. The reception include a lot of vegan food which made Monika very happy. While there was dancing, there was no DJ-- instead everyone wore headphones and listened to 1 of 3 choices of music. It was kind of weird but still fun. 

Today I turned 56

While I'm definitely a middle aged woman, BUT I'm not a senior citizen for another decade or so! I see myself looking older (esp my skin and added grey hair) BUT I feel good. I got all that covid-19 weight off over the summer and I'm starting the school year in a good place. I love being at work with students again!

Yesterday was Erika's first day at work as a special ed teacher. She's having a very different experience in the classroom than I normally have. She's in a science room in the morning and I think, in a study hall in the afternoon. She got to go into Grace's special art class today and she loved that! It is so fun to have her here in the building with me telling me about her day during lunch. Today I had a small party for my yearbook class outside with hot dogs and cake! The kids were excited since it was a surprise. Tomorrow Jim will take me out to eat after school and we will celebrate all weekend! 

 

Progress being made

Monika has been working on remodeling her room all week. She's going at a slower pace than I'd like but the quality is high. She's learning a new skill and Erika is hoping to capitalize on that by having Monika do the floor at her condo. I'm paying for the materials and enjoying having someone else do all the hard work (flooring is weird combo of easy and difficult). I'm hoping to have the hallway finished as well. Monika is planning on adding new window treatments and baseboards, then furniture before she starts school in October. 

The big news for this week was from Erika. She will start as a cross categorical teacher at Memorial this week. The shortage is real and she's capitalizing on getting an emergency credential and having a new degree paid for. I am very excited to see her in the hallways!

She's Back!

Monika moved back home this week. She's got a few weeks before she starts her classes. Initially she had planned to do some traveling but now it seems she decided to stay put and remodel her room. She's planning to paint and put in new floors. I'm happy to have someone to around to help with house work and meals. It's been been interesting how through the many years Fords have moved out and moved back in. I'm the only one who has stayed the whole time! 

My first week of school was pleasant, busy but good. I'm happy to be with students in the building. I'm counting my J&J vaccine to protect me but the reality is, I feel relatively safe. We are all in masks, I'm seldom close to students for longer than 5 to 10 minutes at a time. I'm told our ventilation is good. There are positives at school but none in my classes yet. I'm hoping for the best.

It's been a year...

A year ago today my mom passed away. It feels like it has been a longer time since her passing. In many ways I spent several years saying goodbye to her. I suppose that is the nature of a slow killing disease like cancer. It is not easy to watch someone so strong waste away. Jim and I have a small shrine in each of our homes with all four of our parents memorial cards. As I'm typing this post, I'm sitting at her dining room table at Jim's house in Minnesota. I think she would be pleased that so much of her stuff was saved and transferred over to our new home. At the end of her life, she was so confused and suffered from a lot of anxiety, asking for weird things (post it notes, flashlights, etc.). I certainly miss talking to her.

I spent the Labor Day weekend with Jim in Rochester. We went to an apple orchard, out to eat downtown at a fancy restaurant and did a few odd jobs around the house. He is very comfortable and for me it is like a vacation home. Last year was so odd and I'm looking forward to finding a new normal with work in the classroom and Monika finally back in Madison.

Obituary: Peter

Jim says we got Peter in November of 2006 between the 3rd and the 17th. He knows this because Jim was away at an army training and I brought Peter home while he was away. What I recall was having a student, Mallery Olsen, who showed me his photo on her phone (it was a small flip phone). He was about 2 years old at the time and his family had taken him in to the vet to be put down but the vet decided to hold onto him for observation. The vet, my student's mother, asked if we could take him home for observation to assess if his peeing issues continued. So I volunteered to bring him home for the two weeks while Jim was away to find out if he would use a sand box like our other cats. While he did use the sandbox most of the time, he often peed on wet towels or dirty clothes left on the floor. I thought it was a perfect way to teach the girls to pick up after themselves! We all fell in love with him, including Jim who loved to give him a spoonful of yogurt or small bowl of crème. Peter always missed Jim and would get so excited to see him return from his many trips away through the years. (I'm not sure any other cat we had missed Jim when he went away).

Peter became well known around our neighborhood by different cat names and although often wondered away from our home he always came back. He had been declawed by his previous family so was not supposed to go outside but he was happiest running across the lawn and preferred peeing on the grass. I always found it amazing that even though we lived close to a busy street and often saw foxes or coyotes around, Pete always made it home. He was taken to the animal shelter once by a neighbor but we were informed and picked him up as quick as we could. While he hunkered down indoors in the winter, I felt it too cruel to keep him cooped up inside when the weather was nice out. Eventually he became quite beloved by a neighbor who kept a bed for him in their garage.

Last winter, I noticed his health declining. He'd completely lost his hearing and often would catch colds. At 17 or 18 years old, he'd lived a full and long life for a cat. Our neighbor contacted Erika to ask about putting him down. A very special service was planned for Pete that Erika attended. He was put down on a favorite bench our neighbor used to sit with him on. Here's what Erika texted to us, "Here are the last photos of Peter. He passed away peacefully at almost exactly 3:30pm. When the vet arrived he started trying to walk away, we thought maybe he knew what was coming but then he casually peed outside on the grass a few feet away from us and turned back and walked up to his spot on their bench. We decided to do it there instead of under the tree. The vet was very kind and professional. He was surrounded by love. Michelle, her husband and father in law were there as well as another neighbor named Ali. He will be missed by many."

 

Back to work!

I went into work on Monday but to work on the newspaper and meet with editors. While kids were working I did some emailing, prep and cleaned out my desk. I tossed out a lot of old paperwork since so much has gone all digital. I started working out with Sean T in the mornings. Between swimming, walking, yoga and new meds, I've finally lost all of my Covid weight. I weighed myself for the first time this month was pleased. The goal is to keep the weight off this school year, even if I can't lose more. 

I enjoyed Tuesday off doing yoga and watching some Netflix. Today our morning staff meeting got changed from in person in the auditorium to a zoom, but our smaller group meeting afterward stayed in person. It is going to be very interesting to see how this school year pans out. We are all crossing our fingers and hoping things will stay as normal as possible. Tomorrow we got all the safety protocols dictated. I had lunch with Patty and then more meetings and left work a bit early to go to the pool. It has been so hot and humid lately. I am so glad we work in a building with air conditioning but nothing beats cooling off with a swim! It's the best part of summer, well, that and having the extra time to swim! 

Week 10; the last week of summer vacation!

The reality is summer projects 8, 9 and 10 are all new home related and may never end. We had a long list of projects to do this week but are running out of funds to pay for them all so have begun a list of projects for next summer. Our last big purchase for this summer was patio furniture. We were hoping to hold off for bigger sales at the end of the summer but also felt we were missing out on enjoying our patio. I painted the master bedroom purple but need to bring some artwork from Madison to finish decorating it. We tore out an old raised garden bed in the backyard and laid new sod to repair the lawn. We purchased bulbs but will wait till September to plant them. We got to spend more time enjoying the home this week as the weather got more hot and humid as it progressed. I like to hang out in the living room with Balt on our new sectional or out on the patio while Jim spends his time either in his office or the basement reading. We both go for morning walk/jogs on the Douglas State trail-- I walk with Balt, Jim jogs. It certainly is very comfortable and I will always enjoy staying in Rochester with Jim from now on but next week it's back to work.

Summer Project 9 (week 9) in Rochester, Minnesota

We spent another week in our new house after going back to Madison for a couple of days to check in on pets, pick up veggies, do yoga and swim. We loaded up the truck with Jim's books, a shelf and took Balt this time! We purchased a new sectional for the living room and spent a day painting Jim's new office. He's very happy with how everything is shaping up. We made many trips to Menards and Home Depot. We finally had time to explore the Douglas State Trail which borders our property. It's a 15 mile stretch but we have only explored about 5 miles. I ended up with blisters on our first big trek to the end in Rochester. Someday I hope to make it to the other end in Douglas but most likely while on a bike rather than walking.

I'm back in Madison for the weekend again to pick up CSA veggies, swim, do yoga and clean up. Jim has an army weekend and we will meet up in Rochester for my last week of vacation!

Summer Project 8 (week 8) in Rochester, Minnesota

We bought a house! We closed on our first stand alone home on Monday. We started saving nearly 4 years ago so that Jim would no longer have to rent a place but instead contribute to a second family home. Our condo in Madison has served us well and will continue to be my main residence during the school year until I retire which won't be for a few more years. We picked up the U-box I had in storage for the past year on Tuesday and unloaded all the stuff I took from my mom's house-- all the kitchen and bedroom supplies we need, a dining room set and a ton of Longaberger baskets. We did a big Costco run, and got a lawn mower from Menards. Jim and I are having a lot of fun setting it all up and making plans for home improvements (painting, new flooring, patio, garden beds, etc) but most of it will need to wait. 

Summer Project 7 (week 7) in Northern Michigan

I drove back up to Song of the Morning Yoga Retreat Center in Northern Michigan with Erika this time to help out Monika with their big Yoga Festival at the end of the week. We are officially volunteering. Erika is teaching her first in person "live" yoga class as well as working in the gift shop while I am the official photographer for the festival. Monika is the festival coordinator and doing an amazing job with the organization of things-- the photo below is of her organizing all the volunteers this morning. The community here really loves Monika and she is remarkably gifted at putting a large event together. I have tried to be as helpful as possible but boy, my feet and back can only do so much. Erika is a light weight as well which at times has frustrated Monika who is just such a hard worker! I am very excited to be here for the week and will hopefully get a lot of participation in the yoga events as well. 

 

Summer Project 3 (Week 3) Working at Home

I worked this week from home mostly on my animation curriculum and I got paid for it through a Pathways PD. I had to attend lots of zoom meetings but also got a lot of free time to do research and work which I really appreciated. I have only taught animation once a couple of years ago and I would not say it was particularly successful. I had a student this past year tell me he really liked the class which was a relief. It's such a new media for me, so I'm insecure. I hope to really change it up next year by pulling back on some of the technical aspects and bring in more thoughtful creativity, history and collaboration. Everything I have learned about the IT world tells me how much collaboration is integral. I hear over and over again that "soft skills" are more important than hard ones... so why not change up my curriculum to reflect that? I'm certainly way more secure with teaching soft skills!

I did get to yoga and to the pool a few times but not as much I wanted. I also watched 5 seasons of Downton Abby. Jim was gone so it was pretty quiet, especially in the evening.

My Dad's Birthday

Today my dad would have been 78 years old. He died 4 years ago and I think about him a lot, maybe more now than I did when he was alive. I miss him a lot. Last week my Yukon was barely squeaking every so often. It was one of those things that would gotten me to call him and have a long discussion. I knew how the conversation would go but wasn't sure exactly what he would have told me to do. I called a mechanic instead and paid him $800 for new brakes. 

I feel like I am way too young to be without parents already. It's weird that both Jim and I are in the same situation. Now that we don't have parents to worry about, all we have is our children to dote on. Although there are plenty of other things to worry about in life-- climate change, rising prices and our health!

Summer Project 1 (Week 1)

I eased into summer mode this week with a small project to transform my stairs from carpet covered to wood. Eventually I'll be replacing all the floors upstairs but Jim would like me to wait until he moves out and with Monika moving in in the fall, I'll wait to have her here to help. But with him working at Ft. McCoy this week, I decided to use the time to accomplish something. I spent one day removing the carpet and cleaning the steps. I went to Menards to figure out what my options were. I knew that replacing the steps (which was what I did to the basement steps) would be difficult without help. Menards had oak kits made to cover steps that were a lot cheaper (since they were so much thinner) which was just what I needed. I used a Gorilla glue adhesive with a couple of flooring nails to secure the steps and topped the wood off with a clear poly coat. I had originally thought about painting the risers white and staining the tops (like I did with Jessi's stairs) but decided to hold off since I'm still not sure what flooring I'm going to go with upstairs. The whole project cost less than $500. Replacing my basement steps with pine several years ago cost nearly twice that.

The whole project did not take as much time as I expected and offered me plenty of time for yoga and swimming this week. Luckily the weather cooled off a bit so I could turn off the air conditioner while Jim was gone. I am hoping to accomplish 1 project each week this summer (10 total). We'll see how that plan goes.

 

It's not just Flag Day

Today is my mom's 74th birthday. Last year I drove straight out to her house after school got out to make it for her birthday. She thought she was 74 and couldn't believe it when I insisted she was only 73. We had to do the math several times. I had a good summer with her but I missed out on interviewing her on video. I had wanted to get several interviews on several topics but put it off every summer and assumed I'd be able to do it whenever. By the time I got around to setting it up last summer, she could not remember enough to answer most of my questions and I realized I had waited too long and gave up rather than push her to frustration. Most of the questions I wanted to ask her was about stuff I knew about but just wanted her to talk about on video. She used to be so chatty-- I had decades to get those videos made and never did. The weird thing was I had hints that her memory was fading since she would often ask me the same questions every time I called but I had no idea she had forgotten so much of her past-- not just details but general information like what she did for a living. 

Every summer for the past few decades, I spent time with my parents and after my dad died, I spent the whole summer with my mom. Today is the first day of my summer vacation and I feel a bit lost. I realize this year marks a significant transition in my life. Instead of visiting my parents, my vacations are now about visiting my children. I spent my first day going to an early morning yoga class, hanging artwork at school, making stir fry for lunch and going out for cookies with Jim. It was a good first day, but I am missing my California excursions.

It's Hot!

We've had a heat wave all week and boy, am I glad to have the pool open this summer! I'm also glad to have air conditioning both at work and at home. Jim was gone all weekend, so I spend my mornings at the pool and my afternoons cool at home. I had time to go during my lunch hour yesterday but was too busy today and I needed a break since my shoulders are so sore! The heat has been kind of nice. I've been wearing shorts to work and enjoying the warm early mornings outside with Balt. It certainly feels like summer but there's still a bit of work to do. I'm helping with senior celebrations and still have my grades to post. Graduation is on Saturday and then I'm off for two weeks. I've got a week of PD at the end of June which will help financially so no complaints. 

...and it's June.

Yesterday was the last day of regular classes. Instead of finals, we now have bridge week for kids who are behind. I had planned to go to the pool during my lunch for laps and the girls joined me but stayed the afternoon while I had to go back to work. I have a week and half left but the rest of the time is pretty low key and low stress. Monika had to go back to Michigan to finish her summer there and won't be back home until she moves back in the fall. I am sure we will get at least one visit to her this summer. Erika is enjoying a lot of freedom working part time. Jessi just got a promotion as a Navy Lieutenant and we are hoping to visit next month to celebrate and build her a patio with a BBQ. This summer is all about fun and sun with the hope of losing pandemic weight! I'm a little bit at a loss at how little I "HAVE" to do this summer-- with little to no responsiblities hanging over but there is always a lot I CAN do! Still it feels strange. 

<<Note: Jessi is the only woman in her unit getting promoted. She explained that in the room were a lot wives with their babies! Jim and I are SO PROUD of her!

Memorial Day Weekend

The official kick off to summer ended up being an amazing weekend. Monika rolled in on Thursday but rain and cold hit pretty hard. Magically Saturday morning the cold spell broke and we got an abundance of sunshine. While it was not that hot (mid to high 60's), it was still so pleasant. I got in my first swim for the season which was so wonderful. The water was so warm!! I also got to hot yoga. Erika came by for lunch on Saturday and Sunday. Monika wanted a BBQ, so I had to go buy a small roaster made of cast iron that I knew would get plenty of use this summer and fall-- esp once Monika moves back home in September. We roasted vegan brats, beyond meat burgers, corn on the cob and asparagus. 

I love a holiday weekend! I was able to get most of my prep done on Friday, so I'm already good to go for school on Tuesday, giving me an actual day off tomorrow. I hope to get another swim in and more hot yoga. While a got a little house cleaning, I'm still holding off on starting any major projects-- mostly because of Jim. He hates a mess. I think I am going to have to wait until he moves back to Rochester before starting on any remodeling projects. 

Closing in on Normal

I drove out to visit with my friend, Melissa last Sunday and didn't bother to wear a mask the whole time I was there (see photo). It was a super fun day sipping coffee, chatting and playing kids. I am eager to visit again in the summer. Mask orders are being lifted for those of us who are vaccinated but only about 50% are. Of course, those who don't want to be vaccinated typically won't wear a mask anyway, so I'm not sure how things will play out. At work, we still have to wear masks since underclassmen just started getting vaccinated this week but most of my seniors are and are not really practicing any kind of social distancing. I haven't had any incidents of COVID in any of my classes and I have not heard of anyone having to quarantine due to exposure at our school (a teacher had to stay home to be with a child who was exposed at elementary school). I have felt completely safe and pretty stress free this whole semester.

The yearbooks were delivered a week early, giving us plenty of time to get distribution planned out and organized. The kids have been so excited and we have yet to find any mistakes. Oddly, this year's book, my 7th, has been one of the least stressful books made. I guess, life is just feeling very not stressed! It's a little strange really. We are at this fun place where there is still not a lot to do, but more freedom to enjoy life without the fear of dying if you do do something (like visit a friend or go out to eat). Usually May is crazy busy but not this May. I find myself with way more time on my hands than I know what to do with. I volunteered to paint a panel for a school project (pictures to come), and I'm all caught up with grades and school work. I always feel like I should be doing more, but I'm holding back some.

Mother's Day

This was my first Mother's Day without my mom. Erika was so sweet and called ahead of time to ask about my day and if we could have brunch together. I got up early and made quiche and the two of us enjoyed some time in the sunshine chatting with Balt. It made my day. Of my three daughters, Erika is most like my mom. She's more like my mom than I am, in her disposition, physically, in her sensitivities. Because Erika lived with my mom at the end of her life, she knows my mom, in some ways more than me. While it's kind of nice to be off the hook for Mother's day gifting, I miss my mom on a daily basis, thinking about her, wanting to talk with her. 

Monika called but had to work most of the day (Sunday is her busy day) and Jessi sent me flowers-- red roses but she ordered lilies for me. Jim offered to take us out but between the busy brunch time and COVID concerns, it was just easier for me to make quiche with some of my CSA veggies. I went to a late afternoon hot yoga class and then went for an early evening walk with Jim. It was a wonderful day.

It’s Called Languishing

The New York Times had an article a couple of weeks ago I read that I connected with. As we emerge from the pandemic, I keep thinking I need to be doing more. Jim and I discussed the article at length. He feels it too but fights for well being and productivity way more than I do. He has a method of managing his time. He spends an hour doing whatever it is he's doing-- so an hour walking (or two), an hour grading, exercising, reading etcetra, and then keeps track of all of his hours. According to the article, finding "flow" is way out. I find flow when I'm painting, working on a project, prepping for classes. I'm currently just waiting for the school year to end, holding off on starting anything new to do, but it won't be long, I think, and I'll be back in the thick of it. I've got a  list of things to work on... I just have to motivate myself to jump in:

• start doing hot yoga 2-3x weekly
• CSA starts 5/8>> start eating all vegan again
• Pool opens 5/29 >> start swimming
• Flooring: rip out all carpet and re-do stairs
• Redo tile in bathrooms
• Animation Curriculum for 2021-22 classes

Hello HEAT!

We welcomed May with a couple of 80 degree days, making for an amazing weekend. Then to top off my wonderful weekend, the yoga studio opened with both vaccine only maskless and masked hot yoga classes. I took the vaccine only one on Saturday and the regular one on Sunday. I wasn't sure how hot yoga would work with a mask but it wasn't so bad. We did not deep breathing exercises though. I stank pretty badly after the first one. Sweating out those toxins isn't pretty. 

Jim had an army weekend in Ft. Macoy and was gone so I did a lot of cleaning, organizing and watched several seasons of Girls on HBO aside from doing yoga. Erika came by today to hang out a bit and grab a few items I wanted to toss out. She misses the animals and likes to spend time with them while we catch up on news. She's got a nice rhythm to her life with work which seems very stress-free.  She mentioned not having anyone to hang out with mid-week when she has time off and I told her Monika would be back next fall and would probably be more available than me. Hopefully I'll have more time once school gets out for summer. It is so nice to see her looking so good and so happy.

Students are in the room!

This past week seniors and freshman began to enter in my classroom for the first time since March 2020. On Tuesday I had my editors-in-chiefs in to finish up the yearbook. It made the work so much more fun and celebratory. I have to admit this year's yearbook, while more difficult in some aspects, this book has been one of my the least stressful books in part because of my student's leadership and work ethic. Every year I have amazingly talented students but this year I feel like just had more. Oh, sure they still have senioritis and they procrastinated a ton but not as much as years past ironically. With the book done, I was able to make appointments I had been putting off (massage, hair, nails, etc) and I've had way more down time at home.

Any time there's a lot of down time on my schedule, I always feel pressure to start a big project, as if any down time is wasted time. I've been wanting to redo my floors upstairs but it's a really big project, so I'm putting it off until summer and letting myself relax. I'm eager to start going back to the yoga studio in May and swimming at the pool! As this pandemic starts to wane, going back to normal is starting to look like a reality! Jim and I are eager to add travel into our plans soon. Next week I'll add juniors and sophomores to the mix of kids it the classroom. I'm hoping by next year, I'll be only teaching kids in the room again.

Walking Uphill

This next week students are coming back into the class. Now that I'm vaccinated, I'm not too concerned about the health issues. There are a lot of stressed out teachers for various reasons. My stress is not really work related anymore. My yearbook and newspaper kids have been so good at getting the work done that I've had it made on that front. I have some students failing my classes that I need to get up to passing and do some prep but it doesn't stress me out, it's just work that needs to be done. What stresses me most about life is my health. I've started meditating daily to help. I use a "waking up" app that helps guide me. I exercise almost daily but I'm not sure it's intense enough to count. While I've heard most Americans have put on a few pounds over COVID lock downs, I think I have a few factors at play.

The added sedentary lifestyle that virtual teaching has turned into meant less steps taken every day and boy did that add up. Not being able to get into a studio to do hot yoga also meant a lot less time paying attention to my body, stretching and meditating. I often got to yoga classes early or left late so that I had that mindful time in my day. And then there is aging. I am now several years post-menopausal and that has slowed and sagged things. I'm on some new meds this week and trying to eat even less. I'm guessing by the time I'm 80, I won't be able to eat  hardly anything! Jim came back from his army training with a cold. With both of us vaccinated, I wasn't too concerned about getting him tested since things seemed pretty mild (he had soar throat, congestion and cough). While I did not get sick, I was pretty tired from what I think was just fighting it off!? I used to think of aging as a hill with middle age being at the top and then it's all down hill from there but NO! Aging is a valley. We start our youth on a mountain top and middle age is a valley. The end of our lives are all up hill and the journey is tiring!

56!

Today Jim turned 56. That's means I'm turning 56 in 5 months. We had a family text chain discussing if 56 means Jim is a "senior" and no longer middle aged. 50's are the new 40's was mentioned along with 30 is the new 20 which I know Erika is feeling having turned 30 last year and just now starting to enjoy independent adult life. Since she is the only daughter living in Madison, she came by to help Jim and I celebrated Jim's day. He'd been gone all week with Army work in Missouri as it was his spring break. It has always been frustrating to me that the two of us never have spring break at the same time.

To make the day more special, I made a homemade chocolate cake and lasagna with garlic bread for his birthday lunch. I used new recipes from my New York Times app. The lasagna called for red wine in the sauce which seeped into the noodles, making for a very different lasagna experience. The cake was extremely disappointing. The recipe called for buttermilk and butter which I decided to splurge on instead of doing a vegan cake. The cake was so dry that luckily I had purchased some ice cream to go with it and that made it edible. After each of us had a slice, the rest was tossed out. Erika suggested soaking it milk, but neither Jim or I wanted those extra calories in the house. I'm already eager for the next birthday cake I can make since this one did not quench the craving. We all watched an old 20/20 murder mystery show which is Jim's favorite lately. 

April Flowers

I came home from Virginia to find my daffodils blooming. Every year I plant a bag of bulbs for my birthday just for this. It is so exciting to see them around the yard. The weather has been balmy and wonderful since I got home but I haven't have much time to really enjoy it. While I have tried to get out and walk everday, I have so much work right now. Since returning I've had to catch up on prep, grading and getting caught up. My list of things to do is long but I know it will wind down once the yearbook is done and the kids are back in the classroom. I got my numbers today and at most I will have 9 students in a class, a few only have 4 kids coming back. Students will only be in my class in person once a week with a once a week virtual visit, while other students will stay on all virtual. 

Today I got my oil changed in the Yukon and I was congratulated for having an old car with such high miles (185K) in such good shape! It was kind of nice. No need to be looking for a new car anytime soon. 

Changing Weather

A big storm rolled in last night. I knew that cold weather was rolling in, so I made sure to get out to the beach for a long walk to get my last dose of the beach. I am leaving on Saturday morning before the sun comes up, so I will miss the next warm up on Easter Sunday. Luckily it should be fairly warm in Madison for Easter.

I finished re-painting Jessi's stairs. She had put on decorative decals onto the white paint but after time, they bubbled up. Once removed the paint pulled off and I could see that it had been painted on top of varnish. Stripping the paint was not easy. I ended up sanding it down with an electric sander to get it cleared out. I painted 3 coats and still some of the wood varnish would show through. I wanted to restain the steps and put a poly coat on them but Jessi didn't want that. She was fine with the way it was and why do the work not wanted.

My spring break started officially yesterday since I had a big yearbook deadline on Tuesday that I had to attend to. I am enjoying staying away for all things work. I decided to start a meditation program for the week. I have been working out in the morning but would like to add a more meditative component. I have really been missing hot yoga, which was very meditative for me in the past. At home when I do yoga, I am always get distracted, so rarely finishing an online class. Anyway, I've studied mindfulness but wanted to work on focus.

Working Out

I am officially on vacation finally. I still have a big yearbook deadline on Tuesday but my students got most everything done yesterday. I am so proud of them. I will meet with my editors in chief to make sure the pages are good to go and will transmit them then but until then I don't have a lot to do for work. I have tons to do for Jessi though! 

On Friday we walked the beach to celebrate. Her housemate and her boyfriend came with. The weather was perfect after a long day of classes (Wednesdays and Fridays are my long days). Saturday we started the day going grocery shopping at the commissary on the base which is cheaper and I wanted a new NAVY sweatshirt to replace an old tattered one I bought when she at USNA. We mowed the lawn, planted some flowers went to the beach but didn't stay long because it was too windy and I made tacos for dinner. I also worked on removing some paint with stripper on her stairs which has not been easy. I think I'm going to run to Home Depot today to get an electric sander and try that. 

Note: Jessi and her housemate (Megan) have been really enjoying the home gym I got them for the garage (see below).