I Went Walking With a Viking

Because we had a few days of chilly and rainy weather, I was glad that we finally had a nice day yesterday. Hubby and I were so excited to finally get outside and escape the four walls of our house, so we took a walk after we had lunch, while our daughter was finishing up her schoolwork for the day. I waited outside for him in my usual quarantine gear -- leggings and a hoodie -- and a few minutes later, watched in amazement as he and our dog emerged from inside the front door.

After 17 years of marriage, I pretty much know not to be surprised by what he does, but he finally managed to catch me off guard. As you may have read from one of my previous posts, he enjoys getting looks from our neighbors as he wears a sarong on warm days. Today was even better as he came out of the house...dressed in his Viking regalia, complete with his carved walking stick.

Yes, my husband does medieval re-enactment with a bunch of other people who enjoy dressing up and doing the same thing. They are part of a group called Dagorhir -- watch the movie Role Models and you'll get a better idea of their thing. Yes, he camps out for a week every summer with his fellow band of nerds and they beat each other up during the day with foam padded weapons and then cook dinner and party at night. Yes, I have witnessed this wackiness that they do when they practice -- and yes, while it's nerdy, his fellow nerds-in-crime are a bunch of great gals and guys who have become like a second family to him, and he's bemoaning the fact that he probably won't get to camp with them this summer because of quarantining. And yes, I have probably gotten some bit of information incorrect about what it is that they actually do, which he will gladly explain to me in great detail after he reads this!

Covid-19 hasn't totally dampened his spirits as he decided to let his nerd flag fly today when we walked...and yes, you may ask, we did indeed receive some interesting looks from people we encountered on our walking circuit. And no, I couldn't even socially distance myself from him because every time he saw someone approaching from afar, he grabbed onto my arm -- I was his handler that provided some semblance of normalcy to his geek-ness.

Because, well, pics or it didn't happen, here he is in his regalia!

But as I think about the walk, there's two things that come to mind:

1. at least he didn't wear his Viking headgear or metal armor, because that would have been really attention-getting; 

2. I wonder what kind of fun attire I can wear the next time we go out for a walk to give him (and our neighbors!) a laugh 😄 If you have any suggestions, let me know!!

Day 2,579 of Quarantine - TGIF!

It's the end of the world as we know it week five of quarantine, and we had lots of fun this past week!! Hope you also found exciting things to do to pass the time. Here are some of ours - bonus points if you can guess which family member did which activity 😂

• Practiced our British accents
• Taught our dog to eat spaghetti "Lady & the Tramp" style
• Meowed at Alexa (fyi, she meows back; you can even purchase an assorted "box of meows." and no, we didn't...that may come later in quarantine)
• Gave each other tattoos with eyeliner and sharpies. Since one of the members of our household is 14, at least one of said tattoos involved body parts and/or bodily functions. 
• Cooked an entire Easter dinner from scratch
• Got dressed up for absolutely no reason; some of us even wore makeup! And one of us decided to wear pants!!!
• Binge-watched Glee and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (which is awesome!)
• Ordered AXE body spray from Amazon that our BF wears so that our room and pillow smells just like him (note, this isn't recommended by the adult members of the household as it tends to travel throughout the whole house)
• Saw friends and family from a distance -- special thanks to friends who dropped off food to us this past week and family who provided Easter dinner since we couldn't enjoy it together
• Had an anxiety attack when we saw a black sock that was peeking out from behind the dog food bin and thought it was a mouse
• Sang and danced along to Disney sing-along on TV
• Wore sarong on walks around the neighborhood. Enjoyed funny looks from neighbors.
• Played indoor basketball
• Made frozen lemonade smoothies in Nutribullet - extra yummy with a touch of OJ. On tonight's menu: White Russian Smoothies!
• Took dog on 327 walks around the block. Dog now will literally not leave our side.
• Got out of Facebook jail then went off on the Chief Cheeto
• Made fart noises with putty
• Attempted to drink a gallon of water every day. Note: the adult members of the household believe this was done to take numerous breaks from online schoolwork.
• Applied to get medical marijuana card
• Purchased dress shoes online that will look cute with clerics during internship pink bathrobe
• Watched Easter worship services online in our jammies; we all sat together on the couch so it was *almost* like being in a church pew 
• Attempted to match the meowing sounds of our cats. Cats are now eyeing us up suspiciously.

Hope you enjoyed our quarantine fun! Looking forward to hearing what you've been doing - please share in the comments! Stay safe...and don't forget to wear your mask and wash your hands 😀

It's Crazy Down Here in Lunch Lady Land

It's funny as a parent when you think you're prepared for certain things and then realize you are sooo mistaken.

I've taught college-level classes....I have a master's degree and am working on a second one, so when schools closed and all learning got shifted online, I figured I could help my daughter out. Surely eighth-grade assignments would be no big deal -- never mind the fact that the game show a few years back called "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader" clearly proved that I wasn't. But I'm taking my classes online and thought hers would be so much easier to navigate. Yeah, this mom was sadly mistaken about that assumption!

I don't know about you but it's been quite a few years since I've had to contemplate whether the eye color genes we passed on to her were dominant or recessive and in what allele formation they were. In my everyday life as an office manager and seminary student -- or even my previous life as a fundraising and marketing professional -- I very seldom graphed the slope-intercept of an equation. (OK, if we're being completely honest here, I never did. I totally forgot how to do it once I walked out of Algebra class. It's something I've never had to do as a communications major or in my MBA classes, but I didn't want to tell her that it's more than likely a piece of knowledge she'll never use again. Unless, of course, she becomes a math teacher, which I highly doubt, since her math skills are as stellar as that of both her mom and her dad 😄). And when she started talking to me about the Donner Party, I had to stop myself from asking if the party included Blitzen and Dasher, since I had a distinct feeling she wasn't talking about the reindeer that pulled Santa's sleigh. But I was glad I was finally glad I could help when she was studying the Oregon Trail and asked if I knew what dysentery was. Wow, my skills in playing the Facebook game finally paid off!

And I can now empathize that eighth grade really is a difficult time -- I remember it being one of the most challenging grades in school for me, and her counselors and teachers have echoed that to us during conferences. But almost as difficult as wracking my brain to figure out what year the Trail of Tears took place has been my other role -- as The Lunch Lady. Yes, in addition to making sure she gets up at a decent hour and gets a good head start on her lessons each day, I'm also the chief cook and menu-planner. And now that we're four weeks into these fun times, this mom is starting to run out of ideas. And the student even has the nerve to make special menu requests -- I bet the lunch ladies at the junior high don't stand for that 😁

But serving as Lunch Lady gave me the chance to get inspired today by one of the most popular Lunch Ladies around...if you've never seen this bit from SNL, hope it gives you a few good laughs! And I'm hoping it gives me some inspiration on what to cook in the days ahead...Sloppy Joes, anyone?!!

Lunch Lady Land!

Writing my way through COVID-19

Like many of us, I'm just trying to keep my head above water right now. It seems like just a few short weeks ago, I was looking forward to heading to United Lutheran Seminary's Gettysburg campus for a week-long intensive class -- for those just tuning in, I'm a seminary student who's in my last year of M.Div. classes before I head out on internship for a year and then, if all goes well, I'll graduate in May 2021 and become a Lutheran (ELCA) pastor shortly thereafter.

But then the virus hit: my week-long visit to campus turned into a week of camping out at my kitchen table and logging into Zoom while strategically trying to position my laptop to hide the containers of slime my daughter created that were looming in the background. My week of vacation to take my class turned into a longer "vacation" as I was laid off from my job, as churches are seen as non-essential businesses -- and if a church isn't open for business, then there's no reason to keep their office manager on payroll until businesses start opening back up again. And after four weeks of being at home in the midst of everything being shut down, it dawned on me that one of the many things I enjoy doing yet never seem to have time to do -- writing -- is something that I now have no excuse not to do. And especially if it helps me find some sanity and solace in what's (to me, at least) an anxiety-inducing situation right now.

If you take a minute to look back on when I first started this blog, it was more than 10 years ago. Go ahead and read some of the entries if you want to see what was going through my head as I struggled with being a new mom who was trying to juggle all that was going on in my life at the time -- which I loved, even though it was a struggle. I loved it because juggling is what I've always done. It's what I know *how* to do.

First job at 16 just because I wanted to earn my own money, even though I was in school and my parents took care of what I needed? Sign me up! Full-time job and part-time job on the side, just to keep active? Yes, please! Kid and husband and time with friends for drinks and business functions and church activities and PTA meetings and running to Target at 10pm just because I needed a change of scenery? Why, of course. That's the kind of gal I am....or was. And now, the big decisions facing me each day are what color of leggings to throw on (today is dk. grey), what to binge-watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime (a resounding YES to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and a "don't waste your time" on the train wreck that is Tiger King), and just like everyone else, do I need to shower or can I just douse myself with Bath & Body Works, throw my hair back in a pony and call it a day (ummm, I called it a day today 😜).

So yes, while some of you may be loving this quarantine and capitalizing on the opportunity to organize your sock drawer or spices, KonMari your closets, or redo your pantry or window frames or anything else you can buy from Lowes and Home Depot, that's just not me. Yes, I have countless things that need done around the home but so far haven't found any interest in taking on said projects, although I do love the creative outlet of making lunch and dinner for the family as we all take a break from our online classes (Morgan's junior high home school and my seminary classes) and Tim working at home.

This is the first time since I was 16 years old that I haven't worked, and it's really a weird feeling. It makes me realize that I put a lot of my identity into what I did for a living. It also helps me see that even though I'm a person who doesn't like a lot of structure, I also hate being bored and need to keep busy and have some interesting things to do -- otherwise, my mind goes into overdrive and anxiety sets in.

It's also an odd time because FOMO was a very real thing for me for quite a while. FOMO -- fear of missing out. If you've never had it, it's basically the feeling that someone is out there having more fun than you. Doing something cooler than you. And that there is probably something more interesting or exciting happening out there than what you're doing right now and you're missing out on it...this is a great explanation of it! But the quarantine has been the best cure for FOMO because there simply aren't the distractions for our time, our energy and our attention -- and realistically, no one is doing anything too terribly awesome right now, since we are (or should be!) all inside, taking care of ourselves and our families and focusing on what really and truly matters.

In fact, the only ones who are doing anything really cool and awesome right now -- and which I have absolutely no desire to miss out on because I chose a different career path! -- are the nurses, doctors, and health care workers who are caring for those in the fight against covid-19 and those who are researching a cure. They are the real heroes and the ones making a difference right now. So, if anything, the quarantine has helped me realize that the only things I'm truly missing out on are the human interactions we take for granted: giving someone a hug after church....having lunch with a friend....visiting my father-in-law...leading worship....chatting with our bible study attendees and making coffee for them. But I'm also fortunate that, in a time of social distancing, I get to social distance with my husband and daughter because, even though we drive each other crazy at times, there's nowhere else I'd rather be right now....especially since the daughter is 14 and usually only surfaces from her room when it's time to eat 👧😄

Speaking of family, it's getting to be dinner time so that means time for being creative in the kitchen. Tonight is stir-fry Asian veggies and rice noodles -- if you have any meals you've made during quarantine that you've enjoyed, feel free to share!! Pics of dinner coming tomorrow...in the meantime, stay safe and wash your hands!!