The Yin and Yang of a Week of Covid

We’ve just been through a week of covid. It was a time to think, rest and feel better.

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This past week was going to be one of our busiest weeks of the month. On Sunday morning, at church, Dick was liturgist and I taught Children’s Church. We both enjoy doing these things. I had my two grandkids with me, which made it extra fun. They had spent the night with us, on Saturday night. They are like two peas in a pod. I love how they play together! They were both going to go home, right after lunch on Sunday.

I believe every school district in Texas must have scheduled Grandparent’s Day at their schools, for that week! We had one scheduled to attend, in Waco, for our Granddaughter, Libby. That was on Wednesday. But first, I went to the Dentist, on Monday morning, and that evening, I went to Bunco. When I returned home from a fun night of Bunco, Dick and I figured out what time we would leave for Waco, on Wednesday. It’s an hour and a half drive, so we were going to leave about 9, with a stop at Buc-cees for a gift. Not only would it be her school’s Grandparent’s day, but the next day would be her birthday.

Tuesday afternoon, I gave my two piano lessons. One is a beginner, and is quite enthusiastic! This day, she brought four of her stuffed animals to listen to her lesson. One of these, she sat on the edge of the piano, because he had “a big, fat butt that would sit there nicely.” Yes, yes, I know, my child. We can barely fit on the piano bench, for duets, because of my big, fat butt.

That evening, Dick was sitting in his recliner, with an afghan wrapped around him. Now let’s be completely honest here. I am Woman, He is Man. He always complains about how freezing cold it is in the house. I thought he was trying to make a point. I rolled my eyes. It wasn’t THAT cold! But then, later, he told me he had the chills. Hmmmm. Didn’t sound good.

Wednesday morning, we are 15 minutes from leaving for Waco. Dick said he felt like he was coming down with something. Uh Oh. I suggested we both test for Covid. We had heard, by then, that six other people from church had covid. Dick’s test came back positive. Mind came back negative. I banned him into the bedroom, which also has a couch, the master bathroom, and let him go into the office to watch the news. While he went and laid down, I made phone calls and sent text messages. Here’s most of what I cancelled: My other 10 piano lessons for the week; the Grandparent Lunch with Libby; Choir Practice; the once-a-month Cleaning Lady; Dick’s sister and hubby coming to stay all night with us on Thursday evening; going to my grandson’s (Isaac) Grandparent Day at his school; and heading to OK for the weekend, to celebrate Dick’s sister’s 80th birthday at a big party. There had been a lot of plans for that week!

So, we both stayed home for the week. Dick was feeling sick for several days, though not severely. I used my Freezer Meals, watched TV, and thought about doing yard work, but that thought passed. When Dick was feeling better, past his 5 days of isolation, I had him change out some pictures for me. I got out the decorations for Fall, and have been slowly decorating. We’re slowly venturing out. Dick has gone swimming, and rode his bike for 30 miles. My piano students are back this week. That’s good! Not only did I miss them, but so did Bill, our Black Lab. He LOVES piano lessons!

Sometimes we just need to slow down. We had packed so many things into last week’s plan, that I was wondering how we’d get it all done. I’m sorry we missed out on the activities. But I enjoyed the rest. Kind of. I don’t think Dick enjoyed it. Bill was bored.

And so, God said, “I have given you rest. Now, GET WITH IT!”

Have a good day. Happy Fall.

Grandma Sherry

What Could They Possibly Get Into???

This past week, we’ve had our 5 yr. old granddaughter, Libby, staying with us. She lives in Buda, TX, just south of Austin. She really wanted to come and visit, and play with her 4 yr. old cousin, Isaac. We keep Isaac two days a week. When these two kids get together, they play and play and play. Dick and I love having them here. They are old enough now, that we don’t have to watch them all the time. Isaac had a sleepover, one night last week. They know this house well, and have some basic rules that they need to follow. I’m mainly happy when they are not watching TV all the time, or on their I-Pads.

Libby and her tea set.

Libby brought her tea set along. She and Isaac frequently played with it. I was pretty tired of tea! LOL I also have a container of play dishes and food. If one were to look under the dining room table, one could usually find dishes and food. Actually, you could find this stuff all over the house!!! The last day she was here, they were back in the Master Bathroom, washing dishes. I was informed of this, when Isaac came in to get dry socks. Yep, some water had overflowed on the floor, he had stepped in it, and there were wet footprints all the way from one bedroom, down the hall, across the family room, and into the play room. I gave him a big towel and he cleaned up all of the footprints, after he changed socks. They spent a long time, enjoying washing and drying the dishes. Hope they enjoy that activity as much when they are older!! Later, I found two empty soap containers and three wet towels. But the dishes looked good.

The dishwashers.

We made brownies together. Another day, they played with playdoh, while I fixed a roast for supper, and made three pans of lasagne for the freezer.

Notice the brown dinosaur bone!

And then, one day, I let them play in the play room. It got rather quiet. I went in to see what they were doing. They were cutting blue strips of paper, and putting them on the bedroom door, like a cross…..using the glue stick!!! Oh no. I got those off. I just noticed that there are three note cards stuck to the door.

Yes..that’s put on with a glue stick. AAAGGHHH!

I have a big box…a present for Dick…that I didn’t want to wrap. So the kids painted some designs that I made for them. Libby taped hers on today, before she headed home. They LOVE to paint!

Boppa’s gift.

Paintings to put on Boppa’s box.
A gift for Boppa.

What else could they get into? Oh yes…a couple of things. They hid things. I still haven’t found a remote for our bedroom light. (No, no…it isn’t one of those sexy lights! It’s just the lamp on the bedside table. And no, it’s not the old lamp we used to have, that made a huge shadow on the ceiling, that looked like a large male appendage. ) There seems to be things under every bed and table. Isaac kept unplugging some things. I vetoed that.

Feathers in the fan…this is just a few of them.

I have a couple of boas, hanging on my walls. I know, it’s strange. Goes with my Hat Collection. Anyway, they shed quite easily, if you get against them. When I went to pull down the covers, one night, there were tons of red feathers under the three pillows. GRR. Then I started to turn on the fan. It was full of red and black feathers. The photo is just a small part of what there was. GRRR.

Next week, these two, plus the 8 yr. old brother of Libby, will be here for a day or so. Wondering what they will get into next!!!! I love them all so much.

Happy Holidays. Snuggle up with your partner or your dog. Have a good week. Let’s have a fabulous 2021.

Bill, our dog, in the Reindeer room.

Let me know what you are up to. Do you have fun adventures with your kids or grandkids??

Grandma Sherry

What’s New at Nana School?

Nana School had school picture day! What else has been happening? Check out here!

Here we are, in week four,of the Corona Virus “Shelter in Place” mandate. I’m in Texas, so you may be in week seven or eight. Four weeks is enough to drive people a bit batty. We’re being very careful about trying to stay home, most of the time. Thankfully, we can still go out for walks or biking. I don’t know how many young families are coping with trying to homeschool the kids, through Zoom or otherwise, and also working at home, as adults. My daughter is working at home, and we are watching her three year old, Isaac, three days a week.

Isaac and I have “Nana School”. He’s at that age where he’s like a little sponge….just soaking up everything he can. Luckily, he still takes naps, right after lunch. I don’t know how much longer that will last. He likes to cook, play with cars and puzzles, and be silly. Last week, he heard somewhere that some kids get “school pictures” made. He wanted to get his school picture made. LOL So, he came all dressed up, and I dressed up. We did school photos.

Isaac, the cool dude.
Even Bill, the dog, posed for this photo.
Isaac and his teacher, Nana.

We’ve been working on learning the alphabet and making little words. He’s learning to count to 20. Those numbers between 10 and 20 are tricky. Once you get to 20, it’s Easy-Peasy! He uses the counting bears to count the numbers, and also makes patterns with them.

Using Scrabble letters to make words.
Number puzzles. Never mind the dirty table!

Today, we did some Science. I brought out Dick’s shell collection, a book about shells, and a magnifying glass and glasses. Isaac sorted, listened for the ocean, and just enjoyed seeing them. We compared some to others. It turned out to be a great experience.

The scientist, observing the shells.
Learning about shells.

Otherwise, in the house, we’re getting ready to paint some of the hallways, and eventually our bedroom. We seem to have a lot of time to work on things. Dick has been taping the edges. We have really high ceilings in places, and I worry about him on the ladder.

Oh my! What a job.

What are you doing to entertain the little people in your house? What about the rest of your families? Leave me a comment either below or to the side of the post, where it says Comments. I need to approve it, usually, and then it’ll show up.

Stay safe. Stay home. Stay sober. Enjoy the down time. Are you organizing, or are you past that? I have a lot to declutter yet.

Grandma Sherry

Things I Love About May

Check out my blog post: Things I Love About May.

Preparing for a big car showdown!
  • The greening up of the grass and trees.
  • Flowers everywhere!
  • Taking walks with my dog, Bill.
  • Having outdoor play time with my grandkids.
  • Seeing relatives at my niece’s Graduation.
  • My upcoming,annual,family reunion in Missouri.
  • Having all three grandkids here at once.
  • Meeting new ministers and organist at our church.
  • Having my close friend move back from S. Korea.
  • Perusing the Spring Gardening magazines.
  • Seeing progress of my piano students.
  • Purging and getting ready for the church garage sale.
  • Finding a $50 bill that I thought I’d lost.

What do you like about May and Spring time?? Are you being deluged by the rain? Leave me a comment, and press LIKE if you enjoyed this post.

Grandma Sherry

It’s Been A Busy Week!

What did we use this doggy for? Read on to find out!

Wow! This past week has been a busy, fun-filled (for the most part) week. I spent several days getting ready for Easter. I set the table the day before. Took out my Ham from the freezer to thaw, and it wasn’t a ham…it was a TURKEY!! So we had Easter Turkey. LOL

Our daughter and hubby, and their sweet son, Isaac, came for dinner on Easter. Nathan’s parents were also here, and a friend of Jessica’s and her little girl. The kids played together and we had an egg hunt for the kids. It’s so delightful to watch a little one’s excitement about finding an egg!

Wow! Found an Easter Egg!

Saturday, I received a letter reminding me that I needed to pay my ticket fine, or appear in court on Monday. I had received a ticket for going through a red light, when I recently went to Waco. I didn’t even think about when it was due. So here it was: I either pay by Monday, or have another $100 in addition to my $240. AAAGGGH! I was ready to drive to Waco on Monday. then we discovered we could pay it online. Halleluiah! I’M NOT A CRIMINAL!

The best news I received this week was that my A1C had come down from 6.8, six months ago, to 6.3. That’s a diabetic measurement. I’m so happy to be down!

Isaac and I went to the Happy Lark to play. It’s always a fun place for him. They have so many things to play with. It really feeds the kids’ imaginations with possibilities.

I’m King of the world!

We always take our snack with us, in the doggy treat container. The other kids think it’s something to play with. It’s pretty fun. Just pull its ears out, and then open the top. We got this at Ikea.

Our doggy snack box….a favorite with little kids.
Just pull up his ears and open him up.

The opened snack doggy.

I think a highlight of my week was singing, twice, the “Halleluiah Chorus” at church. What an uplifting song to end a glorious Easter service!

What’s been the highlight of your week? Did you serve Turkey for Easter? Did the Easter Bunny come to your house? Leave me a comment and tell me about your week.

Grandma Sherry