The 2020-2021 school year began a few weeks ago and our district, thankfully, chose to start virtually. It is really the only logical choice given the ongoing global pandemic and lack of progress made by our country in terms of identifying and stopping the spread of the virus. There were a few weeks where it seemed like the school board was going to choose a physical return to school, but thankfully logic and science prevailed and our community is safer for it.
It sure does make for a strange start to Adelaide’s school career – going virtual – but as we’ve been discussing, it’s only strange to us because it’s different from our experience. To her, it’s “normal”. So we adults have to remember that as we lament some of the younger kids who don’t know any different. The whole school experience is new to them and they don’t have expectations – they’re just excited to learn.
If it hasn’t been mentioned before, we turned our small basement bedroom into a classroom. We were prepared to homeschool Adelaide (and Emerson) if the district chose a physical return. Karissa took a leave of absence from her teaching job to be able to focus on teaching the kids while I focus on navigating the stock market volatility.
There are a lot of learning curves and figuring out best practices and schedules, but a few weeks into the school year we’re beginning to find a groove. Baby steps.
Speaking of offices, my workspace has been enhanced by a new minifridge and a coffee maker. It beats working in an office. I usually wear a robe all day and have sleeping dogs around me while I try to trade around the choppiness in financial markets. It’s a pretty great setup in terms of a workspace. Adding the coffee maker, specifically, was game changing.
Our new puppy, Runty, is adjusting to life with us pretty well! She’s sleeping through the night and is learning how to walk on a leash. She nips at the kids, but is just trying to play. Our boy dog, Slate, loves her – we were most worried about how he’d react to the puppy. Our girl dog, Ruby, seems depressed and mostly avoids Runty – which makes us sad. Ruby is a loving dog that has been nothing but caring and nurturing towards our kids and we thought that would carry through to the puppy. So far it hasn’t, but we keep trying to make them build a bond.
I’ve been running at least a 5K every single day for 64 straight days (and counting) and Karissa has her own streak of 7 days going. Running is a nice break from the house, dog, and kids that we have been missing without volleyball leagues, softball, and other events that let us get a bit of a break from being parents for a bit. We continue to eat really well – 230+ days without meat, eggs, or dairy – and are generally doing our best to stay sane, happy, and productive.
With cold weather just around the corner and no “reason” to be here, we’ve debated snowbirding – either RVing or renting a house with a pool down in Florida or out west somewhere. Each decision has pros and cons. We like our various spaces here – the classroom, office, etc. And being near my parents, even if our gatherings are mostly socially distant. RVing would mean using a community pool and a massive reduction in space. But would get our RV in use and out of storage where it’s been for 9 months. And renting a house with a private pool is the safest way to snowbird but carries a pretty hefty financial cost. So we’ll continue to weigh the options for now. My personal dream would be to throw solar panels on the roof of our RV and spend the winter somewhere in southern New Mexico in the middle of nowhere. Exploring different trails each day and being off-grid. Karissa wants a bit more of a warm, relaxing, and connected winter – if we leave. But with health risks and continued poor management of the pandemic, at least in the USA, we might just stick around in our Blue State and have our first full winter since 2016-2017 in the tundra. Stay tuned…
Love your posts!! I am happy you have things figured out. I just wish I could hug you all! Love all of you so much!