Of Broken Arms and Promises

First off, I have to say something about "the hill". Last fall, one of the facebook neighborhood watch biddies decided to let the whole neighborhood know that Jane and her friends were bicycling down "the hill" at a reckless pace and turning the corner wide at the end. After that we grounded Jane from her bike for a week forbid her from going down "the hill" and told her she needed to take a safer route to her friends' house. 

A few days ago, I was sitting at work, prepping for a meeting when Chris let me know that Jane had fallen off her bike and she was hurt... badly. Emily had been taking care of her and our angel neighbor had gotten her home. 

The second we walked through the door, her first words were "I wasn't even going down the hill!"

It took almost 24 hours to break her and discover that she had been going down "the hill". 

Two x-rays later Jane was diagnosed with a broken arm. In case you can't tell, it was the big arm, not the little arm. Punishment enough for disobeying. 

I know having a broken arm is a rite of passage, but it's slightly more challenging for Jane, who has had to adapt. 

The early days were rough. The first night she had a bad trip on Tylenol with codeine and ended up in the ER thinking she couldn't breathe. After determining that she could, in fact, breathe she was sent home. 

The next day, the orthopedic doctor told us that she had broken her arm too near the shoulder to cast so she was going to have to be VERY careful and wear a sling for a month. She was very fortunate to have not had any displacement with the break. Since then, she has needed a lot of help. We've hired Emily as her home health care worker during the day and I take care of her needs in the evening. The pain is less every day. She says she's never riding her bike again. As much as I don't want to see her get hurt again, I hope that's not true. After all, she's a kid and kids ride bikes. Just not down "the hill". 

Girls' Camp

We kind of got to do Girls' Camp in person this year!

We didn't "go" to camp... rather we got together for activities for three nights. 

Emily and Jane decided to really get in the spirit and try camping in the backyard. They made it an hour, as kids do, and then came in. 

But look! It's my kids with other humans!

We went to Vedawoo the last night and had a hike and a campfire and a testimony meeting. 

It was a tiny spot of normal in our new bizarre world. 

Don't tell anybody, but I actually liked this more than normal Girls' Camp. I hate sleeping out of doors. For me, it was the perfect camp. I would do it this way every year if I could. 

Last Day of School.... Maybe?

We think today was the last day of school. We're not sure. Both the kids have been to pick up their belongings from school and report cards are final. I guess that's it. We're all praying that in-person school returns in the fall. The kids are rudderless. 

Down with Zoom!

I've had it with Zoom. 

I went back to work at the beginning of May so I could have a shot at figuring out my job. A couple of coworkers are back, but most of them are at home. We interact via Google Meet since WYDOT has the professional suite. Meet is better than Zoom, but I've also had it with Meet. 

I meet with my Young Women group (14-15 year olds) via Zoom and they are dropping like flies. 

Jane meets with her Young Women group via Zoom. Here she is doing "spa night" on Zoom.

The efforts of everyone trying to meet virtually have been admirable. But we are all so sick of Zoom. 

If the introverts in the house are sick of this lockdown, I can only imagine what Jane is going through. This must seem like the apocalypse to her. She's starting to talk to her stuffed animals. 

Part of me is wondering if it's worth it. A big part of me. 

Only history will tell.

Happy 14th Birthday Emily!

Emily is 14. She is super excited to be 14 because it brings her that much closer to being able to drive. She is under the impression she can wear us down enough to let her have a hardship license. I'm not sure where she got that impression, but it is false.

We placated her by giving her a chromebook. She is, after all, going to high school next year (if high school happens next year) and she will need something to research and type papers on. Also she destroyed the family chromebook with water. She didn't do it at an ideal time, considering how computers are crazy hard to come by right now and the kids are doing online school. We considered not giving her the chromebook we had purchased back in March when the insanity started. But we did anyway. Mainly because we can't take online school without sufficient resources anymore. She was delighted. She promises she will keep it away from food and drink. We'll see. 

She requested a cheesecake for her birthday. It tasted good but it had a big crack. Because I made it. Lockdown birthdays are lame. Super lame. I feel bad for her. Maybe she can do something fun next year. Maybe....

Viral

It all fell apart on the day our couch for our den got here. 

It was going to be a great day. A ridiculously great day. The den was finished enough that we could start using it (More on Tales of the Basement later - I'm waiting until we can take "after" pics) and we were supposed to go see Keane in Denver. Just the two of us. Our first concert since having kids, the Psychedelic Furs concert having been trampled on by the neighbor kid who threw a rock at Jane's head. 

Anyway, the forecast was very iffy, so we packed some clothes in case we needed to stay the night. The kids were going to stay with their grandparents and we were so, so excited. 

And then it happened. 1:00 in the afternoon, the concert got cancelled. That was March 13th. Right after the NBA cancelled its season and right before the Disney Parks shut their doors. Nothing's been the same since. We've been on virus lockdown. 

The couch still arrived, and we still put it together. (wait for the after pics)

School was cancelled for the kids. 

Somewhere in the mess, I found time to interview for a new job... a promotion... something to do with planning road projects and data. There's never a good time for a new job.

Weirdly, I got the job, but by the time I cleaned out my cubicle, most of my coworkers were already working from home. 

I set up my new cubicle, stayed in an empty office for one day...

and then quietly repaired to my living room, where I have been for the last month - trying to figure out a new job I have no idea how to do. It has been stressful.

We try to fill the time going for walks

and homeschooling and  watching poorly produced celebrity youtube videos... and fighting. So much fighting. This is hard on the kids. No friends, no school, no travel, nothing to do but feel like the world is imploding around them. 

This is hard on me. New job, new stress, so much uncertainty. I spend the days in Google meets... taking hours to understand what could have been communicated in minutes in an office setting.

This is hard on Chris. He is feeling trapped just like the rest of us. 

We try to get outside, to do things for others, but nothing will substitute for normalcy. 

The whole world is going through this misery together... lost jobs... lost time... lost minds. 

All because of a virus. 

I think it's okay to not be okay right now. None of us are.

Easter on the Inside

Easter still came this year. Despite the fact that the world is closed, we celebrated the Resurrection. 

A week before Easter, I got a text from our friends, letting us know they had hid eggs in our front yard. These are the friends that always host the huge nighttime Easter egg hunt in the park. The girls were so thrilled to have some sense of normalcy. They raced outside in their pajamas and giggled for half an hour as they found the eggs. 

We still did baskets for the kids. I had pre-ordered the Baby Yoda months ago from Disney, not knowing that our Easter world would be so different than normal. 

The girls were thrilled to find the candy and gifts in the morning. 

They even dressed up in their Easter dresses for about 15 minutes. It was sad having to do home church that day... even though I must admit I've really been digging home church. It's been a bright spot of this whole mess. 

Because it had snowed a crapload, we hid eggs around the house. That part was actually pretty fun... especially since we decided to put magnets in some of the eggs, which allowed us to attach them to bizarre surfaces. 

So this year, even though we were unable to have our normal Easter, it didn't change the fact that Christ died for us. It didn't change the fact that we are redeemed. It also didn't make Peeps any less gross. Happy Easter!