It was a nice low key Christmas Day. The kids liked (or pretended really well) to like what I got them. They were OVER the MOON with the Office themed gifts that Derek got them.
There were too many presents. Once I start buying, I can't stop. And you get one more for one kid, then you have to buy one more for the others...etc. It just escalates. But there were a lot of gifts that satisfied needs (clothes for Sarah and Ben and a promise of a shopping outing for my picky Libby.). Sarah got a ticket to a Teen Writers Workshop in March that I'm pretty excited about--and I think she is too.
Ben got a hoverboard! Okay--I'm pretty excited about this too. I've ridden it almost as much as he has. He did take a nasty spill in the park on Christmas Day. He was going along fine and then the hoverboard jerked one way and he went the other. It was intense. Big road rash inside his elbow. But the way he went flying and landed, I thought it might be broken. So it was way better than it could have been.
Derek got himself a razor. And I wrapped it. He bought me a Theragun and some fancy butter knives (after asking me if he should) and I wrapped them. I surprised him with the amazing Ninja disguise. And Uncle Davy surprised all of us with a superb gift (see separate post).
Santa is bringing a vaccine. Some people already got it...but Derek and I are soon to come!
This year has been so unusual all around. But I really did enjoy a relatively calm Christmas season.
I was in charge of our Ward Christmas Party (again). It took 90% less work than last year. No decorating or big meal or program. It was simple and turned out pretty well for a zoom event.
This was one of the RS Presidency's suggestion--and the Ugly Sweater Cookie packs were really fun. I think it may have been a little too close to (even this) Christmas. But we had a decent turn out. I did a fun game where I had the ward leadership tell me their favorite Christmas songs before hand. Then I played each one and people guessed whose favorite it was. The rest is as advertised. Trivia, an ugly sweater fashion show, then people showed off their decorated cookies. One hour and done. No clean up (for me--except for my own families cookies they decorated). And we got to feel virtually bonded for a bit.
Then on Thursday I spent the day planning out and gathering supplies for the nativity program. We did a zoom watching of the Randall Nativity (every family added a little and it turned out really cute). Then a quick meet up masked on the deck with the Norton family where we exchanged gifts and gave out donuts.
Then we had our traditional nativity evening. What was the same: Brion reading the nativity and us acting it out with some hilarity (that borders on sacrilege I know). What was different: Brion was reading from his own house over Zoom. And all of Derek's siblings joined to watch the pageant. And listen to the musical numbers. I nailed playing Silent Night for Sarah. I really messed up Joy to the World. I should have done it as an instrumental number. I get too flustered playing for singers. I had to shout, "let's start the 2nd verse again" when I couldn't find my place and catch up. We skipped the bell choir (which Derek loved and made me a bit sad). But the pageant was short and sweet.
We hung out and chatted with our immunity community + Dave (who had a negative COVID test right before he came). Then went home and opened sibling gifts and pjs. Grammy hit it out of the park this year with her Husky theme.
Sibling gifts were also appreciated. They were mostly of the stuffed animal variety. Except Libby's--a bluetooth speaker for the shower so she can stop taking in her phone wrapped in shower caps. She wasn't all that excited about it...but I think she'll like it.
Then, off to bed (for mom and dad at least).
Also, thanks to Dave I discovered a new favorite movie series--the second of which is a "Christmas" movie--Daddy's Home. Seriously--terrible. But SO hilarious and heartwarming at the same time.
I guess I have really needed to do some demo myself. I didn't realize it. But when I had my students build popsicle stick bridges--I was really excited/nervous to see how much weight they could hold.
They held more than I thought they would by a LOT! But loading them up with weight and watching them fall was THE BEST thing I have done in forever. Luckily--you can enjoy the satisfaction of watching them topple as well because another teacher filmed for me. I edited the video (it's a bit rough, but I had a lot of other things to do for school this week too). Anyway--just wanted to document that I have managed to, not just thrive, but even find some serious joy in online teaching.
So this week we went from this:
To this:
I will say the demo was pretty loud--I was glad I was at school for 2 of the days. But it wasn't as dusty and dirty as I expected. Until we had Tim (one of Derek's former wrestlers) come and take out the brick wall from where the ovens used to be. That got dusty. But it wasn't that bad. We ate at home a few nights--I miss cooking for real already, but right now I feel like I'm going to make it through this without a major meltdown. (knock on wood.)
I posted on FB that I was getting the platelet rich plasma injection (and probably looking at an eventual hip replacement) and got so much love and support. The injection was on Wednesday. I read the material, but somehow I wasn't expecting it to be as much like surgery as it was. Not in the actual execution, but in how I felt afterwards. It was painful and exhausting. But I am hopeful it will help. It is still hurting today (Sunday)--can't sit for long and walking with crutches only. (I finished this on Tuesday--feeling much better. Already off crutches :)
Well, the service part comes in when our contractor let us know on Tuesday that he could start our kitchen this week. YIKES! Packing up the whole kitchen while on crutches? But our amazing immunity community--Maren, Whitney, & Joe all pitched in (along with help from Leanne who is visiting her dad here) and we knocked it out! The kitchen, dining room and family room are now empty (basically) and the ballroom has become the kitchen and dining room. It's going to be an interesting couple of months. I am so thankful for friends and family who LITERALLY carried my burdens this weekend!
Here is our makeshift kitchen/family room. The nearest sink is in the bathroom--but we will likely wash dishes, etc. in the laundry room. This is going to be interesting!
So we probably shouldn't have gone to Florida. I mean, the CDC was begging people not to travel. But--a promise to help my sister is a promise. I got on the schedule to be her post-chemo support months ago--before cases ticked up so high. So we went. We are going to quarantine and get COVID tested this week. So far we seem healthy. And it was an amazing trip.
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| Libby took lots of pictures from the plane. |
Monday: Day 1 in Florida was a chill day. My nephews Devin and Davy came to play at our Airbnb (which was great, btw), while the girls and I went and helped Rachel. We did some great cleaning (I got to do the fridge--my favorite!)
Tuesday Day 2 was GATORLAND! It was really fun, creepy, cool. So many alligators! We brought Devin and Davy so Rachel could relax at home by herself.
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| Ben riding an alligator (the jaws are taped shut, don't worry...) |
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| Derek feeding animals in the petting zoo. |
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| Libby also feeding the goats. |
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| Even I fed the goats (yes, you might not recognize me in my hat & mask...) |
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| Most of the crew |
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| Feeding the young alligators fish from a pole. It was so creepy cool awesome. |
Wednesday Day 3: The Beach!
The beach is about an hour and a half away from Rachel's house. We didn't end up getting there until late afternoon. But it was still pretty awesome. A little chilly for me (I didn't get in the water past my ankles). But the kids and Derek and David had fun in the waves. Rachel got to relax in a chair (for the most part) while everyone splashed around.
Day 4 was our Disney Day. We decided to go on Thanksgiving, in hopes that the crowds would be thin. (Disney is limiting to 35%, so it's already thin.) Rachel felt up for going, as long as she could stay in a wheelchair most of the time. We couldn't get a reservation at the Magic Kingdom, but Animal Kingdom actually seemed like the one Derek would like the best. And it was great! Rachel can get a disability pass that is basically a "fast pass" type of thing. So the kids got to ride several things with much less wait time. The lines didn't seem so long since with social distancing, you were always moving.
Friday: Our last day (yes, it went fast!) Run for Rachel donations, Decorating the Great Harvest, and Our Thanksgiving celebration:
In the morning I gave Rachel the Run for Rachel donations. It totaled up to $4000. It was amazing to see the generosity of so many people pulling for Rachel in her fight against cancer. Then we went to decorate the tree at GH. She was doing really well at 7 days out from chemo. She could stand and help with the decorating just fine.
I was thankful I chose a house that we could host Thanksgiving. It worked out amazingly well!
Brad got us some beautiful and delicious pies. So so yummy.
I cooked a turkey and made potatoes, gravy, stuffing (from a box, yuck) and brussels.
My only regret is that we did this on the last day and didn't get to eat the leftovers.
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| Yes, that is a butter shaped like a turkey. And my disposable table settings. It was pretty lovely for being plastic. |
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| The pies also came with paintable cookies. |
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| Closeup of the butter. |
I guess I didn't take pics of any more of the food. Ha! I also didn't take a pic of the Great Harvest tree we put up. But trust me, it's cute.
Our flight home was uneventful. I got on the wi-fi and worked like crazy so I could be ready to start back at school tomorrow. Being gone as a teacher is always a bit tough. But I am so glad we went. The weather was amazing, the company was awesome. And getting a break from the monotony that has been life since March was amazing. Hopefully we won't pay for it with COVID. That vaccine is coming!
