Monday 10-24
Kept Danielle home from school since she wasn’t 24 hours fever-free. She didn’t quite act herself all day either, so I was glad she was home. Reclaimed the house, walked outside on the driveway for 30 minutes, since Danielle didn’t feel up to coming along on Garrett Road. Set up the sprinkler in the backyard in order to settle the dust. Danielle decided a swimsuit was in order and proceeded to play under the sprinkler for a while, even making a “beach” with sand from her sandbox spread out on a pink plastic tablecloth. Later in the afternoon, we did a bank run, got my dairy milk from SH church frig, and picked up Danielle’s school work from school. She worked on that while I cooked supper, which was grilled wild hog sausage patties, Jill’s scalloped potatoes, and cheese green beans. The bottom of the new tub in our bathroom is so rough that it’s detrimental to our bottoms. Tried Danielle’s idea of using my yoga mat in it for her bath. #fail. It just floats up and gets in the way. I must order a soft tub liner or something ASAP!
Tuesday 10-25
Happy Birthday, MomDenise! Due to the teacher and too many students being sick, 1st Grade was called off for the day! Danielle was feeling fine as frog’s hair, other than still coughing and having more snot than necessary. I decided to “dress for work,” even donning heels so as to “feel” like a secretary. I always get more done when I do this. I told Danielle she since was the boss’s daughter, it was part of my job to help her if she needed assistance. She informed me that SHE was my boss, lol! Had my hour sand timer going so Danielle could keep track of when my “breaks” were coming up. Flipped that timer twice. Dug out the cardboard Snoopy dog house from under Danielle’s bed that we’ve had since her first birthday party! (It lays completely flat when you take it apart, so there, Minimal Mom!) Danielle was more than delighted to add string lights and decor to the inside, also more color via marker to the outside. She pretended to be a dog herself, but also had her fave little stuffed dog Skippy in there with her with a small bowl of Reese Puffs for kibble. Too cute. We took a timed recess of 15 minutes for playing soccer. I lost. Also did a 15 minute story time. Frog and Toad stories are the best! Watching a skiff of rain drip down rates pretty high too. Pedaled 30 minutes on my indoor cycle thing while catching up on my phone. Lots of good phone downtime today. Chili from last week with fresh Navajo fry bread for supper.
Wednesday 10-26
Baked oatmeal sounded good for breakfast. Worked at my MR. Daniel picked Danielle to go with him for the day since school had been called off entirely due to prevailing illness amongst the teaching staff and students! I commenced cleaning up my craft/sewing corner. It truly looked like that closet that exploded open in the Berenstain Bears Messy Room! Of course, it took me much longer than I expected to go through everything, but in the end, I was much pleased with the rainbow-ordered bins of felt and foam paper, along with everything else in baskets for easy retrieval. I wasn’t as pleased with the mending pile that totaled 24 items! I took a walk in October’s bright blue weather, picking up an overstuffed Walmart bag of litter along the way. Then since I wasn’t quite ready to go back inside, I spread my quilt under the tree for 10 minutes and relaxed; listening to the wind swaying the pines and the drone of planes overhead. Read another good article in the Sept. issue of Real Simple titled “How to Be Less Busy.” Finished cutting out the dress I had hoped to sew for Danielle for her Fall Party. Danl and Danielle came home, very pleased with their good day together. I fried the last pkg of venison backstrap for supper, made instant mashed taters and white gravy, and opened a can of Del Monte pears. Enjoyed my first soak in our new tub!
Thursday 10-27
I planned to mostly sew, but as always, I want ALL THE THINGS done before I begin. Completed my MR and did some desk work. Played a game of Wild Kratts with Danielle at one “recess” and a game of Deer Tag at another. Deer Tag is a game Danielle made up that is like hide and seek but the person hiding has a set of antlers that you have to make visible when the It person calls out, “Deer!” Then once your hiding spot has been “blown,” it’s a mad dash for base! It’s actually pretty fun to play. We usually only play it in the fall/winter when the antlers are out for decor. After lunch, I cut out a camel brown dress for myself and sewed it halfway done. I meant to be one of those girls who whips out a new dress in an hour or so to wear for evening plans, but alas. I’m just not that girl. Dressed up my old faithful black T-shirt dress for our supper reservations at Gather at 6 with David and Tara and Mike and Lisa Murphy. They’ve been our biggest customers this year with their property in Molino which FLS is developing. We got to eat at the round table by the kitchen which has always been my dream! My plate of cherry-smoked duck breast with Gather mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, blueberry bbq, and goat cheese exceeded expectations. We lingered long, enjoying all the amazing food, dessert, coffee, and conversation until we needed to remove ourselves to make room for the next reservation at 8:00.
Friday 10-28
Well, I guess it’s my turn to experience the current illness going around, Influenza A or RSV?! Who knows?! It’s not Covid though according to my home test. I spent most of the night quite miserable with fever, body aches, headache, sore throat, and congestion. Danl came back around 10 and took Danielle and her 4wheeler to the job with him. So I had a mostly quiet day to lay around and recuperate. I slowly did the MR which took most of the day. Read in Once Upon a River a lot. Diesel was feeling quite poorly too. His skin has really deteriorated; the pic I sent to the vet confirmed what we thought. The lymphoma is cutaneous now. The end is very near for both dogs actually. Leroy didn’t want to eat his food and was shaking which means he’s in a lot of pain. And it’s not fair for them to suffer much longer. They have loved and been loved. But it’s still hard. Danl had me call in a pizza and breadsticks for him and Danielle to pick up for supper.
Saturday 10-29
Felt some better, but still fatigued. So sad to miss Gwen’s baby shower at the Goetter’s. Put in a Walmart Pickup for Atmore Smallmart. I keep forgetting they now offer this service! So nice when you don’t want to get out and breathe on people, but you still need food! Put a new layer of that deep ceramic shine on the Audi at Waves. Then I did dash into Family Dollar and Pig since Walmart did not even attempt to substitute one very necessary item, and I forgot to add onions to the order, AND we needed some more presents to wrap for the dogs’ last Christmas. I tried to stay 6 ft away from everyone. I didn’t survive Covid without learning something! Ended up sobbing once I got home. It’s just so final now. We plan to put both dogs down on Tuesday. Pulled myself together and Danl and I proceeded to make crispy fried chicken thigh sandwiches with seasoned house mayo, on a bakery buns topped with provolone and pickles; home-fried tater chips on the side. Yum. Danielle and I had fun making things festive, wrapping presents, and hanging stockings stuffed with toys and treats. Diesel and Leroy were so excited that it was suddenly Christmas time! We all hung out in the living room, helped the pigs open their presents, ate microwave popcorn, then settled in to (try) to sleep. Good times, good memories. Oh, I did make dough too, since I had fed Susie earlier in the day.
Sunday 10-29
I bailed on the party around 2:00 am, and slipped into our bed to finish out the night with some restful sleep instead of fitful dozing. It was overcast and rainy, definitely a good day to hunker down together. I was feeling even worse than I had on Saturday instead of better as I had hoped! Made a small pan of cinnamon rolls, one loaf of regular bread, and two small loaves of cinnamon pull-apart bread with the sourdough. Did a speed-rise on the cinnamon rolls and baked them for breakfast along with brown-and-serve sausage links. Danl prepped a chuck roast for the crockpot. I’m not sure what all we all did, but the day seemed to pass rather swiftly. I know I did a lot of nose-blowing. Attempted to make Gather-style mashed skin-on red potatoes, (I’ll have to keep trying) along with gravy to enjoy with the roast and fresh bread. We ate this meal later afternoon. Sad to miss the 5th Sunday Joint Hymn-Sing at WH. Danielle and I played many games of Fishdom, trying in vain to pass a hard level. Everyone helped tidy the house, which had rather gone to pot. In some ways it felt like a good weekend, and in others it felt weird and hard, knowing what is coming on Tuesday. Things will be so different with two members of our family missing. But life goes on, a cycle of death and birth! I’m sure we’ll welcome new puppies, sooner or later!
