Ins, Outs, What Have You's Vol. 5
Hello from the other side. It’s been a longer blogging break than I anticipated, but you know how it goes. I had nothing but great writing intentions for 2020, but first-trimester exhaustion flowed right into a global pandemic, an economic crisis, civil unrest, and other “little” distractions.
To be honest, I have been busy. And, like many of you, the last six months have been emotionally exhausting and my heart just hasn’t been in it (blogging). But, I’m starting to feel the writing itch again and thought I’d ease back into things with a quick In’s, Outs, What have You’s, and a bit of a check-in.
1. Yes, we survived E-Learning. I try not to refer to it as homeschool, because teaching someone else’s curriculum from home is definitely not the same thing as homeschooling. Y’all…It was rough. The kids faired far better than I did. As a former teacher (and a pretty darn good one), I underestimated how challenging the whole process would be.
Despite deploying all of my best classroom management techniques, we dragged ourselves to the end of the school year. I think it was my toughest year of teaching and it only lasted three months. And, they were my own children. And, there were only two of them.
2. Once the shock of lockdown wore off and we eased into a bit of a routine, I tried to implement a few new projects to stay busy. We did a little watercolor painting, which I so enjoy (and am so not good at).
The big challenge was a sourdough starter. After a lot of trial and error, I did get a very healthy and lively starter. The first loaf was divine. Everything after that was downhill, right up until the point I accidentally killed it. It was defiantly not salvageable. I’m planning on starting again next month and will check in here with the results. I used this tutorial and this book for inspiration.
3. The big success of the spring and early summer has been the garden. I had spent the late winter sketching out grand plans for a large garden that would have involved new fencing and tree removal. But, both the tree removal company and the fencing company shut down for a few months and the timing just wouldn’t work.
Rather than admit defeat, I settled for a few raised beds near the house (hopefully keeping the deer at bay) and some patio containers. As anyone who has gardened before can tell you, don’t count your tomatoes before they’re canned. But, so far, so good.
4. What’s really kept us busy, is a series of home remodels that have stretched out since March. The saga deserves its own post. But, if you thought teaching your kids at home was difficult, try doing it while your floors are being refinished and your furniture is stacked up like Jenga tiles. The crews we’ve worked with have been great, but it’s been a long-drawn-out process.
5. Finally, when I have periodically checked in on the ol’ blog these last months, I’ve got a real kick out of the popularity of a post from early February. Turns out 5 Tips for Getting Out of Survival Mode ended up being apropos of everything when the whole country got thrown into survival mode a few weeks after it posted. If you’re still struggling to climb out the dumpster fire that has been 2020 so far, maybe it could be helpful.
That’s it for now!
