Weekly Wrap up 3/27/20 -- Cornavirus pandemic of 2020

Our little town have been on complete lock down this past week and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.  It is requiring lots of adjustments for everyone.  So far we are holding up pretty well:).  I am trying to limit my need to go to the grocery store to once a week and I usually call ahead to make sure they have the items I need in stock.  People are still panic buying in my area which is making finding some things hard.

I forgot to check my tea stash before this whole thing started and of course ran out.  Luckily I could find it on Amazon and I got a delivery within 2 days, whew:)

Everyone in the house is practicing social distancing:)  Actually we all need work space since even my husband is at home teleworking 4 days a week.  Luckily he only has to go into work once a week and usually only for few hours.

Husband working from home

MarioFan is on spring break but still has an online Spanish class and piano lesson to complete.

Teenager off from college is chillin her bedroom:)  I have convinced her to do 30 minutes exercise with me every day:)

This week we tried having piano lesson on discord.  We could only get the app to work on the iPhone this week so there are a few kinks, but hopefully by next week we can get it to work on a better computer as it was very hard for both the kids and the piano tutor.  But we all must make due as best we can.

Even the dog claimed her space.  She made a nest with the blankets on the couch. 

I was to fly back to visit my mother this week and had to cancel.  I couldn't risk traveling and catching the virus and giving it to her.  Coming up is the one year mark of my Dad's death not being there is hard on us both.  Luckily my sister lives close by and can check up on her.  I am calling or face timing her every day. 

My Mom decided to adopt a bernedoodle, met Jack, everyone.  He is keeping her busy and company during her isolation.  

I have had a chance to get back into my glass studio and work on a few projects.  The studio is in my basement so it is still a bit too cold to work for very long.  But it won't be long before I can work longer periods.

I finally finished my second set of birds  These are Blue birds.

Chickadees--just need my Husband to help hung them up in the school room:)

My daughter wanted to take this Pokemon figure, Mimikyu, to college next year, so I finally got it cut out. 

 I have been racking my brain trying to figure out ways to help people who are in need in my area.  On our local community face book page, I posted that I will help any medically compromise person or elderly person with no family by going to the store once a week to help get there groceries.  So far I been contacted by 2 people who will need assistance in the coming days.

The other thing I have done is go through the items in my school room that never got used by my kids, and they have outgrown, and posted a picture on the face book community page offering these items for free to any low income family in order to help keep their children busy.   I am limiting each family to one item per child so I can spread the items to multiple families.  So far everyone has been very good about not taking more than they need. 

What are you doing to help your neighbors in your area?  Stay safe and stay inside:)

Weekly Wrap Up 3/20/20 -- High School and current events

This past week was our state's primary and the first time our eldest was able to vote!  We have been emphasizing to our daughter if she wants to see change in the world, more young people need to vote.  She was excited to cast her first ballot and can't wait to do so in November!

Currently Firedrake is on Spring break and has completed her mid-terms.  She is pretty happy were she is in her grades.  We just got word that the community college is delaying returning to classes until the end of March due to the virus that is going around.  Still waiting to see if they continue classes online or not.

Right before the crisis began we went to another Symphony performance.

Unfortunately I misplaced the pamphlet that said which music was played.  The last performance was Bolero and it was AMAZING!!!!

As you can see it was pretty crowded, since then all performances have been cancelled which is disappointing as we had a few more scheduled for this year. 

In Literature MarioFan is reading

Actually we are almost done and now working on completing the writing assignment -- A compare/contrast essay before spring break.

So far Co-op has not been cancelled but the city has now cracked down on any groups larger than 250 people so I expect it will be cancelled soon.  We have one more week of Co-op before they take a spring break.  Everything is so crazy right now.

I decided to try a box of Imperfect foods.  We got our first box this week

I was pretty pleased with it and plan on getting another box in two weeks.  Might be the only way we get our veggies if this crisis continues.  Right now any vegetables the people in the house don't like the Guinea pigs get them.  Although you are able to pick and choose what goes in the box.  I ordered the smallest box.

So we did our emergency shopping, a bit late, as most of the toilet paper and hand sanitizer in our area is gone.  I did stock up on frozen foods and non perishables just in case.  Still calling the stores daily to see when toilet paper and hand sanitizer is coming in.  Stores are starting to limit the amount people can buy so hopefully we can get some soon.

This month has been hard as it was this time last year my father went into the hospital and never came home.  I am suppose to go to my Mother's during spring break and hoping travel isn't restricted.

Stay safe everyone and remember to self isolate if you have any symptoms in order to protect the elderly and those who are compromised medically.  If we all do our part we can overcome this virus.

weekly wrap up3/6/2020-- Beethoven symphony and Pierogi making

We attending another symphony this week.  This one was quite different from the others we have been too as it was for school  children.  I must have missed that in the description but it was fun anyway.  This time there was an host that explained the music and got more audience involvement. 

They did an interesting segment playing Beethoven 5th symphony and Hall of the Mountain King n various musical styles such as Jazz, Rock, and Latin.  It was very interesting to hear the music change based on the beat it was emphasizing.  The Boys were quite impressed with this knowledge.

 We also attended a field trip to learn how to make Pierogi's.  I will be honest I have never made these before or think I have ever eaten them before.  However when I showed MarioFan the list for field trips at the beginning of the year this was one he was interested in.  Probably because it was food related:)

It was held at a Polish store called Siostra which means Sister in Polish. 

It was a big group of 13 kids and they all took turns to make the dough

We used a pierogi press to make the dumplings.

The first batch each of the kids made was a savory pierogi and they could add potato, cheese, mushroom bacon or broccoli

The second batch they made was a desert Pierogi

First you have to boil them

Then they are fried until golden brown

Then they got to eat them.  Delicious

MarioFan even let me taste one or two:)  While they were delicious it is probably not something we will ever make at home.  However if I ever see it on a menu  I would definitely order it.