End of August Weekend

How did the final weekend of August get here so quickly? Here is what happened in our world this weekend.

Friday was our weekly online learning day at school. Teachers had to be at school, but students were at home doing their online lessons.  Our principal told us Friday, that there has been at least one confirmed case of COVID at our school.  That doesn't sound like much, but think of all the people that one person could have come in contact with at large high school over a four-day period.  I personally think there will be more cases at our school soon. If there is three cases in one class, everyone in the class will have to be quarantined.  If there are 15 cases in the school, the school will close and all learning will be online for at least two weeks.

We started both Saturday and Sunday with morning walks and ended them with evening walks.  Sunday was much cooler and the weather was very nice for walking. 

My late August garden continues to produce.  My tomato bushes are still full. 

I am so grateful for the garden goodness we have been able to enjoy this summer.  We had the tomatoes in a garden salad at dinner Saturday and Sunday night and they were so fresh and good!

We did more car shopping on Saturday. Charly really liked this Volkswagen Golf GTI. He is looking for something fun to drive, he said the GTI really fit the bill of what he wants in a car, but he hasn't made his final decision. 

Saturday night we stopped and got a take-n-bake pizza on our way home from the car dealership.  The pizza was so good and we were so hungry that the pizza was halfway gone before I remembered to take a picture.  

We got this cinnamon wheel for desert.  It is one of my favorite deserts. 

We had church at home again sitting in our living room and listening to a message on my laptop.  We have been having church at home for almost six months now, but today we got an email telling us that we will be having church in person again beginning September 13.  I hope it doesn't get postponed again.  

Sunday afternoon, I indexed voter records while listening to a Zoom Sunday School Come Follow Me Study Group.  It was interesting.  I enjoy a deep dive into the scriptures. 

I also did a bit of online shopping. It is my daughter's birthday on Tuesday and I want to send her something she will like. We were going to send her flowers, but the website where I went to order them said that because of COVID, the flowers would be left on the doorstep in a box.  It didn't sound like that was a good idea, especially with the weather still being hot, so we decided to order a different kind of gift for her. 

Sunday dinner was beans and rice casserole, with salad, corn on the cob and butter-bread. It was delicious. 

I baked some vanilla marshmallow cookies for our Sunday dinner dessert. They were good.

Charly and I watched a little TV Sunday night.  We have been enjoying watching some episodes of the PBS series from several years ago - Mr. Selfridge.  

It was an overall good weekend.  I hope yours was too.  Have a good week and please stop by and visit again soon. 

 

Beginning of School Favorites

It's the end of another week.  Boy they sure go quickly.  I am happy to be joining once again with Susanne of Living to Tell the Story to look back at the best moments of the week. 

 

An evening hike - I posted about this Sunday night, but it is still among my favorite moments of the week.  I enjoy hiking and being out in nature and if I am with people I enjoy, it is even better. 

Good start to the school year - Monday, the students came back to school.  I was as ready as I could be.  So far, things have been going well.  Our district approved a four-day school week this year, so we teach in person four days a week, then teach online and have time for prep and planning on Friday.

Students haven't been congregating around the school too much and all have been wearing masks. I am, so far, pretty proud of our students who seem to be stepping up to the plate to stop the spread and keep our school open for in-person learning.

Summer rain - We had a nice summer rain two afternoons this week, and now the temperatures are starting to cool down.  Our high will only be in the high 70s by early next week.  That will be nice. 

Car Shopping - We have started looking for a new car for Charly.  We haven't bought anything yet, but we went to several dealerships this week.  The car Charly has been driving is ten-years-old and he wants a new one, and he wants something that is "fun to drive" so we are looking at Chargers, Challengers, Camaros and Mustangs.  I am encouraging practicality.  We shall see what we end up with. 

Finishing another book - I finished this book this week. The author is a woman who taught at the same school I did in Arizona.  She was always kind and helpful to me.  She still teaches, but is currently living with Parkinson's disease and has battled two different kinds of cancer.  Here is the short review I wrote about the book on Goodreads:

Author Nancy Foote recounts stories from her life and how her attitude helped her beat the odds - winning contests, meeting celebrities and dealing with a diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease and two different kinds of cancer. Foote is a skilled public school teacher and storyteller, showing us how attitude and determination can increase the joy we experience in everyday life, as well as odds of winning the really big battles that life throws at us. This is an excellent, readable book with lots to love. Highly recommended. 

Late August Weekend

It was a hot, late summer weekend.  The heat wasn't unbearable, but it was very warm.  My late summer garden is still producing - blooms, green beans, strawberries and tomatoes.  The hummingbirds are still making their daily pilgrimage to grab a quick break, lunch, dinner or snack at my hummingbird feeders.  I sure enjoy watching them.

Saturday morning, Charly and I took a walk and then went to a nearby thrift store to look around.  I found a couple large cuts of 100% cotton fabric that I decided to get for my stash, just in case I end up making some more masks or something else.  

I also found this book, at the thrift store,  that I have heard a lot about and really want to read. It was only $2!  Score!

Saturday afternoon, I took some time to write emails to my two Senators and my Congressional Representative about what is going on with the Post Office.  I am not going to get political, but I will say I am not happy with what is going on with the USPS, and especially what a certain person who lives in a big White House, is doing to suppress the upcoming election.  I took the time to make my views known.

Sunday morning, I slept in until 7:45!  That is the latest I have slept in for a long, long time.  I must have been tired.  When Charly and I were out for our Sunday morning walk, we saw this little guy running up a tree.

We had church at home, as usual.  It has been almost six months now since we last met with our congregation. 

Sunday dinner was ham steaks, mashed potatoes, green beans, asparagus and French bread.

I also baked these "hot chocolate" cookies for Sunday dinner dessert and they were super good!

Sunday night after dinner, Josh wanted to go for a little hike with me and Charly decided to come along.  It was a nice evening walk at a place not far from our home. It was a very nice end to the weekend. 

Tomorrow all the students come back to school.  I am worried, but have no choice.  If 15 students or staff test positive for COVID, the school will close for two weeks and all learning will go completely online. We will see what happens. I am taking precautions, praying and trusting God. Should be an interesting year.  

Have a good week and be sure to stop by again soon.

 

Best of the Week - Friday Faves

Another busy week and another late post, but better late than never, as I join with Susanne other other grateful bloggers over at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five.  Let's get started.

Back to School - It was my first week back at school. This week was teacher meetings, planning and preparation. The students come back next week.   Our district gave teachers N95 masks,

 face shields,

hand sanitizer,

and surface sanitizer.

All three of the plexiglass desk shields I ordered came and are now in place on my desk.  I hope that all the PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and sanitizing helps keep me, my students  and all the other teachers and staff at the school, safe and healthy. I am doing all I can and then putting my trust in God.

Good lunches - One of the really nice things about the first week back at school, is that our principal provides the teachers with lunch several days.  The lunches provided this past week were really good, and it was nice to be able to eat at my desk while working to get ready for school. 

New blog book - the company I use to make books out of my blog posts had a 35% off sale a couple of weeks ago, so I ordered the last year of blogs I needed to have a complete set (until this year is over). The book came this week, and it was the usual awesome quality we have come to expect from these blog books. They are a great record and keepsake of our family.  I now have a complete set of blog books that goes back to when I first started blogging in 2007.  

Evening Walks - Because I am back at school now, I can no longer walk with Charly in the morning, so we have been walking in the evening. 

I am grateful that I live in a safe neighborhood where I can walk with Charly safely at night. 

Fall is Coming - this past week has been really hot in Utah where I live, but as Charly and I walked tonight, I noticed that some leaves are already starting to fall from the trees. Fall is on the way.  The temperatures will cool down, and soon it will be sweater weather. 

A Quick and Easy Repair - The 1996 Corolla that Josh drives, had a little problem last week.  The tail lights stayed on, and were draining the battery.  We feared there might be a short or other problem in the electrical system, which, on a car this old, could be quite expensive to fix.  Our mechanic found the problem, a faulty switch,  and it only cost a little over $60 to repair,  so now the tail lights go off and stay off and don't drain the battery. 

Thanks for stopping by to see some of the best things about the past week.  Have a good weekend and come back again soon!

Our Mid-August Weekend and Beginning of the New Week

Both Saturday and Sunday, we walked around our neighborhood in both the morning and the evening.  As we walked, I took particular notice of all the beautiful mature trees along our route.  I am grateful we have such a variety of lovely big trees in the neighborhood. 

Saturday was a mostly "at home" day.  The only time we left was when Charly went to the bank, and I went to Costco.  In the afternoon, I worked a bit on this puzzle that I started several weeks ago.  As you can see, the puzzle is going super slow, but I did make a little progress. I worked on it again Sunday afternoon. 

We had church at home, once more, on Sunday. Later, I did some indexing and took a nap that was wonderful.  I woke up feeling much better.  

We had one of my favorite dinners on Sunday, country fried steak, mashed potatoes and country gravy and stir fried veggies and ramen noodles. 

I started a new book Sunday night, before bed.  Charly has been wanting me to read a Preston and Child book, so this is the one I choose.  I was tired so read only the first two chapters, but I was left wanting more, so I will read it again tonight.  

Monday, it was back to school. We had another big teacher meeting in the auditorium, in the morning, then in the afternoon we had time to work on lesson plans in our classrooms. 

After getting home, we ate dinner, then decided, since we had nothing else going on tonight, to go get our flu shots since we heard on the news that they are now available. We actually went three different pharmacies in search of a flu shot - Walgreens, Walmart and CVS, but the shot was only available at CVS.  Charly, Josh and I all got the flu shot, and I also got the shingles vaccine.   

When we got home, Charly and I went for an evening walk around the neighborhood, then I watched the Democratic National Convention for a while. Don't worry, I plan to watch the Republican National Convention as well.   I'm kind of a political junkie and enjoy watching political conventions.  I know, pretty weird, but I've always been interested in politics, since I was little girl listening to my dad and his mother talk politics. My grandma had a picture of John F. Kennedy in her little kitchen dining area.  By the way, Michelle Obama's speech was pretty awesome!  I have always thought she is a class act.  

That was my weekend and the beginning of the new week.  I will close with a quote by Michelle Obama, that I love. Have a good week.

 

Best of the Week for Mid-August

Here I am once again, later in the day than usual thanks to my being back at school, but still looking at the good things that happened in my week.  I am linking again with Susanne and friends over at Living to Tell the Story for...

Back to School - It was back-to-school for me on Thursday of this week. This is our opening staff meeting in the auditorium.  It was socially distanced and all the teachers wore masks. 

While I am not happy that we will have no social distancing for students in the classroom, I do feel that our principal is doing her best to deal with the situation our district has put us in.  We have been given masks and face shields, and I have purchased some more PPE on my own. 

Despite the challenges of going back to school this year, I am grateful to have a job that provides us a good income and benefits we need.  I am also glad that the first two days back have gone well. I got a lot of lesson planning and preparation done.  We will have more teacher meetings next week, then students come back on Monday, August 24. 

Morning and Evening Walks - With me being back in school, morning walks with Charly are not going to happen on weekdays any more, but I have enjoyed them.  Here are some pictures from our last morning walk of the summer.  Since Charly is now retired, he walks by himself in the morning and then we walk together in the evening.  

A Final Summer Project Complete -  I have been wanting to clean out my container cupboard since we went on lock down in March, but never got around to it until the night before school started.  Charly helped, and we took everything off of both shelves, and threw away some containers that lacked lids or that we didn't use much.  The cupboard looks better and it is now easier to find what we are looking for now. 

Vacation Memories -  After our lovely vacation to Yellowstone at the end of July, I decided to order a photo books of some of the pictures I took.  The book came this week, and we were so pleased with how it turned out.  It is nice to have a way to remember this great vacation. 

Birthday Wishes for a Friend - it was my friend Lara's birthday yesterday, so earlier today I got a birthday cake from my favorite bakery and took it to her.  We had a little chat on her front porch.  I was glad to have a reason to go see her and have a visit.  She is a lovely woman and a good friend.

A New Office Chair - We bought a new office chair for my desk.  Charly assembled it today and it is so much more comfortable than the old folding chair I had been using to work at my desk.  My back is very happy about this new chair.

Those are some of the best things in my world this past week.  I hope you also had some good things in your week.  Have a good weekend.