My daughter came over today to spend some time with me. (This is a big deal when your daughter lives in her own apartment.) She came to spend some one-on-one time in honor of Mother’s Day, but we ended up talking about her father. She wanted to find a photograph of him from back when … Continue reading Memory Lane

I’m not fine. We’re going on, like, week 8 of isolation. I have not finished my novel, organized my garage, or taken homeschooling to a whole new level. I have gained 5 pounds, sampled several grocery delivery services, over-consumed news, and worried about everything from how to make it through the next day to mankind’s … Continue reading Sick of This

Starting tomorrow, our school district will begin graded distance learning. They have been providing enrichment learning for the past month, and now it’s time to make it count. As the parent of a kid who is in a special education setting the majority of the time, I’m not sure exactly what that’s going to look … Continue reading Graded Distance Learning, Here We Come!

I feel like this pandemic is teaching me things. I think many of them I already knew, but there are some new ones thrown in for good measure. Maybe some of them aren’t lessons per se, but reminders or clarifications. Either way, the introspection isolating brings is, in many ways, eye-opening. One clarification is that … Continue reading Pandemic Lessons

I was able to enjoy a Zoom meeting with three girlfriends yesterday, and one of them - a health and wellness coach - reminded us all to use the words “and that’s ok” after every feeling we’re experiencing right now. It’s far too easy to beat ourselves up for not being “productive” or feeling completely … Continue reading In the Suck

As I put my head on my pillow tonight, I am especially grateful for our health. My partner is an essential school employee. Two weeks ago, he was in the same room and possibly/likely interacted with a parent who later tested positive for COVID-19. Several of his co-workers were also in the room, and all … Continue reading A Bit of Gratitude

I am experiencing so many different emotions these days. It’s hard to know where to land with them, you know? I’m grieving. I don’t think we will be going back to any kind of normal we had before this virus took hold. I wonder if we will return to hand shakes or stick with smiles … Continue reading Feeling the Feels

I woke up exhausted yesterday morning. When that happens, I know I’m one step down the path to depression, and I need to do something or else things will spiral. I’ve been giving myself a lot of grace this past week, but one more day watching the news in my sweats wasn’t going to cut … Continue reading Depression Mitigation

As I sit here this morning with my coffee and my thoughts, I hear the Waste Management trucks moving up and down the street, collecting the neighborhood trash and recycling. I’ve also read posts from people bitching about how the school districts aren’t doing enough to provide actual, graded online learning for our kids right … Continue reading The “Little” Guys