Here's to a better day today.
Husband had a deadline, had to go to work.
I had a massive headache, and couldn't get work done.
Little kid just not into schoolwork, but hey, he read his book for 2-3 hours, good enough for me.
The cheap TV we bought 5 weeks ago to use as a spare monitor for me broke. Sigh.
The dog managed to get away from me while we were all walking and attacked another dog. She's 12 lbs and missing most of her teeth. So she cannot do damage but she scared the crap out of everyone and rushed after a poor dog that had just had surgery.
Today will be a better day.
I ran 4 rounds of 3 min hill repeats + 400 m fast repeats and at least I'm tired!
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
I need a vacation
I need a recharge. I haven't had time off since December (except for a 4 day weekend in Feb). I have not traveled since before Thanksgiving. And, I cannot travel.
We missed spring break (work, COVID). I canceled the summer vacay to Hawaii (bummer). To recharge, I like to
- See new places
- Spend time outdoors with my family (hiking, walking, swimming)
- Spend time relaxing (reading, playing games)
- Spend less time doing chores (cooking, laundry)
- Trying new foods and treats.
How do I get that during a Pandemic? Do I just start taking an afternoon off mid-week to go to the beach? (When nobody else is there?) Do I try and take my kids to a hike during an off-time? Is there an off-time when so many people aren't working?
I really sort of wish I could pick up and spend the entire summer in Upstate NY with husband's family, working from a cabin on a lake. But I cannot - that would be irresponsible in the current situation.
We are going to talk. And make a plan. I've been feeling particularly down today. I have a headache (hormones), have missed quite a bit of sleep the last 3 days (hormones), and work is getting me a bit down (somehow, some way, a lot of the blame for "missed things" comes back to me, and I really don't get paid enough to get blamed for so many things.)
I took a mid day break for 10 minutes to snuggle my 7 year old in the hammock.
We missed spring break (work, COVID). I canceled the summer vacay to Hawaii (bummer). To recharge, I like to
- See new places
- Spend time outdoors with my family (hiking, walking, swimming)
- Spend time relaxing (reading, playing games)
- Spend less time doing chores (cooking, laundry)
- Trying new foods and treats.
How do I get that during a Pandemic? Do I just start taking an afternoon off mid-week to go to the beach? (When nobody else is there?) Do I try and take my kids to a hike during an off-time? Is there an off-time when so many people aren't working?
I really sort of wish I could pick up and spend the entire summer in Upstate NY with husband's family, working from a cabin on a lake. But I cannot - that would be irresponsible in the current situation.
We are going to talk. And make a plan. I've been feeling particularly down today. I have a headache (hormones), have missed quite a bit of sleep the last 3 days (hormones), and work is getting me a bit down (somehow, some way, a lot of the blame for "missed things" comes back to me, and I really don't get paid enough to get blamed for so many things.)
I took a mid day break for 10 minutes to snuggle my 7 year old in the hammock.
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Weekly Meal Plan
Snacks:
Homemade bread, strawberries, apples, bananas, tangerines, and snacks from nuts.com (MMs, PB pretzels)
Thursday
L: leftover takeout Mexican
D: Leftover pasta, kale chips
Friday
L: Sandwiches (turkey, grilled cheese), snap peas, cucumber, carrots
D: Nachos, leftover pasta, sauteed shrimp with avocado lime cilantro sauce (shrimp given to us by a neighbor, and I'm the only one who likes it!)
Saturday
L: Mac and cheese, salad. Leftover shrimp and defrosted posole for me.
D: Red lentil curry, brown rice/ quinoa (cleaning out the freezer before our next costco run), microwaved broccoli. No stove.
Sunday:
B: takeout from our fave place
L: Stir fry ramen with broccoli, green onion, carrot, if anyone is hungry
D: Instant pot chicken and veggie stew.
Monday:
L: Sandwiches (if we still have bread), salad
D: Leftover stew, kale chips
Tuesday
L: I really have no idea. Maybe mac and cheese?
D. Favorite chicken/ last of the homemade veg burgers, broccoli
Wednesday:
L: takeout TBD
D: Afghan kidney bean curry and rice
Homemade bread, strawberries, apples, bananas, tangerines, and snacks from nuts.com (MMs, PB pretzels)
Thursday
L: leftover takeout Mexican
D: Leftover pasta, kale chips
Friday
L: Sandwiches (turkey, grilled cheese), snap peas, cucumber, carrots
D: Nachos, leftover pasta, sauteed shrimp with avocado lime cilantro sauce (shrimp given to us by a neighbor, and I'm the only one who likes it!)
Saturday
L: Mac and cheese, salad. Leftover shrimp and defrosted posole for me.
D: Red lentil curry, brown rice/ quinoa (cleaning out the freezer before our next costco run), microwaved broccoli. No stove.
Sunday:
B: takeout from our fave place
L: Stir fry ramen with broccoli, green onion, carrot, if anyone is hungry
D: Instant pot chicken and veggie stew.
Monday:
L: Sandwiches (if we still have bread), salad
D: Leftover stew, kale chips
Tuesday
L: I really have no idea. Maybe mac and cheese?
D. Favorite chicken/ last of the homemade veg burgers, broccoli
Wednesday:
L: takeout TBD
D: Afghan kidney bean curry and rice
Monday, April 20, 2020
COVID-19 Days 37 through 39
Day 37 (Saturday) 4/18/2020
- Long easy run, 7.15 miles, 30/30 run/walk. For 75 minutes, did easy then 20 minutes at 90/30. It was pretty, but there was a fair bit of car traffic. Bummer, but will likely do the same route next week.
- We did not clean this weekend again. Lazy.
- Husband doing a lot of yard work.
- I made gluten free ramen with vegetables and edamame for dinner. It was delish.
- We watched Guardians of the Galaxy
Day 38 (Sunday) 4/19/2020
- Easy morning walk through the nearby neighborhood (I woke early), didn't see a soul.
- half of a yoga class, streamed through IG
- I've hit 10k steps now 11 days in a row, my longest streak. Can I get 30?
- I did so much food prep with the chili in the crockpot, plus cooking beets and beet greens, washing berries, making a fruit salad
- made 2 reusable teabags. Need to wash them first.
- Did his art assignment "mend something", he helped fix a broken table.
- Almost caught up on Call the Midwife
Day 39 (Monday) 4/20/2020
- LIIFT4 chest and tri week 4. I should increase my weights.
- We moved small kid's desk into my office because my husband can't get a full workday when he shares the living room. So, now I can't get in a full work day, but my husband makes more money and is hourly. So it makes no sense for him to work reduced hours.
- Little guy did good today. I mean, he procrastinated and whined, and I mentioned do you know what whining does? Makes it take longer until 11:30. Bugger said "no mommy, time is the same whining or not". Ha.
- He did his reading, then his math page. He did day 1 of a week long set of science videos and drew a picture of a spider and wrote about it.
- He painted a picture, played with his plastic bow and arrow, hung out in the hammock, and had fun with a water gun.
- He had his specials zoom class, and now we know his PE for the week (yoga, tree pose for time, and dancing), art (make earth art), and music (make a musical instrument from a can and a rubber band).
- He did his writing, but not without complaining.
- My nuts.com shipment came today, and it wasn't supposed to even ship until today. Nevertheless, email told me it was here, and I found it underneath my neighbor's mailbox. So now I have snacks.
- I opened my box of 100 cal chocolate bars from Trader Joe's, to eat one of the last 2 bars. I found one bar, and an empty wrapper, sealed and everything. What a bummer.
- Today is a heavy paperwork day for me. I am slogging through it. Dinner is leftover chili and kale chips.
- Long easy run, 7.15 miles, 30/30 run/walk. For 75 minutes, did easy then 20 minutes at 90/30. It was pretty, but there was a fair bit of car traffic. Bummer, but will likely do the same route next week.
- We did not clean this weekend again. Lazy.
- Husband doing a lot of yard work.
- I made gluten free ramen with vegetables and edamame for dinner. It was delish.
- We watched Guardians of the Galaxy
Day 38 (Sunday) 4/19/2020
- Easy morning walk through the nearby neighborhood (I woke early), didn't see a soul.
- half of a yoga class, streamed through IG
- I've hit 10k steps now 11 days in a row, my longest streak. Can I get 30?
- I did so much food prep with the chili in the crockpot, plus cooking beets and beet greens, washing berries, making a fruit salad
- made 2 reusable teabags. Need to wash them first.
- Did his art assignment "mend something", he helped fix a broken table.
- Almost caught up on Call the Midwife
Day 39 (Monday) 4/20/2020
- LIIFT4 chest and tri week 4. I should increase my weights.
- We moved small kid's desk into my office because my husband can't get a full workday when he shares the living room. So, now I can't get in a full work day, but my husband makes more money and is hourly. So it makes no sense for him to work reduced hours.
- Little guy did good today. I mean, he procrastinated and whined, and I mentioned do you know what whining does? Makes it take longer until 11:30. Bugger said "no mommy, time is the same whining or not". Ha.
- He did his reading, then his math page. He did day 1 of a week long set of science videos and drew a picture of a spider and wrote about it.
- He painted a picture, played with his plastic bow and arrow, hung out in the hammock, and had fun with a water gun.
- He had his specials zoom class, and now we know his PE for the week (yoga, tree pose for time, and dancing), art (make earth art), and music (make a musical instrument from a can and a rubber band).
- He did his writing, but not without complaining.
- My nuts.com shipment came today, and it wasn't supposed to even ship until today. Nevertheless, email told me it was here, and I found it underneath my neighbor's mailbox. So now I have snacks.
- I opened my box of 100 cal chocolate bars from Trader Joe's, to eat one of the last 2 bars. I found one bar, and an empty wrapper, sealed and everything. What a bummer.
- Today is a heavy paperwork day for me. I am slogging through it. Dinner is leftover chili and kale chips.
Sunday, April 19, 2020
This week's (well, half week's) meal plan
I have been trying several ways to keep track of ... well ... everything. Work, my kids' zoom meetings and homework, my training plan, our pantry and groceries, meals. I've been testing out the free version of Paprika for grocery stores, meals, and recipes. I really like it and will likely upgrade to the paid version. Right now I don't use it as much as I could, because: overwhelmed.
I spend a lot of time cooking and chopping these days. The best way for me to keep track of everything is to
1. Make a list of what veggies we have by end Thursday, after we get the Thursday box
2. Write down what we are getting in the Saturday box.
3. Meal plan around those. Also helpful because I can see what we might need to add to the next week's Thursday or Saturday box. So, here goes:
Thursday:
Lunch: leftover takeout pizza for family, leftover something else for me
Dinner: chard and potato soup (we got chard, potatoes, spring onions in the Thursday box), and gluten free cornbread
Friday:
Lunch: leftover chard and potato soup and cornbread
Dinner: Refried bean nachos, steamed broccoli
Saturday:
Snack: bananas, apples
Lunch: salad and turkey/grilled cheese sandwiches
Dinner: ramen stir fry (with brown rice/millet ramen, broccoli, carrots, green beans) and edamame
Sunday:
Lunch: Strawberries, raw veg (snap peas, carrots, cucumber, leftover edamame), and leftover pasta with sauteed beet greens thrown in (for me)/ sandwiches
Dinner: crockpot black bean and sweet potato chili (that was a LOT of chopping this morning).
Monday:
Lunch: salad with steamed beets and the last of the goat cheese, quesadillas?
Dinner: leftover chili and kale chips
Tuesday:
Lunch: salad and leftover chili or boxed mac and cheese
Dinner: Thai red chicken curry with broccoli and carrots over brown rice (I used canned chicken)
Wednesday:
Lunch: takeout Mexican
Dinner: One pot pasta with the last of the sausage, onions, and zucchini. Leftover broccoli
Thursday:
Lunch: Whatever we happen to have to scrounge from the freezer.
Dinner: Leftover pasta
I spend a lot of time cooking and chopping these days. The best way for me to keep track of everything is to
1. Make a list of what veggies we have by end Thursday, after we get the Thursday box
2. Write down what we are getting in the Saturday box.
3. Meal plan around those. Also helpful because I can see what we might need to add to the next week's Thursday or Saturday box. So, here goes:
Thursday:
Lunch: leftover takeout pizza for family, leftover something else for me
Dinner: chard and potato soup (we got chard, potatoes, spring onions in the Thursday box), and gluten free cornbread
Friday:
Lunch: leftover chard and potato soup and cornbread
Dinner: Refried bean nachos, steamed broccoli
Saturday:
Snack: bananas, apples
Lunch: salad and turkey/grilled cheese sandwiches
Dinner: ramen stir fry (with brown rice/millet ramen, broccoli, carrots, green beans) and edamame
Sunday:
Lunch: Strawberries, raw veg (snap peas, carrots, cucumber, leftover edamame), and leftover pasta with sauteed beet greens thrown in (for me)/ sandwiches
Dinner: crockpot black bean and sweet potato chili (that was a LOT of chopping this morning).
Monday:
Lunch: salad with steamed beets and the last of the goat cheese, quesadillas?
Dinner: leftover chili and kale chips
Tuesday:
Lunch: salad and leftover chili or boxed mac and cheese
Dinner: Thai red chicken curry with broccoli and carrots over brown rice (I used canned chicken)
Wednesday:
Lunch: takeout Mexican
Dinner: One pot pasta with the last of the sausage, onions, and zucchini. Leftover broccoli
Thursday:
Lunch: Whatever we happen to have to scrounge from the freezer.
Dinner: Leftover pasta
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Friday, April 17, 2020
COVID-19 Day 32 through 36
COVID 19 Day 32 (Monday) 4/13/2020
- LIIFT4 back and biceps week 3
- work. But it was difficult. Difficult to get 7 yo on task (because he's 7). He will literally spend more time arguing about doing his writing, than actually writing.
- Lunch: leftover chickpea/green bean/quinoa salad. Went for a lunch walk. Needed it. Checked out the little free libraries (2 of them) and was able to find space for 5 more books. We have piles to donate, which I'm doing at 3-8 books a week.
- Get home at 1:29, wondering why nobody is trying to get the 7 yo on his specials zoom class. Do that. Set him up at my desk in his room. Attempt to send emails while sitting on his bed, listening with half an ear to his PE, Music, and Art teachers to figure out his assignments. Both kids on zoom calls and husband on a conf call at the same time.
- Realize he's not gonna want to do his assignments.
- Finally eject him back to the living room and leave it for husband to keep him on task for the rest of the day. Get mad that all the kids want to eat is JUNK.
- Get real work done!
- Dinner (leftover beans and rice, kale). Cookie. Walk the dog. Watch a guy in an SUV run out of gas, try to stop his car, get dragged by the SUV as it rolls down the hill and hits a tree. Scary, but literally nothing we could do except watch and tell him "let go of the car" when it was dragging him. He was fine, went off to gas station in his friend's car to get gas.
- Turned on Youtube in the "office" and did a 15 minute walk video (whichever one came up). Then watched a Call the Midwife on PBS and walked in place. 5 days in a row over 10k steps, whee!!
- Read my book until I finished it. Bed 9:30.
COVID 19 Day 33 (Tuesday) 4/14/2020
- up at 6:15, out the door for my run by 6:30, whee! 4x1200m repeats with 200m recovery. 4 miles total, it was spicy. Slightly fewer people out than if I leave at 7 (yay), but a LOT more workers heading to work (boo).
- eggs and tortillas for breakfast. Tea.
- WORK. Meetings. And scheduling more meetings. So many meetings.
- Husband went grocery shopping. The only one who noticed was the dog. I finished a conf call and little guy runs in and says "I went to look outside for daddy and Kit ran out the door!" So I run out and she's in the street. Dog is afraid of feet, of brooms, but has NO concept of cars. I called to her and she came in. Dodged a bullet there.
- $163 grocery bill later...but we have food. We will live. Should I order 3 lb of lentils on line for $12? I'm torn. I might. They will keep.
- Today I learned that yogurt lasts long past its expiration. Mine is not expired yet.
- Lunch. Sandwiches and broccoli and strawberries.
- Little guy does NOT like to write. A huge battle. Huge. Hubby made him go outside to do it because all he did was whine.
- Finished meetings. Still working. Almost done for the day. Big presentation tomorrow with a customer (conf call, again.) I'm tired.
COVID-19 Day 34 (Wednesday) 4/15/2020
- we have not filed our taxes
- donated 2 handfuls of books at the little free library
- oatmeal for breakfast
- working on pushups, hip and core, in bits and pieces
- Hubs and I have double conf call, kiddo gets extra TV
- Mine was a big one, it went well, yay!
- I made an order for nuts and quinoa, etc, and the company is not taking orders until tomorrow. May switch to amazon.
- Daniel did the hardest thing first today (writing). He did great.
- When I was done with conf call, we went outside and he did 111 jumps with the jump rope, and also did some pushups (he didn't want to do school work). I did get him to work on his art project after.
- It is really hard keeping track of all the things he has to do every day.
- Boys ordered pizza, I had leftovers and then went on a little free library walk. Now I know that 2 of the ones further away have space, so I can donate more books on my Friday walk. It was hard to dodge people, lots of folks enjoying the 70s weather and blooming flowers.
- Afternoon full of conf calls
COVID-19 Day 35 (Thursday) 4/16/2020
- Woke up at 4:55. Successfully placed nuts.com order. Will be here next Friday. I am spending so much on food.
- Ran my hill repeats on the next hill over. It's much more gradual than mine, and no traffic. So: nice. Saw two friends in their vehicles on their way to work, both contractors. I see them often. Today's run felt GREAT.
- Morning meeting went fine. Not really feeling up to work by now. The 7yo is over school. So, he had an hour and 15 minute zoom class. For some reason, he's too shy to share, so one of us has to be there to make sure he shows his work. She let him share his stuff at the very end after everyone left, and encouraged him to share with the class. Man, he has work.
- I missed lunch with the fam. After lunch and some work on his weekly art project for school (I helped!), I sent an email to the teacher with a picture, then we had a cookie. We sat in the sun (hot!) in the hammock and relaxed. Eventually, we watched Hubs and big kid do their jump rope.
- He did some reading, and some other work, but I think he's tired. We are tired of encouraging him to do his work, constantly. For next week, he has the art project, math pages, more reading, more writing, and some science thing. Oh, and music.
- Breakfast: avo toast with eggs, (kids had cereal and strawberries). I am hungry. I also had 2 cookies, crackers, fruit, granola, a handful of dry cereal, a little leftover pasta, a turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch, and carrot sticks.
- meetings
- dinner: potato chard soup and cornbread made with a flax egg. It's good.
- watched an episode of Call the Midwife
- my big kid is ruining my little kid by teaching him fortnite
COVID-19 Day 36 (Friday) 4/17/2020
- Started with LIIFT4 shoulders/HIIT, oatmeal, and a walk with hubs and dog
- morning work and conf call. Help Daniel with art and writing.
- another conf call
- walk to little free library and donate books. SOOOO many people out at 11:30 am.
- lunch (soup and cornbread, leftover)
- finally got stinky teenager to shower
- afternoon music with little kid (fill glasses with water and made music!)
- afternoon conf call and work
- order gluten free bread from local bakery, for pick up next week
- get shamed into checking out blood donation schedules (haven't donated in more than 8 years, pre 2nd kid, and I've always been training for a race. Turns out, they aren't open much and the few times that I have time, they are full. I can't book out 3 weeks from now, I don't know my meeting schedule. SO...I'll try again in a few weeks.)
- shop Amazon, add a few things to cart, will decide if I need them later. (food)
- answered a survey from the junior high about our connectivity (they are trying to get kids to log into school, not all have WiFI).
- planned out next week's meals through Weds
- going to go make nachos and broccoli and watch a movie
- LIIFT4 back and biceps week 3
- work. But it was difficult. Difficult to get 7 yo on task (because he's 7). He will literally spend more time arguing about doing his writing, than actually writing.
- Lunch: leftover chickpea/green bean/quinoa salad. Went for a lunch walk. Needed it. Checked out the little free libraries (2 of them) and was able to find space for 5 more books. We have piles to donate, which I'm doing at 3-8 books a week.
- Get home at 1:29, wondering why nobody is trying to get the 7 yo on his specials zoom class. Do that. Set him up at my desk in his room. Attempt to send emails while sitting on his bed, listening with half an ear to his PE, Music, and Art teachers to figure out his assignments. Both kids on zoom calls and husband on a conf call at the same time.
- Realize he's not gonna want to do his assignments.
- Finally eject him back to the living room and leave it for husband to keep him on task for the rest of the day. Get mad that all the kids want to eat is JUNK.
- Get real work done!
- Dinner (leftover beans and rice, kale). Cookie. Walk the dog. Watch a guy in an SUV run out of gas, try to stop his car, get dragged by the SUV as it rolls down the hill and hits a tree. Scary, but literally nothing we could do except watch and tell him "let go of the car" when it was dragging him. He was fine, went off to gas station in his friend's car to get gas.
- Turned on Youtube in the "office" and did a 15 minute walk video (whichever one came up). Then watched a Call the Midwife on PBS and walked in place. 5 days in a row over 10k steps, whee!!
- Read my book until I finished it. Bed 9:30.
COVID 19 Day 33 (Tuesday) 4/14/2020
- up at 6:15, out the door for my run by 6:30, whee! 4x1200m repeats with 200m recovery. 4 miles total, it was spicy. Slightly fewer people out than if I leave at 7 (yay), but a LOT more workers heading to work (boo).
- eggs and tortillas for breakfast. Tea.
- WORK. Meetings. And scheduling more meetings. So many meetings.
- Husband went grocery shopping. The only one who noticed was the dog. I finished a conf call and little guy runs in and says "I went to look outside for daddy and Kit ran out the door!" So I run out and she's in the street. Dog is afraid of feet, of brooms, but has NO concept of cars. I called to her and she came in. Dodged a bullet there.
- $163 grocery bill later...but we have food. We will live. Should I order 3 lb of lentils on line for $12? I'm torn. I might. They will keep.
- Today I learned that yogurt lasts long past its expiration. Mine is not expired yet.
- Lunch. Sandwiches and broccoli and strawberries.
- Little guy does NOT like to write. A huge battle. Huge. Hubby made him go outside to do it because all he did was whine.
- Finished meetings. Still working. Almost done for the day. Big presentation tomorrow with a customer (conf call, again.) I'm tired.
COVID-19 Day 34 (Wednesday) 4/15/2020
- we have not filed our taxes
- donated 2 handfuls of books at the little free library
- oatmeal for breakfast
- working on pushups, hip and core, in bits and pieces
- Hubs and I have double conf call, kiddo gets extra TV
- Mine was a big one, it went well, yay!
- I made an order for nuts and quinoa, etc, and the company is not taking orders until tomorrow. May switch to amazon.
- Daniel did the hardest thing first today (writing). He did great.
- When I was done with conf call, we went outside and he did 111 jumps with the jump rope, and also did some pushups (he didn't want to do school work). I did get him to work on his art project after.
- It is really hard keeping track of all the things he has to do every day.
- Boys ordered pizza, I had leftovers and then went on a little free library walk. Now I know that 2 of the ones further away have space, so I can donate more books on my Friday walk. It was hard to dodge people, lots of folks enjoying the 70s weather and blooming flowers.
- Afternoon full of conf calls
COVID-19 Day 35 (Thursday) 4/16/2020
- Woke up at 4:55. Successfully placed nuts.com order. Will be here next Friday. I am spending so much on food.
- Ran my hill repeats on the next hill over. It's much more gradual than mine, and no traffic. So: nice. Saw two friends in their vehicles on their way to work, both contractors. I see them often. Today's run felt GREAT.
- Morning meeting went fine. Not really feeling up to work by now. The 7yo is over school. So, he had an hour and 15 minute zoom class. For some reason, he's too shy to share, so one of us has to be there to make sure he shows his work. She let him share his stuff at the very end after everyone left, and encouraged him to share with the class. Man, he has work.
- I missed lunch with the fam. After lunch and some work on his weekly art project for school (I helped!), I sent an email to the teacher with a picture, then we had a cookie. We sat in the sun (hot!) in the hammock and relaxed. Eventually, we watched Hubs and big kid do their jump rope.
- He did some reading, and some other work, but I think he's tired. We are tired of encouraging him to do his work, constantly. For next week, he has the art project, math pages, more reading, more writing, and some science thing. Oh, and music.
- Breakfast: avo toast with eggs, (kids had cereal and strawberries). I am hungry. I also had 2 cookies, crackers, fruit, granola, a handful of dry cereal, a little leftover pasta, a turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch, and carrot sticks.
- meetings
- dinner: potato chard soup and cornbread made with a flax egg. It's good.
- watched an episode of Call the Midwife
- my big kid is ruining my little kid by teaching him fortnite
COVID-19 Day 36 (Friday) 4/17/2020
- Started with LIIFT4 shoulders/HIIT, oatmeal, and a walk with hubs and dog
- morning work and conf call. Help Daniel with art and writing.
- another conf call
- walk to little free library and donate books. SOOOO many people out at 11:30 am.
- lunch (soup and cornbread, leftover)
- finally got stinky teenager to shower
- afternoon music with little kid (fill glasses with water and made music!)
- afternoon conf call and work
- order gluten free bread from local bakery, for pick up next week
- get shamed into checking out blood donation schedules (haven't donated in more than 8 years, pre 2nd kid, and I've always been training for a race. Turns out, they aren't open much and the few times that I have time, they are full. I can't book out 3 weeks from now, I don't know my meeting schedule. SO...I'll try again in a few weeks.)
- shop Amazon, add a few things to cart, will decide if I need them later. (food)
- answered a survey from the junior high about our connectivity (they are trying to get kids to log into school, not all have WiFI).
- planned out next week's meals through Weds
- going to go make nachos and broccoli and watch a movie
Monday, April 13, 2020
COVID-19 Days 26 to 31
Day 26 (Wednesday) 4/8/2020
- Teenager is a butthead and has lost all video game privileges for the day.
- Did a few minutes of hip work. Went for a short walk, too many people. Hard to dodge, put my buff over my face a lot.
- had sauteed mushrooms and eggs with toast for breakfast. Yum.
- Kids had bar/cereal/strawberries
- Daniel likes to do his reading in his bed while I work next to him at the desk. It's our thing.
- lunch is a sea of nachos and grilled cheese and mac and cheese and I just don't remember. This was probably the day hubby and kids at the last of the salad so I actually had to make myself broccoli.
- I think we had pasta for dinner
Day: 27 (Thursday) 4/9/2020
- morning run, terrible, I didn't stretch and I'm a dummy. It hurt, ended up walking home.
- Daniel had his second zoom meeting. He had to pick a book he found on a website (for school), listen to it and write about it. He fights a lot less when the teacher assigns him a writing task.
- a million conf calls, and the other 3 people in my family were on at the same time. That was fun.
- Lunch was a mixture of leftover broccoli, lentils, potatoes, and cauliflower. Good.
- dinner, leftover pasta. And some kind of vegetable.
- my first finger on my right hand is having problems with circulation. Need to email the doc.
Day 28 (Friday) 4/10/2020
- LIIFT4 chest and triceps week 3
- made homemade rosemary olive oil bread, gave loaf to neighbor who gave us a bunch of meat from his freezer.
- kids did minimal school today, but we did some coloring.
- ordered groceries and food from a local restaurant. Whole wheat flour is hard to come by, and they are repackaging their bulk flour for sale. Got 10 lb of whole wheat and 5 lb of all purpose for $15. Also got greek yogurt and salt. Their brussels sprout dish was the BOMB, as were the potatoes. They messed up and delivered the groceries without the prepared food, then they had to come back, and food was more than 40 minutes late. Still, it was good.
- I jumped rope. I'm still pretty good at it.
- We canceled my birthday plane tix to Hawaii. Sad. We can't get a refund from AirBNB. Waiting to see if their policy changes (the date doesn't go as far as our trip.)
- I did a walking video and hit 10k steps for the day!!
- We watched Thor 2
- we are out of milk till Tuesday
Day 30 (Saturday) 4/11/2020
- long run, 12:43 pace, 6.4 miles. Into Hope Ranch. Getting there sucks, as it's a narrow road with no shoulder and still a lot of traffic (2/3 gardeners for the fancy homes). But once you get through that section, it's really nice, and not too many people. Running in my hood is nice too, but towards the end it gets hard to social distance.
- made roasted root veg for lunch, because only veg left. (sweet pot, onion, potato, carrot)
- made "Frozen" cookies - found a small batch sugar cookie recipe, and doubled it. It was pretty good. The recipe says you don't need to chill the dough, but it's better if you do. And we also had to figure out how to use cookie cutters with an imprint (Daniel gave them to me for Christmas). Kids and hub say they are good. I frosted with icing made with water (we are out of milk), it was too thin. You cannot tell I used a piping bag, ahem.
- Dinner took all day, sort of. "Beans, rice, chicken", man I love this dish. Used to make it all the time, kid with braces hates rice. Cooked the brown rice in the rice cooker with the flavorings, for spanish rice. Soaked and cooked black beans in pressure cooker. Sauteed onion and bell peppers. Mixed all together with the last of the salsa in a 13x9 casserole, bake. Top with cheese and bake 5 min to melt. Super good with avo and sour cream and chips.
- made a few more masks. Found an easy pattern that uses t-shirt strips that fits really well. Made 3. Found another easy pattern with elastic, made one, and then made another with t-shirt strips.
- a friend wants to buy masks. I am giving away not selling
- We watched Captain America 2.
Day 31 (Sunday) 4/12/2020
- Easter Sunday!
- Bacon and gluten free waffles for breakfast. Big kid (carb boy) only had bacon and little kid (meat boy) only had waffles, what the what?
- Walked the dog with the hubs.
- Lunch - chickpea/quinoa/ green bean salad (with leftovers!), nachos, grilled cheese, last of the pasta.
- Made gluten free almond flour choc chip cookies from the Trader Joe's bag. Used a flax egg instead of an egg. They are delish.
- Dinner was steak (ha), no really it was pork, but we thought it was steak until we cooked it. Good though. Also, I made carrot ginger soup, and it is purple from the one purple carrot. And homemade bread.
- made a few more masks. Sent friend a pic of what is avail. Await his response.
- Week 1, 2 masks. Week 2, 4 masks. Week 3, 8 masks. No I'm not doing 16 next week.
- 10k steps for 4th day in a row, but I had to do laps in the house.
- Teenager is a butthead and has lost all video game privileges for the day.
- Did a few minutes of hip work. Went for a short walk, too many people. Hard to dodge, put my buff over my face a lot.
- had sauteed mushrooms and eggs with toast for breakfast. Yum.
- Kids had bar/cereal/strawberries
- Daniel likes to do his reading in his bed while I work next to him at the desk. It's our thing.
- lunch is a sea of nachos and grilled cheese and mac and cheese and I just don't remember. This was probably the day hubby and kids at the last of the salad so I actually had to make myself broccoli.
- I think we had pasta for dinner
Day: 27 (Thursday) 4/9/2020
- morning run, terrible, I didn't stretch and I'm a dummy. It hurt, ended up walking home.
- Daniel had his second zoom meeting. He had to pick a book he found on a website (for school), listen to it and write about it. He fights a lot less when the teacher assigns him a writing task.
- a million conf calls, and the other 3 people in my family were on at the same time. That was fun.
- Lunch was a mixture of leftover broccoli, lentils, potatoes, and cauliflower. Good.
- dinner, leftover pasta. And some kind of vegetable.
- my first finger on my right hand is having problems with circulation. Need to email the doc.
Day 28 (Friday) 4/10/2020
- LIIFT4 chest and triceps week 3
- made homemade rosemary olive oil bread, gave loaf to neighbor who gave us a bunch of meat from his freezer.
- kids did minimal school today, but we did some coloring.
- ordered groceries and food from a local restaurant. Whole wheat flour is hard to come by, and they are repackaging their bulk flour for sale. Got 10 lb of whole wheat and 5 lb of all purpose for $15. Also got greek yogurt and salt. Their brussels sprout dish was the BOMB, as were the potatoes. They messed up and delivered the groceries without the prepared food, then they had to come back, and food was more than 40 minutes late. Still, it was good.
- I jumped rope. I'm still pretty good at it.
- We canceled my birthday plane tix to Hawaii. Sad. We can't get a refund from AirBNB. Waiting to see if their policy changes (the date doesn't go as far as our trip.)
- I did a walking video and hit 10k steps for the day!!
- We watched Thor 2
- we are out of milk till Tuesday
Day 30 (Saturday) 4/11/2020
- long run, 12:43 pace, 6.4 miles. Into Hope Ranch. Getting there sucks, as it's a narrow road with no shoulder and still a lot of traffic (2/3 gardeners for the fancy homes). But once you get through that section, it's really nice, and not too many people. Running in my hood is nice too, but towards the end it gets hard to social distance.
- made roasted root veg for lunch, because only veg left. (sweet pot, onion, potato, carrot)
- made "Frozen" cookies - found a small batch sugar cookie recipe, and doubled it. It was pretty good. The recipe says you don't need to chill the dough, but it's better if you do. And we also had to figure out how to use cookie cutters with an imprint (Daniel gave them to me for Christmas). Kids and hub say they are good. I frosted with icing made with water (we are out of milk), it was too thin. You cannot tell I used a piping bag, ahem.
- Dinner took all day, sort of. "Beans, rice, chicken", man I love this dish. Used to make it all the time, kid with braces hates rice. Cooked the brown rice in the rice cooker with the flavorings, for spanish rice. Soaked and cooked black beans in pressure cooker. Sauteed onion and bell peppers. Mixed all together with the last of the salsa in a 13x9 casserole, bake. Top with cheese and bake 5 min to melt. Super good with avo and sour cream and chips.
- made a few more masks. Found an easy pattern that uses t-shirt strips that fits really well. Made 3. Found another easy pattern with elastic, made one, and then made another with t-shirt strips.
- a friend wants to buy masks. I am giving away not selling
- We watched Captain America 2.
Day 31 (Sunday) 4/12/2020
- Easter Sunday!
- Bacon and gluten free waffles for breakfast. Big kid (carb boy) only had bacon and little kid (meat boy) only had waffles, what the what?
- Walked the dog with the hubs.
- Lunch - chickpea/quinoa/ green bean salad (with leftovers!), nachos, grilled cheese, last of the pasta.
- Made gluten free almond flour choc chip cookies from the Trader Joe's bag. Used a flax egg instead of an egg. They are delish.
- Dinner was steak (ha), no really it was pork, but we thought it was steak until we cooked it. Good though. Also, I made carrot ginger soup, and it is purple from the one purple carrot. And homemade bread.
- made a few more masks. Sent friend a pic of what is avail. Await his response.
- Week 1, 2 masks. Week 2, 4 masks. Week 3, 8 masks. No I'm not doing 16 next week.
- 10k steps for 4th day in a row, but I had to do laps in the house.
Thursday, April 9, 2020
How to Save Money on Food when you are in Quarantine
You can't.
Okay, that depends.
Are you a typical American who eats 40% of your meals out, and shops at the nearest grocery store?
If so, then cooking at home and shopping less frequently may help decrease your costs.
Are you someone who has a price book, shops at multiple stores to keep prices down, and generally eats at home? Then you are going to spend more money.
I am suddenly feeding 4 people 3 meals and 2 snacks a day.
My kids aren't eating free lunch at school.
We are physical distancing, and trying to shop only every 10 days or so. Husband has been the designated shopper.
We are shopping at only one store, so you pay whatever the cost is and get whatever is there.
We are getting all our fruits and veg in our local boxes, and we are using "add ons" more frequently (eggs, bread, beans, honey, jam), and this is more expensive.
Baking bread 2x a week and eating oatmeal for breakfast doesn't help much with that.
However, what has been helping a LITTLE:
oatmeal
homemade bread
soup for dinner at least 2x a week
beans and rice once or twice a week
Okay, that depends.
Are you a typical American who eats 40% of your meals out, and shops at the nearest grocery store?
If so, then cooking at home and shopping less frequently may help decrease your costs.
Are you someone who has a price book, shops at multiple stores to keep prices down, and generally eats at home? Then you are going to spend more money.
I am suddenly feeding 4 people 3 meals and 2 snacks a day.
My kids aren't eating free lunch at school.
We are physical distancing, and trying to shop only every 10 days or so. Husband has been the designated shopper.
We are shopping at only one store, so you pay whatever the cost is and get whatever is there.
We are getting all our fruits and veg in our local boxes, and we are using "add ons" more frequently (eggs, bread, beans, honey, jam), and this is more expensive.
Baking bread 2x a week and eating oatmeal for breakfast doesn't help much with that.
However, what has been helping a LITTLE:
oatmeal
homemade bread
soup for dinner at least 2x a week
beans and rice once or twice a week
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
COVID-19 Day 21 through 25
Day 21 (Friday) 4/3/2020
- Kettlebell workout partially stolen from my coach's IG feed
- blah blah oatmeal & tea
- Ordered takeout for lunch from Kyle's Kitchen
- Meeting 1, meeting 2, meeting 3, meeting 4 (external, this is a tough crowd - long to do list)
- Frozen pizza and nachos for dinner
- watched another Avengers movie.
- 152 COVID-19 cases, 26 hospitalized, 17 ICU, 1 death
Day 22 (Saturday) 4/4/2020
- Run 5.2 miles, dodge people
- 1.75 social distance walk in the park
- made 4 fabric masks in 4 hours. My back hurts
- trimmed a few quilt blocks
- made barley vegetable soup for dinner, with homemade bread
- put away veggies from the box (no brussels, sad), had tuna salad and canned eggplant from TJs for lunch, plus others had ramen, raw veg, leftover mac and cheese
- I don't remember what movie we are on. Made popcorn and I put choc chips and peanuts in mine
- 168 COVID cases, 26 hospitalized, 17 in ICU, 1 death
Day 23 (Sunday) 4/5/2020
- walk 3+ miles
- egg and toast for breakfast
- veg burger tacos and eggplant for lunch
- apple for snack
- very burned sausage (we tossed most of it) for dinner with stirfried cabbage, peppers, onion
- 174 COVID-19 cases, 19 in ICU, 2 deaths
Day 24 (Monday) 4/6/2020
- Meetings, projects, and SQUIRREL
- LIIFT 4 shoulders
- My office chair came. I ordered wine, it was delivered same day. Not gonna drink it.
- Also got 2 pkgs of tea from a friend (thanks!) and the rubber interlocking play mats for under the hammock.
- Family walk to walk the dog, except not the teen
- Dinner: leftover soup, kale chips
- 192 COVID cases, 19 ICU, 34 hospitalized, 2 deaths
Day 25 (Tuesday) 4/7/2020
- Run 800m repeats. Legs were toast from the squats in the shoulders workout. 3.5 miles total
- It's raining. Kids driving us crazy, lots of crying.
- Had a snack and snuggle with bobo in the morning as he avoided school
- Played legos for a bit
- Kicked kids outside in the rain to have a nerf gun fight
- Daniel built a "fort" in the box my office chair game in. In the pouring rain. Fit two pillows and a blanket in there
- Breakfast, oatmeal. lunch was sandwiches and leftover cabbage. Dinner was Indian roast potatoes and cauliflower with chicken fingers (boys) and Madras lentils (parents)
- Mike and Nick jumped rope and did pushups. Daniel did Ring Fit. Mike and Nick played chess.
- Another bunch of conf calls. People are hard to hear. One coworker requested we wear headsets. Don't have one. Tried Daniel's with the microphone in the ear. They heard buzzing. Ordered one from Amazon, will be here Saturday.
- Family walk (except teen) to walk dog in the rain after dinner. Kit went apeshit at our friend and neighbor's dog Osita, who is just a sweetie.
- watched half of a Top chef.
- Our veg box came, I added strawberries and eggs and mushrooms and garlic this week.
- 218 COVID cases, 42 hospitalized, 19 ICU, 2 deaths. I made a graph
COVID-19 Days 17 and 18 and 19 and 20
Day 17 (Monday) 3/30/2020
- Woke at 5:15 am, sigh
- LIIFT4 back and biceps week 2 (low impact on the HIIT).
- oatmeal with raisins and pecans and brown sugar, the last of the hash, tea
- washed the lettuce for lunch (you know, getting back into the work groove), made fruit salad for snack
- had some cheerios for a snack with a second cup of tea
- work. Kids' last 2 days before school starts again.
- lots of meetings
- we had salad for lunch, I had a shrimp burger from TJ's, and leftover soup for dinner with kale chips
- 88 COVID cases in county, 10 in ICU
Day 18 (Tuesday) 3/31/2020
- Got 9 h of sleep. Track: 600's @9:57-10:16 pace with 200 rec. x6 (3.5 miles)
- oatmeal, tea, muffin
- I'm doing really well drinking water
- 140.2!
- work meetings and meetings
- Got my box. No eggs? I think I screwed up my order. No eggs, no garlic. Sigh.
- leftover black bean soup and ?? I don't remember. Salad? for lunch
- lentils and naan and rice and broccoli for dinner. Last of the ice cream for dessert.
- 99 COVID cases in the county, 11 in ICU
Day 19 (Wednesday) 4/1/2020
- bad sleep again. Stomach hurt, headache
- skipped my hip and core workout, went for a walk
- egg and toast for breakfast. Hubby made pancakes. Almost out of eggs.
- so. many. meetings.
- I have a source - a teacher at one kid's school whose son works at the closest grocery store. He texted me they have eggs! Now we have eggs, and hubby picked up some other things on the list.
- Sent an email that maybe I want to cancel my dependent care FSA, since I'm not using it.
- walked the dog after lunch. And after dinner. Lunch was...shit I don't know anymore.
- added honey, broccoli, and onions to my Saturday box
- leftover cashew pasta for dinner with kale chips
- husband went to kid #2's school to get his bag full of stuff. He started distance learning/ at home schooling. He's 7. This is ... fun.
- 111 COVID cases, not sure how many in ICU but 13 in hospital
Day 20 (Thursday) 4/2/2020
- 9 h sleep again, yay!
- Ran 45 min. Supposed to be "threshold" (comfortably hard, hardly comfortable). It was close enough. 4.2 miles at 10:53 pace.
- oatmeal for breakfast, muffin and fruit for a snack, salad for lunch
- I have 5 conference calls today (FIVE)
- I helped kid #2 with some schoolwork. And we snuggled in our NEW HAMMOCK that husband put together.
- Kid #1 had 2 classes today. No industrial tech, huh, wonder why?? Ha.
- 139 COVID-19, 16 ICU, 1 death, 23 hospitalized, 1147 tested
- Woke at 5:15 am, sigh
- LIIFT4 back and biceps week 2 (low impact on the HIIT).
- oatmeal with raisins and pecans and brown sugar, the last of the hash, tea
- washed the lettuce for lunch (you know, getting back into the work groove), made fruit salad for snack
- had some cheerios for a snack with a second cup of tea
- work. Kids' last 2 days before school starts again.
- lots of meetings
- we had salad for lunch, I had a shrimp burger from TJ's, and leftover soup for dinner with kale chips
- 88 COVID cases in county, 10 in ICU
Day 18 (Tuesday) 3/31/2020
- Got 9 h of sleep. Track: 600's @9:57-10:16 pace with 200 rec. x6 (3.5 miles)
- oatmeal, tea, muffin
- I'm doing really well drinking water
- 140.2!
- work meetings and meetings
- Got my box. No eggs? I think I screwed up my order. No eggs, no garlic. Sigh.
- leftover black bean soup and ?? I don't remember. Salad? for lunch
- lentils and naan and rice and broccoli for dinner. Last of the ice cream for dessert.
- 99 COVID cases in the county, 11 in ICU
Day 19 (Wednesday) 4/1/2020
- bad sleep again. Stomach hurt, headache
- skipped my hip and core workout, went for a walk
- egg and toast for breakfast. Hubby made pancakes. Almost out of eggs.
- so. many. meetings.
- I have a source - a teacher at one kid's school whose son works at the closest grocery store. He texted me they have eggs! Now we have eggs, and hubby picked up some other things on the list.
- Sent an email that maybe I want to cancel my dependent care FSA, since I'm not using it.
- walked the dog after lunch. And after dinner. Lunch was...shit I don't know anymore.
- added honey, broccoli, and onions to my Saturday box
- leftover cashew pasta for dinner with kale chips
- husband went to kid #2's school to get his bag full of stuff. He started distance learning/ at home schooling. He's 7. This is ... fun.
- 111 COVID cases, not sure how many in ICU but 13 in hospital
Day 20 (Thursday) 4/2/2020
- 9 h sleep again, yay!
- Ran 45 min. Supposed to be "threshold" (comfortably hard, hardly comfortable). It was close enough. 4.2 miles at 10:53 pace.
- oatmeal for breakfast, muffin and fruit for a snack, salad for lunch
- I have 5 conference calls today (FIVE)
- I helped kid #2 with some schoolwork. And we snuggled in our NEW HAMMOCK that husband put together.
- Kid #1 had 2 classes today. No industrial tech, huh, wonder why?? Ha.
- 139 COVID-19, 16 ICU, 1 death, 23 hospitalized, 1147 tested
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