Lice, Ice, Bitches & Barf (LIBB)

The girls and I were just a little excited that M’s city council term was finally over on Tuesday!! The girls decided to dress fancy and chose my clothes and accessories. Not pictured, the array of chocolate J put together for him, the beer I picked up in the most contactless way possible, dinner delivered from a local restaurant, K checking on him as he was banished to the deck while the preparations took place. J declared it “annual dad day” because the word “annual” sounded good even  though she didn’t know what it meant. There’s a reason volunteers and the civically engaged tend to be older and retired, from what I’ve observed. 1-3 evening meetings every week for 3.5 yrs. Most were 2-4 hrs each. Many were the first Mon of the month type ones, but there were lots of additional ones that came up with a week’s or few days’ notice. Society benefits from a variety of perspectives and the service of younger people and those with young families, but this configuration ...

It was better. I think we ended the day as friends. But I got a lot less work done. Right about the time relations became contentious I suggested we go outside. We went for a walk along a path and pond about a block from our house. We brought crayons and paper with to do rubbings of the different textures we found. After some grumbling at the beginning, we spent about 1.5 hours total exploring.       And this is the finished art project:

Don't ask.

I don't feel like a good parent under good circumstances, but circumstances require me to be a parent, professor, 2nd grade teacher and pre-K teacher for the foreseeable future. Here are some of the wholesome things we've done so far. Monday we did this scavenger hunt. Some of the proof of what we found from the list:     We also did a whole bunch of sidewalk art.   something that smells good   "Work" lasted about 5 minutes

It seems every day brings a fresh limitation in the name of public health. Every day I think I've adjusted and then suddenly, something new is imposed and the adjustment starts all over again. Faculty were told to prepare for online teaching while students enjoyed an extended spring break.Two people in my dept didn't even know how to post a syllabus in the learning management system (LMS). Of them, one has a 10 yr old daughter approaching her second month of hospitalization for something related to her digestive system. It's life-threatening in that she can't hold food or water down so if she went home they would have no way to feed her. She was finally discharged this week and everyone around her has to be uber careful because her immune system is so compromised. At least COVID-19 leveled the playing field a bit and everyone is supposed to stay away from each other, not just her. In order to help these colleagues and my department as a whole, as chair I had to asse...

Random small pleasures I want to remember: Every summer I strive to cook more and try new recipes. The first I tried was this delicious recipe for low-carb deconstructed cabbage rolls. The second was over easy eggs on sautéed asparagus with herby goat cheese. Also delicious. I went for another long walk (I'm trying to do this daily, even without the dog who's on vacation at my moms'.) And found this beauty: J has really been into reading and writing lately. She'd reading at about a 4th grade level and more interested in writing her own stories. I think her 1st grade teacher's journal and creative writing assignments helped inspire that. So she started this fun written exchange with me.