May 1, 20203 min read

It's COVID 19. I Vote for Three-Day Weekends! Coronavirus Update - Day 50 and Counting..

Happy Friday and Happy May! To commemorate being locked up for 50 days, I decided that every weekend should be a three-day weekend. Why not? Heaven knows we deserve it. We still have to homeschool on Fridays, but for the most part, the kids are getting the hang of it and I have noticed the workload is a bit lighter on Friday. More importantly, there is so much to look forward to on the weekends, during quarantine, so why not start early? It's too challenging to pack all the excitement of being locked in your home for the weekend, into two short days. I decided to start my weekend early this week, by not opting not to working on my photo project today. I worked on it for a few hours yesterday, so that's enough. I wouldn't want to overdo it. Miles and I started the day by heading to the nursery this morning. I had some flowers to return from the other day. I have not taken the children anywhere, during the quarantine, but after having visited the nursery already, I felt it would be okay. It's mostly outdoors and not crowded. He was so excited to go somewhere with Mommy. I don't blame him, because it's hard to be quarantined at home, especially at his age. The other kids are busy with their school work and much as I would love to spend the entire day playing with him, duty often calls. Miles and I suited up in our masks and gloves and headed out. We returned the flowers and after that, we spent some time walking around looking at other plants and flowers, for potential planting projects in the backyard. It felt so liberating to be out in the fresh air with him, both of us marveling at the beautiful plants. After we returned home, Miles had a Zoom meeting, which he cut out on early, as he always does. I have given up selling him on the virtues of Zoom preschool meetings. I have to choose my battles, and with him I have quite a few. He is newly five, after all. After taking my time to take a shower, do my hair, my nails, etc. (a quarantine spa day, basically), I made the kids a nice lunch which included Walnut Pesto (homemade) and Irish Cheddar Paninis. They gobbled them down in a similar fashion to a dinner scene from The Simpsons. After lunch, we embarked on our cooking projects. Catherine, Graham, and I made three loaves of zucchini bread. The house smelled divine. Once those were in the oven we started peeling potatoes for our homemade Oven-Baked French Fries for tonight. Those were served with Turkey Sloppy Joes, one of the kids' favorites. Catherine and Graham headed out to the yard to make fresh-squeezed Tangerine-Lemonade to accompany our dinner. I could hear them giggling outside the kitchen window, which made me smile. Miles was on strike from kitchen duty today. He walked out in a heated protest and announced he was going to watch TV for the afternoon. Since I had already decided (albeit arbitrarily) that it was a three-day weekend, I chose to let this battle go and let him lounge in front of the TV. He was in five-year-old boy heaven. Upon reflection, I realize that my decision to start the weekend early was not arbitrary at all, but rather an excuse to avoid working on my photo project today. The thing I like about quarantine is that I am the Supreme Ruler of my little world, so if I declare it a three-day weekend to avoid a dreaded task, no one can stop me. The roller coaster unequivocally went up today.

Miles wearing his custom-made Spider Man mask (thank you, Anna!) and ski mittens, at the nursery.

Graham measuring zucchini for the Zucchini Bread.

Catherine Chopping walnuts for the zucchini bread.

Catherine and Graham cutting the potatoes for the french fries.

The twins making Tangerine-Lemonade in the backyard on a sun-filled day.

Zucchini Bread

Catherine utilizing her engineering skills from her online class to everyone their own paper planes and boats, each with personalized love notes on them.