Days 283-289 Merry Christmas 2020 Style

 I usually limp into Christmas vacation exhausted and almost always sick.  This year, was much different.  The last three days of school were long, just because vacation was looming, but I so enjoyed the time with my students.  We made virtual gingerbread houses and they are here to stay.  No mess, no cleanup, just a fun, creative outlet.  My kids had so much fun making these!

Thanks to JO for the coffee delivery on Wednesday.  It was just what I needed to cross the finish line!

On Christmas Eve, we headed to JO's parents for a Christmas gathering on the deck.  We lucked out with the weather.  It was close to 50 degrees which meant we didn't have to rush things.  We enjoyed mimosas, appetizers, and Christmas dinner and got to have a nice, long visit with the family.  It wasn't normal but it was special and I'm thankful to Mother Nature for letting us have this safe celebration!

On Christmas Day, we enjoyed a lazy day at home.  We kind of forgot to plan our dinner options, so our Christmas feast was brought to us by 7-11!  

Our 2020 gifts were all about making the next few months more enjoyable, as we hunker down in our living room for a while longer.

It's going to be a while before we can get back to our favorite bars.

Making the living room feel like Gampel Arena

Home gym equipment

My dad got me this champagne bucket stand!- Makes my living room fancy!

Last night we watched Boston Ballet's "The Gift" and enjoyed some bubbles.  

Day 282~ We Had a City Night

 I've been feeling so blah lately.  I feel like the holiday season has been a bust.  I need a break from work badly.  My city meter was drastically low so when I say Bisq's Facebook post that they had shoveled out their patio I showed JO.  I wasn't intending for us to go, but when JO saw this he demanded we bundle up and get ourselves outside!

I am so glad we did! It was so fun sitting on their patio with snowbanks surrounding us.  The heat lamps kept us warm and the food was delicious. It was so nice to be out of the house and enjoying the world.  

Days 276-281- It Snowed...A Lot

 We finally got our tree decorated and it looks great.  It might actually be the best shaped tree we've ever had!  It's definitely feeling like Christmas around here.  I've been keeping the tree on while I teach which has been fun.  The kids loved seeing my tree but they seemed a bit confused about the blue lights!

This week was dominated my a pretty big snowstorm on Thursday.  My district chose to have a "remote snow day" and I'm not going to lie, competing with Santa is tough enough.  Competing with snow and Santa wasn't possible.  I leaned in and made it a "Snowy Day" filled with lots of fun activities for the kids.  (And I definitely wore fleece pants and a cozy sweater!)

Speaking of fleece pants, I may have a problem.  At the start of the year, I wore jeans and I thought that was comfy.  Then I switched over to my Prana pants and Lululemon studio pants and thought that was peek comfort.  Now, I purchased five pairs of fleece pants from Old Navy and the thought of jeans is pretty scary.  This doesn't bode well for me when I do return to a workplace environment.

There was a lot of snow.  Not having to dig out our cars or stress about finding parking was pretty liberating.  I even had time to get back to my barre and pilates workouts.  December has been rather hectic, and super boring, at the same time.  I'm glad I got to hit the mat a few times this week!

I case you're wondering what it's like to teach in December, these are a few of my favorite ways to describe it!  I spent most of my week as a combination of all six of these emotions, with a heavy emphasis on the bottom right!

Oh, and cases continue to soar.  1,000 people have died in Massachusetts in the last week.  Can you believe that?  I'm really feeling discouraged at the current situation.

Not being able to watch my Huskies didn't help my mood improve.  

Add some "in transit forever" packages from the post office and I've definitely been feeling less than stellar lately.  

I'm realizing how many fabulous holiday city traditions we have and how much I miss them.  I'm hoping we can do a few things this weekend because there are still three days to go before vacation 😂

Days 269-275 Holiday Happenings and UConn

Somehow, during a pandemic, JO and I were still too busy to get our Christmas tree.  My students were none to thrilled with this because they all want to see my tree.  Thankfully, on Friday night we made our annual pilgrimage to Ricky's Flower Market to get a tree and walk home with it.  (Side note, good thing we went when we did because we walked by there today and they had no more trees at all!) Three days later and the tree is still not decorated but that's mostly because finding Christmas lights is currently impossible!

While we were in Union Square, we checked out the Christmas Dragon at the Independent!

Earlier this week, Breanna Stewart was named the Sportsperson of the Year!  I can't wait to get my issue in the mail.  

The Huskies played their first game of the season, after having to miss the first four games due to a Covid case in the program.  I don't think college basketball should be happening but if it's going to happen, I'll definitely watch my Huskies.  We have a really young and really talented team this year and they put on quite the show in the first game!

In other news, Massachusetts is not doing well.  Last week we built field hospitals and this week we cancelled elective surgeries.  Our governor seems to have given up and the ramifications are going to be quite bad.

There were some pretty moments in the apartment this week and JO and I had some things to celebrate, and of course, we celebrate with bubbles!

On Sunday, the temps were in the mid 50s, making it a perfect day for a picnic at Prospect Hill Park.

I'm going to end with this post I saw the other day.  It's very, very true.  Teachers are being asked to do impossible things and they aren't getting enough support.  If you know a teacher, check in on them.  They are probably going through all the feels and still trying to face kids each day with a smile and it gets hard at this time of year in a normal year.  I definitely was feeling overwhelmed this week and yesterday I had to close the computer and walk away.  

Day 255-268 Home Improvements and DIY Projects

First, let's start with Thanksgiving.   With cases skyrocketing, I was so grateful that we celebrated an outdoor Thanksgiving a few weeks before with our family.  JO and I celebrated Thanksgiving at our house (a first for us) and got a little help with the side dishes from Puritan and Company.  I'm so glad we ordered from Puritan because we got to support a local restaurant, and we only had to cook the turkey.  Way less dishes to deal with and the week of cleaning and painting that we were in the middle of, it was nice to have less dishes!

You know, when you spend as much time as we have in our place over the last 268 days, you start to notice all the faults:  the chipped paint, the gross green/yellow color of the kitchen walls, the dust in places you would rather ignore, tile grout that's not looking great, and the list goes on.  Over the Thanksgiving Break, JO and I decided to tackle all of the projects that had been piling up on our home improvement list for the last twelve years...all in a one week span of time. (I'm not sure what we were thinking and once we started one project led to another and another and before we knew it we covered in filth and paint and inhaling a lovely concoction of Pinesol, Fantastic, and Scrubbing Bubbles.). 

The project did involve emptying all the rooms into the kitchen.  This kind of chaos is not something I am a fan of.  I actually don't handle things well when stuff isn't where it belongs.  I really had to take one for the team during project week.

I cleaned things I never thought I would clean.  At one point, I was sitting on the floor in our good bathroom, pumping hand soap on the tiles and hoping it wouldn't be too slippery.  And you do not want to know about the oven.  It seriously took six days of cleaning to fix it up.  We'll be instituting a cleaning spreadsheet in the near future so things don't get this out of hand again.  All the hard work paid off because the apartment is looking amazing!

We celebrated one night of painting with our new Tiki glasses from a shop at Bow Market!

Even though it was crazy busy, we did find time to enjoy our time off.  One night we watched Boston Ballet's virtual show "Forsythe Element."  Although nothing can replace seeing the ballet live, it was great to have this performance to enjoy in our living room.  I think the thing that has been hardest for me over these 268 days is not being able to go to the ballet, theater, and concerts.  The arts are such a big part of what makes the city a great place to live.

College basketball has started.  Of course I'll watch my Huskies (the women are currently in quarantine) but it doesn't seem right to be trying to have a season right now.  

On Saturday night, after finishing the last of the painting projects, we headed over to Noir in Harvard Square.  Typically, the Saturday after Thanksgiving is the tree lighting at the Charles Hotel.  Even though they weren't having the event, we were able to have a lovely dinner on the patio (this patio is very safe and probably one of the only places I would even think of visiting with numbers this high) and visit the tree.  (#christmastreechallenge)

The cleaning spilled over into this week and I'm not going to lie, at one point I was so exhausted, that I definitely wore pajama pants to my living room/classroom.  Gotta enjoy the perks of this year while I can, right!

Speaking of school, the December Crazies are here.  I have no idea what to expect in an online world but I'm keeping my fingers crossed it goes smoothly.  I've already met most of the kids' elves and seen everyone's trees!  There are a lot of things about this year that are super challenging, and basically impossible, but my little group of 4th graders keeps me smiling every day.  I recently came across this post on the Book and it really clicked with me.  

On Friday night, with cases higher than ever before, we were all set to hunker down but then we walked by Ole and no one was on their patio so we took advantage.  (I mean, my kitchen was sparkling, I didn't want to mess it up.) We enjoyed our drinks and fajitas (that doubled as a hand warming device.)  

On the way home, we saw this display at Gather Here and it really stuck with me.  I am so grateful for this really weird time in my life where I learned to slow down, be creative, practice self care, etc.  I know I am lucky and privileged to be able to say that but I think it's ok to say I am grateful for this time and what it has taught me.

It was so New England, warm enough on Friday night to eat outside and cold enough over the weekend to drop 12 inches of snow in Worcester.  Thankfully, we didn't get much snow because I'm not ready for that, although I don't really drive anymore so I guess I can take snow.) Saturday night was the kind of night though that we would have headed over to a local restaurant and enjoyed watching the wet flakes fall and the listen to the wind whip.  Since we couldn't do that, we got take out from Puritan and watched Home Alone.  Not the same, but definitely not a bad way to spend a night.

So now the apartment is clean, my report cards are almost done, and it's the holiday season! 

Days 248-254- Did History Teach Us Nothing?

 PSA~ Covid is dangerous.  We don't know the long term impacts.  Our hospitals and ICUs are filling up again and if you get sick, there might not be a bed for you.  

I feel like we learned nothing in the spring.  How could we have if we find ourselves in this position again, as a state and as a country?  Cases are surging and some states are hitting the reset button.  It's frustrating to see the behavior of some people acting like it isn't a big deal.  Even if you aren't concerned about catching Covid, you should be responsible with your behaviors as a sign of respect for doctors, nurses, first responders, grocery workers, and teachers who are putting themselves in harms way.  We have to follow some very basic public health protocols in order to get to the other side of this.  We can't expect things to be "normal" because there is nothing normal about this current situation.  Maybe this year you don't do the big Thanksgiving with family and friends.  I'm sure that's disappointing, but maybe a small gathering or a day to yourself is enough for this year.  

Not much happened this week, because JO and I are choosing to lock things down due to rising case numbers.  We spent most of the time watching Joe Biden win the election for the upteenth time.

Rudy's hair dye situation gave us a good laugh.

We did watch a Mark Erelli livestream.  As usual, he was amazing to watch.

We found out we get to be cardboard cutouts at Gampel Arena this year.  I'm pretty excited about that.

On Saturday, the weather was beautiful and we decided to have lunch outside at Remnant Brewing.  There were only two parties on the patio, including us, so it felt nice and safe.  Remnant has a great system to ensure safety.  It was nice to sit in the sun, eat a Hotbox Pizza, and just relax.

Later that night, we hosted a Zoomsgiving for our friends.  Normally we host everyone at our house for a Thanksgiving feast but that wasn't a smart choice this year so we moved it online and turned it into a cocktail hour!  It gave us a chance to catch up with some of friends who have moved to the West Coast, which was really nice.