What our marriage is like

We didn't know what our kitchen access would be exactly with our cabinets being painted.  Then I noticed the fridge was entirely covered and taped shut.

And Mark's insulin is in there.

Adam was in his office in a phone call meeting.  I did a quick survey of Lowe's, Home Depot's and Walmart's websites.  I looked at mini fridges.  I saw what hours they were now open.  I recruited Mark as my sidekick.  I had my shoes on, my water bottle in hand, my bag slung over my shoulder.

I interrupted Adam's meeting.  "I'm going to go buy a mini fridge for Mark's insulin," I said.

"Right now?" Adam said, wide eyes.

"Yes," I said.

"Well, hold on," he said. "Let me ask them."

He slipped under the plastic tent surrounding the kitchen.  He explained the insulin situation.  The painters said, "No problem.  Just rip it open and we'll create a flap when we come tomorrow so you can get in and out of the fridge.

So Adam told me that information.  I said, "Oh, OK.  I was ready to go buy one."

"I know," Adam said with a smile.  "You had that look in your eye, Mama Bear."

That has been our relationship.  For 25 years.

Spring break: friends, from distance

Well, the painters didn't come yesterday.  They had scheduling problems because painters have been quitting because of the virus....

They are supposed to come today.

So, that was frustrating when my entire kitchen has been moved to the family room, but not the end of the world.  It was still a very lovely day.

I trimmed the laurel bush that the deer had decimated except only about halfway up so it looked like it was wearing a corset.  (Also, I love pruning!  It has brought dismay to Adam at times when he thinks I got carried away.)  I also cleaned up the front flower beds and saw tiny green leaves at the base of my hydrangea and spoke encouraging words to the spot where the marigolds that I never planted inexplicably grow every summer.  Nola was in her yard, repairing deer damage as well and we chatted (loudly) across the cul-de-sac while we worked and it was nice to see her.

I dropped off a birthday treat for Cortney and we caught up a little on her front porch from several feet away.

I stood outside Shannon's car in the parking lot where the Greek gyro truck is while our husbands stood in an unruly social distancing kind of line.  We all visited and compared working from home notes.

We ate dinner on the deck because it was such a gorgeous day.  Trees all over Pleasant Grove seemed to blossom overnight.

Then, Adam picked the John Wayne version of True Grit for our nightly movie and I sort of felt like I'd spent the evening with my dad and Tabor.

Even though the coronavirus has caused a lot of disruption and mayhem, there's still a lot of loveliness in the world. (And also, the blossoms don't seem aware that so many other things are on hold.  They are still doing their thing.)

Spring break

Months ago I had one friend who was flying to Maine for spring break, another who was flying to Texas.  The Porters were going to Boston and the Schelins were going to California and we were staying home.  To get our kitchen cabinets painted.

Now we are the only ones whose plans didn't fall through.

Yesterday I got ready and this is the entire contents of our kitchen:

Happily I found some enormous empty boxes in the garage.

I'm excited to have the cabinets painted.  My dad said I should be drawn and quartered for painting the wood.

I'm sure he meant it in the nicest possible way....

Clearing out the kitchen reminded me of how much I hate moving.  I'm glad I'm not moving and it was only one room.  I also happily got rid of some stuff, which was clearly necessary.

Emma and Mark were my helpers.  They are at that golden age where they are willing and actually helpful.  Kids go through all the stages of willing but not helpful, then helpful but not willing.  We have made it to the other side!

After lunch, I said I was going to take a break and go read my book for 20 minutes.  Emma said, "Catch your dreams, girl."

I love having Emma home.

Last night was my pick and we watched the new Emma movie.  I loved it.  I love lots of versions of Jane Austen movies because they let you savor different parts.  Mark liked it, although he didn't think he would.  I maintain you don't have to be a girl to like Jane Austen; you just have to be smart and like smart things.

My last movie pick was Sleepless in Seattle and Mark liked it also, to his surprise.

The quarantine beat goes on.

Wonderful weekend

As promised Emma came home.  I think to say she moved home would be overstating it.  She brought very little.

Just the necessities.  A few clothes and her guitar.

I love that multiple times a day she sits down at the piano and plays and sings.  I love hearing her and Mark talking and laughing in the other room or around the dinner table.  I don't know who's happiest to have her back, but it may be Mark.

Every night someone gets to pick the entertainment and she picked watching the new Pixar movie, Onward, even though she had already seen it.  She and I both cried.  We all loved it.

Other than that, we ate good food (my sourdough bread experiment was a success!) and watched General Conference.

I don't have words to describe it.  I always love General Conference.  It is always encouraging and uplifting and wonderful.  This was all that and more.  I think the upheaval in the world made me extra attentive.  Also, I loved the solemn assembly we participated in and the new proclamation regarding the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We wiped our tears and hugged for the sheer joy of it all.  Emma said, "Wait, I've got to see if Mark is crying."

He wasn't.

He has ice water in his veins while the rest of us just cry.

Prior to the conference, President Nelson asked us to consider what our lives would be like without the Restoration.  Even with a tolerably good imagination, I can't picture it.  Because of the Restoration, I am sealed to my family in the temple.  We will be together forever.  Because of the Restoration, I can learn more about Jesus Christ from the Book of Mormon.  Also, I can learn more about repentance and faith and obedience.  Because of the Restoration, we have living prophets to follow.  It brings me unparalleled peace to hear from them.  The entire coronavirus fiasco reaffirms in my mind that President Nelson is a prophet.  For years, our prophets have been warning us to be self reliant and prepared and then there was no food at the grocery store for awhile.  Young men are being ordained earlier to the Aaronic Priesthood and now they are administering and passing the sacrament in their homes.  We were provided a framework and curriculum for Gospel study at home and now we can't go to church.  It goes on and on but it adds up to me feeling reassured.  God is at the helm.

Grateful Friday

Ten things I'm grateful for today:

1-My mom.  Yesterday was her birthday.  She is a blessing in my life and always has been.

2- My dad.  Yesterday wasn't his birthday.  He is also a blessing in my life and always has been.

3- Our kids are doing OK.  The tilted world we live in hasn't thrown them too much for a loop.

4- One of my students who hasn't been online AT ALL got online yesterday.  He didn't do much, but he got online.  My expectations at this point are so low I can hardly see them, but it made me grateful.

5- I'm sticking with my resolve to avoid the news and it's helping my peace of mind.  I'm grateful for options on what I will expose my brain to.

6- We woke up to snow again yesterday but then sunshine.  I love sunshine.

7- General Conference this weekend.  I will be hanging. On. Every. Word.

8- My teacher friends.  I miss them but we are still in touch and they are awesome.

9- Adam.  Multiple times a day I need tech support and he is always willing to give it.  (Actually he can't escape me currently but he is still happy to help.)

10- Next week is spring break.  I'm looking forward to more time.  I have had lots of time at home but most of it has been glued to a computer screen, recording videos and sending them out into the world.  And answering emails.  And trying to figure out what I'm doing.  Spring break will be nice.

Strange times

We are doing all sorts of unusual things.

I taught Mark how to make white sauce.  I realized almost all his favorite foods start with white sauce.

I have sourdough starter on my counter.  It's a grand experiment.  Every day I feed it and stir it and hope it ends up delicious.

I ordered Adam a Christmas gift at 3:00 AM when I couldn't sleep.  I know, I know, he's not really a gift person.  But he will like this gift.  (I always think that.)

I also know it's not strictly time for Christmas shopping.  I know.

We went to a park to play frisbee for our "five o'clock active hour."  I made up a game of frisbee baseball that didn't work at all.  Adam could see from the beginning it wasn't going to work, but he humored me.  Mark said, "This reminds me of when we played balloon badminton (I think that was also my idea)."

I felt uneasy about Emma being gone and just wanted her to move home.  Her roommates have moved home (and their home is about two blocks from ours).  Even for Emma, living alone when you don't even go somewhere and see another human felt too isolating.

I texted her and she didn't seem to want to budge.  We texted back and forth.  She likes her independence and ever since she was one year old and would purposefully switch her shoes to the wrong feet because she could, she does what she wants.

Then she texted she would probably move home this weekend.  Just like that.  She does what she wants.  But we'll be happy to have her.  Like I told her, our matazz needs her razz.

We played Psyche over the phone with her and then we were going to play Quiplash.  Braeden texted and I told him we were playing.  He joined too. (Anna had just returned from work and was having "introvert time" according to Braeden.  Emma and I wholeheartedly understood and I considered that it was lovely that extroverted Braeden understands too.)

Then this happened.

If I'm going to be quarantined with anyone, I choose them.

Community

Yesterday the teachers gathered together--keeping our distance--for a parade!  I had been looking forward to it for days.  I was glad to see my friends and excited for the chance to catch a glimpse of my students as we drove by.  Jamie always has the best pens and told me about the best pencil sharpener (it is seriously so much better than any others) and bought us all the best kind of whiteboard erasers.

So of course she had markers for all of us to decorate our car windows.  In between uses she would take them and wipe them off with Clorox wipes.

The teachers were all a little giddy.  Then we saw how Mr. Dawson, our new principal, was going to ride in the parade:

his wife was his driver

He has instituted fist bump Fridays with the students and called to sing to me on my birthday and said, "How about you don't have to come to school today since it's your birthday?"  (And also since I was supposed to stay home from school anyway.)

So of course this is how he rode in the parade.

We had an escort, lights flashing, which warmed my heart and upped the excitement for the kids.

Not only were all these teachers there because they wanted to show our students we love them, but these great people who serve Orem were there too.

It felt like a proud day for community spirit.

We lined up in our cars and headed out.

here's my friend Jamie

Adam drove me so I could focus on waving.  It made me really happy when students recognized me and said, "Mrs. Davis!' in a sort of excited voice.  Most of them know me minimally, I think seeing me was just a reminder of someone from a place they love.

It made me ecstatic when I saw my own kids.  I would yell their names out the window.  It was one of my girls' birthday and when I saw her I yelled, "Happy Birthday!"  Unfortunately she was out the driver's side window and I mostly yelled in Adam's ear.  He said pleasantly, "Wow, my ear is ringing."

Earlier in the day I had been working in my classroom and Adam brought me lunch.  One of the aides said, "Your husband is so nice."

Everyone knows it, especially me.

I loved seeing families spread out on their lawns or waving from their front porches.

We drove around for about an hour, up and down streets, waving furiously at each other.  I loved seeing people in the neighborhood, who didn't have children, out on their porches waving to us too.  One dad ran up to every car and handed the teachers a cold gatorade and some candy.

"Treat time!" he'd yell.

There were lots of signs, homemade by the students, and like my friend Janelle said, it was clear that a school is more than a building where children go to learn and adults go to work.  It's a community.  It's a fabric of people woven together.  The children may have little more than geography in common.  The adults may have little more than their love of teaching children in common.  But when we come together, we create something pretty magical.  We create a community.