We watched live football on tv!

 School starts tomorrow.  I keep telling Dan that my brain still thinks it's mid-March when everything shut down and I can't believe we have lived through spring and almost all of summer and the kids are starting another school year when in my mind they never even finished the last one.

And yet, here we are.  

Peter is at school this morning.  He is a student ambassador this year and they along with student council and the bigs (upperclassmen who are assigned to the freshmen and transfer students to help them adjust) are welcoming all the new students to school today so they can go through a day before everyone comes to school tomorrow.

Speaking of Peter, he shaved his beard last night.  He's been growing it since mid-March and was very proud of it.  I had actually gotten used to it and even though I don't like beards, thought it looked very good on him.  It's going to take me a minute to get used to his new look.  

We spent Saturday night watching college football on tv.  It was Austin-Peay vs. Central Arkansas and even though we didn't care a thing about either team, it was actual live football and it was great to see.  Peter said he was going to enjoy it and any other college football game he got to see on tv because who knows if it could be the last.  I appreciated his wisdom  to enjoy each thing as it comes as if it could be the last because with this pandemic, who knows.  He ordered pizza, made a bet with a friend to make it more exciting, cheered like it was his favorite team, and generally just enjoyed himself.  It was a good evening.

Dan built a little fire pit for us to enjoy this fall but we tried it out earlier this week.  It was a little too warm for a fire but the kids really wanted s'mores.   I think Dan did a great job! 

Cathy sent me a recipe for tomato pie.  I made one and it was really good!  The recipe can be found here.

 

Last weekend we celebrated my brother's 50th birthday.  Here are a few pictures:

 

Has it been two weeks already?!

 Wow!  Has it really been two weeks since I last posted?  I thought for sure once school was over I would get into a  rhythm and post more frequently.  Honestly though, I have been out of sorts since the middle of March when everything went crazy.  And here we are 5 months later and things are even crazier than before.

The NCHSAA (the organization that all NC public school and many private schools are members) released their plan for sports for the upcoming school year.  

Nothing will start until November.  Everything will have a shortened season with less games/matches.  And football has been moved to very early spring (end of Feb through the beginning of April).

This means there is a slight chance that Peter will get to have a football season.  But I imagine like everything else. it will not happen.  

I am trying not to let worry get the best of me.  I am praying that the kids will have a wonderful school year even though it will look totally different than anything we could have imagined.  Peter's senior year will be very, very weird but I am hopeful that it will still be full of good things.  

Speaking of school, all the Catholic schools in the diocese will start back the first week of September.  I am praying that everyone will stay healthy and that the schools will be able to remain open.  That's a BIG prayer but that's what I'm praying.  

Yesterday, Sarah and I were back-to-school shoe shopping when my car wouldn't start.  I called Dan and he came to give us a jump.  The car needed a new alternator so that was a fun unexpected expense. After we dropped the car off to be fixed, Sarah and I headed back to Target to get her school supplies.

She spends a lot of time picking out notebooks with matching folders and making sure everything is color coordinated.  Peter could  care less about school supplies.  During the first week of school, I will get texts stating things like: I need a three ring binder for science, you need to order my math book, can you pick up a three subject notebook, do we have loose-leaf paper....

The kids had dentist appointments earlier this week and thankfully no cavities.  I always hold my breath.  Sarah has her well check appointment today and then afterwards we are going to the mall to get pants for school.  

This afternoon Peter will head to school for a college application boot camp.  He has already started filling out the info on Common App but I'm hoping that after this boot camp, everything will be filled out (correctly) and that he will have a good start on his essay.  He sat down to work on the essay the other day and basically stared at a blank Word document for a while and then gave up.  

Spotted a whole flock of geese flying over head on my morning walk.  Fall is coming and this is a sure sign.

 

Pretty sunflower.

 

Delicious BMT!

 

I discovered a new account on Instagram called Go Clean. She has a hack for cleaning hardwood floors. She uses hot water, a little Tide laundry detergent, and an O-Ceder Spin Mop to get her floors clean (She's a professional house cleaner.) Colleen shared her account and this hack and I purchased the spin mop at Walmart ($9.98) and gave it a shot. Look at the dirty water from just my kitchen floor. So gross but so satisfying to see! 

 

That's about it for me. I hope you are all doing well!

Just another update...

 Another week has passed which means another week of me thinking every morning that today is the day I will write a blog post. And then before I know it, it's bedtime.

This doesn't mean I'm necessarily doing anything, it just means I'm lazy.  That and the fact that not much is happening. 

Let's see if I can come up with at least a few things that have been going on around here.

Sadly my  great aunt was put into hospice last week so my mom, my brother, and I visited her on Wednesday. I'm so glad we did because she passed away early on Friday morning.  We went to her funeral on Monday.  It was a very small gathering of family only outside on the graveyard. Her family is planning on a big gathering once we are past all of this corona crazy. Aunt Nell, we will miss you! 

Sarah's been working a lot.  There seems to be a lot of drama at this pool which means a couple of guards have been let go and a couple others have let their certifications expire so more shifts for Sarah!

Here she is headed out to work!  So cute!

 

She worked a double last Friday and is working another one today.  A double is TWELVE straight hours.  That's a lot for one day!

Peter has applied at a restaurant near school where a friend works.  He said they need busboys so hopefully Peter can get on there.  This would be good especially if there's no football season.

Our governor just extended Phase 2 for five more weeks so we are still waiting to hear how that will effect fall high school sports in the state. They said they should be able to announce something on August 17th.  In the meantime, Peter is still attending football workouts and enjoying the exercise and the time with friends.

Our tomatoes are finally starting to turn red.  This is the longest it has ever taken them.  Not sure why but Dan has done some googling and thinks it's because we've had a lot of 90 plus degree days and that halts the tomatoes progress.

 Regardless, we are finally getting a lot and I've made salsa, caprese salads, and had lots of tomato sandwiches.  

 We've got all kinds of tomatoes: pinks, yellows, big boy, and cherokee purples.  Some of them still look a little green on top because I picked them a little a day or two early so they wouldn't split. We've gotten a lot of rain recently and too much water makes tomatoes split.

Our bell and jalapeno peppers are coming in now too.  Our cucumbers are finished but we decided to plant some more to see if we could get a second crop.  That will all depend on the weather.

Isn't this caprese salad lovely?  The basil is from our garden as well.  So yummy!

I also made a delicious pie for Sunday dessert last week.  It was so good.  It's a blueberry lemon cream pie from Chef in Training. So good!

We've got a few sunflowers this year.  We planted them in the front of the house for a change and we planted a smaller variety.  I regret the decision to plant them out front because they are busy and look wild but   I am enjoying their blooms so I guess I'll take it.

I'm still walking at least four or five times a week. I've upped my miles and am now doing 4 each morning.  Yesterday was extremely foggy but it made for a pretty walk.

And that's all I've got for now!  Have a wonderful weekend!