Chitter Chatter Spring Edition (2021)

[Ryrin]

 

Finally!!!! 

[Ryrin]

Well, here I am! 
 

I got sick and was COVID tested. Negative but I had asthma and a virus. Then my hot water heater went out and flooded the garage. Only it was worse. Major plumbing issues. Glad I’m leasing. 
 

Multiple plumbers in and out. The water heater was dated 1960. As was the toilet and piping. Major work. Holes cut in the walls. No hot water and then no water. Cold showers and then showers at a friend’s and then my gym’s locker room opened! Eating out. Ugh. Highly stressful. Plumbers coming back on Friday for the front bathroom. Next week to patch the holes in the walls. 
 

I now have water and then hot water. I got my vaccine! 

[LadyWordsmith]

Hello! Hope you are feeling better. Yay vaccine! I've gotten my first, and my 2nd is scheduled for the 26th.

Wow, I am impressed the water heater lasted that long before dying, but that is totally a mess. 

It is spring break here. Such a relief for my son and I. We did a mother-son day at the zoo yesterday (my husband still had to work) and just enjoyed the fact that we had one day of really nice weather. 

My kittens turn 1 this week so we had a party for them combined with this evening's festivities. ?

 

[Ryrin]

I only need 1. Johnson & Johnson. ?

 

The Zoo!!!

[Arie]

I will happily take any!! 

 

I'm glad you are feeling better! 

 

I personally have been on a deeper downward spiral than I am used to, and it may be related to seasonal depression. I dunno. Tracking this crap is a pain. I'll have more to update, but I'm also tired. Took the kids to Target for the first time in a LONG time, and i'm exhausted! 

 

Back to school shopping in March.. wtf? XD *sighs*

[Ryrin]

This time has been really hard and I think exceedingly hard for those with kids at home. ❤️

[LilyElizabeth]

Arie, moving from SoCal to Oregon is quite a change. Could it be seasonal affective disorder? I know when I lived in Oregon I had it. 

[Ryrin]

2 hours ago, LilyElizabeth said:

Arie, moving from SoCal to Oregon is quite a change. Could it be seasonal affective disorder? I know when I lived in Oregon I had it. 

I just bought my son one of those all spectrum lights. He needs lots of sun and is not getting it in Seattle.

[LadyWordsmith]

2 hours ago, Ryrin said:

I just bought my son one of those all spectrum lights. He needs lots of sun and is not getting it in Seattle.

I have one of those for my computer desk (since that is where I spend most of my time) and love it. Even in Oklahoma in the winter there isn't enough sunlight (because it still goes down ridiculously early and isn't up nearly long enough). 

[Ryrin]

That’s where my son uses his.

 

This is my latest.

 

[Arie]

On 3/20/2021 at 8:59 AM, LilyElizabeth said:

Arie, moving from SoCal to Oregon is quite a change. Could it be seasonal affective disorder? I know when I lived in Oregon I had it. 

My husband seems to think that it may be a bit of that. second winter here and I certainly paint a lot more in the sunnier weather than the winter months. 

Having that problem when I lived in Vancouver, BC... yes. Probably. *sighs* 

 

That painting is adorable! You and Mashi are posting paintings and now I jsut want wine and paint between my fingers and that company that follows. 

 

wine, friends, and paints... like. i needs it.

[Arie]

On 3/20/2021 at 11:34 AM, Ryrin said:

I just bought my son one of those all spectrum lights. He needs lots of sun and is not getting it in Seattle.

 

I may have to look into one of those lights!

[Ryrin]

I think you should. My son was born in California and is used to a lot of sun. They hope to get out of Washington due to that reason. They recently went to Cannon Beach in Oregon and had a great time.

[LadyWordsmith]

That painting is adorable Ryrin! I love the colors. 

We are finally getting some longer sunny days and it's making me consider what I want to try to do to our yard this first year in the new house. I know I can't do 'all' the landscaping at once, but I want to start making it mine. 

[LilyElizabeth]

I really like that painting, Ryrin!

[JamesBrown]

Great work, Ryrin. Love the colors, and that expression!

 

I'm two weeks into a three-week run at our local community theater. We've been putting on a heart-warming play called "The Boys Next Door." I play the burned-out caretaker for four adult mentally-challenged men, and we've gotten good comments about our performances. 

[Ryrin]

On 3/29/2021 at 3:36 PM, JamesBrown said:

Great work, Ryrin. Love the colors, and that expression!

 

I'm two weeks into a three-week run at our local community theater. We've been putting on a heart-warming play called "The Boys Next Door." I play the burned-out caretaker for four adult mentally-challenged men, and we've gotten good comments about our performances. 

Thank you! 
 

That’s great that you can have theater and the play sounds interesting 

 

[Ryrin]

 

I went this weekend and picked a bunch of lemons from a tree I planted with friends years ago. It’s a Meyer lemon tree. I got pretty scratched up. I’ve been drinking a lot of lemonade. I sweeten it with Stevia. 
 

So, I just had a ton of lemons. I bought a citrus juicer for $30 on Amazon. It’s electric.  So, once I had the juice I freeze it like ice cubes and put the cubes in a freezer bag . I can pull them out whenever I need them. 
 

While juicing them, I got lemon juice on my little cuts. OW!

[LadyWordsmith]

What a great way to save the lemon juice, Ryrin! I love a good lemonade. Though I'm sorry for all the stinging! 

I hope the rest of your play run went well, JamesBrown! That sounds like an awesome production. ?

We are mostly still working on house projects on the new place. All the custom bookshelving is in, and the two old dressers I use to store craft supplies have been refurbished and repainting to match the house interior so they look like they go. We are starting to contemplate the yard projects now that the weather is nice. But April is nuts at work (State Testing for students) so probably they won't happen until May. 

[Ryrin]

I’m wearing gloves tomorrow when I juice the rest!

 

Glad to hear the house projects are going well.

[Cross]

i'm just getting through book 7 and NOW all the Kin stuff makes sense. 

[Ryrin]

On 4/13/2021 at 7:26 PM, Cross said:

i'm just getting through book 7 and NOW all the Kin stuff makes sense. 

That is great!

[Ryrin]

We planted some cherry tomatoes and basil.

[LadyWordsmith]

Love those 'aha' moments in reading books! 
 

Mmmm....tomatoes and basil. Make some fresh mozzarella and put them all together. 

This is my week to proctor State Testing (because for some reason this is not cancelled again this year). Today was pretty good (for standardized testing). I do enjoy getting to see my students outside of formal class time. My knowledge of geek culture once again made me temporarily popular with students. And it's really nice to put faces and personalities to names (since I teach virtually I almost only know my kids by their writing and voices. This year we didn't get to have in-person field trips so I have of course met no one until now in person.) I identified one student's akatsuki-themed mask (Naruto reference - specific uniform pattern) and surprised him and apparently most of the room watches anime. 

The best part is always the fact that they feed us during testing. Which means in the evenings we go out together and try awesome restaurants and just get to socialize and be friends. Tonight we tried a Pho place recommended by our new faculty member who is our Seattle Transplant as "most authentic in the OKC area." Having tried several other Vietnamese places in the OKC area, I do have to concur. ? There are many tasty ones, but this place was fabulous. I am really very fortunate to work with a most amazing group of educators. Everyone is passionate about their jobs, and so determined to help 'every' student. And they're also fun to hang out with. ?

That said I've now been home about five minutes and I'm going to get about three hours before I go to bed, get up, and go back... and tomorrow I am administering the ACT (le sigh). Dinner tomorrow better be awesome! ?

 

[JamesBrown]

My wife and I are flying to Atlanta this weekend, the first time I've left home since the shutdown. We're going to celebrate the wedding of the daughter of some friends of ours.

 

They were supposed to get married in May of 2019, but of course they didn't. They rescheduled for August, thinking the worst would be over, but of course it wasn't. Then they went ahead and got married privately in the Fall, and now they finally feel they can have a reception. 

 

This year has been weird.