CORONATINE DAY 7

*Threw in a load of towels. The kid’s bedroom funk was still hovering in the washer. Pushed start anyway. They’re his towels; no harm, no foul. *Built a $130.00 Walmart pick-up order around “Maytag Affresh” washing machine cleaner that promises to be ten times better than bleach. *Had plenty of time to do something different …

CORONATINE DAY 6

*9:30 am - Health Dept contacts me to say our COVID tests came back negative, but we have to remain in quarantine for the remainder of our 14 days. *Did the math. We're not halfway yet. *10:00 am - woke the kid from his fake sleeping and told him he was late for homeschool. Me …

CORONATINE

CORONATINE DAY 3*Sent home from work because I was exposed to my husband 3 days before… turns out he’s positive for the Rona.*Cried a lot and ate a cheeseburger*Watched The Real Housewives. CORONATINE DAY 4*Parked at the orange cones in front of the Heath Dept. Secretly wondered if my fine would be doubled for speeding …

YESTERDAY I CRIED

Yesterday I cried. Not constantly, just several times throughout the whole day. The kind of cry where the tears come and I can’t stop them but I do. I didn’t reach the ugly cry. My eyes weren’t puffy and purple and burning. I wiped just enough tears off my cheeks to smooth out my makeup …

ZOOM IN ON A GRIN

This is how I’ve seen his face for the past three weeks: a screen between us. But today I saw THIS! A smile. A genuine, eye-sparkling, teeth showing, leaning in smile! You know what he was smiling at? Not another YouTube video. Not a win on a video game. Not even a friend’s message on …

FAMILY, FRIENDS, FAITH

(Our peanut allergy research journey. December 2nd) Today was a big day...BIG. I looked forward to this day for months. Our last updose. The target was 300mg of peanut powder; the equivalent of one peanut. With no reaction to today's dose, we would officially be in "maintenance". We would continue to dose 300mg indefinitely to …

PICK ME UP PIE

Yesterday I had a pretty good meltdown that wasn’t pretty at all. It was an ugly cry in the teacher’s lounge. Does anyone else’s face turn purple when they ugly cry? The only people at work that can tell when I’m upset are my friends. Students are used to me looking scary. It’s a substitute …

SIGNS OF VICTORY

Towns across America, large and small, have a certain electricity in the air during football season. I work at a small school district in a small town. Friday Night Lights begins when the first bell rings on Friday morning. Our players walk the halls in their jerseys. The Cheerleaders gather in the library to make …

MY PARKA

I'm just a little giddy to finally be an official Friday Night Lights mom. It was the last game in the regular season. Ninth grade players joined the big guys… stood out there with that senior high team in a showdown with our fiercest rivals. And we took the win! Warriors are headed to the …

MRS. BOEN’S MISSING MARKERS

Substitute teaching is not for the faint of heart. I wear my cocky little LHS Faculty ID like a badge of courage… even though they chose the prank photo that has Michelle Boen’s fingers making bunny ears behind my head. I kissed being taken seriously goodbye a long time ago, but seriously; the bunny ear …