I was chauffeur to Audrey. I miss seeing her regularly although she comes over often to get her bike which is kept in our garage. We have visited through my upper window but it is not the same. It just feels wrong to spray lysol on her bike and the door knobs. But that is what we have come to. I miss Madeleine, too, but since she recently got a car I wasn't seeing her as regularly so I had already grieved her loss. I'm still grieving not seeing Madeleine and Audrey. With the cooler weather Audrey doesn't come to get her bike now. They are both back in school. Katie is back at school, too.
We used to see Ira multiple times a week. He would come over for breakfast some times. Mark would bake apples and I would make French toast. Sometimes he came for lunch. Sometimes both meals on the same day! We always had so much fun with him. We have face timed with him and I am thankful for that but it isn't the same. So, Esli was born in September. We have become part of Natalie's and Scott's bubble. We took care of Ira when she was in the hospital. We are the designated care givers for both boys now. Scott works from home so their exposure to the community in minimal like ours is.
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I volunteered for City Impact at Elliott Elementary School. This year I was assigned an ELL class. I love those kids! I miss them. 10 kids from 6 different countries, Jordan, Liberia, China, Viet Nam, Central America(not sure which country), and Myanmar. So diverse but so much the same. All of them learning to speak and read English together. Now they are quarantined, too. They and their parents are trying to navigate this pandemic in their new country with limited English skills. The little girl from Viet Nam and her family went back to Viet Nam in February to visit family and have not been able to get back home. I think of her often and pray her family has found a way to make a living until they can come back to Lincoln. I don't know when volunteers will be allowed back into the schools. I have kept in touch with my teacher via text messages. She is working on lesson plans that would include me reading to her students on Fridays via Zoom. I'm looking forward to that.
I miss shopping. Shopping has always been a sort of therapy for me. Being an introvert it is something I do alone but receive great pleasure from it. I don't always buy anything; I just love wandering around Home Goods and looking. I enjoy going to our neighborhood store, Cedar Hill, formerly Aunt Patty's Attic. (same store, new name) I can spend way too much time wandering around in there. I usually do buy something there but nothing too big. I'm shopping local so that is my "justification". I love shopping for gifts and cards. I still have not ventured out for shopping therapy. You might think that I would have taken up online shopping as a replacement. While I do shop online some it is not the same for me as in person shopping. I look forward to the day when I can casually wander my favorite haunts without fear of getting sick.
I used to do most of the menu planning and shopping. Mark has taken over the grocery shopping. I'm grateful for that. Speaking of grocery shopping it is so strange to know there is shortage of so many things. We have gotten into the routine of Hy Vee Aisles on Line with curbside pick up. I order groceries about every two weeks. It has been an interesting foray. I let them choose a substitute if they are out of stock. That has been fun. On the positive side I think I am saving a lot of money by not shopping in person. A side note - I think I have only put gas in my car once or twice since we got back from New Mexico in early March. We mostly drive the little Insight. I know we are saving money on gas.
I think I will go ahead and post this, if for no other reason, to document this time. I'm gonna try and catch up on posting and try to be more regular about it.
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