First Day of Work - virtually exhausting

Well that was certainly a different day of work.

I tried to keep it normal. Up. shower. breakie. all that stuff.

The commute to work was rough. Traffic just about knocked me over on my way to the office.

(read, cats raced me down the stairs, between my feet)

I tried to set up the office to make it feel as real as possible. I have a whole house to work with but making the office work -central makes me feel more focused.

We started with a virtual staff meeting. They gave us a list of things to do for the week

• contact each family through email, phone or text and get a yes or no on whether the family wishes to continue with online learning. 
•  fill in the responses we get on a shared document
• for those who wish to, do they have wifi and devices to do this
• decide on our platform for work and class meetings.
• a full staff meeting each work day at 10
•  a grade level team meeting
• decide on how you will communicate regularly with parents.

The troubles became apparent

• missing contact info for parents. we have been trying to update this all year but some families sure do avoid filling it in. I have many bounce back emails. 
• I am not terribly comfortable using my own phone number for contact but there was no choice. Lots of calls and texts unanswered
• students in gr 7 really don't know how to log into their email online. or check it if they do know how to log in.
• my basement is really cold. socks and a small space heater helped
• my head was spinning with email alerts, text messages and calls and meeting reminders. too many coming from too many different sources.

I pulled out a coil notebook, put down the date and started keeping track of what I was doing. Why  a notebook? I am sure at some point the powers that be will want to know what we are doing each day. A notebook shows that step by step progression while an online document can be altered. We have been cautioned before about being able to prove documentation happened authentically and things weren't 'added later'. kind of like a numbered police officer's notepad

Things I learned

• I am glad I had my class set up on google classroom and we used it during the year. for those who hadn't it was a nightmare
•  sticky notes are my saviour. I have notes everywhere for passwords and reminders etc
•  I don't know how ppl sit at a computer all day. My ass was so sore. 
• my head was spinning from staring at  a screen all day
• parents (the ones who were actively wanting to learn anyways) are hungry for information. I have used a class facebook page for years that parents 'like' and follow. My post on there got more responses than my emails. I plan to write on it each day even if it is just to touch base. 

RRSP ups and downs

The market continues its ups and downs. Seems like a lot more downs than ups.

Despite my addition late last fall it is still wavering.  The account stands at $16 940

This is down $3400 from December 31, 2019

$3400!!!

I know lots of  you have much much bigger RRSP and have likely lost more, but this hurts!

I don't even want to think about what it will look like with all the Covid crisis coming up.

The Night before school starts

We are all full of questions on how this will proceed for us. Staff meeting tomorrow online. They plan to have them everyday at 10 AM. I kind of like the routine that establishes.

I have gone out twice this week for groceries and such. I have been sorting and rearranging things here. This house has lots of storage, but the cupboards are deep. Anytime you go to look for things you are rummaging around trying to find stuff. It's annoying.

I started with the spices and sorted them by category. BBQ spices. Canning spices. Baking spices. Regular ones. I found the perfect baskets at the dollar store that will fit two baskets per shelf, one behind the other.

I am definitely addicted to baskets and bins.

Mid week

It feels like forever since we started this and really it was only a few days ago. I have started to make mental lists of things I might be able to convert into online learning. I definitely feel like I am neglecting the students.

I did some baking today and dropped two tins of it off at friend's houses on their doorstep. I am not used to being at home and feel like I should be out and doing something.

Watching the toll in Italy grow and the new cases developing in the US is a bit frightening. Lockdowns have begun. Not just self isolation but stay inside.

I have started keeping a list of new cases here in SK and will continue to add as they days go on. We are much more spread out here than probably where many of you are, but it will come.

My routine is still getting up as early as I did for work. Up and coffee and watch the news. Check social media. Then I try to do something productive, but its hard.

DS1 is surviving. He gave me a list of things he was wanting and I dropped them off in the garage. Our buffer zone we call it.

As long as it stays cold  and snowy here, people will be more inclined to stay home. But as soon as it warms up.... yikes.

First Day of Pause

ok well the second since Friday was the first day. Close enough

It only took til noon until I started to feel guilty not connecting with my kids' and their families. We were told to take the week and try to think of ways to keep interest in learning online, but mostly the week is for us.

So I unpacked some books, put a few more things away and started to make a list of things I could do so I wouldn't go crazy.

I am still trying to keep the bills straight between the houses, and the dates they are due.

I spent some time adjusting my budget to reflect 2 power bills, 2 water bills etc.  At some point we will get the boys to kick in but let's wait and see.  It shouldn't be so hard to keep it organized but it feels like a mess for me. Hopefully it will get better.


DS2 is up with his gf and experiencing that same pause. Except for her, she's only been teaching less than 3 months so she doesn't have that wealth of experiences and materials to draw upon.

DS1 is surviving and finding himself sneezing a lot from the cat hair. We've cleaned a lot but it's still there. I suspect the furnace vents all need cleaning.

I definitely need to figure out a rhythm for the days ahead.