I just told a friend yesterday that the dog was the only animal that ever used this particular bed. And then this happened—and she stayed in it for HOURS.

I just told a friend yesterday that the dog was the only animal that ever used this particular bed. And then this happened—and she stayed in it for HOURS.

Cleaning out my work armoire on this dumpster fire of a still-sheltering-at-home/first-official-day-of-distance-learning Monday, I found this lovely gift from a friend that got hidden away. I figure now is the best time to open it and get to work remembering everything I have and am grateful for.

To that end, as I was standing thinking about the journal, a really great song came on Alexa so I started crazy dancing which got Katie dancing which eventually even got Owen dancing!! We must have sounded like a herd of elephants to Tom working downstairs in the office, because he came up you see what the hell was going on.
I gave Katie some new face paints awhile back and she’s been begging to use them but she didn’t want to do it herself—and Owen wouldn’t let her paint on him—so today Tom promised he would paint her face. And they decided on a poop emoji.

She was so excited when it was done and she loved it so much she could barely stand still.

After this she did get Owen to paint on her arms…and eventually it led to getting paint all over the couch so that wasn’t fun. But I got it mostly cleaned up so all was well.



They turned out okay and everybody liked them but I would probably do it differently the next time. We had to lay the hotdogs down because they were too tall to stand upright but it was a little weird just having a hotdog in the middle so I would probably actually cut up discs instead. I might also make them more bite-size and use smaller tins.

So this is how we hang Covid-19 style with friends… playing Evil Apples and having drinks.

Our kids were in the basement video chatting as well!
We did make the kids slushes today which they loved…but THIS is why I got it.


When you’re watching TV in your room and the kids are playing and then you get a video call from your kids.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I’ve tried our really good blender before (that’s supposed to be good with ice but… didn’t give you really smooth ice) but wasn’t sure the cost of this would be worth it.
But it is. It sooooo is.
The only thing at the moment is I don’t have the individual ingredients for margaritas…so I’m just using my ready-to-drink mix. It’s good, but once you mix it with the ice, it tastes diluted. So…I decided to add some extra tequila, some Grand Marnier, and some mashed strawberries from the freezer!
And then this happened. NOOOOO!!!

Yes, don’t worry. I know how to fix it. After realizing there was no way to get all the cork out…in it went and then I strained it.


I gave Owen and Katie a small Lego project to work on together and they managed to do it without much argument or fighting. Katie really liked playing with it, too.


I mean, I had Kohl’s cash (plus a 30% coupon) to spend so why not? So tonight we’ll be celebrating spring break and I’ll be prepared for e-learning that starts next week.

I also learned during the buying process that there are different levels of this machine—I hope I bought the right one!!
I posted on Facebook and a friend told me my face should be on the box. So I did this:

Today Owen’s teacher did their first test conference call. This will be the new norm.

If you’ve been thinking it looks like the end of the world out there and it’s depressing AF, read this.

Instant Pot spaghetti and meatballs! Delish!
This is about the third time he’s done it and we’re hoping the next one he’ll be able to do ALL on his own.

Since we had a fire of course we wanted s’mores…except we didn’t have any regular marshmallows?! We only had Frozen marshmallows which were a little small to roast so we just toasted them in our June oven. Still delicious.

At one point the kids left the box of pieces open and Maggie stepped in it, dumping them. I finished and had this. 🤦🏻♀️ We had to pull apart the couch to find the pieces (which we did).

It was nice today (57°!) so we took a walk to do a photo scavenger hunt and leave chalk notes on people’s driveways!







The kids went across the street to decorate the driveway of a single older lady. Owen also told me her brought her trash up to the house. ❤️

As far as for social distancing? Every single person that we saw and had to pass kept the right distance. Sometimes we moved out of the way, sometimes they moved out of the way. Thankfully we didn’t see any kids at the park but I would’ve lost my mind.
I was really happy about all this because I keep hearing stories about how parks are FULL of kids with and without parents around?!?! GRRR. I just think a lot of people are in the “it’s not going to happen to me” camp. And, of course, in the best case scenario, we won’t see anything happen at all and we will think all of this was for nothing. But that just means that it worked.
Anyway, they really had a lot more fun than I thought they would. Now we just need lots more nice days…
I treated myself when we got back… uncovered my egg chair and had a drink!


I innocently started a Facebook group to continue the drunk face thing…and we had a mini explosion. Over 100 people joined and a fair amount of them have posted!
Most are my friends (from all times and areas of my life—going back to high school classmates and my first internet friends from 1997 to family members and of course Tivo peeps) but others are inviting people, too!

It really isn’t a drunken fest—it’s more a show me what you’re drinking but I just thought the original sounded funnier.
Okay so I went outside my box today and used Champagne Shimmer with—ARE YOU READY?—Pink Hibiscus Shimmer on my lids AND under my eyes! And it doesn’t look like I’m sick or have two black eyes!! SUCCESS!!


Also? How exciting is it to have two photos that are almost identically positioned?! That never happens. #selfienerd
Don’t judge.


So—SURPRISE!—my family has stopped helping. I expected it but it’s still annoying. 😂 🤷🏻♀️ I get it. They only want the easy parts but life isn’t always easy and I’m trying to teach them that sometimes they need to just power through. They’re not having it. #momfail
Anyway. This is how I do puzzles when it’s getting towards the end—all like-shaped pieces together. Am I the only one that does this? It makes it sooo much easier to find what you’re looking for. (I also kinda want to sort by colors but I’m letting that go.)
Are you yay or nay on the whole puzzle sitch?



A porch pickup…or toss in this case. 🤣😭

A self-distancing shelter-at-home snowy Monday morning certainly calls for some self-indulgence and self care…

How are you taking care of yourself today?
There was a mini movement on Facebook too put up holiday lights and decorations (any holiday) in order to break up the boredom and monotony and give people something to look at when they’re driving by. I’m all about the Christmas lights so Tom dug ours out and I put it up last night.

And look what’s happening now?! 😒 SERIOUSLY.

It’s snowing. Why do we live here?


And then later she followed me to the basement…


I started the kids on the Lego challenge calendar because we’ve been watching Lego Masters and they love it—so figured this would be a big treat.

Ha. Hahaha. Katie didn’t want to do the first one I picked (rockets) and Owen didn’t want to do the second (pizza) do they did Rock Paper Scissors and tied like six times. Owen finally won which sent Katie into a fit because she “didn’t know how to build a rocket and she’s stupid.”
Sigh. No good deed goes unpunished.
So after some counseling, they both worked on rockets. Katie eventually gave up but Owen did finish.


I’m not sure when we’re going to attempt this again.