A Week of Progress and Celebration

Life was wonderful on the home front this week. We got so much accomplished. This week marked another corona birthday in our family. Only two more to go in 2020, and it looks like they will also be influenced by this pandemic. As the outside world becomes more alarming, keeping the home fires bright and peaceful becomes more and more important to me. We are back in a higher level of  lockdown within our family as our state is one of the top five fastest increasing states for Covid-19. I am really glad that the governor decided to keep us in phase 2 and not move on this week. That would have been disastrous.

What's for Dinner ~ I remembered to write down what we ate this week:

• Homemade pesto pizza
• Pesto tortellini
• Chicken and veggie fajitas 
• Breakfast for dinner (cranberry bread, eggs and fruit bowls)
• Fruit and cheese tea for my birthday
• Chicken patties with baked potatoes, green beans and corn on the cob

Anne started her online classical ballet dance intensive with the University of North Carolina School of Dance. It is going very well. She battled a small stomach virus at the beginning of the week, but that didn't stop her from attending every class. She is delighted to be consistently dancing again...even if it is in a small bedroom. She has a bit more than the required 6 foot by 6 foot space and she is getting used to the space. She loves all of her teachers and most of the classes. She is not a fan of Pilates, ahem!

I celebrated my birthday this week. We had a wonderful tea party with fruit and cheese for dinner. I loved bringing out all the crystal and having all the fruit that I wanted. We had a socially distant picnic in the front yard with Grandma and opened presents. I got so many lovely things this year. I should be set for awhile with all things lotion and bath salts. My Mom also got me a lovely patio table. My front porch is so cute now. I got sun glasses for driving and lots of china to add to my set from my husband and mother in law. Timothy gave me a pointed hoe. I did not have one and it sure is coming in handy while weeding my vegetable garden. I really was spoiled by my family. We wrapped up the evening with ice cream cones at a local soft custard place.

Our house also got blessed this week. We had an arborist come out a few months ago to assess the trees on our property. He agreed that a huge tree behind the dance shed needed to come down. We decided to pay for four men and eight hours of labor from a tree removal company to bring down that tree and prune as many of the other "landscaping" trees on the property as possible. The day finally arrived this week for the men to come out and do the work. It really felt like the cavalry had arrived when they pulled up with a cherry picker, a ditch witch, wood chipper and more chainsaws and manual saws than I have ever seen in one place. Unfortunately, they were not able to bring down the dangerous tree behind the dance shed. On further inspection, they decided that they needed a very special piece of equipment that would dramatically reduce the risk to life and property. They held back a few hours of our contract to come back and do that piece of the work at the end of July. Their safety is paramount, so we will wait for the equipment to come back from where it was loaned out. They did manage to trim 10 trees on our property. It was fascinating to watch them work, and our property looks so much better. Some of the trees were really a mess, especially our huge Siberian Elms and a Pin Oak that are right next to the house. It feels good to know that the trees are well maintained and have been trimmed to increase their health, so that they will safely shade our home for many years to come. 

Elijah Dean had a good week too. He managed to avoid my camera all week -- the little devil. He went to Vocational Rehab for career testing this week. The results should be in next week. The lady who conducted the tests said, "He has glorious academic skills and was a delight to work with. There will be lots of job opportunities for him." He also went off of all sleep aids this week and is doing very well. He says it takes him longer to get to sleep but that his sleep is good once he is asleep. I will accept that as good enough for now. He has been on Unisom and Melatonin for almost a year. It was time to change.

I only did one painting job this week. I painted the patio chairs a fresh green to complement my new table. Otherwise, my week was consumed with weeding, trying to get a new Fly Lady routine down for my home, and catching up on paperwork.

In my downtime I am reading Sold On Monday and The Quiet Rebels. I am also watching Chateau Diaries on YouTube. I love summer, even in the midst of a pandemic. Really, the hardest thing about the pandemic for our family has been the inability to travel and our kids' loss of out-of-the-home classes. We are greatly blessed to only have those complaints! So many are suffering so much more.

Blessings, Dawn