Isn't he wonderful?

Leave behind your regrets and mistakes
Come today, there's no reason to wait
Jesus is calling
Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy
From the ashes, a new life is born
Jesus is calling

O come to the altar
The Father's arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood!...

from- Oh come to the altar: Elevation Music

Sometimes we think we are okay- but really there is something off.  Right now there are A LOT of things off. There is so much fear and anxiety- and so, so much stupidity which leads to way too much sarcasm  ...

I'm not really worried for my family unit.  We're fine.  Daniel and I are both listed as "essential workers."

I mean, I'm not sure how "essential" my work is, but I got the notice today that I am in fact "essential," so I can go to campus if I need to use technology or pick up materials.  The point is, we aren't losing any income as a result of the shelter in place order.  The girls' school has provided online classes for them to finish our their school year.  I'm working from home exclusively, D is working from home part-time- and going into the office part-time. 

We're not sick.  We have some TP- (although I noticed we are getting a bit low so I should probably be a bit more proactive on that account.)

The internet is mostly working.  We have enough food. We can go out and walk the neighborhood- or if it stays warm- go out to the pool.  (the girls swam today, but it was too cold for me to venture in)

Everything is mostly fine.

I read an article today that said, you know that uneasy feeling you have?  and I thought "YEAH!" It said that feeling is shared grief over what we have lost.  We've all lost our old normal- at least for a while.  Even if everything is still okay with us- there is still something missing.  

It is okay.  I have plenty to keep me entertained.  I have lots of stuff to do around the house.  The problem is that it is still left undone.  I'm not doing the things I should do, I'm not even doing the things I really want to do- I'm stuck.  I'm wasting time looking at facebook and avoiding the real news.  

I'm waiting for the next thing, and I'm tired, and my tummy hurts.

If that's what's happening with me, what about all the people who are deeply affected by this mess?

I've been thinking about that verse and chorus for the past few days- 

Leave behind your regrets and mistakes ...

Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy ...

Jesus is calling.

day 5

day 4

isolation day 3

The girls and I are home for a few weeks.  We are observing social distancing- modified.  I've let the girls go visit with the neighbor kids.  Thursday we plan to go visit my aunt and cousin.  D is still going to work, and T will go to daycare twice a week as long as it is open. 

I will start teaching classes from home next week- and the girls should start getting online lessons from their school next week.  We just need to make it through the last 8 weeks of the semester, and 12 more weeks until the end of the school year.

Yesterday was kind of messy- today has been quiet.  E was up early, L not until 11:00, T is still sleeping at 1:00pm!  Poor little monkey- I think she might have an earache. 

E and L got new computers so they can do their school work to finish out the year.  I got them started on a Chrome extension typing club.  I need to take a look around online to find other educational sites they might enjoy.

 I made a list of things for the girls to do today.  E is all over it- L is not.

I was thinking of putting the tent up today for an outdoor classroom/playroom/reading room, but the news said flash floods--- so I'll wait. :)

This is not a bad time- just a different time, let us all take a deep breath and do our best.

subtitles

I had a dream that everyone was speaking in a language I couldn't understand.  It seemed like it was going to be okay though- because there were subtitles floating around just at chest height of the speaker. 

Unfortunately,  all the subtitles were in Greek.

He said, "Do you want this iced tea maker?"
The thing is- I don't even like iced tea.
The other thing is- why would anyone actually need an iced tea maker?
It's literally ice, tea, and water.
If you make sun tea- you don't even need to boil the water.
All of these things considered- I said, "Yes. I want it."

Of course, that was always going to be the answer because I have a weakness for small appliances.

(Just recently I've thought I needed a countertop ice machine- see below for reason.)

So- this weekend I made some iced tea . . . because I could.

It went like this-

I don't like iced tea, but I do like Thai tea.

I looked up how to make Thai tea on Google.

Thai tea requires:
1. Thai tea bag/leaves
2. water
3. sugar
4. condensed milk
5. ice

Hmmm- turns out I don't have Thai tea- Indian tea it is then.
If you make Thai tea with Indian tea- is it still Thai tea? - Maybe I should just call it "Iced-chai."

I was pretty skeptical about this iced tea maker- so I set it to 'strong.' It brewed an impressively black two quarts of tea from 1/4 cup of loose leaf tea.

I tasted some super bitter black tea.

I added the sugar and condensed milk- went to add the ice- but no- no ice. What I had was an empty ice tray in the freezer.

I had some hot milk tea- and it was yummy!
I let it cool and had some cold 'iced chai' and it was yummy.

I wondered if  I could make more tea from my tea leaves.  I brewed two more quarts of tea.
It still produced a nice dark tea.

I drank all the iced-chai.  I refrigerated the black tea for later.
Turns out maybe I do like iced-milked-sweetened-spiced tea.

I'll keep the iced tea maker for while.