Several things have changed over the last couple of weeks. Since Matthew left us, we started social distancing with friends a bit. It began with going over to the Hass' house to see their new puppy. We sat outside in their backyard together and visited. Then we invited Kelly and Camryn over to sit by the pool with us. We also met them at Riverbend park and biked 12 miles together. Additionally, we invited the Hayes over to grill out and play games. Being around friends has been good for our souls.
As a result, we have decided that the kids can play outside with friends again, but still no car rides or going inside homes. This has led to Kianna and Trace biking with friends in the neighborhood and Kaylee getting invited to Camryn's 16th birthday party that was all outdoors. The girls have even had a virtual sleepover with their friends. They bake and watch movies together. Kaylee has even played board games with Brittney over the internet.
I went back to work on May 11th. My boss, Robert, received a stimulus check where he can pay us for the next eight weeks. I only get paid for four hour days vs my usual six, until my patient load builds back up. He added some extra safety measures. Our patients and us each get our temperatures taken when we arrive each day. Patients are asked to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer before we work with them. They must wear face masks. My coworkers and I all wear scrubs and face masks or face shields now. Man are they hot and uncomfortable to wear all day long! It is great being back to work though. I missed my patients!
Trevor has been battling shoulder and arm pain over the past month or so. Despite me working on him, his pain remains. He feels that his desk situation has been aggravating things, since he is used to having a standing desk at work. As a result, we ordered him a new desk chair and an adjustable desk, since this working from home thing doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon. Trace and I enjoyed putting the desk together. Hopefully, his pain will go away...
As a result of decreased planes in the air, due to fear of COVID-19, aerospace is taking a hit. Trevor took a 10% loss of salary, no raise and the biggest hit is no bonus. As a result, we must look at our expenses, the biggest one being tuition costs. Sadly, we have decided to decrease the girls to homeschool status at JCS. This means that they will take two classes at JCS and then take the rest of their classes online through Florida Virtual School, which is completely free. By taking a couple classes at JCS, they still have access to their friends, retreats, sports, mission trips, chapel, lunches, Homecoming, etc., It's not our ideal, but we do feel it's the financially smart decision.
Trace had the option as a 6th grader of either being 100% at JCS or 100% not at JCS. He decided to be 100% out. Since 100% homeschool is not an option for us. We decided to enroll him in Jupiter Middle School, which is 6-8th grade. He won't be the only new kid, since all the 6th graders will be new to the school. We enrolled him in the technology academy, which will get him a focus on coding, keyboarding, and computers. He's excited about this new program. He already knows a lot of the neighborhood boys that attend there. He will ride the bus to and from school, which stops at the entrance of Rialto. He's had a great attitude about this new transition. Hopefully it will go smoothly for him.
On a positive note, our beaches opened back up on May 18th, as did some of our stores. We are currently in phase I of reopening things. I took the girls to the mall last week to return some of our online purchases. It was their first time inside a building since the quarantine. We all wore our masks, but I found the whole thing stressful. Kaylee's friend, Lilly, ended up meeting us at the mall. I had trouble getting the girls to maintain their six feet social distancing. In addition, they wanted to get some stuff in the food court. That about sent me into a panic attack. Literally, watching them try to get their straws in their cups without spreading germs was overwhelming. We are living in a crazy time!!!
Food has been a constant highlight during this quarantine. We've tried so many new recipes. Most recently Kaylee made us blueberry scones, homemade pizzas, lemon chicken and roasted potatoes, and chicken and rice scampi. Kianna made us the best chocolate chip cookies, lil smokies and roasted potatoes, and a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and chocolate dipped strawberries. I made strawberry dole whip, egg rolls in a bowl, beef kabobs, stir fry and smash potatoes. Trace made the best oreo pudding cake and has learned to make spaghetti and meatballs.
Another highlight has been the opening of Aldi, my favorite grocery store. Until now, the closest Aldi was 20 minutes away. However, one just opened within five minutes of our house. I've already been there twice and LOVE it.
The beach reopening has been the recent highlight. We made it there this weekend, actually two days in a row. After being uninhabited for months, the shells were amazing! We had so much fun collecting shells and jumping the waves, which were intense. We are blessed to live in such a beautiful place.
