Though it didn't start out that way...
Tues. 3rd--I subbed in first grade at JJ's school on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday morning, during the morning announcements, JJ was recognized with a Growl of Greatness from Mrs. Agnello because he was noticed doing an awesome job in class. I was so proud of him, but even more grateful that I got to hear his unexpected recognition at the same time as he did--just in a different part of the school! As part of subbing, I had cafeteria duty, while the other teacher eats her lunch. Then she takes the kids to recess while I eat lunch. Second graders are scheduled to come in to the lunchroom right as we're leaving, so I usually see JJ for a brief second and sometimes get a hug, sometimes a wave. Since I was getting to eat my lunch, too, I asked JJ if he wanted to join me. He said yes. So I asked Mrs. Agnello if it would be okay to take JJ with me and she said, "Absolutely!" So we ate our lunch together back in Mrs. Sweidan's classroom.
Christina, woke up and came to greet us at the door. We were only up long enough for me to get my stuff out of Karole's car and to find where I could go to sleep. I hugged Karole goodnight and goodbye. She was going to stay for a few days and visit before driving home Friday or Saturday on her own for the first time.
Wed. 4th--I set my alarm for 5:30am so I could freshen up before heading out at 6am like Jake wanted to. However, 5:45 came and went and there was no sign of Jake. A few days before that, Jake had been walking the little Shorkie, dog, Kobe, with his cousin Olivia when there was a Great Dane that came bounding toward them! Jake got totally run over by this dog. Knocked flat on his back! And in the process, his cell phone fell out of his pocket and the entire screen cracked. Unfortunately, the phone wouldn't even come on. He totally lost his mission phone. Ugh!! So we couldn't contact him or text him by phone. It was so disheartening. He ordered another used iPhone online from Amazon and thought he would have enough time for it to be mailed to Snyder, but we told him it would be better to have it shipped to Cade's house in Highland, Utah. Without a phone, Jake didn't have an alarm, so I was curious how Jake would be waking up for our early departure.
6am came and went. I considered waking Jake up, but I have great anxiety about waking up someone with narcolepsy. I don't want to presume anything and mess up his schedule. But as 6:15am approached with still no sign of him, knowing he wanted to leave by 6:30 at the latest, I did what I didn't want to do and went to rouse him. He was grateful, too! Thought he might wake up on his own and didn't. It was storming outside and super dark as we worked to load up his stuff and mine. It wasn't too hard to get our things in there. But his car was packed tight and we were a bit wet.
Kevin and Chris and their kids slowly started to wake up. We felt bad about that. But they still had school, so I guess it wasn't too crazy early for that. We said a prayer, gave quick hugs and we were gone. Jake wanted to drive. Says he does better that way. So I happily obliged. I was there for backup.
*On our way to Utah again--this time by land--to do the college drop-off thing. Our first full day would be to go from Snyder, Texas to Monticello, Utah. Weather this time of year is always a concern, especially in mountain passes. We started out driving in a big storm system that morning, but we were out of it by the time we reached Lubbock.
*We ordered pizza in and Jake set up his laptop so we could watch a movie. He put on "Inside Out." I told him I would probably crash as soon as I was done eating. I had been up til midnight for the last couple of nights. He usually takes his night med and goes to sleep around 11 or 11:30. As predicted, I fell asleep fairly quickly. I do remember rolling over and noticing the clock said 10:30. Jake was asleep, but propped up, on top of his bed covers. Part of me thought that didn't look right. The other groggy part of me rationalized, "Don't bother him. This could be by design and you weren't up to see his sleep routine." So I rolled back over and went to sleep.
Thurs. 5th--When we got up the next morning, Jake said he fell asleep without taking his med and it was a rough night for him. I told him what I saw when I rolled over and explained I was worried about waking him up and throwing him off his schedule. Jake said that it would have been a good time to wake him up. But I didn't know that. Because of that experience, I suggested that this would be something he might want to let his roommates know. That he is supposed to take a med and start winding down around 11/11:30pm each night. If they see that he's asleep before that, then chances are, he needs to wake up so he can take his med and get less fragmented sleep for the night. I apologized for not waking him up.
*This was the daytime view out our hotel window.
*We got our waffle breakfast in the lobby--just the two of us. I guess there aren't a whole lot of people traveling through Monticello, Utah the first part of March. We checked out, packed up the car, and then went the 1.1 miles to see the Monticello Temple.
Jake under the arch! He did it! He wasn't dragging physically or anything!
They got several good pictures of us. We were very grateful.
This is an easy one to identify: Balanced Rock.
Doesn't that first rock perched from the left look like a bear?
Jake came inside Sarah's house with me briefly before taking off and gave everyone a big hug. I was given David's room and it was perfect. I was so grateful to stay with my friend while I helped get Jake settled. While I was settling in, I realized I was a little red from our hike at Arches. But not too bad. :) Cade texted me to let me know Jake made it back to the house without problems. Yay!
Fri. 6th--Sarah and I were roommates at Weber State--both in the Elementary Education program. She moved in with me when Jared moved out to Illinois to start up a massage therapy business. She was from Lehi and after she got married, she and Justin built a house on her parents' beautiful property. This was my view out from their kitchen deck.
Before Jake came to get me, I got a call from the counselor at Pecan Trail. Calvin's school. She said a formal complaint had been written against him by a parent for the way he was treating her son. I had never heard of the boy, but I did tell the counselor that Calvin has spoken of bullies in the past and that he has asked to be home schooled and that we were in the process of talking to the psychology department at A&M to see if they had some testing and counseling they could do. Calvin is a very smart kid and we need to make sure we're meeting those educational needs because if not, behavior issues almost always follow. I finished by telling the counselor that I was out of state, but would let my husband know about the situation and if we wanted to arrange something with the family, we'd contact her after spring break.
Jake came and picked up me a little bit later. He had been waiting on his iphone to arrive via Amazon Prime, so we could set it up, but it was still delayed, by many days. We decided to head to the Jordan area to pick up his snowboarding gear we left at the McCulloughs house when we were there in February. After that, we got Jake a late lunch and headed to the nearest Walmart. As we pulled into the parking lot, Jake and I both realized this was the Walmart right by the Hansens, who we stayed with in February. Remembering it was Friday afternoon and they work a shift at the temple at that time, I sent Vickie a quick text saying I was sorry we were so close but ended up missing them.
As we started getting a few things in the cart at Walmart, I got a text back from Vickie. She said that they weren't at the temple that day. OJ had two stents put in just two days prior and they had the shift off. She asked us to please come by if we can. So we vacated our basket and drove the two minutes to their house. It was such a wonderful, unexpected reunion!! OJ was doing amazingly well and we were so pleased to get an update even though we had stayed with them just a few weeks before. Love these peeps.
Jake and Cade had plans to do a session at the American Fork Temple around 7pm, so we left the Hansens and headed back to Lehi so Jake could drop me off for the night. Turns out it was date night for Sarah and Justin. Their two older kids were gone and even their youngest was at a friend's house so they invited me along for dinner at Costa Vida. I told them I didn't want to intrude, but they insisted. It was my first time eating at Costa Vida and it was delish. Then we ran an errand at Costco (which was so strange to be in after almost six years).
I had to take a picture of the white dresses and modest bathing suits that were front and center when we walked in. Only in Utah. Haha!
I found this posted sign at check-out interesting. They were putting limits on the quantities of items that people could purchase. No more than 5 cases of water per member and 3 packages of toilet paper. Seriously? If there really is reason to be concerned about supplies, why not say no more than 1 (ONE) package of each, per person. That way more people can have them. ???
Kevin and Chris had returned home from their trip just hours before Karole and I arrived at midnight on Tuesday evening. But Jake had spoken to them for a bit and we hugged them before we left that morning and then we were in Utah and oh my goodness. I can see how this virus can spiral out of control FAST. I guess you can be asymptomatic for a while and still spread it to others and I was horrified. I asked Jared what we should do. I didn't want to alarm Sarah unnecessarily, but at the same time, I was not about to keep this information from her. They opened up their home to me. And I hugged her elderly mom the day before. Oh, I was just sick at the thought that I could have brought the plague to their house. I knew the chances were slim...but still. This was no joke.
Jared and I chose not to say anything to Jake until we knew more. But I did tell Sarah (at a distance) what Jared told me. I told her I really didn't know what this meant for me or them. I could stay at a hotel, but I'd be getting more people sick. I couldn't go anywhere! I felt like a ticking time bomb. Sarah was a little rattled, rightfully so, and went to wake up Justin. I didn't hear their conversation, but he came out cleaning surfaces like light switches and such with Clorox wipes. The only good thing about this is that the CDC was counting Kevin and Chris's time of exposure at around March 2nd, so they were almost a whole week into it, meaning, if they had the virus, we'd know fairly soon.
Meanwhile, for our peace of mind in Utah, Jared was conveniently at work and reached out to Dr. Cheng, Chief of Medical Operations, who Jared also shadowed for a time before working briefly at the Normangee clinic. Dr. Cheng was the point man for the hospital and was in regular, close contact with the CDC--several times a day. Jared explained our situation and wanted to know what the odds were of being high risk and could I even fly home that next Tuesday? After Jared got his answers, he called me and I put him on speaker so Sarah and Justin could hear it also.
Dr. Cheng said the self-isolation of Kevin and Chris was just a precautionary measure. There's a little risk that they might have it. But because Jake only saw them briefly after they returned and I saw them for mere moments, our risk of being infected is truly slim. Dr. Cheng had no reservations with me flying home and if he felt there was risk of infecting others, he would have stopped me from that. (Karole, however, stayed with Kevin and Chris for several days after Jake and I left, so she self-isolated, too, just to err on the side of caution.) We all released a big sigh of relief when we heard that. There were just too many questions without answers bouncing around between us and when Sarah and Justin heard that Dr. Cheng is communicating with the CDC, they were feeling much, much better. It was a crazy morning though. I hated feeling like I was a persona non grata. But worse was feeling that I could have put their entire family in danger.
Jake had a group date with Cade and another missionary from Hungary that afternoon, so I reached out to my cousin Lorie (Uncle Brent's oldest) who lives just up the hill in Draper, not 15 minutes away to see if we could visit later that afternoon. She said that would be great! But I had to ask Jake if I could borrow the car. :) My how the tables have turned. Haha! In the meantime, I worked on some stuff at Sarah's house. As I was sitting on the bed, some movement caught my eye and this is what I saw!
I was surprised by how close she was. It's actually my aunt and uncle's house, but they were out of the country on a repositioning cruise--for something like 52 days. Which, was probably the safest place for them to be at that moment in the world. Lorie is a physician assistant which gave us a lot to talk about since that's what Jared does. She has also spent a lot of time with my parents in Scotland and Africa and London and was preparing to join them in Iceland, with her parents, at the end of April. She's actually already been to the country so we talked about that a bit too since Jared and I had that awesome experience in July. We talked and caught up for about three hours. It was great to see her and to get the update on her family. I'm pretty much out of the loop with most my cousins. Unless they're on FaceBook and most of them aren't.
View from the living room. The Draper temple is down below them. :)
Jake and I headed south toward Provo, thinking we might look at buying a cell phone from another of his sisters, Kayla Reynolds, who was selling her mission phone. Turns out, it wasn't really working right and she didn't want Jake to be stuck. So we bailed on that idea and went to the closest Walmart from that point, which was in Lindon, I believe. And I was bummed to see that it was REALLY picked over. Boo. But somehow we managed to find most the kitchen start up things he needed, got him some food for a late night snack, then he dropped me off at Sarah's for the night and he went back to his new home.
Sun. 8th--I was grateful to have visited with Lorie the day before so we could be free to figure out things that we needed to between Sarah's ward, Jake's first Sunday in his new YSA ward, and a visit from a senior couple driving up from Beaver to see Jake. They missed saying goodbye when he left Hungary and they were so sad about that. They checked up on him ALL.THE.TIME. Before the Bradshaw's arrived, Jake and I visited with Cade and his mom, Heather.
It was fun to listen to these two former missionaries visiting with Brother and Sister Bradshaw and for them to talk about the fun times they had in Hungary and the things their futures held for them. They are a great couple and the boys said they have goals to be like them one day as couple missionaries with their wives someday.
First up, Dr. Ross--the sleep medicine doctor. We originally had an appointment with a mid-level provider, which was fine, but were told they couldn't do anything with meds until Jake saw the doctor. When I realized that Jake would need a refill about that time on his sleep meds, I called to find out if it could be refilled because nothing was changing. The receptionist told me that the doctor actually heard about Jake's circumstances and read his small file of medical records and told the receptionist he would like to see Jake himself and then that would eliminate any worry about the meds. Under the circumstances, we sure appreciated that.
Dr. Ross was very kind and personable grandpa of a man. Jake had his laptop with all the latest dates and symptoms he's experienced to give an accurate record and accounting of his health. But Dr. Ross wanted him to go back...way back. Back to middle school and high school. What was Jake's lifestyle like back then? He was looking for any signs that Jake struggled with his health and/or sleep issues when he was younger. Unfortunately, the truth couldn't be any further from that. Jake was unstoppable! He was in band and jazz band. He played the piano. He was called up to be in the high school marching band as an 8th grader. The only one. He was in advanced classes. He played basketball in middle school. He ran cross country for two years. Quit after his collapse at regions and then took up pole vaulting as a senior and still ran a marathon before going on his mission. Those were only some of the physical things he did. He was just as impressive mentally and spiritually. Learning, growing, creating, building, excelling, discovering. He always had something going on...sometimes several big and small tinkering projects at once, while still attacking his school work and making sure his spiritual health was tip top. The sky was the limit for him. He took care of his body and stuck to a very strict sleep schedule during school--in bed by 10pm because he had early morning seminary (if not running practice) and wanted to get the sleep he knew his body would need and literally jumped out of bed every morning to start the new day. He was on fire. There were no indications of him struggling at all. Minus that bump when he collapsed at the regional cross country meet in Oct. 2016. But after a slew of cardiology specialists and others interviewed him and ran their barrage of tests, they found nothing conclusive. Just that whatever happened, Jake's heart wasn't happy about it. And then he took first place in both his district track events six months later.
This information led Dr. Ross to ask more questions about the onset of his narcolepsy and current symptoms. There was a resident with him serving as the scribe, though Dr. Ross also took notes. He was very thorough. We spent almost an hour with him. Near the end he started saying things that sounded to me like Jake might not have narcolepsy, even though his MSLT test seemed to indicate that he did. I didn't say anything, just listened, and Dr. Ross came back around to saying that he was going to make sure he kept a close eye on Jake and they would take care of him. He explained it would be perfectly normal if his meds needed to be changed, etc. He also asked who Jake's PCP was and we said we were actually meeting with him, Dr. Swenson, that afternoon. Dr. Ross said he wanted to call and talk to Dr. Swenson just to fill him in and let him know that we had already met to help coordinate care a little better, for which we appreciated. He refilled Jake's sleep meds for us and then we left.
Next on the agenda...operation find a phone. Ugh. Bottom line, we had to go to AT&T and get a new one. We tried looking at the KSL classifieds but none of them had the storage Jake needed and they were still pretty expensive. So we went to the closest store near the doctor's office, and it was super tiny. We finally settled on the iPhone 10. The clerk went to the back and told us he was sorry, but they were all out of the iPhone 10. We couldn't believe it. We didn't want the 11, it was a little more. But being a great salesman, he directed us to another store located in the mall. They might have more inventory. So that's where we went. When we asked about the 10 model, he told us they didn't have any. Apparently, the manufacturing plants in China had to shut down for major sanitation protocol and they stopped making them. He said they did, however, have plenty of the 11 model because it just came out and they kept a lot in stock. Seeing that this was our only option, we bit the bullet and just did it. $800 for a phone. (Excuse me while I vomit in my mouth). We got the insurance too, just to pull him through the first six months or so.
After that, we headed to the food court for lunch. We got some Chinese and sat down to call Jared and let him know how the appointment with the sleep doc went. It was at this time that I asked Jake if he felt like Dr. Ross was hinting that Jake might not have narcolepsy and he said he did! I guess Dr. Ross isn't sure if there's something else going on. Which is one of the reasons why he probably contacted Dr. Swenson. Still, though, we liked him and appreciated him being attentive.
Then it was off to meet Dr. Swenson. Jared was working at the time, as was Cooper, and I know this because the little kids were calling me on my phone about disagreements that were taking place among the three of them at the house. There wasn't much I could do to put out the fires from where I was. I did the best I could and I ignored my phone after that.
Dr. Swenson is a young doctor--about 38 years old. Young, but experienced enough. The first thing he said when he came in was, "Your reputation precedes you!" He said that he got a call from Dr. Ross at lunch and they had a conversation. That's when I asked him, "Does Dr. Ross not believe Jake has narcolepsy?" He said that Dr. Ross is intrigued by his case because his onset of the narcolepsy doesn't follow the classic cases of the disease." It sounds like Dr. Ross doesn't believe that it can be triggered by the H1N1 vaccine. Which is a catalyst that makes sense to us and that's how it was explained to us by the sleep doctor in Austin. But it wasn't a deal breaker for us that Dr. Ross isn't in the camp that believes narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease. What we're learning is that there are still a lot of unknowns about narcolepsy.
Dr. Swenson was really cool and also very personable and kind and compassionate. We were with him for close to an hour too. Jake has a lengthy background and this PCP is Jake's quarterback. So he needs to be up to speed. At one point, from my mommy perspective, I asked the doctor if it would be appropriate to get Jake on an antidepressant. Because Jake just isn't quite back to where he was emotionally--at least while he processes this diagnosis and how his life has been turned upside down. I wasn't suggesting Jake was depressed, but since narcolepsy deals with the chemicals in his brain, maybe that's messing with the other chemicals too, that can cause depression. Dr. Swenson said, "Oh it's not that he might be depressed. He IS depressed. You can't go through this kind of a life altering event and not be." He made sure Jake knew he (Dr. Swenson) wouldn't be medicating him to make him happier, but to bring him back up to where he used to be. This will help unmuddy the waters so they can kind of see where things really are with his health. Jake hasn't had much of an appetite since May 2019 either to be honest. He explained the symptoms, including difficulty swallowing sometimes, to Dr. Swenson who said his stomach was likely filling up with stomach acid and making him not hungry. So he prescribed some omeprazole to help with that. I told Jake, "They usually talk about the 'freshman fifteen'--the weight you gain your freshman year of college. Eat whatever you want and let's try and make it the freshman thirty." Dr. Swenson laughed at that and said, "Actually, I'd really like to see the freshman fifty!" He said he'd keep in touch with Dr. Ross and got Jake's prescriptions called in and we were on our way feeling really good about that encounter as well. It was a blessing to have such kind and caring doctors especially since this would be Jake's first time living away from home and being in college while dealing with some pretty heavy health issues.
As we waited at the pharmacy, Jake was a bit somber. He had been told that there might be another underlying autoimmune issue that we're dealing with. And he's still trying to figure out coping with narcolepsy. Both doctors told him that being a student would be different and difficult but that he had control of his schedule and he would be okay.
Once we had the meds, we headed back to his place to just hang out. I sat on his bed (he's not allowed to be on it unless he's sleeping). He sat on the floor and did some unpacking while I planned out his next week's worth of menus and what he would need to buy from the grocery store for those recipes and other meals. I wanted to take him grocery shopping, but since the new carpet wasn't being installed until after I left, I just gave him money and the list so he could go himself.
We also talked about his budget. He had it all outlined on an electronic spreadsheet that he was very proud of, but I just couldn't follow some of it and there were a couple "gaps." Jake was starting to wonder whether that was the best way to set it up with his different financial needs and only using the money he needed each month and moving stuff from savings, etc. So I explained how I did mine...with paper and pencil. :) By the time we got through a basic budget for him that made sense, we realized it was 7:00pm. We needed to get dinner. But he wasn't feeling it. So I asked, "How about a smoothie?" And that sounded much better. They don't have a "Smoothie King" unfortunately, so we found a place called Fiiz and got some drinks. They seemed more like an icee than a smoothie, but they were good. There wasn't anyone in the store except the workers. So we had free reign of the couch and talked more about his budget and when we were done with our drinks, we decided to go to Walmart to get a couple last minute items.
As we drove away from Fiiz, I told Jake I was going to need some real food to eat. As we made our way around the strip mall, I noticed an all-you-can-eat pizza, pasta, and salad place. So we popped in. They closed at 9pm and we were waltzing in at 8:35pm. But the young man who greeted us at the door happily seated us while telling us what pizzas were left. The buffet price was $11 or something like that, but he only charged us for half. Which was super awesome. I had my fill of pasta, while Jake had his fill of pizza and we both went to the salad bar once. :) One of the March Madness basketball games was on the TV and we watched that while we ate and chatted. There were two other parties in the restaurant so I didn't feel so bad while the employees began their end of day cleaning.
We picked up a few things from Walmart: some plastic dishes and cups for Jake to use, some envelopes for his "cash system" and some Stephen's hot chocolate for me to take home. I got two flavors, milk chocolate and mint chocolate. The latter being one of the few ways I'll tolerate mint in my food. I don't mind mint in my gum or Tic Tacs, for example. But not in any food I would eat and swallow. We also got Jake one of his few guilty pleasures. Barq's Red Cream Soda. And we were laughing and cutting up about something and had a good last night before he dropped me off at Sarah's once more.
When I returned to the Christensen home, Sarah asked how the appointments went that day. I explained to her our encounter with Dr. Ross and how it sounded like he was suggesting that Jake might not have narcolepsy. Sarah's niece, Jody, who lives nearby has narcolepsy with cataplexy and she has seen firsthand how she has struggled with it before and after her diagnosis. Jody is now 17. So what Sarah said to me next was really enlightening. What Dr. Ross said did not surprise her and pointed out that from her experience with the disease, Jake doesn't act like he has narcolepsy. When she heard he had driven the entire way to Utah (13 hours one day, 4-5 hours the second day after hiking up to Delicate Arch and not sleeping well the night before) it made her pause. There's no way her niece could drive even an hour without having to stop and pull over. And Jake didn't even get sleepy or drowsy. I expected to drive some of it, but I wanted him to see how he did and he was fabulous. Jake says he does better as the driver anyway. But I thought it was very interesting that Sarah has lived around someone who has narcolepsy and while Jody's case seems much more severe, Sarah and her kids (who go to school with Jody) agree that they never would have suspected Jake had narcolepsy if we hadn't told them.
Tues. 10th--Time for me to head back to Texas. My kids had started spring break the day before, but Sarah's kids were still in school for a few more weeks so they were up early and I hugged them all goodbye as they headed their separate ways. This was the view I got that morning. Just lovely. I think the mountains are so much more beautiful with snow on them.
I paid to fill up Jake's car one more time and I kept myself in check...giving Jake only a couple pieces of last minute mommy advice. The final one being, "If you have any questions, just call." :) The first time he left home, he couldn't do that. Leaving him for school felt a little bit different than watching him leave us for a mission. Not quite so difficult because I had already experienced a pretty jolting sever when he went to the MTC and then Hungary. This time, though, it didn't seem quite so heart wrenching because I knew we could communicate whenever. And I was really excited for him to start this next chapter in life. Getting a job, meeting and networking with new people. Going to school on campus and dating even though there were still a lot of unknowns surrounding his health and I know he was really worried about whether he'd be successful in school like he used to be.
As we got out at the airport curb, he asked if he could take a picture of us together. Of course!! Then I hugged him tight, told him I loved him and willed myself not to cry, keeping my mommy tears at bay. With all the strength I could muster, I pulled back, looked him straight in the eyes and confidently told him with a big smile, "You are going to be okay! You're going to do great!" And then I waved and made my way to the terminal and he drove away to his job interview. Interestingly enough, I calculated that it would be about 10 months before we would see him again--the same amount of time that he was gone on his mission to Hungary.
Guess whose bag got pulled aside for secondary security search? Yup, this girl. That's what happens when you try to take two containers of gourmet powdered hot chocolate in a carry-on bag at the airport. Ugh. I can't win!! Fortunately, they "passed" inspection and it was pretty subtle, but I think the security guard approved of my powdered stash. :)
I took a picture of the seat in front of me on the plane from SLC to Dallas. It came with a charging outlet! I sent the picture to Jared and asked, "Why couldn't we fly on this plane to Iceland?"
March 10th was also Karcyn's 14th birthday! She was a trooper considering her requested birthday dinner was a bust (we were short an ingredient) and it wasn't much of a day off for her either since she was in charge considering Jared, Cooper, and I were all gone for the day. But she handled it with grace and a positive attitude. As soon as I got home and got hugs, I thew some dinner in the instant pot and we gathered so she could open her gifts.
Wed. 11th--Unfortunately, it was announced that we were experiencing a worldwide pandemic due to the coronavirus. Not good. We started hearing some serious things from the news outlets such as the Church was suspending large meetings like stake conferences and other training events.
Thurs. 12th--The Church suspended gatherings of church members worldwide, including, of course, Sacrament meeting and face-to-face ministering, youth and children activities and seminary and our neighboring school district in Bryan made the call to close schools for the week beyond spring break. We thought the College Station school district would follow shortly after, but they didn't cancel on Thursday. I'm actually relieved that they canceled church meetings. We are currently attending the branch in Caldwell, where the numbers are small and several of them are elderly. With Jared working in the urgent care, I'd hate to be putting any of them at risk.
*My parents called to tell me that the Denmark Copenhagen mission was sending all the senior missionaries home as soon as possible. President Trump had ordered all the borders to be closed to international travelers, but Americans could still return home. My parents were packing to leave at a moment's notice and hoped to get a flight out by Saturday. Even though they were only leaving two months early, it's sad that they had to leave under these circumstances. They didn't even get to say goodbye to anyone.
*As a family, we had already planned to drive up to Dallas on Friday the 13th to do baptisms for the dead and then spend the night because the next morning Cooper would be bowling in the Pepsi Tournament in Fort Worth. Karole had previously excluded herself from the outing on account of her personal quarantine, but I intended to stay behind with JJ during the baptisms anyway so she could have a turn since she watched JJ for us in January. I even called the temple on Thursday morning to find out if it was still okay to go. At that point, they said they were still open and it likely wouldn’t change in the next 24 hours. It was later that evening when the church suspended large gatherings. We could have still gone to do baptisms, but decided the more prudent thing would be to stay home so we cancelled our temple appointment and hotel reservation and I was super bummed about that. Cooper’s bowling tournament had not been cancelled so Jared planned to just drive up with him on Saturday. I was pretty sure the tournament would garner much more than 100 people, the largest number of people allowed to gather, and just waited for word that it wasn’t going to take place.
I love this picture of Karole and Karcyn. :)
Canned soups. Mostly gone.
Sliced and bagged cheese. Gone.
*Haha.
We started around 10am and ended just after 11am. We had a lovely discussion where everyone joined in. Karcyn lead the music and Calvin worked on finding prayers and typed up the program which was titled “Sacrament Meeting for the Hough Family Twig” (instead of branch--haha!). It was truly historic! Shoes not required!
*I got a call Monday evening from a 435 number. It was my parents!! So happy to hear from them and that all went well in their travels home. Now they must stay in their house for 14 days. Which, for retired folks, who just got home from a mission out of the country and with a pool in the backyard, I think they’ll be just fine and will have plenty to do.
*We also got word that Kevin tested negative for coronavirus and was able to come out of his self quarantine (due to his trip to Boston) a few days early. This meant Jared was still able to go on the fishing trip they had planned for today, Wed. and Thursday with their friend, Josh, from Pontiac. It was also Jared’s long work week. He left early this morning and wouldn't get back until late Thursday and would be working Friday and Saturday. Ugh. Longest week for the Hough fam, ever. But honestly, if ever there was a time Jared needed off, this was it. Stress levels for providers are escalating exponentially. So I’m glad he is getting a small break to do what he enjoys.
*Brazos County got our first confirmed case of covid-19. But the 20-year-old had been traveling. The school district also announced schools will be closed now through April 3rd to participate in the community-wide social distancing and limiting the spread of coronavirus. Buckle up, here we go...
*Brazos County had two new cases of covid-19, also travel related.
*This was also the day we had our first case of coronavirus that wasn't travel related, which meant it was contracted from community transmission.
*"Coastal Blue" tote bag complete!
But we were able to have my parents (who were still missionaries in quarantine because they hadn't been released yet!) call in and join us.
*After church, it was time for Karole to leave, but she wasn't just going home for the night. We were being separated. We felt with Jared's new post at the respiratory clinic, that it would be in her best interest to quarantine herself from our home and family as well. That was pretty sad. To be close to family but not be able to be around them.
Mon. 23rd--This was the first, official day of "at-home school." Because I had to start laundry and go to the grocery store, Mondays would definitely be a late start to the school day. I got to HEB at 7:30am and was the 11th person in line to enter when they opened up at 8am. The manager said that at 8am, when he opened the doors, he would let us in one at a time and when there was 4-6 feet apart between customers to practice social distancing, he would let the next person in. Same with the TP aisle. Karole requested a pack of TP, so I picked some up for her. But there were no paper towels, no tissues and there was still no distilled water (which she needs for her Cpap machine and Cooper needs some to rinse his sinuses)--only spring water. What are these people supposed to do without distilled water? There wasn't any in the baby section either. I know Karole has also looked at several other stores as well. Everyone is completely out. I didn’t need milk or eggs. Nor bread. I needed boneless/skinless chicken thighs but they didn’t have any. Still no flour. The meats and cheeses were better stocked. The cereal was picked over. The deli was closed. I grabbed some gluten free pasta from what little was left. Most of it was gone and all the regular pasta was gone. I didn’t need rice, but noticed there were only some larger bags of basmati rice. There were no instant potatoes, no red curry paste, and no GF soup noodles for Karcyn. But the produce was back in business. Odd the things they have and don’t have from week to week.
Let's DO this!
Tuesday morning, before school started, the boys said they needed to feed the turtles and asked if they could give them salami to eat, to which I responded, “No way! That’s good people food. And the deli is closed now. I’m not wasting it.” Calvin insisted they needed to eat. I suggested lettuce. Calvin said the snappers don’t eat lettuce, they like meat. I told him that I bet they eat both. And I encouraged them look up what turtles like to eat online which then became their morning research before the “school day” even got started. Turns out turtles are omnivores. And I heard music to my ears when Calvin exclaimed, albeit a bit incredulously: “You were right, Mom!” So after lunch today, the boys went down to the ditch to do some fishing for minnows. They were gone for a couple of hours and were really into taking care of the turtles. They also caught some “crawdaddies” as JJ likes to call them. The snapping turtle did pinch JJ’s middle finger just a bit, which JJ told Jared about when we went to deliver some zucchini chocolate chip muffins to his office before we picked up lunch. Jared wasn’t happy about that and informed the boys that they needed to set the turtles free. I told them they could do it after lunch on Wednesday.
*For Karcyn's special day, she chose "Just Dance." Which I've never done before. We all chose our own individual song to dance to. I "just about died" doing mine. Haha! The kids are really good at it. I recorded them all and took a few snapshots of Cooper doing a second one. He's a natural at dancing and making his body move...which was very evident in the dubstep dancing he'd make up for certain songs a couple years ago.
JJ shot Cooper! Who then collapsed on the couch.
Stand-off!
Thurs. 26th--After spring break, we did lunch pick up every day. It was nice to get out of the house and see other humans--especially teacher friends. The school would give us food and milks for lunch as well as food and milks for breakfast the following day. Once they found out how many kids were in the car, the workers would ask us what kind of milk wanted. The first day we said chocolate milk and got six of them (three for lunch, three for breakfast), but realized that breakfast included cold cereal where chocolate milk wouldn't work well. The second day we went, the district superintendent was actually working the lunch line and came up to our car window. When he asked what kind of milk we wanted, one of the kids asked, "Are we getting breakfast today, too?" When he said yes, the kids asked, "Can we have one white and one chocolate?" The superintendent replied, "Of course." And as he turned away, he realized why my kids had asked for one of each (white milk for the cereal). He turned back to the window and gave my kids a nod of approval and said with a wry smile, "You guys are visionaries--I like the way you think." Haha!
*Mr. Bradford was in the lunch line everyday and always dressed up silly. The kids loved it! When more coronavirus cases in the county continued to climb, the school district changed the lunch pick up to Mondays and Thursdays only to reduce the amount of "contact" with stricter protocols in place. So we would get the 3 lunches, 3 breakfasts and 18 milks (half white and half chocolate:) on Monday and two days worth on Thursday. After awhile, the meals ended up being the same thing over and over and we were getting tired of them, so we stopped going the last week of school. But it was a real blessing and definitely made our food stretch longer--especially the milk, which had purchase limits at the store.
*Cooper asked if he could go to Walmart to get more yarn. He’s crocheting a baby blanket for the Linford family in our branch--Brother Linford is his young men advisor. They have three little girls and are finally having a boy. I wasn’t thrilled about him going to the store, but decided he could go as long as he looked for a couple hula hoops and some water balloons for me while he was there. He texted that he found the hula hoops, but no balloons. Then several minutes later, he told me that they actually HAVE distilled water. I couldn’t believe it! I told him to grab a couple and to drop one off at Grandma’s on his way home. This small occurrence was so touching to me because for one, I didn’t even know Cooper knew that we needed distilled water. But more than that, he listened to a prompting of the spirit. I didn't know when Karole or I would be at Walmart next, and that was the only store in the area that actually had the water in stock. And Cooper was there at the right time to get us some. It may seem insignificant, but not to me. It was a true tender mercy.
I had my suspicions about the perpetrator and when I saw Karcyn later that night, I showed her the lamp and asked matter of factly, "Do you know anything about this?" To which she replied completely straight-faced, "Were you scared?" I said, "For a moment or two." Then she busted up laughing and shouted, "Happy EARLY April Fools!" Oh my goodness. It was Karcyn! I couldn't believe it. It's always the quiet ones you have to be worried about. ;) She was so sneaky. She also confessed that she wanted to prank her little brothers, but they don't have lamps with shades, so...we won by default.
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