Work, lazy evening, DFW trip, Walter’s 5th birthday, Makaila’s birthday

Work has actually kept me busy over the last few weeks. As this isolation of healthy individuals is extended over and over, my company had capitalized on that isolation and imposed travel restrictions by offering more online classes. I will be teaching a class per week for the next several months. As I gave a presentation last week for a new class we are offering, I suggested that we limit the online classes to no more than 6. When we get above that number, we get less participation than when everyone is on the front row – so to speak. I will have two live classes next week here in Decatur, but that will be it for the month as far as face-to-face classes are concerned. All others will be inline. It is good to be busy since the company has extended our work-from-home through September 30^th. I am not sure how much money the company is saving by having everyone work from home, but I know it is not insignificant. Overall, it is a win for the company for sure. For us, the benefits are debatable, but we will survive.

I did not feel right all day yesterday. I was not sick, just feeling off. Out of energy. When I got through with work and Mama and I did the evening feeding, I sat in my recliner and scrolled through the news feeds to see if there was anything interesting. There were a few articles worth my time, but I exhausted that pretty quickly. I did not tackle anything outside. Partly because the heat I worked in over the weekend had worn me out and partly because I was tired of being soaked with sweat. I should have gone out to water the plants, but I did not even do that. I will have to rectify that oversight tonight. What I did do was work on a burned out turn signal light on the Sequoia. I was able to remove the headlight assembly and remove the bad bulb, but I did not have a replacement on hand. I will finish that little chore this evening.

Mama is headed to the airport this morning. Trace is flying out to see his family. They have been in Florida for a couple weeks now and things are a little slow for Trace’s work right now. With jobs on hold waiting for permits in several separate locations – county business offices are closed again in several states – Trace asked for some time off. I know he will have a great time there. His flight is around 1 pm, so Mama has to have him at the airport by 11 am. He is flying Spirit Air, so the price was hard to pass on, but Mama and I have had nothing but bad experiences with that airline. I hope he has a far better experience than ours. It is not a difficult trip. It takes an hour or less each way depending on the traffic, and the airport is easy to navigate, so we do not mind the trip. He will come back next Monday, so the trip will be repeated then.

Walter’s birthday is today. He is five-years-old today. He and Grammy spoke very briefly on the phone this morning. Walter was too distracted to spend much time in conversation even though the call was expected. Walter had specifically requested it. I assume there will be more calls through the day as he includes Mama in the activities of the day – but I could be wrong. Walter is somewhat attached to his Grammy, but the distance makes it hard for the two of them to connect well. It is a good thing that we got to have Walter and Cathryn at the farm for some long periods of time  in the past couple years. They each have great memories of the last time they were with us. At that age, connections require a lot of time spent together in person, but we will take what we get. So far, the connection is maintained through Maggie’s continued efforts to share her children’s lives with us. I hope that continues – especially as they move much farther away this summer.

Today is also Makaila’s birthday. Unfortunately, we do not have the same contact with Chase and Makaila as we do with our other children and grandchildren. In fact, they rarely return our calls or respond to our texts. That may change over time, but for now we are a very small part of their lives. Now I know how my Mom must have felt as her children settled their lives in such a variety of locations across the US and her grandchildren grew up without her being a part of their lives.

At least now, we have forms of communication that allow a semblance of face-to-face interaction. Mama/Grammy delights in every such encounter.