So we did. Now -- I can't complain. My brother and then his wife contracted the virus. While they did feel kind of crummy for a few days, they experienced mostly mild symptoms as they stayed at home. However, because of the dates of exposure and symptoms and all the rules & recommendations from the CDC, my niece and nephew have to quarantine until August 15th. So -- please be in prayer for them! Full disclosure here -- as a school administrator, the last six months have been a blur. I have said several times that I feel like we are living in a movie. This doesn't seem like real life, as we make decisions about how to deliver instruction to children in the safest way over the next school year. While my 10 1/2 month school-year contract officially ends on June 15th and begins again on August 1st each year, this summer there have been too many decisions to make to really take much of a break. And then...quarantine happened. Sure, I continued to work on giving input for school reopening plans and I did continue focusing on some of my school duties over the last few weeks. But I also spent many hours every single day over the last two weeks working alongside Mr. Farmhouse and the girls to complete projects that we have been planning to get to "someday".
Not being able to leave the house for two weeks isn't ideal. If we weren't in quarantine, I wouldn't have had to cancel our annual well-child checkups for the girls, piano lessons, & tutoring. Mr. Farmhouse could have been working and I wouldn't have had to miss a few in-person meetings at school. We could have allowed being stuck at home for two weeks with no symptoms to be irritating and a reason to complain. However, last night, as Mr. Farmhouse and I rode the Ranger through the field moving hot-wire for the cows, I looked around and smiled. Thank you, Lord, for this time we have had together. Thanks for slowing us down and giving us the opportunity to connect deeply before we all head off into the unknown of this school year. Thank you that my brother's family has had mild symptoms and that they have the opportunity to work from home. Just thank you, Lord. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Amen Back to the real world today, friends.
Sending gratitude to God from the farmhouse, Hannah ♥️🏡♥️
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This time of year can be exhausting for teachers.
And students. And parents. This year it seems to be even worse...probably because this seems to be the winter that will never end here in the midwest. A few weeks ago, my throat started to get really sore one afternoon. In the night, it became so painful that it woke me up. I decided that morning that I would need to visit the doctor to get a strep test. After contacting three different offices and not being able to get an appointment, I ended up getting in to a clinic about 11:30 that morning. Sure enough...the strep test was positive. I picked up my prescription and was on the road to recovery by noon on Monday. I went back to school that week and taught like nothing ever happened. Throughout the week, two of our three girls ended up with strep, as well. No rest for moms with sick kids, right??? We all did ten days of antibiotic (actually, the girls are still taking theirs!). I finished my ten days and felt great for three whole days! Then this last Monday, after teaching all day and speaking at two board meetings that night, I thought I had overdone it. I tried to rest my voice on Tuesday as much as I could. However, Wednesday morning, my throat started to feel sore. And more sore. And more sore. After a quick strep test Wednesday after lunch, it was confirmed...the strep was back. With strict orders from the doctor, my boss, and most everyone else that I had come into contact with that afternoon...I headed home to rest. I laid around a lot of the afternoon and took today off, as well. Sometimes I think our bodies have to force us to rest. Friends...we HAVE to make time to rest. I struggle so much with this, but I am going to try very hard to start scheduling in downtime for every member of our family. Life is too short to be running, running, running...doing, doing, doing. Take some time to recharge this week, friends. Love from the farmhouse. ❤️🏡❤️ I am typing this from the airport in Tampa, Florida. Due to my new position for the 2018-2019 school year, as the Director of Special Services in my district, I was asked to attend the Council for Exceptional Children's national convention in Tampa this week. Making the decision to accept the invitation was a big ordeal. There were many factors to be considered: - leaving Mr. Farmhouse and the girls for four days - putting my classroom in the hands of a substitute for three days (for the umpteenth time this school year) - missing the girls' school picture day, Valentine's parties, and basketball games - the cost associated with traveling out of state With much encouragement from a few colleagues and a long talk with Mr. Farmhouse, I decided to jump in head first and head south for the winter. Okay...head south for four days. I dropped the two older girls off at school Wednesday morning, dropped my Mattie-girl off at my parents' house, and headed north to meet a few coworkers who were making the journey with me. About five minutes from the location I was to pick up my teacher-friends, Kathi & Jolie, my cell phone buzzed with a plane delay notification from my Delta app. Your flight has been delayed. 12:15 takeoff time, now 1:32. Okay...so an extra hour and fifteen minutes in the airport won't kill us. Our connecting flight in Atlanta didn't take off until after 3:00, so we would still be fine. We sat down at IHOP for a little brunch, just in case we were unable to grab lunch during our layover in Atlanta. As we were pulling into the airport, we received another notification. Your flight has been delayed. 1:32 takeoff time, now 2:07. Okay...so we should still arrive with half-an-hour to spare. We parked, jumped on the shuttle, and headed to the Delta gate. As we were standing in line to visit with a Delta employee about our options, just in case the delays kept coming...it happened. Your flight has been delayed. 2:07 takeoff time, now 2:57. And with that, our chances at making our connecting flight went out the window...or down the runway.
We found a seat near an outlet to charge our phones and we started receiving texts and calls from the secretarial staff at school, who apparently had been notified off the recent changes to our itinerary. The bookkeeper got us a new hotel room in Atlanta for the night and cancelled our Tampa accommodations and it was settled. We would stay in Atlanta on Wednesday night and get up super-early to fly to Tampa on Thursday morning. We made it to Atlanta and headed to Ground Transportation to grab a shuttle to our hotel. At 7:16 p.m., we finally made it down to the shuttle parking lot. Our hotel shuttle left at 7:15 and would be back at 7:45. Seriously. So we sat on a bench to wait. Eventually, a shuttle driver from another hotel offered to take us to our hotel and we decided it was well-worth the large tip we would give her in exchange for a ride. We checked in, dropped our belongings off in our rooms, and headed to the restaurant. After a tasty "soul food, Atlanta, Georgia" supper, we headed to the hotel and went to bed. Thursday, we were up at 4:00, at the airport by 5:00, and flying into Tampa by 8:45 a.m.
At the recommendation of one of my BFFs from high school, we decided to eat at The Columbia in the Ybor City Historic District of Tampa. I was so very thankful to be able to meet up with the best man from our wedding and enjoy a meal with him. After an eventful and somewhat exhausting trip, it was amazing to see his familiar face and introduce him to my colleagues. Friday, we were up bright and early to attend the rest of the conference sessions we were looking forward to! We learned so much, found many resources, and I am excited to be able to share our newfound knowledge and strategies with our SpEd team when we return! When the conference ended on Friday, we had time to make a short trip to Clearwater! We ate at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill on the water and it was ah-ma-zing. The fish tacos were spectacular! We ended up at a Little Greek Restaurant by the hotel.
I had a gyro and it was also spectacular. I called Mr. Farmhouse and the girls and we all rejoiced that I would be home in less than 24 hours. Okay, two of three girls cried... one made funny faces at herself as we FaceTimed, and Mr. Farmhouse rejoiced. So now...our journey begins. Praying for traveling mercies, an uneventful trip home, and a happy reunion at our nice, warm farmhouse sooner than later. Much love to you, friends. ❤️🏡❤️ |
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