20 weeks have now passed since coronavirus entered the lives of Georgians full force. And here is my weekly update!
Briana's birthday is in a few days, but she sadly won't be having a big birthday party this year due to obvious reasons. So, I invited two of her friends to come over last week to spend some time with her before school starts - and they came bearing early birthday gifts!
Bri spent some time with her sweet friend Meredith on Tuesday...
And Bri's best bud Jackson came over on Friday (and they played a very intense game of Monopoly - heh!)...
As you know, our "Briana Day" anniversary was on Thursday and we had a nice, quiet day. Doug had a busy day working, so Bri and I spent most of the day just the two of us.
Some goodies for B from my parents and me & Doug...
Doug's and my gifts to Bri...
I pulled out our China travel albums that day, and Bri and I looked through all the pictures...
Bri and I watched a portion of John Lewis's funeral. It was three hours long, so weren't able to watch the entire thing...
Bri had been really wanting to check out "The Umbrella Academy" on Netflix. I had watched the first season already, but I enjoyed it and was happy to start watching it again with her that afternoon. We've watched a few episodes so far now. We can't wait to watch Season 2 together for the 1st time...
Doug, Bri and I usually eat dinner at Bri's favorite Thai/Japanese restaurant on our gotcha day anniversary, but the restaurant is still only doing takeout right now (we still don't eat out at restaurants yet anyway), so Doug brought in her favorite pad see u dinner instead. Super happiness...
Over the last few years, school open house has landed on our gotcha-versary. But this year, it landed a day early, so it was nice not having to focus on the impending school start on our special day.
Bri is on the brink of starting her freshman year of high school
(tomorrow - gulp). I'm still trying to wrap my mind around all of
it.
Wednesday morning, I ran over to B's middle school one last time to pick up some 8th grade algebra work B's teacher had held onto that B wasn't able to get when school closed so abruptly. Bri really wanted it for possible reference one day, so her math teacher left it for her in the front office for me to pick up. Sadly, the couple of people I saw at the school that day (including staff) were not wearing masks, which just solidified my stance of doing virtual school...
Briana did receive her schedule on Wednesday for the fall semester. High school follows a "block" system, so she will only have 4 classes: Honors World Lit, Honors Biology, Intro to Digital Technology and Visual Art (Bri's happy about that one!).
The virtual academy held its open house via Zoom on Wednesday afternoon. Each half hour, a different department introduced itself and gave some information...
The open house was a bit long and slightly confused at times, but I think they will get everything together quickly (I hope). 9000 kids will be attending the virtual academy in our county, so it is quite overwhelming for everyone. It will be an exercise in patience for sure.
Open houses for the face to face students in our county occurred on Thursday afternoon. Only 9th graders and high school kids brand new to a school (and their parents) were allowed to attend in-person high school open houses this year (to keep numbers down). I saw a number of parents say it all went well.
Then I read this comment on FB by someone who attended the open house of the high school my daughter is supposed to be attending...
And someone else backed up the reason they were not returning to public school this semester...
The no social distancing and suggested mask use thing was stated pretty early on by the county. That is when Doug and I tapped out of in-person learning. But, some parents didn't understand that was going to be the case, so now there are a number of parents on the wait list trying to get their kids into the virtual academy. They may just have to resort to homeschooling on their own if they have changed their minds.
There was a big outbreak of cases at an overnight summer camp for kids in GA back in June, so all I can do is wish everyone the best of luck who is opting for face to face learning in the public school system.
Of course, Bri is sad this is how her freshman year is starting out. A number of her friends have chosen to take the risk and go back. Luckily, her two closest school friends have chosen to learn at home too. I reminded B that going to school this year will be not be "normal" for anyone. Kids will be eating lunch in their classrooms and navigating hallways one way (hopefully) and no parents are allowed in the building.
And just FYI...
Because of all this, I feel confident in our school decision - even though it is bittersweet.
As of Saturday, Georgia's new coronavirus case count...
And Georgia is number 4 in the country for new cases...
I mean, there isn't really much else to say about it. These are the numbers. A lot of Georgians (and non-Georgians too course) just don't "get it" and don't want to "get it." I know nothing I say will change that.
I know not everyone dies of Covid, but I've heard of too many troubling stories about the long term side effects after catching Covid that make me not want to risk getting it at all.
I'm not going to do a "feel free to read or not read" disclaimer on my blog today because I'm not going to delve into politics in this post. I probably won't in future posts either. I truly think I am tapped out in the venting department (finally), even though a ton of crazy stuff happened last week politically.
From Herman Cain refusing to wear a mask then dying of Covid to an absurd politically-motivated white coat summit to an unfounded threat of moving the election, I'm just over it. It's all so beyond insane and ridiculous. It just makes my head hurt. The country feels like a total dumpster fire right now.
So instead of talking about the craziness of the world, let's just look at my pretty girl with her fresh haircut she got on Saturday...
All fresh, sassy and ready for school to start!!
And let's also look at my sweet kitty who is the cutest thing ever when she is asleep...
Hope you all have a good week everyone. Wish us luck! There is going to be a massive learning curve for us this week and it all feels super weird. Be back soon!
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