Day 11- March 24, 2020

Day 11- March 24, 2020

This morning, we had one of the bananas my mom and Bryan dropped off yesterday.  We're rationing, so it was chopped and divided, and each girl was thrilled to have it in her cereal.  We also used the last of the soy milk, which was made all the more frustrating by the Wegman's disaster (after 45 minutes on hold, and talking to a customer service rep, the best they could do was tell me that this has been happening, and there might be a spot that opens for a delivery, so just keep checking the website.  ARGH.

But at least we have a few bananas now, and that made for some happy kids.  We also made homemade granola after consulting with my sister, the girls' Aunty Coley, who explained that adding oil and honey to oats and then toasting them (with the addition of whatever else we wanted) would make yummy granola.  So we poured in oats, a packet of instant apple cinnamon oatmeal, honey, and enough oil to coat everything, and toasted it on a cookie tray in the oven.  In about 15 minutes, we had warm, crispy snacks (the girls were allowed to add a few chocolate chips to theirs, and they insist this made it even better.  I'm a purist, and I thought mine was delicious).

It was a good choice, because today was another cold, cold day.  Mother nature seems to be on some sort of a roller coaster, and as a result, it's tough to justify spending time outside, besides that it gives us some escape from the walls of the house.  I'm grateful that I'm with my family- there are no other people I would rather be confined with- but it's been fun to be able to let the girls run around a bit outside, and now, we've spent several days without that option.

More and more announcements are being made about extending the directive to shelter in place

(although today, the president mentioned wanting everyone back to work by Easter- which is April 12th), and the kids are getting restless. Facebook has a children's app that allows them to send messages to friends, so there was some time spent today chatting over it, complete with playing little games, and using special tools that allow the kids to turn themselves into cats, or have rainbow hair, any number of other weird features.


Connecting through the phone led to many giggles, and allowed the girls to converse with some friends from their old school.   We spent some time going through friends of theirs, and I reached out to a bunch of parents to try to get their kids onto the app.  But there's nothing that substitutes for actual human interaction, and so we ventured to the driveway, where we get to actually chat with people who walk by, and also create chalk art on the asphalt.  R. decided she wanted to study piano with Daddy instead, so E. and I pulled on hats and gloves, and ventured outside.  Ella happily wrote a chalk note, and drew a house, sunshine, and flowers to spruce up the driveway.  We did have to go to the well of new chalk several times, because it crumbles if you try to cover a huge patch with blue sky.

While she created, I was engrossed in reading A Legend in the Making: The New York Yankees in 1939 by Richard J. Tofel, which is helping satiate the baseball gap in my life right now. Earlier this year, I read David Cone's memoir Full Count and the story of the 2009 World Series called Mission 27: A New Boss, A New Ballpark, and One Last Ring for the Yankees' Core Four- so I guess I have a type.  I normally would spend the evenings watching preseason baseball games on YES Network or MLB.TV, but with sports canceled for the foreseeable future, I'm trying to find other ways to stay occupied.  Reading about the teams that shaped the sport I love is helping. 

I'm also filling the void with other "competitions" on television.  One of my favorites has been courtesy of the Food Network App, which allows me to watch current and past seasons of baking championships.  Spring Baking Championship and Kids Baking Championship are two of my favorites, and I look forward to when I can go back to supermarkets freely, so I can attempt some specialty desserts.  In the mean time, I'll have to settle for being impressed at the artistic skills of these culinary experts.