2020 is the worst!

My anxiety is really bad lately. I've gone on a news break since it's been clear Biden won (thank effing god) but things are truly scary.

Last night the superintendent of Maggie's school sent out an email. It read that hospitals are 86% capacity and ICUs are at 93% capacity. Then, I sh!t you not, the SUPERINTENDENT of her school, begged parents to consider virtual learning if you can. Just typing that out again brings tears to my eyes. This is insane. 

I just keep thinking about how bad things were after Memorial Day and after the fourth of July and what is going to happen after Thanksgiving. 

And I can't keep us home. Unless schools close I have to go and I have to send my kids. 

So, the above, was written Friday night or maybe Saturday morning. Then, last night, I broke my toe. Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the kittens was outside and Ruby and Sav were out there too. And Ruby said Sav was scaring the kitten and she was afraid so I went and got her and Sav was jumping and going crazy. I'm not sure what happened. I just felt pain and looked down and my toe was completely perpendicular to my other toes. I have never seen that on my body. It's very disorienting. I put the toe back and it felt very loose so I used a bandage to attach it to the toe next to it.

I'm going back and forth now because I'm not sure. On the one hand, I cannot imagine my toe pointing that direction and not being broken. But it's not that bad. I can't walk without Ibuprofen but, if I'm not moving it or trying to walk, it doesn't hurt that bad. It's badly bruised and swollen but not awful. I don't know. Fingers crossed it heals quickly because running is my therapy and, if I can't run, I'm going to lose my mind.

This is why we cannot have markers, Ruby!

When I feel sad and stressed, I look at pictures of bassets. That girl in the raincoat is. . . almost too much. I mean. . . 

And this guy. Couldn't you tell him all your problems? 

My beautiful nieces making rainbow cupcakes for their birthdays. 

At their birthday party.

This is why we cannot have markers, Ruby!

A kitten! It's already mine but it's the first time I've seen one of the babies outside.

I took this picture in outrage. It's early November! You cannot play Christmas music until Thanksgiving night! It's the law! But! 2020 sucks ass so I'm thinking about ditching all that and going full Christmas early. We'll see.

Mamaw's home. Aunt Susie said there were more and more Covid cases in her nursing home and she just felt better about having her at home. I'm so happy. I wish I could see them.

Ruby used my scarf to make herself a baby sling. She's so cute. She always wears Maggie's glasses and then, if I take them away, will tell me, I can't see without glasses! Maggie won't wear them. She insists they make things blurry and she looks over them all the time anyway. Very annoying!

I think Ruby stole my spoons. She swears she didn't. I checked her usual hiding places and I didn't find them but there are way less than usual. I'll do a more thorough search tonight.

Ruby wanted to tell me stories last night. They were silly about foxes eating people's heads. She's such a monkey.

Maggie has decided she wants to learn how to speak Japanese. So she is watching instructional videos and writing down phrases to practice. Nerd. :)
 

Name the Destructor

Ruby's a weirdo.

This was from Ruby's new teacher. I love it! Her "strong personality." 

Mama's little helper. Except she probably made the mess. And probably made another mess before I'd finished taking the picture.

After watching Hocus Pocus, she was obsessed with riding on a broom. She found a little dowel (from god knows what) to ride on.

Kitties!

See? The little one stays little. The bigger one is younger. Is she a permanent kitten? That's cool. As Laurie says, the bad thing about kittens is they turn into cats.

Kitten and giant, dumb dog.

My new work laptop made my hair purple on Zoom. Isn't it cool?

This was right before her first Covid test. She did not like it. After the second one, I was telling her how brave she and Maggie had been and she said, no, only Maggie was brave. Poor little bunny. Maggie was actually brave about it. I couldn't believe it.

Speaking of Maggie, she has a lock of hair cut almost to her scalp right in the front of her head. I said, what the hell? Why did you cut your hair? She insisted (and continues to insist) that she DID NOT cut it and has no idea how it got that way. I gotta get a picture of it. Ridiculous.

I must report the havoc Ruby created this morning. While I was walking the dog, she moved the coffee table into her room. This is not even that big of a deal. She does crap like that on the regular. While I was in the shower, I guess she decided she wanted to eat, so she got a can of spaghettio's and opened it. Then she got a plate and poured the can on a plate (not a bowl)! Then she attempted to put the plate on the a high shelf. WHY???? Who can say? All I know is I walked out in a towel to spaghettio's all over the floor and all over Ruby. And honestly that's not even that bad. She really is a Destructor/terrorist. That's one morning. I mean. . . this kid. It really is a good thing she is so sweet.

Last night Ruby asked me to tell her a story. I've been making up stories for her and she wanted a scary one with a wolf. So, I just started talking and realized I was telling the sort-of Little Red Riding Hood I used to tell Maggie when she was little. I told Maggie and she remembered it. She even reminded me of some things. I told her that story every night for at least a year or two.

 

More pictures and updates

 Somehow I didn't have all the birthday pictures up, I think. It could be user error. Anyway, these are from my girls' birthday party.

Maggie got those wheelie shoes, which she loves. Ruby got the ukulele, which she loves. I'm sure they got other things but I'm really depending on pictures to remind me. 

Grandpa Richie got them this ice cream cake, which was really good. Ruby pulled it out of the freezer the next morning while I was still asleep and got it ALL OVER the couch. Everything is ruined and I'm not replacing anything until she is an actual human and not a Destructor.

Kitties! How come the little one is staying so little? It's hard for me to remember their names, a definite sign we have too many freaking pets!

Jeff taught me how to make nachos and I am obsessed. The first time I got them right I guess I wasn't sharing enough with Ruby so she went into the kitchen and tried to make her own nachos. 

Update

 Ruby took an entire bag of baking soda and mixed it with hand sanitizer. When I got on to her for making "snow," she told me bad guys broke in and did while we were sleeping.

From Maggie: Thank me later--Maggie. P.S. I restocked and cleaned your bag.

First day to work on campus, I spilled my entire cup of coffee. Ominous start. . . 

I had to take the girls with on three Mondays. It was way less awful than I feared. Ruby made snakes with tape and tiles.

Our teacher shirts for this year.

Ella reading to Ruby during our school days.

We did a little birthday party after school.