Thursday, Day 76 of Quarantine

Ruby didn't sleep so great last night and stupid Sav was barking. They clearly hate sleep.

This morning I took Sav on a walk. Then exercised at home. Then took the girls on a walk. They were stoic about it. Ha!

I cleaned. I didn't make Maggie do as much cleaning today.

Ruby's been telling me stories. They always start, when I was a baby. . . Last night she told me she smelled smoke and then said she once smelled smoke when she was a baby and I wasn't home and then a smoke monster tried to kill her but I came home and killed the monster. You wouldn't think you'd forget killing a smoke monster.

Wednesday, Day 75 of Quarantine

I almost got up on time today. Ruby woke up early but I ignored her. Then she got up at a reasonable time. I fell back asleep but then the lawn guys came and Sav lost her mind. Hard to sleep through that. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be back on schedule.

I exercised. I got a foam roller to help my lower back by loosening up those muscles. The girls, especially Ruby, are obsessed with it. Ruby likes to stand it up and use it like a punching bag. I'll try to get a picture or video.

Maggie and I finished mopping the kitchen and completely cleaned the living room. She was grumpy but I kept my cool. I gotta be less of a grumpy meany.

We watched some Clone Wars episodes.

After Ruby went to bed, Maggie and I read more Harry Potter.

Tuesday, Day 74 of Quarantine

I got up by 8:30 am. It was hard!!! I was sleepy.

I had to work today. I'm starting to worry. I listened to a news program that said schools are about to be broke and it's going to be BAD. That seems bad. I'm very scared.

We watched Star Wars today. We cleaned the kitchen top to bottom. I was moody. I need to work on my patience. I can be such a grump.

Monday, Day 73 of Quarantine

I got up a little earlier than yesterday. Trying to get back to 7 am and NEVER get off schedule again! Ruby is actually sleeping so much better.

We finished Phantom Menace yesterday. Today we watched Attack of the Clones. Man, it was so bad!

We watched Austin Powers. Maggie watched it but a lot of the jokes went over her head. It's a parody of the times and old spy movies, neither of which is she too familiar with. Oh well.

George Lucas made a cartoon movie and series to fill in the blanks for the prequels so we started that. We didn't finish it but Maggie liked it.

Ruby got out Battleship and "played" that. The girls destroyed my bathroom. No one would admit to anything but it was so gross. I mostly made Maggie clean it up. Gross!!!

Sunday, Day 72 of Quarantine

Ruby woke up a little early but otherwise slept through the night. I fell back asleep and slept hard until 9 am. Ruby usually is in and out and in and out but this morning she didn't. I had to make myself get up at 9. Maybe Ruby will start sleeping through the night every night and I won't get off routine again. Maybe.

I did a crazy hard workout that left me soaked in sweat. My favorite.

We watched more of Phantom Menace.

We went to Aunt Laurie's around 3 pm. It was raining so we pulled cars out of the garage and set the girls up in there. It stopped raining so the adults sat in the driveway and talked. The girls had the new Scooby Doo movie on and bikes/scooters/etc to play on. It was lovely.

Saturday, Day 71 of Quarantine

Ruby slept through the night. I still slept in. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel rested. I did my exercise and yoga. We all took a bath and I washed the girls' hair.

We started watching the first Star Wars, Phantom Menace, I think. It's as bad as I remember but it's canon so. . .

Maggie's not impressed but I figure eventually she'll watch it.

We went back over to Laurie's to swim. The girls are in heaven. Exercise. Fresh air. Other kids.

Friday, Day 70 of Quarantine

Ruby had a bad night last night. I didn't go in though. Then she got up early. She's ridiculous. I slept in. When I finally got up, I exercised.

Toward the end of my workout, my front door went crazy. Groceries showed up. And someone was actually standing at my door waiting for me to open it. It was the son of that neighbor who screamed at me. He gave me a card. It was from the neighbor lady, saying she was sorry for being rude and thanks for getting my dogs to bark less. That was nice.

We went to Laurie's at 3 and let the girls swim. The adults socially distanced themselves at the table. It was so nice. My poor kids desperately needed more exercise.

Thursday, Day 69 of Quarantine

Ruby's sleep has been okay. She's been sleeping through the night. I'm not going in for any reason. I'm trying to not even listen to her so I'm not tempted to go in. It's the only way.

We tried several times to watch one family movie: True Lies. It was a no go. That's such a great movie. I refuse to give up on it.

Maggie had awards in a Zoom meeting on Wednesday. It was very sweet. Her teacher used three words to describe each student and gave them an award and talked about them. I know it made Maggie feel great. She got Eager Reader.

I was in the kitchen and I heard knocking from the laundry room. It was Ruby. She had somehow managed to shut herself in the dryer. I was shocked so Maggie wanted to see if she could do it. And then if they could both get in there. Hey, man, whatever works.

Remember how I said Ruby's been asking to marry me? Well now she wants to marry Buddy. I'm not sure it goes both ways in that relationship. 

Wednesday, Day 68 of Quarantine

Hmmmm. . . . I think we finished the Marvel series on this day. Last half of Endgame and Spiderman: Far from Home.

We're doing way less screen time. I'm fine with us watching TV or a movie together. It's everyone off doing there own thing I don't want too much of.

Tuesday, Day 67 of Quarantine

Ruby screamed and cried for a while when I put her to bed. But! She slept through the night until 7:30-ish. A miracle. I didn't go in there either!

When we got up, I took Sav on a walk. She's ridiculous. I had a realization last night that the girls have to go on a walk. They can't go when I take Sav because it's just too much to deal with Sav and keep Ruby alive. So, two walks.

I came back after Sav's walk and exercised, then I took the girls on a walk. I didn't let them skip and oh the complaints! It was ridiculous. But whatever. They went.

I took Maggie's computer away. It's just too much time on there. I'm giving her the two hours on FB messenger. And she can have her computer in the evenings.

It's now Friday. My computer broke.

Monday, Day 66 of Quarantine

Ruby slept in. She slept ALL night and she slept in. When we got up, I took Sav on a walk. The girls watched TV and played on Kindles.

The AC guys showed up early. It took them a few hours. Ruby was thrilled. She wore a mask, sometimes. Maggie stayed in her room.

I don't know what we did the rest of the day. Let's see we watched half of Avengers Endgame.

Oh, Ruby's been asking me if we can get married when she grows up. Yep! She can be such a sweetie pie.

Gratitude: Jeff! I love Jeff. I have known Jeff more than half my life and he is the most beloved person I've ever known. People adore him. Everyone wants to be his friend. A million people describe him as their best friend. He's been in a million weddings (and performed quite a few). He's incredibly kind and giving. He's always up for a laugh and is hilarious. Two of my favorite Jeff stories:

One, Roscoe had been getting out of their backyard. One morning, he's leaving for work and Roscoe gets out. He puts him back in the yard and leaves. He gets a street or two over and there's Roscoe! He gets out of the car and starts yelling at him but Roscoe ignores him. Finally, this guy comes out of his garage and says, why are you yelling at my dog? It was a Roscoe doppelganger.

Two, me, Jeff, and Laurie were driving to or from BCS. I think we were in Itasca that flat nothing area outside of DFW but before Burleson. Jeff and I were talking and we look over and, I swear to GOD, a dead guy was driving. He was in a minivan and he was BLUE and hunched over against his window. Jeff and I were laughing so hard. Jeff said the two funniest things I've ever heard. One, excuse me sir are you aware you're dead? And, I guess they're weekend-at-Bernie's-ing it. I still laugh. And how was a dead guy driving.

Sunday, Day 65 of Quarantine

I exercised and cleaned and worked a little and it was all so glorious.

The girls got home around 8:30 pm. I put Ruby straight to bed but she was a mess. I finally got her down.

Maggie and I went to bed around 9:30 pm.

Saturday, Day 64 of Quarantine

Ruby went to bed at like 7:15 pm last night, which is late for her. She had an awful night. It was so bad. I don't know how to fix this. What else is there? She's 4 and a half?!?! How is this still such a problem?

I exercised first thing when I got up and thank goodness because that's about all I did. I just lounged. I'm so freaking tired.

We watched Big Business. It's still pretty dang funny.

The girls went to their Dad's in the evening. I just sat around until it was a decent time to go to bed. And that was after taking a two-hour off and on nap.

Gratitude: I have two for today. One, is sleep. As God is my witness, I will never take sleep for granted. Sleep is a beautiful thing and I'm lucky every day and I get a full night's worth.

Also, Dad! My Dad is always there for me. I'm not good at putting things together or like fixing things, but if I call my Dad he'll come and do it. I can always depend on him to come help me. He loves my kids and makes sure he sees them at least once a week their entire lives. It is very rare for him to go a week without seeing them. I can't even think of all the things he's helped me with or set up for me. He's also helped me with childcare a million times. Any time I've needed help, he's there.

Friday, Day 63 of Quarantine

Ruby woke up twice around 11 pm. I went in because it was so early and gave her an extra melatonin and yelled at her to get in bed. It worked.

I actually got up on time, so I guess we slept well. Wait no, Ruby slept in by about 30 minutes. A solid win. We got up and I took Sav on a walk. She's doing better. In training, I'm attempting stay. Basically I have her sit and try to take one full step back. It's so-so but we'll get there. She's doing pretty good with sit.

After that me and Ruby exercised. I called the AC guy at some point and he's coming today. I set up the big AC unit that Dad stores here because it was so icky. Then I had everyone take a bath.

I worked on the new garage door thing. It required wiring stuff. I got one wire out but I could not get the other one out. Apparently, wiring things is something most people just know how to do. I tried to look up videos of how to wire and I couldn't find a single one. They would say I'm going to do this, there would be a cut and then it's just done. No one would show how to do it. Finally, I called Dad and he said he would just come over and finish it. He got it out in like one second. What the hell?!

The AC guy came. He said it needed to be replaced. Since I've put hundreds into in every year I've lived here, I'd rather just pay to get it replaced. He said he can do it on Monday.

Maggie lost all computer/Kindle/TV time for the day. She hit Ruby and I'm just done. If they were closer in age, I might be more figure it out yourselves. But she's 7 years older than Ruby. It's not fair.

We had book club tonight. Laurie wanted to do it socially distant-style in her driveway and everyone agreed. It was only five of us. The kids played and Jeff watched them. It was lovely. God, I miss people.

In fact, that's my gratitude for today. Getting to see some people, not on a screen, and that I'm not quarantined with. It was so nice.

Thursday, Day 62 of Quarantine

Ruby cried again last night. For about 20 minutes after I put her to bed. Ugh, I hate it. I thought of umpteen million reasons why it was okay to go in there just once but I didn't do it. It's so hard.

She woke up early. Again.

She's still eckercising with me. It's so dang cute. It's a long workout so she gets distracted and just plays with the exercise bands I'm not using.

Our family movie today was Ant Man and Wasp. No one got whacked with the business end of a baby doll so. . . winning!

Me and Ruby just cuddled on the couch until her bedtime.

Oh, I heard from the AC company. Even though the technician told me it just needed to be replaced, this time they told me most of it wasn't covered and fixing it would cost almost $800. Jeff had given me a recommendation for an AC guy he trusted so I'll be calling him instead.

Gratitude: My house! When everything breaks and I have to fix it, sure it's annoying, but I own my house. I love this house. I love that it's mine. After living in apartments and hating places I lived, it feels like a miracle to own my own home.

Wednesday, Day 61 of Quarantine

Ruby had a hard time going to sleep last night. Probably my fault. Most nights she gets back up within a few minutes of me leaving and knocks to ask something ridiculous or nothing at all. I always open up, but last night I realized if I don't put a stop to this it will never end. Because it never ends on its own with Ruby.

She woke up a little early but I ignored her until it was time.

I started a new workout series and Ruby was intrigued. She wanted to eckersise too. She's so cute.

Our family movie was The Princess Bride. We started but then the girls got in a huge fight. Maggie pulled Ruby's hair HARD and so Ruby hit Maggie several times with the hard head of her baby. Maggie bawled and ran from the room. Ruby said to me, I hate Maggie, but I love her too and I'm sorry. I wasn't mad at her. I thought Maggie got was coming to her. She is so mean to Ruby. She pulls her hair and pinches her and is always hurting her or being mean to her. It makes me crazy. I didn't tell Ruby all that. I just said you're fine and I'm sorry Maggie hurt you.

After a while, Maggie came back and we finished. It was eh. I don't remember it at all from childhood. I knew several parts from hearing stuff from it but I didn't actually remember anything from the movie, I don't think. I remember Laurie getting the VHS for Christmas one year and being so excited and me thinking how could she know this movie and me not? But alas the tape was broken so we never got to watch it anyway.

I had back to back Zoom meetings. I bribed Maggie to watch Ruby but she didn't. Ruby was everywhere and in and out. It's just ridiculous. Here I am on an extremely serious meeting (about my crisis with my post-adopt kid) and Ruby's jumping in the picture eating a hot dog bun that she stole. I mean. . . They were nice about it. So finally after two hours of meetings, I was able to feed Ruby a snack and put her to bed.

Sav is doing better. She's still ridiculous but less so. I'm hopeful training her will calm down her anxiety too. She freaks out if you touch her tummy. She gets nervous easily. She plays hard with Ruby and she's never hurt her but I'd like her to be less of a panicky spazz.

Maggie and I read HP. It's so good. Best book series in the history of ever.

Gratitude: Laurie. Laurie is my person. I love her so much. She's maybe the best person in the world. She's infinitely better than me, better than everyone. She's incredibly smart and competent. She can do anything, fix anything. She's hilarious. She makes me laugh every day. She's incredibly kind. She never forgets a birthday or holiday. She goes out of her way to include everyone. She takes care of everyone in our family. She's also strong as nails. She will not take shit. She will get what she deserves (in a good way) and be treated how she's supposed to be treated. Just as the cherry on top, she's exceptionally beautiful. I feel so lucky to be in her life.

Tuesday, Day 60 of Quarantine

Today I was sleepy. I did have to get up to pee in the middle of the night. I only slept in a little.

I've decided to start training Sav. I need to have control over her. She's so big and she panics and barks and just can be ridiculous. I'm going to attempt doing it twice a day for 15 minutes or so. This morning we worked on sit. I got treats and told her over and over and over. She seemed to understand. We'll see. Next is stay and heel. Fingers crossed. I don't need her to be like Brad Pitt's dog (Brandy?) in Once upon a time. . . in Hollywood (although that would be cool) just not crazy.

Today, we watched Avengers: Infinity War. We only watched the one movie because it was sooooo long. But good.

I took some treats on Sav's walk and actually got her to calm down after seeing people on bikes. She walked past two groups of people without barking at all, which is huge. She does this awful screaming thing that scares people.

Maggie and I read HP and James and from the blog book. It is so fun to read posts from so long ago. We're in spring of 2012. Maggie is littler than Ruby is now. I'm so glad I have these books.

Gratitude: Ruby. Oh my sweet Ruby. Ruby is so sweet and loving and cuddly and affectionate. Yesterday, several times, out of the blue, she told me, Mommy I love you. She's into pretend play. She'll set up forts or just gather all her toys and I can hear her whispering to the toys. She loves to dance. She puts music on her Kindle and dances around like crazy. She is also into everything all the time. She loves to turn off (or on) all the lights. She wants to help me with anything I'm doing. She's my boo.

Monday, Day 59 of Quarantine

I feel so much more rested. I actually woke up on my own a few minutes before my alarm went off.

We cleaned. Correction, I cleaned. I was so mad at Maggie for not helping at all, I took screen time away from her.

My lower back hurt so bad. I've been stretching every day but I guess not deep enough. I stretched for two minutes at a time several times and it hurt so bad. Oh my goodness. But it's either that or my back goes out.

The AC guy came. He, too, thinks it needs to be replaced. Now I'm just waiting to hear from AHS.

The girls and I had two family movies. We're continuing with the Marvel movies. We watched Black Panther yesterday. It's so good. We also watched Big. The girls watched it mostly. Maggie seemed to get the main points. She was sad the lady didn't become a little girl at the end so they could stay together.

Maggie and I read some Harry Potter. We're half way through book 6.

So, I'm going to add something here. I've been reading over and over that to stay happy you should stay close with your people and practice gratitude. I thought I could add gratitude here. That way I'll remember to do it.

Gratitude: Maggie (I'm going by age with my girls not preference!) is my baby. She made me a mom and completely changed my life. She's funny and loving. She's an utter nerd, which I love. She's an artist. She loves to be read to and talk about what we read. She's starting to notice little things in books and movies that are fun to talk to her about. She's sensitive. She loves taking care of the cats, who want to hide from Sav and need to hide from Ruby. I just love her so much and I feel like the luckiest human on Earth that I get to be her mom.

Sunday, Day 58 of Quarantine

I slept way in. I gave Ruby her kindle and she just disappeared. She had her water and granola bars and I slept off and on (she still comes in occasionally) until like 10:30 am, almost 11 am. It was really nice.

After getting up, I exercised and then we all got ready for the driveway party at Laurie's house. Oh it was nice to see everyone and kittens. Kittens!

The babies had so much fun playing. The big girls had so much fun. Ruby had a hard time going to sleep. Maybe she's so tired because she's not getting enough activity, particularly outdoor activity. We definitely could have stayed later and she would have been fine.

 Ruby loves to dance.

 Look at spaghetti sauce on her nose/

 Sav's my bud.

 Ruby likes three ponytails. God, the living room is a disaster.

At one point, at the driveway party, Ruby walked up to me with her lower lip out and said, the big girls won't let me play with them. Poor baby.

Saturday, Day 57 of Quarantine

Finally, sleep! Oh my goodness, I actually got up on time because I was so well rested. God bless.

I had to work this morning. Did my mention the other awful thing? At my therapy job, there's a horrible emergency. It's not something I can ignore or delegate. But I'm scared how much time and effort it's going to take.

The girls and I cleaned the kitchen. Lots of complaining but it's done. Then we watched Ragnarok. We've only got five movies left. Then we'll switch to Star Wars movies. I'm going to attempt watching Lost with Maggie. I think she might like it. It was on network so it's not going have anything too horrible and it was a great show. Until the last season.

Ha! Nope, no Lost. The first episode is the beach scene and its chaotic and bloody and shocking. Maggie actually cried and ran from the room. So instead I think we'll watch old movies.

Friday, Day 56 of Quarantine

I guess Jacoby (bassett) misses his family. He cried most of the night. Guess who didn't cry??? Ruby. I can't win.

Jacoby growls if Sav gets too close to his food or toys. Then Sav growls. So they were growling over a toy and Maggie got in the middle of it and got bit. She literally put her hand in the middle of fighting dogs. It's not bad at all. It was through the shirt and didn't even break the skin but it scared her. I told her again to never ever get near animals that are upset in any way. She picks up angry cats while she's naked. Since she was so upset, I said let's put on medicine and bandaids. That makes her feel better. So we put Neosporin and bandaids all over her arm.

Then she asked me to make her some Ramen, which I did. AND she spilled it on her naked skin. I mean. . . are you kidding??? Is this a joke? It's not bad, just a little red in one place but oh my God. This is all too much.

I took Jacoby to our foster person. I had told them we couldn't keep him.

Thursday, Day 55 of Quarantine

Another bad night but this time I didn't go in. She woke up early and I ignored her then too.

Another stupid tired day.

Well, maybe not. I did sleep in and I guess that was enough. I feel so much better. I've been cleaning (THANK THE LORD!). I made the girls get off screens and play outside for an hour.

Did I mention about my AC? Basically, it wasn't blowing very cold, which it does every year when I turn it back on. So, I called a place offering a deal because I figured I'd have to pay for the Freon anyway. They said it's all a mess and pretty much just needs to be replaced. Plus they don't make the Freon for this model anymore and so it's insanely expensive. So I had to put in a work order through American Home Shield. I mean, why not? Great timing.

The bassett rescue I work with asked if I could keep on of their dogs for a week. He lives in Austin with his foster family but they were charging way more than what the Plano doc would charge so he's coming down here to get treatment. He got here this afternoon. He's sweet.

Wednesday, Day 54 of Quarantine

Bad sleep night. She woke up and I went in there twice. Which was bad but. . . the first time I gave her melatonin and put her back to bed. The second time she was screaming and crying so I came back and put her back to bed. Then she woke up early. Which always happens. She's a mess.

All day was a mess. We did have a nice movie time.

Tuesday, Day 53 of Quarantine

Much better night regarding sleep. I took Sav on a walk. She keeps reopening that place on her nose. I think she did it the first time on the road and now she's reopening it with her paw. I don't know how to get her to stop. She NEEDS the walks and loves them. I'm giving her a treat when I get her lead on to try to get her to calm down.

My AC isn't up to snuff. It shocks me every year. It's happened every single year we've lived here. It needs, um, Freon, maybe. Something. I set up an appointment to get it done. I'll hide the girls and the dog in my room to keep them quarantined and hopefully he won't need to be in the house too much.

We watched most of the rest of Civil War. It's a long movie, maybe my favorite in the series.

Maggie did a bunch of chores. It's been a pretty good day.

I tried to take Sav on her night walk at 8ish and she still made that awful screaming noise. I guess the gentle lead can't stop that. I'll have to walk her when there aren't a lot of people out.

Monday, Day 52 of Quarantine

Bad night for sleep. Ruby woke up once in the night and I was in there before I knew what was happening. I put her back to bed and told her I wouldn't come back. It didn't matter, she didn't get back up anyway. She did wake up early but I ignored her until it was time.

I was so tired. The house is a mess even though I just cleaned it. That's going to be the title of my quarantine memoir. We did a movie time and watched Ant Man and then a few minutes of Civil War. By 3pm, I was so tired. Bleh.

I put everyone, including me, to bed early.

Sunday, Day 51 of Quarantine

The girls didn't get home until late, almost 8 pm. I put Ruby straight to bed.

Maggie and I read together.

Oh, Savannah's gentle lead showed up. It's amazing. She somehow bloodied her nose trying to get it off but hopefully she won't keep doing that.

Saturday, Day 50 of Quarantine

Day 50! Good God.

So, I got up this morning, opened Ruby's door, opened Sav's crate, and started turning off the house alarm. As I was doing that Ruby said, Mommy why is still dark outside? I looked at the alarm and the time was. . . 3:27 am. Goddammit! Guess how easy it was to get Ruby back to bed??? You know what? I'm going to have better sleep hygiene, as they say. I'm going to bed (like lights out!) at 9:30 pm and get up at 7 am. This is just the worst.

The girls went to their Dad's in the evening.

Friday, Day 49 of Quarantine

Slept in again today. Ugh.

I took Sav on a walk without the girls. She's ridiculous. A guy suggested getting a gentle lead to stop her from pulling. My hand and arm and neck hurt from walking her. I gotta figure something out. She's insane on a walk. He said there's not much you can do about her screaming. A dog who screams, I mean, come on.

Maggie is in a MOOD today. She's mad about chores. Mad about school. Mad she can't play on her computer or watch YouTube until 4 pm. Whatever.

Ruby's all over the place, bouncing off the walls. She paints most days now. She's less messy than I would have thought. I need to get her outside more. It's too hard to deal with her and Sav on a walk. Ruby wanders off and stops and it's just too much right now. I need to make her go in the backyard and run around.

We turned on a 60s music station on Pandora on the TV. I love it.

Thursday, Day 48 of Quarantine

I slept in today. I'm so tired. I don't know why. Is just stress? Am I not sleeping well? I don't know.

Maggie said she tried to wake me up when she had a nightmare but I have zero memory of this and I'm super aware of my kids so. . .

Ruby painted again today. I made a new rule that, no matter what, Maggie can't play on her computer until 4 pm.