Alone in my own house

Carrie and Grandma left Friday to visit Nibs in Charleston. That meant I had to run the barn by myself.

Carrie left very specific instructions. I took pictures as reminders.

Ernie was the biggest change from S.O.P. He required a special concoction 3 times a day that had to mixed to the perfect warm, green, diarrhea-stew.

So of course Friday morning something went wrong with Carrie watching. I picked up a jug by the pump and it came right off and all over me.

Looked like I had peed my pants!

Followed by a cat peeing down the drain...but missing. I had to use the hose.

I thought it was funny, but my wife who was already anxious had to be coaxed to laugh about it all. 

The rest went as normal, because I do it all the time. I took pictures at every feeding over the weekend to give Carrie updates to put to rest any unease she might have.

Ernie's meals were filled with healthy goodness at the perfect diarrhea consistency. I improved considerably at pouring the molasses and turning the jar to prevent a mess after my first attempts.

And I spent a lot of time in the barn. There was the normal routine plus keeping Ernie comfortable on stall rest. Carrie wanted me to dump and refill his water bucket anew at least once a day.

And she wanted his hay bag superfull at all times. Any hay that he didn't eat after a few feedings was to be transferred to Eddy or Maddy, so that it could be replaced with fresher forage.

Since we were coming off the colic scare I cataloged poops, too.

And this started on a normal work day. It was the 3rd Friday of the month, so I had office hours, sophomore seminar, faculty, and geometry meetings. I attended the staff meeting on my phone while standing in the driveway waiting for Shane's school bus to drop off supplies.

Without Carrie and Shane around I worked. A lot. The pets weren't happy I was spending so much time in the bedroom.

I expected Loki to linger by the door. I didn't expect both cats to hop on me the moment I sat on the couch! They clearly missed Carrie.

And yes, Loki followed wherever I went.

When I wasn't working on school work, I came out of the bedroom to work on the house or the barn. I wanted Carrie and Shane to come home to a house in order. I didn't count housework hours, but I spent 8 hours in the barn over the weekend. I had to text Carrie for the secret recipe for the supplement cups Friday evening. 

And then I had to cover them up from the cats to play barn manager and check in with whoever dropped by.

I didn't finish them until much later on, but I texted Carrie a picture as confirmation I did it (With Happy overseeing my work as a bonus).

There was too much to be done to be lonely or bored. There was only one meal's worth of gyoza left in the bag, so I cooked that and rice for dinner.

My shadow supervised. He wanted to lay at my feet between me and the stove.

There was some minor excitement and smoke when I forgot to turn off the stovetop, but without anyone else there it was 10 seconds of a distraction and a picture reminder.

And so the days went. I did laundry, dishes, cleaning, grading, and emails. I had the leftover gyoza and rice for lunch and didn't do anything Shane would consider fun!

And I checked on horses. Lots of horses...

...and lots of horse poop (Cataloged!).

Things go much faster when there's two people working on it. Carrie's already decided we're not going to order the bales with lambs-quarter in them next year. The upfront cost reduction was nice, but the cost in time to clean up on the backend has been prohibitive. 

Loki enjoys 'helping,' but the constant wheel biting only slows me down!

We've been dumping the fouled shavings and poop from the stall manually to prevent overwhelming the bridle trail with crap. The horses are all locked in the dry lots, so there's much more poop to shovel than usual...and it'll be like that for a couple of months! I'll mention that in a later update.

I thought I had a small window for a break on Saturday when Heidi arrived. She's recovering well from her stroke and a fiercely independent...which worries Carrie. 

Heidi has been working on rebuilding her muscle strength to mount and dismount independently, but she hadn't done it yet.

So Loki and I went outside to keep her company. I'm sure she knew why I was around, but neither of us addressed it directly. We chatted some as she rode around and I spent the next hour weeding the arena.

Loki hid behind me every time Eddy turned our way!

Heidi asked me to come over while she dismounted. I barely got there in time, but I wasn't needed. She was able to do is solo. "I'm back!" Heidi said.

And she did come back and ride on Sunday while I was at Costco. I was gone for less than two hours when she snuck in. She dismounted before I was done unloading groceries and out the back door! Nothing happened, but I'd prefer someone to be on property whenever an octogenarian hops on a horse (and if I feel that way, guess how strongly Carrie feels about it!).

The only other time I left the house was on Saturday night. I was able to organize a small get together with my book club in town. I let Laura know when I would be gone in case she wanted to time her Ernie visit then, but they came earlier in the day. 

When I got back, I had to do horse chores in the dark.

The horse chores were a mixed blessing. On one hand, I had a good opportunity to show Carrie how much I loved her and they kept me too busy to be bored.

On the other, I probably could have caught up on the blog instead of being two weeks behind!

I felt great with how productive the weekend was by the time it was over. I'd done almost everything I'd set out to do. Sunday morning, I took Loki out to relive himself and stood outside a little longer thinking about how many things I had to be grateful for. I enjoyed having some quiet time, but I was happy when Shane, Carrie, and Grandma pulled up Sunday night.

Phase 3 Incoming!

 

The school board voted to move to Phase 3 by a vote of 4-3 on October 8th. The vote shows basic public opinion. A teacher I know watched some of the public comment section and said it was, "more dramatic than a TV talk show." The online comments I looked at were certainly very for or very against......and it was also clear many hadn't read what the actual plan was.

Phase 3 involves brining PK-3rd grade students back for 2 days a week hybrid and the rest virtual. The older grades will allow more ESL, SPED, and disengaged students access to the building, as well. However, the model for the older kids won't be about instructing them in person. It will be more about giving them access to a quieter, internet-equipped environment. There will be TA's in the room to help keep them employed, but kids won't move from room to room and teachers will still be virtual.

I'm for it. The youngest kids are the ones who seem to be the least successful with virtual school and the least at risk from COVID. Based on all the numbers we've seen in the area, I think it's good to cautiously push forward. 

A survey was sent out to parents and teachers once the vote was made. It said that 55% of parents were planning to send their children in while 45% opted to remain full virtual (About what you'd expect based on the board vote). Age of the child was a factor. The split was roughly 50-50 for 3rd grade students whereas  70% of parents of preschool children said they'd be sending their kids in. 

200 teachers said they didn't want to return to in-school learning with 2 retiring, 3 taking a leave of absence, 51 citing ADA allowing them to remain virtual and the remaining 136 opted out for other reasons which may or may not be honored. I wonder if that was only Elementary teachers included in that number. On my survey I said "No" and in the comments put I had a 4th grade student and wanted to remain virtual until he could return to hybrid. I could see other teachers being in the same boat where they'd be okay returning except childcare becomes the stumbling block. 

It's a puzzle. I'm hoping and praying things go well, because then there's a chance we could go to Phase 4 at the start of next year. That's when high schools would go back to a hybrid model and I'd be in the classroom.

The one part of Phase 3 I'm unsure about are sports. Or I guess I should say, I'm not sure about *my* sport: Wrestling.

Phase 3 allows for sports to begin training again. At the moment, I think it says that teams can train up to twice a week with days in between. I think there are still rules to prohibit too much contact and interaction...which is fine for many sports, but wrestling? If wrestling is anything it's up close and personal! If we have to restrict activities to individual conditioning and drill with no partners will that really be worth it?

Plus, on a selfish note, I don't know if I really want to spend 45 minutes driving to the school for an hour to an hour and a half after teaching online all day (and in the window there will still be daylight for horse chores). And yet, if I don't do it would that leave Coach Rick on his own? And what about the kids who are desperate for that sense of team community? 

That's a personal problem for me to figure out. I want to see what the actual model is going to look like before I commit to a decision. There's online trainings I need to do, etc.

Video Game Much?

The only video game I play with any sort of regularity is Hearthstone. It's a quick card game that's free. I probably play for 10-20 minutes every couple of days.

It's a good bathroom game....literally. I clicked to update this morning. I haven't actually opened it since then, but the next time I'm watching Loki chase cars it'll be ready to help pass the time. 

As for "real video games?" The last time I played Xcom2 was on September 11th.

Bill and I started texting "Maybe we should play something," and the next game I played was Left For Dead 2 on October 7th. Dan joined in and we all said we should do it again soon.

Which we did....two weeks later. 

So, that's not a lot of gaming.

A younger me assumed I would deserve/earn at least an hour a day of gaming to wind down. Now, it's something I do on a monthly or weekly basis.

I still enjoy the games, but I don't like to give up the time. I was going to write tonight (10/23), but we ended up playing. John opted out, but Dan contacted Cooley and it was a mini-reunion. 

Which was fun, but now I'm trying to cram a quick post in before midnight so I don't get further behind. 

I need to play a game called Among Us. My students love it. They mentioned, I listened, and now I reference it in notes. I bought it a few weeks ago so I could actually speak from knowledge, but I haven't joined an actual game yet. Maybe I'll make a throw away account at some point, so the students can team up against me.

But for now, video games are not a big part of my life Carrie used to play some, but she stopped before I did. When Shane's older and wants to play more interesting games (aka NOT Roblox) I'll probably play with him. 

Ironically, that doesn't stop me from perusing sales online. There's a digital boardgamefest on Steam right now with several neat titles from smaller companies. It's tempting! If I catch up on the blog, grading, housework, barnwork, and Shane doesn't beg to use my computer....

Photo Dump

Without Shane around and Carrie being camera shy, the pets have gotten to be center lens more often.

Loki pines for my lunch breaks. He lays against the door while I teach. Waiting. When I have enough time, I take him out to run off some energy. We've held off some due to the wet weather, but do you see the unbridled joy on the boy's face?  

We had a lot of rain, so Loki went several days without a chase session. All the pent up energy came out in a hurry!

Loki's far from the fastest animal on the planet, but it's neat to watch him fly across the grass.

I accidentally focused too much on the car for this shot. Loki's blurred, but I can tell you the person riding shotgun was looking down at something!

I got plenty of shots of cats sleeping on and around Carrie. I even took some of them myself! I don't think she can be too mad about this one. Her hands are lovely.

Sometimes the cats deemed me an acceptable substitute.

In particular, Aria wasn't deterred by the dog or me trying to use my phone.

She insisted upon attention.

You can tell Aria apart from Tsuki by her whiskers. She has two white ones. It's been well documented that both kittens enjoy heights and aerial acrobatics, but it has been less well documented they like to burrow. Sometimes in blankets on the couch and sometimes under pillows.

Carrie has banned all forms of jumping onto the couch if the kittens are not visible.

Speaking of Carrie, she discovered her phone has a night mode. 

It lets you see more of the cosmos than the naked eye. 

I was reminded of it again today (10/22) when Carrie took some new pictures involving the moon.

We turned off all of the lights in the house, because any ambient light is magnified tremendously. If you really look for it, you can see a reflection of the moon in the sky (or at least we think that's what it is).

Almost makes me want to get a better phone or learn more about the settings on the one I have!

Silly Clock Post

Carrie bought us a new clock a while ago. What makes this clock special is it can project the time!

We have it set to display on the ceiling. It only shows up in the dark (I moved it closer to the fan for the picture).

Jokes aside, the one downside is I have to remember not to look down at the clock from a certain angle!

I never would have bought it myself, but it is nifty. Nifty enough for a quick blog post as I try to whittle down a backlog!  It beats using my phone as the only clock in the room, too.

Fasting Into an Argument? Who does that?

There's a recurring theme in Matthew 6 that leads into this post. See if you can spot it from these snippets.

"2 So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
(Matthew 6:2-4)

"5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
(Matthew 6:5-7)

"16 When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
(Matthew 6:16-18)

So I have been fasting from coffee.

Normally, I wouldn't mention it for reasons you may have read above. It's not a grand gesture or severe task. It is my preferred way to start the morning and I have substituted tea instead to avoid caffeine withdrawal. I only have coffee on Sunday to celebrate the sabbath and practice gratitude.

The purpose of the fast is to remind and focus me on praying for healing of a strained relationship. Fasting does not add a special power to a prayer formula to make God act like a genie in a lamp. The Bible does talk about it being beneficial and the above quotes were Jesus speaking.

The relationship in question involves Carrie and a friend she considers dear who became upset and stopped communicating. Carrie has tried to reach out to no avail and the situation hurts her heart. 

I meant to pray daily for it, but didn't always remember.

Which led to the fast. I felt bad I kept forgetting, and how could I say something was important to me if I wasn't willing to pay anything for it? 

King David and was offered something for free. Instead of taking it, he insisted on paying the full price. 

"24 But King David said to Ornan, 'No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.' (1 Chronicles 21:24)” 

To assign something value means it has a cost. Whether or not you're willing to pay the cost speaks to how you value it.

And I didn't tell Carrie. She noticed me drinking tea, but she didn't think there was anything behind it.

Until the day she wanted me to try her coffee.

It was a good morning. Carrie had mixed her coffee just right and wanted me to taste it.

Which left me with a choice: Say no or break the fast.

I declined and she insisted.

I continued to decline and she wanted a reason. A reason that I didn't want to give.

And no matter how calm and how eloquent I phrased it, Carrie took it very differently! I felt it was a good demonstration of why she needed the prayer, but how do you say that to someone who's already upset!?

Carrie didn't want to speak to me afterward. 

I've mentioned this before, but Carrie and I deal with anger differently. She normally flares quickly and wants to step away. I'm a slower burn and my instinct is to talk right away before I ruminate too long on it. I've learned it's better not to push right away and to give her a moment....especially when I'm not sure what to say!

Eventually, we did talk. I'd prayed about it and when I felt it was clear Carrie wouldn't be able to heal until I told her why I wouldn't sip her drink. "I didn't want to drink the coffee, because I have been fasting from it as I pray for you. It's a sign of how serious I am about it. I didn't want to tell you either, because Matthew 6 says....."

So I revealed the fast, but it started to heal the riff between Carrie and I before it could become a chasm. We talked more as the day went on and she felt better. I thanked God for that, but still wondered if I was meant to tell her about the fast or not.

Later though, a thought hit me: What if God had known all along I'd reveal the fast and planned to use it? Sometimes I think of God as a 'master strategist.' Was this one of those moments?

It sure felt like it. It had started a conversation and hopefully demonstrated to Carrie how I felt for her. The relationship hasn't been healed yet, but I've had relationships that took years to heal (and not for a lack of me trying!).

And what if this whole incident was also a blog post? The secret was out! Was this something I was supposed to write about?

I sure hope so, because you just read it.

Ernie's Crazy Days

Ernie's surgery on Tuesday went well, but there were two surprises at pickup. 

First, they put him under general anesthesia. The ladies had been told he wouldn't be. Age is associated with increased risks for equines. Including gastrointestinal ones.

Second, Ernie was supposed to be on 4 weeks of stall rest instead of 2.

That left Carrie on edge. She'd recommended the surgery and there were two curve balls while Laura's father was going through a health crisis.

Carrie really wanted Ernie's recovery to be a bright spot for Laura and the initial momentum bounced when it hit those road bumps.

And then things took a turn for the worse. Ernie started to show signs of discomfort. His poops were smaller and harder. They bounced when they hit the ground instead of splatting. He shifted, spun, and pawed and not in the usual "give me my food" way. He laid down which is a sign of abdominal pain when combined with his antics.

Carrie sprang into action. She called the vet, Laura, got Ernie to his feet, dosed him with meds, and got him walking. Ernie wasn't supposed to move, but colic was the immediate danger. Carrie wanted his gut moving along with his feet and to prevent him from lying down.

She got more worried when she noticed Ernie sweating on his neck and shoulders.

Carrie kept Ernie walking at a clip for the nearly an hour before help arrived. I offered to help, but she only let me do a few laps while she backed up the truck and trailer in case of an emergency load. Carrie's the type that needs to have a task to do when she's worried and she's emotionally invested in Ernie.

Laura, Amy, and the vet, Carly, all arrived at the same time.

Carrie gave Carly the rundown. I'd taken some video, but Carly had all the information she needed. She gloved up, lifted Ernie's tail, and shoved her arm shoulder deep.

I thought it'd be polite not to take pictures.

Carly didn't feel any large obstructions, but the poop in process was hardened. She prescribed a laxative and said an IV would probably help, so Laura made the call.

15 L of fluids is a heavy IV. I helped with the lifting. It would have been 20 L, but Carly suggested the smaller amount to keep it more economical. 

Ernie was due an epic piss in the future.

The laxative was administered through nasogastric intubation (aka - Carly shoved a tube up his nose and down his throat).

While Ernie was still swaying under "the good stuff," Carly offered to help change his bandages. It was supposed to happen every three days and already on the schedule. From what I understood, Carly wanted to take a look at the handiwork of her alma mater.

And the incision looked great. Ernie's life was at risk from constipation, but his feet were healing well!

Laura got to play intern since Carly didn't bring any. Both Laura and Amy usually work on human patients.

Laura's sister happened to be with them. She was among the first wave of family to arrive due to the father's health crisis and she'd gotten swept up into an equine one, too.

Carrie and I pulled Ernie out of his stall at 5:27 PM. I took a picture of cars arrived at 6:25 PM. Carly plied her trade for about an hour before she headed out and the ladies settled in to wait for poop. If Ernie pooped, it would be a sign that the laxatives were working and the immediate danger had passed.

Ernie started to come down from his medically induced haze before long and Laura and Carrie threw a blanket on him to keep him warm. I helped keep his head up to force him to swallow meds.

But Laura was his favorite shoulder to drool on (after all, she is his "mom!").

Ernie broke his seal shortly thereafter.

Poop was a long time in coming, though. The temperature dropped as night settled in deeper and darker.

 

Laura and Amy eventually kicked Carrie out of the barn and told her to rest. It was clear she'd been running on adrenaline too long. Carrie crashed on the couch into a fitful rest not long after. Somehow she seemed to sense whenever I was going to go check on everyone in the barn and mutter "No....don't....give them...some spac....zzzzz."

By 11:30 PM, the boarders were still here and Carrie was deep enough asleep I snuck out. Ernie was pooped, but he hadn't pooped. Laura didn't want to leave until he was sure he was going to be okay.

I started to ask some questions about "When did Carly say he should poop by anyway?" No one knew, so I encouraged Laura to text Carly to clarify. Laura accidentally dialed. She was embarrassed and hung up right away before she texted. 

Only it was meant to be. The next day, Carly said she only woke up and saw the text, because of Laura's botched dial. She reassured everyone and they were about to leave when the magic happend.

I took this picture at 12:19 AM 10/10. 

It wasn't much, but it was enough. I told Laura there was no better time go home and sleep and she agreed.

The next morning, we spent even more time than usual staring at horse butt.

Thankfully, a more productive one.

Ernie was pooping, but his poop was still hard, small, and infrequent. It was less than Carly wanted and she kept checking in. Ernie was put on a colic watch. Carrie went down to the barn every hour on the hour as best she could. Overnight, it was switched to every three hours.

In typically Carrie fashion, she tried to do it all. In typical Mike fashion, I continued to offer to help until she started to wear out and I picked up more and more shifts. It'd have been easier if Carrie had agreed to a rotation earlier, but everyone had hoped it wouldn't take days for a steaming, wet pile.

I took this picture when I went to check on Ernie's water, hay, and production at 4 AM Monday morning.

Everything started to flow more regularly and Ernie was deemed cured. Everyone was tired Tuesday, but worn spirits were a little brighter as the ladies figured out how to change Ernie's bandages without a vet to help.

Laura had the same idea as me to track Ernie's progress.

The incisions were still clean and healing nicely. Carly was due to come back in a week to pull out the stitches.

I've learned a lot owning a barn. Maybe it'll help if I write a book one day.

Have I mentioned lately that this was the perfect time for Shane to visit Nana and Pop? I missed him, but bringing him home during a series of crises would've made things worse. He got to party in happy-fun-cousin-grandparent land and sleep soundly!

Beginning to Look Halloweenish

Packages arrive, but they're rarely for me. 

So I don't open them and sometimes get surprised.

Carrie showed a sense of humor by throwing a 'bat-cat' into the bedroom while I was teaching.

Followed by a dog robin!

Loki acted traumatized and wanted to lay down next to me until he disrobed.

I was in the middle of class, so I didn't have time to take pictures, but Carrie had some 'in progress.' The kittens were harder to convince to suit up than Max!

Tsuki was the first one caught.

Boy those kittens can 'fly' when they want!

Halloween is in the air! Carrie tricked the pets instead of giving them a treat. 

Virtual School at Nana's

I asked Nana how Shane's virtual school was going and got a predictable response.

"Well, he's not like your sisters as a student," she said. "He's just like you."

I found the ominous drop in tone overdramatic.

"....and your brothers."

Yeah. Sitting, listening, and focusing aren't Shane's strong points.

Talking, twirling, and humming? Check!

The first day, Nana sat near Shane while he was in school. She said it looked like he was doing something. He was at least sitting at the table as he hummed with a pen in hand. 

Only he hadn't done "diddly squat," and when she asked what he was supposed to be doing he had no idea.

"Have you asked your teacher?" Nana asked.

"No."

So Nana tried to ask the teacher.

"She can't hear you. We're on mute."

"Buddy, you better unmute it then!"

I wish I could remember the exact phraseology!

Nana learned a lot after that first day. Mostly that She'd have to sit on Shane to keep him on task. "And if he comes back talking about how tough I was, you'll know why!"

I was all for it. Shane thrives on attention, so Nana keeping on top of him would be more motivational than it would've been for me, Matt, or Patrick (If anything, we'd probably have somehow joked or run her out of the room and been 'upgraded' to dealing with Pop.....which was much less pleasant growing up!).

We also learned that we were missing materials. I'd trusted Shane to pack his own bags. I knew there could be some natural consequences with it, so I did a quick glance and didn't see any obvious tech missing. 

I didn't realize the class was going to start working on some handouts together that turned out to be a 15 page packet! I had to take pictures for Pop to print them out!

It wasn't the smoothest start, but Shane's quick on the uptake and no one doubted he'd catch up. Nana and Pop were able (and willing) to directly supervise during class and they had a huge carrot: Shane could play with cousins once his work was done!

Virtual School with Nana and Pop was one of the best choices we made to start the year. It went so well (and some barn crap hit so quickly) we extended Shane's stay for another week.

By the time Shane came home, he'd spent a third of his virtual school year in SC (2 out of 6 weeks!).