Saturday Happenings

 It's a lovely morning here, and I'm drinking coffee & gearing myself up to go for a run today. Here's hoping I get out before it gets too warm. 

The boys will be biking to soccer "pod" practice this morning, as it's at a nearby park. I'm grateful their soccer club is able to find safe/COVID compliant ways for them to get together. It's nothing like standard soccer (smaller groups, masks, no contact of any kind), but it's physical activity that gets them out of the house, they get exercise, and they also get to see friends. It's as close to normal as we will get right now.

Our county is very close to moving to the next phase of re-opening (likely next week), but both kids schools have announced that we are doing full distance learning until at least January. It was expected, and I believe to be the safest option, but still hard to hear & imagine. I'm hopeful that Sam's high school will be able to explore more small group activity, while the weather is good enough to allow for outdoor social distancing. Fingers crossed. Starting high school remotely has been pretty challenging. Nick's situation is a bit different, as he's in 8th grade, so it's an extension of a school experience he's already familiar with. Regardless, I have a huge amount of appreciation for the challenges all of the teachers and administrators are facing as they try to balance such a difficult situation with many compounding factors. 

A friend's father passed away yesterday, so I made dinner & dropped off lasagna, salad, bread, a card & cookies (handmade by Nick) last night. Nick's cookies were so bakery like & fabulous that I offered to pay him $5 to make another batch. He's saving up for something he wants (a bike part?) & it's much cheaper than the bakery option I was considering as a gift for another friend.

Here's what I'm up to today:

• Run
• Clean the house (vacuum, bathrooms, kitchen)
• Decide what to do with planter boxes
• Make feta/jalapeno dip
• Make eggroll in a bowl
• Decide on menu plan for the week
• Shopping list
• Costco
• Finish putting away items leftover from "junk drawer" clean out
• Journal
• Do my posture exercises
• List an item on eBay
• Package/walk to drop off box to mail eBay sale (a book I've had listed for months)
• Make pico de gallo
• Make guacamole

And with that, here's my menu plan for the week:

• Friday - we had spicy chicken, coleslaw & bread. The chicken came from the store, and was an easy option after I'd made a lasagna for a friend. 
• Saturday - we're going to have a happy hour first, as I've promised the boys. That will be bread, sliced fruit, nuts & cheese, & play cards together. We'll have egg roll in a bowl (smaller portions, given happy hour) afterward.
• Sunday - carnitas in the crockpot, with pico de gallo & guacamole
• Monday - spicy chicken on salads
• Tuesday - leftover egg roll in a bowl
• Wednesday - leftover carnitas
• Thursday - burgers (freezer) + salad
• Friday - TBD

What about you? What are you up to today? What's on the menu for the week?