This past year of COVID-19

 There's a large gap of posts here since spring of 2020.  COVID-19 came into our lives and impacted everything around us.  With as much time as I was at home, it would seem that tons of posts would have been made sharing about the nothingness and everything-ness that was happening each day.  The opposite occurred.  There was constant things to think on and take in and I chose to just 'be' in the moment without documenting it.  I'm sure I'll regret this down the road and wish I had shared more, but it never dawned on me to share until now.  So here are some highlights of what I remember:

March 11, 2020:  Day before everything shutdown 

Final rehearsal with ORD students before school.  All the instruments and supplies on the stage ready for our travel day to three schools the following day.  There was a lot of murmuring about things happening.  We'd heard that COVID had been going on in China and traveled into Europe and was trickling into the USA, but I honestly didn't think it'd affect us.  We just didn't have that much information about it and it was truly 'something that was happening over there.'  One of my students asked me if I thought that we'd even be at school tomorrow and I shared that I didn't have the answer, but was planning for the day to happen as planned.  I talked with Lori and made phone calls to all the schools to confirm whether we would be able to travel.  All of them were happy to have us and plans continued.

I went to bed thinking life would continue as expected.  At 10:35pm, Jeremy came and woke me up to tell me that school had been cancelled for the next two days as a result of a case of COVID (contact/having it/not sure which) with a member of the family of one of our faculty.  I thought he was kidding and when I finally realized that he wasn't, I cried.  I emailed families to share the news that our travel day was cancelled.  Our ORD Sharing at GSES was cancelled.  I received several emails and texts of how students were upset and crying because they had worked so hard all year long and now the culmination of all of their work wouldn't be shared.  I still struggle to hear Drive by David Guetta and Dance Monkey by Tones and I.  Reminds me of how amazing my kids sounded and how no-one but the kids and I ever heard them perform it.

March 12, 2020:  First day of shutdown

Stayed home.  A little numb, but confused as to how COVID was going to impact everything from here.  I truly thought we'd be out these two days and the week of spring break following, but then return to normal.

March 23, 2020:  Return to teaching... ish

I shared posts about this, but it was the hardest season of teaching ever.

Summer of 2020

The girls were able to participate on the Swim Team.  Meets occurred within our neighborhood kids.  Parents stood socially distanced outside the gate and the kids went in to swim.  Temperature checks became a regular part of life.  In order to prove that they were healthy enough to swim that day, we had to have temps checked at the gate prior to swimming every practice.