What’s top of my mind: ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH.
I was so happy this morning, when the news came out that masks are now back in schools. The principal walked around to every class and gave them out to every kid who . As many of you would know, I’ve been wearing a mask at work from the moment I step out of my car to the moment I get back into it at the end of the day, only removing it to eat my lunch.
For the first couple of hours there were masks everywhere. It was lovely.
Then parents apparently started to complain, so an announcement went out at lunchtime that masks weren’t ‘mandatory’, just ‘recommended.’
Now, most of the kids have ditched them and we aren’t allowed to query why they aren’t wearing them. And people wonder why covid is still around.
Where I’ve been: the sewing room.
I had a 3 day weekend, due to the school having Athletics Day on Monday, so I made progress on my 5,000 + piece quilt. As you can see in the photo above, I’m now just over halfway finished.
I’ve been a bit spotty with my work on the quilt, but I’m determined to finish it. This year.
Where I’m going: to work.
Antarctica is proving to be a little expensive, along with wedding and house payments. I’m lucky that a) the work is being offered, b) I like the work and c) the kids are lovely. I’m happy that I don’t have to tap my investments at the moment. I’m happy to wait for the sharemarket to recover.
What I’m watching: Becoming Elizabeth.
I’m a Tudor tragic, which is why I loved my trip to the UK in 2015 so much, especially our day at Hampton Court Palace. The header on this blog is a photo of the sky above the palace’s roof. It still lives in my memory as one of the happiest days of my life.
I’m loving this show.
What I’m reading: Helen Garner’s ‘Regions of Thick-Ribbed Ice.’
This is about her trip to Antarctica, so of course I picked it up. The page I’ve linked to has very positive reviews, but have a look at this one star review!
“Inadvertently thought it was an actual book about Antarctica with some depth then found it merely a chapter of a brief voyage that barely scratched at its border. If I ever get to the Drake passage I will place the sad brief tome in the bottom of a sick-bag where it belongs.”
Hmm… I hope it’s better than this review makes it sound!
What I’m listening to: Mum’s Boppin’ Bangers.
Spotify got me through hours of sewing over the last few days. I have some absolute bangers on that playlist.
What I’m eating: Leftover Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner.
I absolutely love this recipe. It’s like having a party in your mouth.
Having the leftovers the next day is even tastier.
What I’m planning: My girls’ weekend.
I’ve told them that I don’t want this to be a ‘spendy’ weekend, because Izzy has a wedding to pay for, Jenna has a one-woman show to put on and nearly all of them have rent to pay. I, of course, have Antarctica on the horizon.
We’re volunteering catering, alcohol, games, and those who know the area are suggesting activities. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
Who needs a good slap: Whoever gave my son the virus.
Seriously, how hard is it to wear a mask? Oof.
It’s so stupid. I’m in front of a class right now. When the word came down that we can’t make the kids wear masks, you should’ve seen how many kids ditched them. I have 17 kids in front of me… only 6 are wearing masks.
So I guess the waves are going to continue. If we’d all co-operated right at the start and worn masks for 6 months, this pandemic would almost certainly be behind us now.
What has made me smile: sitting and having lunch with my work friends.
I’ve known these people for years and it’s a quiet pleasure to sit down and have a chat. This year the school split into 2 campuses and most of my friends elected (or were told) to come to the new campus, which is where I’ve been doing the vast majority of my CRT work.
Much as I love my hermit days at home, it’s so nice to be social as well. 🙂
Dad joke of the day:
I don’t let my kids listen to orchestral music. There’s too much sax and violins.
Your dad joke made me laugh and I feel your pain on the masks. Monitoring summer testing and there are zero masks in the room besides mine. Womp womp.
And then people wonder why Covid isn’t “over yet.”
The quilt is lovely – it reminds me of sea glass.
Dealing with this virus is so frustrating. After vaccinating, double boosting, and masking, I brought home a souvenir case of covid from my European River Cruise. It had the decency to wait until the very end so I didn’t miss much, but it is a miserable little bug.
Travel tip – I splurged and flew business class for the 1st time and it was worth every penny. Lay down seats, comfy quilt and pillows with attendants to see to my every need. Fantastic luxury on the way over, absolute necessity when feeling ill and needing sleep and comfort on the way home. I fear there is no going back to economy on a long haul flight.
I’ve only once flown business class. David16 and I were upgraded on a flight to Singapore. Ever since, I’ve flown economy but it’s harder knowing what’s going on behind the curtain!
My flights + insurance are costing 6K already. I shudder to think what Business class would cost.
The whole Covid thing is heating up again and in Queensland we wore masks for 6 months [July to December 2021] and we had no Covid in our State and that’s why I think it was kept at bay. Once we opened the borders Covid came flooding in. I was still wearing a mask at the supermarket this year until I got Covid myself and I haven’t been wearing one until now I’ve gone back to wearing a mask. I don’t understand the school parents objecting to the kids wearing masks and and a result as you say most of them ditched them. I was watching the TV this morning and listening to the National Health Minister and the TV hosts were saying why can’t we just get on with it and live with it and he explained the main reason why they want to slow it down was “aged care” [goes without saying] but the main reason is the health care workers and the hospitals. The hospitals aren’t coping now and with the spread of Covid health care workers get Covid and are out of action for 7 days or so, so less staff to treat patients, more patients presenting with Covid and nearing specialist care. Wearing masks is just another step to help slow it down. The initial Covid they said one person with Covid infected 3.3 people but this new variant infects 17 people so you do the math. This is year 3 and this whole thing has been so life changing for the world hard to know what’s next. Getting your lovely quilt out reminded me I need to finish my Big Patch Quilt too. I just ordered a quilt kit to make a cribb quilt for my niece who is expecting her first baby. Have a good week.
Yeah. It’s so annoying to think that if the whole world banded together when covid was in its infancy and we all wore masks and shut down – the virus would’ve had nowhere to go. Now, we’re screwed.
Thank goodness for quilting! Happy quiet times while being productive. 🙂
The kids in front of me all kept their masks on when that announcement came over, because I told them that another way to think about it was whether they wanted to go back to remote learning or did they want to wear a mask!
Good thinking. Sadly, most have ditched them. Meanwhile, today I had classes ranging from 1/4 to 1/2 away. Like… hello???? It’s not rocket science!