A Johnson Family Update

 So Sunshine left a comment asking about my family and our summer. That little nudge made me realize that yes, I do miss blogging. I still read blogs periodically, but I do spend a good bit of time listening to podcasts. Anyway, here is an update on our family.

We are all doing well!

• Jimmy and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary on June 22. What a blessing to have been married 30 years to my best friend. 
• Olivia and Brian are expecting their first baby in December. They still live super far away in Indiana--a 9 hour drive. I am so excited for them! She will find out next month if the the baby is a boy or a girl.
• Julie and Big Sam are doing well with their two little girls, Mae 2.5 and Bea 10 months. Both girls' birthdays are in August. They live about 15 minutes from us. :) Julie has a garden and baby chickens, and I am looking forward to having fresh tomatoes. 
• Clay is in pharmacy school at The University of Tennessee. He will begin his second year in August. He is also working part time this summer at Handy Man and is studying for the MCAT.
• Leah will be a high school senior (how is that possible?) this fall. Leah has her driver's license now, and it is so nice to have an extra driver. She can drive herself and Sam to their XC practices and Bible studies now which is so nice! Leah has an Etsy shop called PaperCactusDesigns where she sells stickers and various other things that she designs and creates. 
• Sam will be in 10th grade this fall. He is busy this summer working on engineering projects, yard work, and various outdoor activities. Both of them have already been to RYC, and they will attend another camp in July.

I have many, many projects planned this summer. Right now I am picking blueberries for 1-2 hours each day and also working on my "secret room" which is unfinished room off of Olivia's room. This is where I keep all my children's old toys (large and small), stuffed animals (thousands!), memorabilia, college stuff, dress up supplies (way too many!), old t-shirts they want to save, etc. When Olivia, Julie, and Clay were little, this room was cleared out enough that they could play in there, weather (temperature) permitting. Over the years as they have outgrown their toys and things, I stored all of it in this secret room with the intention of getting it out for my grandchildren. Well now that that time is here, I realize that I kept way too much! So I am purging and organizing with the hopes of clearing it out enough for Mae and Bea and future grandchildren to be able to play in there when it's not too hot or cold. I am pulling out all of the children's boxes of "things they want to save" for them to go through and either take it to their houses or get rid of some of it. I am willing to store 2-3 boxes for each child, but not 12! Julie cleaned out the secret room 4 years ago, and I tidied it a little bit 3 years ago, but since that time way too much stuff has been dumped in there. I failed to take before pictures, but I may take some "in progress" pictures today. 

I hope all of you are having a good summer. 

A Good Day

"I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the Lord."

Psalm 122:1

Yesterday was indeed a day of gladness for our church family. For the first time since March 15, our whole congregation was able to come together, in person, for a worship service. Yes, we social distanced. Masks were worn. People were seated in family groups with every other pew left empty. Blue taped Xs marked spaces to leave vacant. Hand sanitizer was available. Doors were propped open. Ushers were available to direct you to your seat and to guide the orderly exit at the end of the service.

But it was glorious! I was so happy to see people's actual faces and to sing hymns with all the people. Our service was live streamed online and also available on Zoom for those who still cannot get out, so that's a blessing too. In one form or another, our congregation was together. 

Trey's sermon was based on Nehemiah 3 and 4, and he encouraged us to build bridges to bring others to Jesus. He used the principles from the people rebuilding the wall in Nehemiah to illustrate how we can do the work set before us today. Bridges to Jesus. Isn't that just what the world needs?

After the service we all visited in the parking lot. There was much catching up to do and so many smiles. It was such a beautiful morning. 

Our Sunday afternoon was a typical one. I served lunch to my family and Julie, Big Sam, and Mae. After we ate, I took Mae outside and she helped me water my plants. Then I let her play in her baby pool and she enjoyed a popsicle. She loves to be outside! Pop took her for a walk, and Clay pushed her in her pink car and blew bubbles for her. Throughout the afternoon she also played with or was entertained by Leah and Sam too.  

Our church also had our Sunday night Bible study at our building (and on Zoom), so we attended that too. After more visiting in the parking lot, we headed home.

It was a nice, restful day, highlighted with the milestone of gathering again with God's people in real life.

Our Memorial Day

We had a nice, full day yesterday marking the occasion of Memorial Day. The city of Tupelo does a really nice job hosting a ceremony to honor those who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we all enjoy today. It is a somber, reflective, and patriotic ceremony, and I am so proud and happy to attend it. This year, our own Uncle Kelly, Colonel, Judge, and dear friend, was the keynote speaker. He gave an excellent speech using the Gettysburg Address as the basis for his encouragement and personal reflections from serving our country. I was so proud of him!

Uncle Kelly

The ceremony began at 9:00AM. The weather was beautiful, the chaplain who spoke before Kelly was inspiring, and the patriotic music was touching. 

Here we are with Uncle Kelly

It was great to be with Lynn and her family during and after the ceremony. I briefly forgot about the coronavirus during this outdoor event. Of course, people were social distancing, but the Mims family and our family hung out together just like normal. 

After the ceremony, we came home and got ready to go to Julie's house for lunch. The only picture I took was of the cute, patriotic table she had set for us. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and a fun time playing with Mae. 

We left Julie's house around 3:00PM, and I enjoyed about an hour outside reading beside my pool. I fixed some more food, and then we went to Kelly and Lynn's for supper. It was so exciting! Our first social event (besides the Memorial Day Ceremony that morning) since the beginning of March. Kelly grilled chicken, and we enjoyed another wonderful meal and even better company.

The four of us

So good to be together!

The Last Couple of Days and Comments

First of all, I turned off the "prevent cross-site tracking" feature under preferences in Safari so I could reply to the recent comments you have left. As I was almost through doing this, I realized that instead of replying to each individual comment, I added my own comment to the post. So, I tried to respond to everyone......except for Polly. (Polly and I have been emailing, so I think we have caught up.) :)

Well, it's gotten hot here! Like all springs here in Mississippi, we have pleasant weather for many weeks, and then one day it's HOT. But I love the sunshine, and I try to sit outside with a book for at least 30 minutes each day.

I finished The Dearly Beloved on Audible, and I am dying to discuss this book with someone. I have so many feelings and opinions about Lilly and Charles and Nan and James.....their choices, their fears, their faith, their struggles. I would like to reread it one day in book form. I am currently reading two books: Greensleeves on my iPad and another Ann Patchett book, Bel Canto. They are totally different, but I am enjoying both of them so much.

Yesterday I had the great joy of keeping precious Mae all day long. Julie had a doctor's appointment (she's 28 weeks now), and I told her to just go home and enjoy a day alone. Since we are done with school for the summer, I have offered to keep Mae all day once a week so Julie can have some time to rest, read, clean, or whatever she wants to do. Mae kept me busy! I fed her breakfast as soon as she arrived, which included chocolate milk! Because she's at MiMi's house! Next we played with toys in my den and read some books. Then we went outside and enjoyed taking a walk, blowing bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk, and some swinging. Leah woke up while we were outside and Mae was beside herself with happiness to see Leah! Leah!

She loves her aunt Leah so much. Leah played with her some and they watched about 30 minutes of Frozen 2 in our camper (Mae asks to go inside the camper). After that Jimmy took her out to the barn for a little while and then it was lunchtime. I made her a grilled cheese which she ate almost all of, and best of all, I gave her two BBQ chips! (MiMi's house). She also ate some fruit. :) We played some more (inside and out) and then it was nap time.
I read her some books, sang her some songs, and rocked her to sleep (just like I did her mama and my other children when they were little). She must have been worn out, because she slept for almost two hours!

After her nap Leah and I played in the pool with her until Julie came to get her. I think the day was a huge success, and I cannot wait for her to come again for the day next week.

Side note: I did have to order takeout last night from our local restaurant because I could not get supper started while she was here, and I was too tired to begin it at around 5pm when she left! (Not sure how I did all did when my five children were little!) I will plan better next week and maybe get supper started while she naps.

Also this week I have been helping Clay get all his ducks in a row for pharmacy school. What a lot of digital paperwork, documents to collect, websites to visit, etc. He found out this week that he is missing one class in order to begin pharmacy school in August (a mistake in his scheduling, totally his mistake). So he has scrambled to get permission from the pharmacy school (UTHSC) to take the class this summer--it's Anatomy and Physiology II), and then apply to, gain admission to, and find the class offered at a community college. I think he's gotten it all figured out. If all goes as planned, next Tuesday he should be able to sign up for the online class which begins June 1 and ends June 26. He's working, so I guess he will be doing school every night plus on his days off. Fun summer!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!

Mother's Day and More

I had a wonderful Mother's Day! Three out of my five children were here to help me celebrate, and the other two were here in spirit! The weather was so pretty, and I spent a good bit of the day outside talking to my mother on the phone, planting a few flowers in pots, and watching Mae run around. 

I awoke to this beautiful table setting prepared by Leah after I had gone to bed the night before. 

Julie prepared a delicious meal that she brought over for all of us to enjoy. After eating, I opened my gifts from my children and also from Jimmy. The gifts were all so lovely and thoughtful. Everyone was so kind!

We planned to take some pictures with Julie and Mae...but Mae was sleepy, and then we just never got around to doing it. Leah and I did have Sam take our picture just before our evening Zoom church service. Leah is actually taller than me more so than this picture shows. I have on heels, and she has on flat sandals.

A very fun and exciting thing that Leah and I did Saturday was to attend a drive-by, social distancing baby shower for our preacher's wife, Jordan. She is expecting her third baby really any day now. It was so good to see people from our church family in real life and not on a computer screen. (I am thankful for technology! But I miss everyone so much!) The idea behind the shower was to drive by, hand your gift from your car window to the host (who would wipe it down with clorox wipes), and wave at Jordan, Trey, and their children. And some people followed that protocol.....but some of us parked our car and got out! We tried to stay 6 feet apart. (For sure we kept our distance from Jordan), but I did get close enough to Lynn for a picture. 

 the happy family of soon to be 5!

Yay! Together!

(Leanna was there before we took this picture.....I'm so sad we did not get a picture or all three of us.)

Some More Blessings of These Times

While Jimmy has still been working, he had a week off in April (we had a week long trip planned to Arizona....zigzagging across the state, visiting the Grand Canyon and some other national parks as well...of course it was all cancelled), and he is getting home much earlier than he used to prior to the coronavirus. That, combined with the days being longer, means that we have more time together. I feel like Jimmy and I have had more time together the last six to seven weeks than we have had in a long, long time. Thankfully we still like each other! The time really has been a blessing.

Yesterday Clay took Leah, Sam, and Clay's friend, Libby to visit Julie, Big Sam, and Mae about an hour away at a lake house where they are vacationing for a few days. As soon as Leah and Sam finished their schoolwork for the day, they took off. I used my time alone to read outside for an hour, clean out my pool, work on the never ending pile of laundry, and vacuum the basement. When Jimmy got home we went on a very pleasant four mile walk on and around the trails at our local high school. After that we ordered take-out from a new restaurant in our tiny downtown called Old Town Steakhouse and Eatery. This is our second time to order from them (they had just opened before the pandemic hit), and both meals were delicious! We ate at home, just the two of us on our table for ten. I guess that is what it will be like in four years when Sam leaves for college. We seemed small at that big table, alone. Jimmy played some nice music on his speaker to accompany us, and we put our food on real plates instead of just eating out of the styrofoam. Fancy. We ended our date by watching the beginning of a documentary on PBS about George W. Bush. It's two hours long, so it will probably take us 3 more nights to complete! I read a memoir by Laura Bush last year (actually listened to it on Audible, which I recommend because she read it herself, and her voice is so pleasant!), so a lot of the material covered in the show last night I knew all about based on her book. Her book is called Spoken From the Heart, and I recommend it.

The first 41 days of our shelter at home/stay at home/safer at home I cooked all the meals. All the meals. And then, one day after we had worked outside for most the day Jimmy suggested we order take out. What a blessing. I don't mind preparing and serving meals, but I got so excited about this simple pleasure. We ordered chicken and French fries from Abner's, and it was so yummy! Later that same week we ordered our first take out meal from the steakhouse we ordered form last night, and the kids and I kept saying how delicious it was! I was so excited again to have restaurant food! :)  We have since ordered Chick Fil A and ate with Julie's family one night, and that was fun too.

I just keep trying to look on the bright side. Some days are harder than others, but just keep looking. Surely there is a bright side in every situation.

Some Things We Have Done

I'm glad I took some pictures over the last six weeks, because I had already forgotten about some of these things. (And I'm sure other people in my family have pictures of other activities that I don't have.)

The four of us did some hiking at Dismals Canyon in Alabama.

Mae has come to visit us a lot.

Clay worked in his forge. He made some pliers completely from raw materials. (I need a picture of the finished product.)

We celebrated Clay's 21st birthday.

Mae loves to color.

And be outside.

Big Sam and I have given quarantine haircuts! I trimmed about 4 inches from Leah's hair and 5 inches from Julie's (no picture.)

Sweet Mae again!

Sam and Clay built a rock climbing wall. This is during the construction phase.

And this is the finished product.

The Easter Bunny came.

Leah, Sam, and Mae dyed Easter Eggs.

Clay made homemade bread and this homemade flan, pictured below.

I deep cleaned my oven (not using the self-cleaning feature). It took about three hours! This is the before picture. I am embarrassed to say that I have never deep cleaned my oven, and it is 15 years old!

After--not perfectly clean, but as clean as three hours of hard work, baking soda, vinegar, scrub brushes, norwex cloths, norwex cleaning paste, and elbow grease could get it.

Jimmy planed some boards from trees that had fallen or been cut down last fall.

Leah did a couple of Bob Ross art classes online as well as created much art on her iPad.

All in all, it has been a fun, productive shelter at home experience. I have kept up with my housework and even cleaned out a couple of closets and drawers.  Jimmy pressure washed all our concrete around the house and backyard/pool area, and he also finished a beautiful desk he has been working on for years. Sam built a go cart from an old piece of yard equipment....he attached a trailer hitch to it, and it will pull his four-wheeler. I need to take a picture of it!

Sheltering At Home: The Beginnings of These Strange Times

I have so many things to say about this whole sheltering at home thing. For me, it seemed to come on suddenly. The coronavirus wasn't really on my radar in January and February. In early March, I think, Leah asked me about it, and I googled and read a little bit...  Olivia and Julie both asked me about it, and someone mentioned that we may want to get a week or two worth of groceries "just in case"....so I really did not think much about it. I rarely watch national news (like 10 minutes of the Today show 3-4 times a year). I do read our daily local newspaper every day, but until early March, I just don't remember much coronavirus news in there either.

Then on Wednesday, March 11, Clay called me saying that news he was hearing around campus indicated that the coronavirus was spreading, and that the college was most likely going to extend his Spring Break (which would begin March 14) for an extra week.  We debated for a day or two about whether he should fly home as planned, or drive his car since he would probably be here two weeks instead of one. We finally decided for him to drive. I cancelled his flights, and I am so glad I did! They never opened campus back up for classes or for the students to return to the dorms.  Like most college campuses around the country, his college transitioned all their classes to the online format, and he finished his semester here at home. In fact, just today he is allowed to go back on campus to retrieve all his belongings and move completely out of the dorm. The school has strict social distancing policies in place for the move-out. He is allowed 4 hours to move out, and only 10 students can move out per dorm at one time.  Clay drove all day yesterday to Florida. He will pack up my SUV this morning (with a luggage carrier on top and a carrying tray on the back), and drive all the way back home after lunch.

Beginning on March 14, things began to look slightly different around town.....the local schools and colleges extended their spring breaks another week, lots of people were at the grocery stores stocking up on food and supplies, and activities and meetings began to be cancelled. We were off school and Jimmy was off work the week of March 16 for our Spring Break, and by the end of that week, our town was beginning to shut down. Our mayor limited gatherings to 10 people, and restaurants and other businesses began to close or offer curbside business only. Our church switched to online services.

The rest of March and most of April here looked like all the rest of the country. Most people stayed home. Our state and town issued a few different orders at different times: safer at home, shelter at home, shelter in place, etc. All I know is that we stayed at home. Of course Jimmy went to work, but the rest of us stayed home. I did grocery delivery once (which was a delight), and the other weeks I have done grocery pick-up. A couple of weeks ago I wanted to buy my own groceries, so I went to both Kroger and Sam's one morning. It was so strange! I went back to pick up last week, but I plan to go inside the stores myself when I need groceries again. They are out of so many things, and I feel like I need to see what else is available and make adjustments to my list based on what the store does have.

In upcoming posts I will share what we have done to pass the time at home, what some of my struggles have been, and what blessings have abounded because of these strange times.

I Think I Might Begin Blogging Again

It has taken me 30 minutes to remember (and relearn) how to sign in to blogger, update the "About Me" section, and make a few updates to the colors and design on my site. Whew!

I have thought a lot about blogging these last 49 days. (Who else is counting how long you have been "sheltering in place"?)  I have many thoughts swirling around inside my head--concerns, confusions, hopes, expectations, distresses, blessings, anxieties, and much much more.

Since I have not shared on this blog in over a year, I will begin by catching you up with my family.

• Jimmy is still practicing cardiology. He will celebrate 20 years in his practice here in Tupelo in October. 
• I am still homeschooling my last two children who live at home full-time. Leah is finishing up 10th grade, and Sam, 8th grade. Our last day of school this year will be around May 18-20. They each have 11 days of work left to complete.
• Olivia and her husband Brian still live in Indiana. Olivia works at an elementary school about 1 mile from her house, and Brian works at Walmart. I try see Olivia at least once every three months. We visited them in Indiana at the end of February, and Olivia is scheduled to fly here in early June.
• Julie and her husband Big Sam live about 15 minutes from us. Julie is a full-time mother to Mae, age 20 months, and she is expecting another baby in August. The gender will be a surprise! Big Sam preaches full time at a small congregation in Rienzi, and he also works part time for Relias Healthcare. 
• Clay finished up his junior year at Florida College here at home, online (coronavirus). He has been accepted to pharmacy school at the University of Tennessee, and he will begin his studies there in August. 
• Leah and Sam's homeschool has not changed any due to the coronavirus, however, they have missed participating in their outside activities including track, CrossFit, piano lessons, and teen Bible studies. 
• I am just carrying on like always---cooking, cleaning, teaching, doing laundry, etc. Jimmy and I will celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary next month, and I am still so happy being a wife and mother and now a grandmother too!

My hope is to write a little about how confinement at home has been for me. What has encouraged me, what has depressed me, and how I am trying to look on the bright side and make the best of a strange situation.

I'll try to catch up on changes in my life regarding exercise, homeschooling, Bible study, and much more. And I'll try to update family photos soon too.

Our Recent Trip to Disneyworld

We went on our semi-annual (isn't that every two years?) trip to Disney World January 2-9. This marked the 6th time we have done this Disney vacation with the Mims family (Kelly and Lynn and kids). The Johnsey family (Joe and Leanna) have joined us three times, and this year we added Julie's husband, Big Sam, and Parker's wife, Alyssa. (Parker is Lynn's oldest son). Our family was missing Olivia and her husband, Brian, but we did have a new family join us, the Green family (Mike and Amy). Our total headcount was 26. 

Just looking at the hundreds of pictures we have between my phone, Jimmy's phone, Jimmy's camera, and the Disney Photo Pass makes me want to go back! The weather was so nice, and we had so much fun!

I selected several pictures from the week to give an overview of our time at the four parks. We visited each park two days except for Animal Kingdom--we only went there one day. But the day we visited Animal Kingdom, we were all on the 7:00 AM bus in order to be there when the park opened. Our plan, along with hundreds of other people, was to run straight to get in line for Avatar. Which we did. And after a 2.5 hour wait, we rode it! It really was amazing and entertaining, and worth the wait. However, I am not sure I would have waited much longer for it. As we exited the attraction, we saw that the current wait time was 4.5 hours! 

All four Disney parks were exceptionally busy and crowded the whole time we were there, and we spent a good bit of time waiting in various lines. But, since our people are all older, it was fine. We just enjoyed each other's company (and lots of snacks!) while we waited. We did have fast passes each day, but other than that, we had to stand in line. For example, we stood in line for The Little Mermaid for over and hour! Crazy! But it was still fun.  One thing we did to minimize the wait (and again, this worked for us because our children are older) was to take advantage of single riders lines when they were available. We don't mind riding with strangers if it speeds up the wait!

One of the things the children enjoy doing on the rides that take your picture at the "most thrilling part of the ride" is to pose in crazy ways for the picture. I am sharing several of these pictures to give you an idea. 

Here are some pictures from the fun week:

What a fun filled week! I can't wait to go again!