Yall. We are still here. I have been overwhelmed with going back to school, and then quite a few vet visits!  School is back, but nothing looks the same. Our district is completely virtual, and even though we were virtual last spring, it is a whole different ball game.

When we went virtual in March, there were so many questions and literally no answers. Things were changing day to day and the main goal was to make it to the end of the year. Attendance and grading were not quite as rigorous as normal.

I think most of us thought things would be different this year. Personally I was really hoping to go back to school with the kids in class like normal, and as we got closer to time and it was more apparent that was not going to happen, I thought we would start to see a plan in place.

That is not quite what happened. I think my district and my school administration has done a great job with the hand they’ve been dealt, and it has still been completely insane. On that note, I’m extremely grateful to be in the district I’m in and at the school I’m at, because after talking to people in other districts I know I have many reasons to be thankful.

 We started our school year a week early thanks to Covid, which meant we had less teacher workdays than normal leading up to the first day for students. We received our instructions in our first staff meeting on a Wednesday, and welcomed kids into our virtual classrooms the following Monday. I doubt there was a teacher in the state who felt prepared. I did not.

Now with two weeks under my belt, I’m slowing starting to find a groove, but it has not been easy.  It has been a giant learning curve, and while I am all about challenging myself, this is surreal. And I miss having my kids in the classroom.

That being said, I am very thankful that we are 100% virtual instead of trying to split time between virtual and in person. I have spoken to a few teachers trying to tackle that nightmare, and I cannot imagine juggling that.

All in all, I’m glad to be finding a new normal, and I’m so looking forward to having my kids back in person.

Around the farm we are riding the horses and trying to keep our main rides in shape, planning for lambing season, and starting our working system with a brand new headgate! Bryson found a local high school student making head gates and we told him the features we wanted and he welded it in less than a week. I am very impressed with his work and love supporting a kid willing to work so hard.

If you follow us on social (which you should!), you have seen that one of our guardian dogs got a cut across her ribcage and what I thought was going to need quick sutures ended up needing a bit more work and a drain put him. At the same time, we thought our oldie goldie pet mutt had a snake bite which is nothing new, but it ended up getting infected and he needed quite a bit of work as well. While we’ve seen our vet more than we like, both dogs are healing well!

The past couple of weeks have been far from normal, but I’m thankful for the ability to push through them and find joy in each day!

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18