COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 221-225

 Day 221: 10-20-20 (Tuesday)

I woke up to some sad news this morning. My step-mother (technically my father's long time live-in- love) Gayle passed away late last night. They have been together for about 25 years. She has been sick for a long time and had been in the hospital for the last several weeks. I feel so bad for my dad. He is going to be pretty lost without her. She was a very sweet woman.

I had a lunch with friends planned today that had to be canceled. Katie (who was hostessing) had a sick child. Bummer. I was really looking forward to it. I haven't had a lunch with girlfriends in forever. Despite the fact that I was excited to get together with friends; I was also a little nervous and second guessing whether I should go. It's hard to balance mental health for our family and our physical health. We like to be social and all of this isolation takes a toll.

We FaceTimed with Reilly for quite awhile tonight. No one else has come down with COVID in her office so that is good news. Maybe we can get together as a family in a week or so. I really appreciate how seriously she will quarantine herself to protect Tyler and the rest of us.

We got some funny pictures and FB messages from Kam. There is a major snowstorm in Minneapolis and he is hating it! He hates snow! He informed us that after his mission he has no intention of living anywhere with snow! LOL. The APs also texted the missionaries saying that there is to be no driving for the next several days... and just when Kam became the "driver"! I guess there had already been several missionaries in some fender benders that day. Thank goodness Kam has experience driving on slick icy roads. Two of his quad had never even seen snow before!!

Day 222: 10-21-20 (Wednesday)

Lots going on today! I had to run Ailey over to the high school to pick up more textbooks and curriculum materials. I also had my yearly mammogram this morning and both girls had their well-check visits at the pediatrician's office. They got 7 shots between both of them. Poor kids. Tyler met us and we were both going to get our flu shots. Get everything done in one day I say! But no... the line was crazy long. Hours long. We decided to go get ice cream since 7 shots and a mammogram are no fun!

Our family loves Baskin Robbins over all of the other trendier ice cream shops. Why mess with perfection? A list of favorites just for fun. Our kids are always asking what were their grandparents favorite food/ice cream/desserts etc. So here are ours for posterity. LOL.

Tyler's favorite flavors: Daiquiri Ice, Chocolate Mousse Royale, and Peanut Butter Chocolate

Kristin's favorite flavors: Daiquiri Ice, Pralines and Cream, Chocolate Mousse Royale, and Peanut Butter Chocolate, and Peppermint.

Reilly's favorite flavors: Daiquiri Ice and Pralines and Cream.

Kameron's favorite flavors: Daiquiri Ice and Strawberry Cheesecake

Ailey's favorite flavors: Daiquiri Ice, Chocolate Chip Mint, Chocolate Mousse Royale, and Gold Medal Ribbon.

Bryn's favorite flavors: Daiquiri Ice, Orange Sherbet, anything sour... and she will always try a new flavor where most of the rest of us stick to our tried and trues.

I had a long phone conversation with my dad this afternoon. He was telling me all of the plans for Gayle's service. I feel so badly for him. I also talked to both of Gayle's sons: Doug and Steve. Losing your mom sucks. Her kids are quite a bit older than we are but still... it sucks.

The girls and Ty carved pumpkins.

Tonight Ailey had YW and I had a stake meeting with my presidency and the stake presidency.

Day 223: 10-22-20 (Thursday)

Today is cold! It's 38 degrees but at least it is sunny. We are supposed to get snow tomorrow. I heard at my meeting last night that they are now saying 6 inches of snow! NO!! I'm with Kam!! Not a snow fan.

I worked on projects all day today. Tonight was vendor night. I sold so many things that I had to do a big rearrange and set-up. It is looking good! Tyler and I grabbed our favorite Osaka bowls and ate them in the car while watching the latest Presidential debate before driving back to Spokane.

Day 224: 10-23-20 (Friday)

The frost before the snow.

Today we had our first snow. It's come much too early for me. The leaves on the trees are still green!! Since we knew it was coming Tyler and I headed out early to do a big walk at the park to try to beat the snow. It started snowing our last half mile.

Our leaves are still green and barely starting to fall and it's snowing.

Tyler ran Ailey to the DMV to try to get her learner's permit. This kid has had the WORST time trying to drive! COVID and all that comes with it has made the DMV an even a bigger nightmare than normal and pushed everything back. She filled out all of her info online...she is already 16...and they refused to give it to her until she was two weeks out from her Drivers Ed class which has also been pushed so far back due to COVID and the small sessions that fill up so quickly that she can't even start until after Thanksgiving. It's a joke!

We ran Brynnie to school to pick up more of her study materials from her teachers for various classes. We also ordered some flowers to be sent to my dad. 

My dad emailed out the link for Gayle's obituary:

Gayle S. Wells was born on April 27, 1941 in Albertville, AL and passed away on October 19, 2020 in Las Vegas, NV. She is survived by her loving husband Eldon McKinnon; her children Brenda (Scott) Kendall, Laura (Ervin) Howery, Steven Wells, Douglas (Amy) Wells and Lois Wells ; stepchildren Kristin (Tyler) Johnson, Stacey (John) Sykes, and Kelley McKinnon (Chris Bennett); seven grandchildren; seven step-grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; brothers Alton Bouldin and Terry Bouldin; and sisters Bonnie Roslin and Deborah Braddock. She was preceded in death by her parents L J and Lillian Bouldin; brother Larry Bouldin; son Larry Wells; daughter Susan Henderson; daughter-in-law Maryann Wells; and grandson Michael Watkins. Gayle attended Snead College in Boaz, AL where she excelled academically and participated in athletics. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Education from the University of Toledo and obtained her Master's Degree in English and Counseling from the University of Dayton. Gayle was a public school teacher in Ohio for 12 years. She was beloved by her students and went above and beyond to ensure their academic success as well as their personal well-being. She then worked for the State of Nevada for several years and received many prestigious awards. Gayle also served as chairperson for several charitable organizations in the Las Vegas area including D.A.R.E. and Sub for Santa. In addition, she taught English at UNLV. Her interests and hobbies included history, gardening, sports (especially college football), travel and cooking. She was an exceptional wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who dearly loved her family and always put their needs above her own.

The snow started coming down hard by about noon:

Our slight snow turned into a major blizzard. Spokane ended up with 7 1/2 inches. Not cool.

It looks like the pumpkin is screaming "No!!!"

Tyler and I scrapped date night. The roads were awful. We had Ubereats deliver Thai food. Ailey and Bryn made snickerdoodles and we watched another Halloween movie as a family. Not a bad night after all!!

Day 225: 10-24-20 (Saturday)

We woke up to a gorgeous snowy day with bright blue skies! That never happens here! I can handle snow so much more if it is also sunny which it very rarely seems to be. Tyler was out early with the snowblower. I had completely forgotten that we bought one at the end of last year! Yay us!

The flowers for my dad were delivered and Tyler and I ordered Crumbl cookies to be delivered since Gayle's children and grandchildren were in town and at my dad's. He really enjoyed that. Warm cookies do make things a *tiny* bit better sometimes. 

All of us really wanted to get out of the house for awhile so we took the girls and ran some errands. We grocery shopped and did some other shopping too. Ailey needed a new winter coat and boots. I needed some new dress boots. We ended up finding quite a few things for all of us... Tyler included. I am not a person who is drawn to "retail therapy" for a mood boost but it ended up doing all of us a lot of good!! LOL. We got Panera for dinner. 

In other exciting news...Our Yum box arrived. The country was Russia. We facetimed with Reilly while opening it. She and Hunter got theirs almost a week before we got ours and had already tried everything but they wanted to see our reactions. LOL.

There was:

Orange and Vanilla Biscuits (good)

Bolete Mushroom Bread Bites (I thought they were good other people not so much.)

Sovietsky Cheese Potato Chips (Very good!)

Almond White Chocolate Bar (Good...some of us don't like white chocolate.)

Strawberry, Caramel, and Vanilla Gummies (blah)

Ginger and Cinnamon Biscuits (good)

BBQ Kebab Potato Chips (So-so)

Coconut and White Chocolate Hazelnut Balls (Good... but not all of us like white chocolate)

Sour Cream and Onion Potato Chips (Blah...not very flavorful)

Nuts and Milk Chocolate Wafer Bar (delicious)

Ripe Pear Milk Chocolate Bar (EXCELLENT!!)

Exotic Fruit Jellies... Black Currant Mint, Strawberry Pepper, and Ripe Mango (AMAZING!! My Favorites!)

Despite the dang blizzard I sold quite a few big items in my booth! It's time to rearrange again. Ha ha! I am so enjoying this! I am so glad that I pivoted my business. I would still be waiting for a vintage show to happen which certainly isn't in 2020.