Friday feels a little too much like Monday. Today is April 24.
This must really not be my week for sleep because I woke up before my alarm yet again. This time, however, I’m blaming the frustrating red reminder the female reproductive system provides every month for my sleeping trouble. Despite my annoyance at being awake before I’d planned, I took advantage of my early rising to enjoy breakfast and watch an episode of Criminal Minds before gearing up for the rest of my day.
Around 10:30 a.m. I joined a Google Hangout meeting with my Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus AB teacher, Travis Martin, to check in with him. I didn’t have any specific math-related questions, so instead we simply talked for about half an hour. I asked him for advice staying motivated, and he recommended creating and sticking to a stricter routine. I think I’m going to take his words of wisdom and put them to good use in the near future. While in the short-term AP tests aren’t at the forefront of my mind (even though they should be), I know in the long-term the scores I get on the four tests I’m taking will help determine which classes I have to take in college. The more classes I can test out of or be exempt from, the more money I can save. Sometimes suffering in the present saves pain in the future.
After my internet crashed close to 11 a.m., I ended the Google Hangout call and got some lunch. My stomach had been hurting me a little bit off and on all day, so I decided to try simply eating some bread rather than a more elaborate meal. I spent some time responding to emails, specifically one regarding applications for next year’s Rock Bridge Reaches Out leadership. I’ve put a lot of time, energy and effort into reforming and building the program these past two years. I’ve even created a website for it. I really hope after I graduate other students step up to continue the example of hard work and organization I’ve tried to set.
I spent some time cleaning my room by putting away clothes I’d let pile up. I think I sometimes forget I need to hang items in my closet and not simply use laundry baskets for storage. I seemed to be in a cleaning mood, so once I’d made my bed with clean sheets, I decided to vacuum the upstairs of our house. I even went so far as to wipe down a few surfaces because dust and grime had accumulated. This cleaning didn’t help my allergies, but once I’d finished, our house looked far neater.
At 2 p.m. my mom and I had a Zoom call with journalism to celebrate a staff photographer, Sophie Eaton’s, birthday. We showed her a Google Slide we’d made for her, and I think she enjoyed it. People talked about movies and their lives for a while, and then we sang to her. I’m glad we continued the tradition of birthday celebrations, even during social distancing. I think the recipients appreciate the attention and love, and I’m happy our journalism family is so willing to celebrate.
Once my brother got home from work, my family and I headed up to my grandpa’s house for dinner. I hadn’t seen him in-person since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, so I loved spending time at his house. The five of us spent several hours sitting in his small kitchen eating fried fish, coleslaw, potato salad, deviled eggs and brownies. I’m definitely not a fan of seafood, but I absolutely love my grandpa’s fried fish. It is the perfect combination of crunchy and spicy, and I ended up eating so much I thought I’d burst.
My grandpa (featured in the photo gallery below) is one of the funniest, kindest human beings alive, so I love spending time with him. He has a kind heart. When I grow up, I hope to be the kind of person he is: full of love, generosity and humor. The whole time we were at his house, even when my brother and I were teasing and picking on each other, I was having fun. We all told stories, and I learned more about my parents’ time in college including tales of fake IDs, alcohol and mischief. My grandpa even read a poem he’d written to a girl he had been in love with. It rhymed and was sweet and funny. I think if someone ever took the time to write something like that for me, I just might cry.
I wish I could see and spend time with my grandpa more often, but because of the coronavirus, we are all keeping our distance to keep him safe and healthy. I doubt I’d spread anything to him because I’ve not been leaving the house, but I don’t want to take any risks. After a few hours with him, my family and I decided it was time to head back home. On the car ride back, I watched the ending of a live-streamed charity reading of Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Because I recently finished reading the play for AP Literature and Composition, I could understand the plot and characters, which made the experience all the more fun.
When we got home, the four of us went our separate ways for a while. I took some time to decompress and be by myself, which I needed after being super socially engaged for most of the day. My dad and brother got into an argument over something minor later in the night, so I slipped downstairs to hang out with my mom for a while to avoid the conflict.
Once the tension dissipated, I went back up to my room to get ready for bed and watch the most recent episode of the FOX first responder show 911 on Hulu. I hope tomorrow we can do a big family breakfast, which should clear up any residual frustration my brother and dad may have. I’m also planning on spending some time working on AP Lit and AP Calc tomorrow so I can be productive and more prepared for the exams than I am currently. Fingers crossed I can break my streak and have a good night’s sleep tonight.
“Wherever you are, be all there.” ― Jim Elliot[TS_VCSC_Lightbox_Gallery content_images=”330784,330785,330786,330787,330789,330790,330791,330792″ content_images_size=”full” content_images_titledata=”caption” content_title=”A glimpse into Bailey Stover’s 38th day of social distancing” data_grid_preloader=”-1″ lightbox_title=”caption” thumbnail_size=”full” lightbox_effect=”simpleSwitch”][/TS_VCSC_Lightbox_Gallery][penci_text_block block_title_align=”style-title-left” custom_markup_1=””]How did you spend your 38th day of social distancing? Let us know in the comments below.[/penci_text_block]
