Alice’s White Rabbit made a pretty good point. Today is August 11.
As per my usual, I woke up around 8:15 a.m., but when I saw my dad was still sleeping I went back to bed and caught another hour and a half of shut eye. I ended up dreaming about some academic competition that also involved volleyball and an art project. It was strange, and I was glad when I got up and stayed awake.
Initially I’d thought my family would wake up early and do all the yard work we had to before the heat of the day, but my dad had other plans. He took his time and made French toast and sausage for breakfast so my brother could have some before he went off to work. Then my parents and I enjoyed our meal together. I’m going to miss having home cooked meals and eating with my family when I’m off at school. As I’m doing mundane chores or having a pointless conversation at home, I keep thinking about how strange it will be when that’s no longer my everyday normal. It makes me sad and nostalgic, and I haven’t gone anywhere yet.
After we’d finished eating and cleaned up, my parents and I changed and started working on cleaning up our yard from yesterday’s storm. As my dad put it, we were getting back to zero. While my dad cleaned up fallen branches in our backyard and my mom worked on correcting the rocks that had washed out in our front yard, I used our yard cart to collect sticks, twigs and branches along our driveway and in the front yard. The temperature itself wasn’t too hot, but the humidity was awful.
I listened to music while I worked to help pass the time, but I still could feel the moisture in the air and hear annoying bugs buzzing all around me. Every day I find new bug bites, and that’s not a pleasant treat. Once I’d finished my own part of the work, I helped my mom with the rock washout by raking stones back into place. A little bit later my dad joined us, and as a team we were able to finish most of the work quickly. My mom stayed and kept working on picking up small rocks that I hadn’t been able to rake and my dad hadn’t been able to shovel back into place, which I thought was kind of her.
While she was doing that, I headed inside and made a pitcher of pink lemonade for us all to enjoy, and to help cool us off. I have fond memories of making lemonade for my parents when I was small for them to enjoy after mowing the yard, and doing it again today was nice. My dad and I enjoyed a couple glasses together then went our separate ways. I changed out of my dirty work clothes and put on a clean outfit.
I watched an episode of Dynasty then checked my student email account. I saw I’d gotten a message about the Honors One Read Tutorial saying I’d need to attend a class on Thursday evenings. A few minutes later I saw a message on Discord saying this only applied to some students and the mass email had been an accident. To clarify that I in fact don’t need to attend this extra class, I emailed the academic advisor I’d spoken with during Summer Welcome. She later responded saying I’d need to contact the Honors College directly, which I did. I haven’t heard anything back yet, but hopefully I’ll know in the next day whether or not I need to reserve a spot in my week for an extra class.
Once all that was taken care of, I decided to complete yet another of the modular training I have to do for the University of Missouri ― Columbia. I keep getting more and more emails about these tutorials I need to complete, several of which I wasn’t aware even existed. For the next two hours I watched the “Not Any More” training about sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, intimate partner violence, consent and several other topics. It was informative and well put together, even though it seemed to go on forever. I’d rather spend two hours watching a video and learning about the topics and how to stay safe, though, than ending up in a dangerous situation or attending a school where not all students are required to take such a training.
After my dad got back from the grocery store, I helped him unpack groceries. He’d gotten me several items for my dorm, which I hadn’t expected, as well as some cleaning supplies. I feel like I’ll be the most well stocked up person on campus, even though I’m certain I’ll have forgotten my fair share of essentials. We finished quickly then my parents and I watched Chuck together. Having a show the three of us like so much has been a treat. Somehow we’ll need to finish the final season in the next few days, but I love spending time with them. I’m going to miss laughing over silly jokes and talking about clever references when I’m away at school.
Around 5:30 p.m. my dad headed out to play tennis with my brother, and I started a second training, this time on campus emergency alerts. It didn’t take as long as the first one and also wasn’t as informative. At least I’m done with two more training sessions, so I guess that’s an upside of two and a half hours of information. Unfortunately the rain caused my brother and dad not to be able to play tennis today, so they headed home instead. My mom made BLT sandwiches for dinner, and my parents and I ate together while my brother watched basketball.
In the evening I watched a few more episodes of Dynasty while my brother finished his game, then the four of us played two games of Spades together. Luck wasn’t on my side tonight, sadly, and my dad and I ended up losing both. I think my brother’s getting a little sick of playing cards with me, but because I only have three more nights left at home, I want to make all the time we have together count. Tomorrow I need to do an inventory of what items I’m taking to school with me so I can see what I still need to get. I also have to order my books because I’ve already put off doing that for so long and am worried if I wait any longer they won’t arrive in time for the start of school. I thought I had all the time in the world this summer, but now that I have less than four days before I leave I can’t seem to get enough hours in the day. Hopefully a productive day tomorrow will help set my mind at ease, so I’ll just have to count on that.
“Time isn’t the main thing. It’s the only thing.” ― Miles Davis
How did you spend your 147th day of social distancing? Let us know in the comments below.
