Game Night - featuring Telestrations and Blank Slate #theOPgames #telestrations #blankslate #boardgames #Tryazon

Complimentary copies of Telestrations and Blank Slate games were provided to me through Tryazon so that I could share them with friends and through my blog. All opinions expressed are my own

At my house, we have enjoyed playing many of the OP games that we have come across. So, when Tryazon sent me an invite to apply for a Game Night featuring two of our favorite games, I was excited to apply and hoped to get the chance to participate and share the games with more friends. This game night party kit came with two games: Telestrations and Blank Slate. We have been playing Telestrations for several years, ever since one of our friends recommendimg we check it out at a game night and we have been playing Blank Slate for a few years, since getting it one Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, it always feels a bit like Christmas to me when the party pack arrives. I enjoy unboxing it and seeing what all we got in the party pack.
The initial reveal:

After unpacking:

Once we had the games, all that remained was having friends over and introducing them to two of our favorite games.

Telestrations

Description: The outrageously fun party game Telestrations will keep your family and friends entertained and laughing! Draw what you see then guess what you saw for hilarious and unpredictable outcomes.

Casual, family, party and strategy gamers alike all agree that Telestrations is one of the top 10 board games to add to their game collection, and game night. It’s an engaging game that can be played over and over with many different ages and types of groups and gatherings – it’s the perfect group game for game night!

The award-winning game Telestrations will keep your family and friends entertained and laughing! Draw what you see then guess what you saw for hilarious and unpredictable outcomes. Over 1,700 words, 8 erasable sketch books, 8 dry erase markers, and 8 clean-up cloths. Perfect for families, small parties, and friends new and old. A great ice breaker! No Drawing Skills Required. Stick figures & sense of humor welcome! Ages 12+. For 4-8 players. Play time: 10-15 minutes per round.

Telestrations combines classic drawing games with the age old game of Telephone. This is one game where laughter ensues with each reveal of the sequence from original clue through a few iterations of drawings and guesses. Sometimes we have clues that make it through 'intact' but most of the time there is a definite evolution to the guesses and drawings. As with the classic Telephone game, the miscommunication of guessing the drawing leads to some wild departures from the original clue. We love how it can be played by any age group. Our kids can play with their friends, we can play with our friends, and we can also all play together. We have found that with an all adult group there are a few more adult themed guesses and drawings (even though everyone knows the initial clues are not adult themed since we don't have the 'after dark' version of the game). The original version is intended for 8 players but they also offer a 6 player and 12 player version of the game. The difference is the number of iterations that your original clues go through before returning to you - the more iterations the broader the departure. There is also an 80s and 90s expansion pack (featuring decades-inspired words and phrases that will have you sketching out the tunes, fads, and fashion from the end of the 20th century) available for more clues. We don't own this one but would be a great game for us to play with our friends (I assume that the kids might not get all of the clues, having not lived through those years). Since we already had a copy of the original game, we shared this gift with a friend so that they could enjoy the fun with their family and friends.

Blank Slate

Description: TPick one of over 250 Word Cue cards (with 500 total cues), write the word you think best completes the phrase - and try to match it exactly to another player's word without giving a single hint.

If you're looking out for something new to introduce to the family, then the Blank Slate Board Game is your best bet. This fun game comes with 8 slates, markers and 250 double-sided cue cards. The objective is to complete phrases with any word, but you score points for matching your word with any one other player. The rules are simple to understand and each match lasts only up to 30 minutes, so you know this game is going to be the new favorite with the family.

Game night is always a hit with Blank Slate - just ask Ryan Seacrest or Bobby Bones! Blank Slate game is featured on AT40 with Ryan Seacrest and The Bobby Bones Show - fans love it!

Blank Slate is a fun game. There is a certain strategy to try to match one and only one other answer. You need a word to fill in the blank that is obvious but not too obvious. I will say that it does help if you have connections with the people you are playing with, as those common experiences are often the source of the best answers. This game is great for all ages and you don't need to have any specific knowledge to play (everyone knows words and phrases). The game plays quickly, allowing you to play multiple rounds in a few hours (and crowning your winner based on best of 5 or 7). Since we already had a copy of Blank Slate, I shared the new one with some party guests.



What are some of your favorite games for family game night? or game night with friends? Have you played Telestrations or Blank Slate before? What did you think?

No compensation was received for this review. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family and friends. Complimentary copies of the games were provided to me through Tryazon so that I could share my experience with friends and through my blog, with enough to share some with my friends too.

Dinner Time (in less time)

Complimentary product was provided to me so that I could experience the products and share about them with friends and through my blog.

As a busy mom, the one thing that I have strived to maintain is sitting down together as a family for dinner. Some nights are easier than others and as the kids get older, and busier, I have not been successful in acheiving that goal every day. With both kids, my husband and myself being active, many nights to even have dinner together (and not spending a long time in the kitchen when we get home from everything) means jumping through a few hoops and definitely some meal planning. Now that it is the fall, my son is back at school, so there is one less schedule to juggle but still appreciate time savings to help orchestrate family meal time.

As I have shared before, one of the things that I have found really beneficial about meal planning is cooking once and eating two or three times. With the help of some prepared foods, this can really help with getting food on the table when the family is together.

I recently had the chance to try several of the Bob Evans Farms side dishes, which you can find in your local grocer's refrigerated section. We have enjoyed their Homestyle Mashed Potatoes for years but had not tried their other sides. I picked out Sliced Glazed Apples and a side of Macaroni and Cheese, as well as a familiar favorite Homestyle Mashed Potatoes on a recent shopping trip.

The Sliced Glazed Apples were a hit. I served them as a side with Pork Chops, Corn and the Home Style Mashed Potatoes. They were just the right touch to complete the meal, offering a nice balance of sweetness and a touch of spice. And let's be honest, nothing says fall like a warm, spicy apple, it was almost like having a pie or crisp without the crusts.

Of course, the mashed potatoes are a side we enjoy with the pan fried pork chops everytime I serve them. The warm, creaminess with just a touch of bite and made with real butter and milk, just like I make them, really gives them that homemade taste but ready in 6 minutes instead of the time it takes to peel, dice, boil and smash potatoes on my own. A definite time saver!

The Macaroni and Cheese, we enjoyed as a light meal. We added a bit of bacon to top the macaroni and cheese, a side salad and some rolls to make it a complete meal. The Macaroni and Cheese was a nice creamy, gooey dish with the macaroni having just enough bite and the six cheese blend providing the right balance of tanginess.

No compensation was received for this review. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family and friends. Complimentary coupons were provided to me to purchase the products of my choice, so that I could share my experience with friends and through my blog.

Game Night - featuring Venn and Hues and Cues #theOPgames #VENN #HuesAndCues #BringTheFun #Tryazon

Complimentary copies of Venn and Hues and Cues games were provided to me through Tryazon so that I could share them with friends and through my blog. All opinions expressed are my own

As I have shared before, Game Night has always been a favorite activity at our house. We have been fortunate to have many friends and family members that enjoy not only hanging out but also playing games. Our friends have introduced us to many games and we have introduced them to many games. There always seems to be a new game to play but we still try to make time for favorites. As with any good gathering, we enjoy an assortment of snacks and always have a good time. We compete and we laugh and we genuinely enjoy the time together. When we started hosting, we had little kids and would often start around bedtime so that the kids would be sleeping through most of the time but now that they are teenagers, they often times will join in for the games too, whether with us or at their own game table with their friends.

We have enjoyed playing many of the OP games that we have come across, so when I see that there is a new game out, I am always intersted to learn more. So, when Tryazon sent me a message inviting me to apply for the Venn Game Night, I was excited to check it out. The party kit came with two games, Venn and Hues and Cues. Venn was new to us but we have owned Hues and Cues for a while now.

Venn

Description: Introducing VENN, a clever game where clues and art overlap! Race to find three secret words based on where a Clue Giver arranges unique Art Cards onto color circles. Set a timer or outguess the others to find the similarities, come to the right conclusions, and win! Go head-to-head as teams or work together through cooperative gameplay in this hands-on communication game that mixes friendly competition and fun.

Venn is an interesting game that requires creative thinking, a skill that sometimes I think we don't always get the chance to develop. It can be played competitively or cooperatively. I like this because I find that the cooperative play is an easier way to learn the game and a great way to play as a family, especially with younger kids. The concept of finding art work that applies to one, two or three of the words on your card is a fun way to get your teammates to guess the words. It did take a little while to figure out some people's thought process but with time, being able to guess became a little easier.

Hues and Cues

Description: Test your color knowledge and guessing abilities with Hues and Cues – a vibrant group party game of colorful communication where players are challenged to make connections to colors with words. Using only one and two-word cues, players try to get others to guess a specific hue from the 480 colors squares on the unique game board . The player with the most points after several rounds wins the game!

Hues and Cues is a fun game. It is helpful if you are familiar with context for your clue giver's clues. As an example, when the color card has a shade of blue and the clue giver says Cinderella for their word. If you don't know that Cinderella wears a blue dress or aren't familiar with which princess is which, then you might be guessing a shade of pink or yellow. We also discussed that for those that are color blind, it would also be quite a challenge. They can often differentiate shades but certainly aren't going to be as succesful with the nuances of the colors on the board. Since we already had a copy, I shared the new one with my brother and his family.

You can find more information on The Op or purchase your own copy of the games HERE.

What are some of your favorite games for family game night? or game night with friends? Have you played Venn or Hues and Cues before? What did you think?

No compensation was received for this review. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family and friends. Complimentary copies of the games were provided to me through Tryazon so that I could share my experience with friends and through my blog, with enough to share some with my friends too.

Summertime!

I am so glad to finally be getting back to a more normal course of activity. I have enjoyed the down time and the time spent with family but it is good to have things starting to return to our schedules. Today marked the okay to open for playgrounds, museums, zoos, theaters, and a few other things in our area. Next week it is amusement parks and casinos. Some of the plans released seem a bit weird and some make me wonder if the experience is worth the hassle. I assume that those things will begin to relax in due time and until then, I am just glad for the steps that we are making.

Summer baseball has started and it feels about 95% normal. The bleachers are closed, which seems like an odd set up because I find that it leaves less space for parents to be spread out but heard that they were closed to allow the players a space in which to spread out when their team is in the dugout. The umpires (at the games we have been at) are calling balls and strikes from behind the pitcher and the field umpire stands behind 1st only (rather than moving to a more centralized field position once runners are on). One game though, our home plate umpire was behind the pitcher calling balls and strikes but the field umpire was behind the catcher, set up to better make the calls at home and foul balls. Makes you kind of wonder why he could be back there for that but that the home plate umpire can't set up there to calls balls and strikes. From what I understand, the decisions have been made on a per league/per tournament basis so we may see variations. In fact, the one umpire showed up with the intent to stand behind the catcher at another game and was told that he couldn't because the coaches didn't want for him to get in trouble.

It is nice to have restaurants open again. In some, you simply don't see that they have changed things because they moved and removed tables. Sure the servers are wearing masks and there are little things (including signs) that are different but they feel mostly normal. We went to Chili's this weekend after baseball though and there it felt obvious - every other table is marked with blue tape, the ketchup is brought out in little cups with lids, the water glasses can't be refilled so they bring you a new one each time. We went because we had a gift card and honestly, we wanted to make sure to use our gift card...there have been some restaurants where all of the local locations have closed - not sure whether it was because of the pandemic or if that was the proverbial straw. The service was excellent, the food was delicious and the portions good, and it was nice to enjoy a meal out with the whole family. This next weekend we are in a tournament and we will likely enjoy a meal out with the team...that will definitely be a unique experience.

The swimming pool opened for lap swimming this week. They are limiting us to 75 minutes in the facility/60 minutes in the pool - I'm not sure how much they are monitoring / enforcing but it seems everyone is complying. I was on target to complete the 100 mile challenge back in March and am hoping even with the shortened swim time that I will be able to complete it in June. Swimming time feels normal to me, just me back and forth in the pool alone with my thoughts and the occasional greeting of a fellow swimmer that I haven't seen in 12 weeks. My body definitely was tired and achy after returning to a workout that I hadn't done in so long and I was slower for sure. I am starting to pick up my pace a bit and hope to have it back up to where I was by the end of next week. Seeing the Camp kids playing in the rec pool and then the runners outside as I leave, certainly feels more like normal.

I have continued my daily walk but fitting them in is a bit more tricky now that I am also trying to swim 4-5 times per week. I am up to 89 days of completing at least a 30 minute walk with my typical walk now being up to 55 minutes. It was crazy warm here yesterday and today it was the humidity that was the challenge, I decided to walk before I swam, which meant walking in my glasses instead of my contacts. It worked okay but the glasses do steam up with the high humidity and me walking.

I start my new job next week. Having half of my time unemployed be during the pandemic has been interesting. One of my friends asked me today if I felt like a kid on the last week of summer vacation. I said yes, actually I do. I have developed a new routine (second one if you consider the pre- and during pandemic routines) that will be hard to move away from. I got a lot done that was on my to do list but feel I have so much more that I had hoped to accomplish during my time off. With everyone being home, the motivation and schedule seemed to be in my way. I have a few more things that I will tackle this week and the other things can simply wait. There wasn't a great urgency to getting them done just things on my list.

How is your summer starting? Are things opening up near you? Have you been out? What was your experience?

Summer Time is Coming

As we enter the last weekend of May, I am looking forward to summertime. I'm not sure that it will feel much different than the last several weeks for the most part, but it is nice to finally be getting back to some more normal things.

As a family, we went out to lunch yesterday and ate at the restaurant, inside because of the rain. It sounds like a small thing but it has probably been almost 3 months since the last time we went out to eat as a family. It was nice to to relax and just hang out.

This past week both kids returned school books and empty out their lockers. The school year is officially over. Online learning was okay at best. It was nice that several teachers would post a recording of the learning. It gave them the opportunity to watch the lesson on demand, on their schedule. I don't know that my kids did it but it also gave them the chance to rewatch the lesson if there was a question or something confusing. I think though that I would have liked them to do the lesson live in an interactive classroom space - like they do at school - where the kids can ask questions and the teacher can get real time feedback on how well the group was responding to the lesson. They all had office hours but they were not always at convenient times and some overlapped. As an example, math classes all had their office hours, a live chat space, from 8 - 9 am. The kids would need to watch the current lesson before the office hours or use the office hours for the last lesson, which was not always convenient. In addition, since all the math class office hours were at the same time, if you had multiple math classes (my son had two), you likely could only get to one or the other. Unfortunately, several teachers didn't do online lessons, video or live. They simply relied on the kids reading the book and shared some notes. I also feel like the lack of classroom discussion was a loss. How many times as a kid did you pick up on something based on what a classmate shared. Whether discussing a classic like Great Gatsby or asking a question about a chemical reaction, sometimes hearing it posed by someone else helps you process or clarify it for yourself. And then for activity driven classes, there was again a loss of opportunity. For my son, we boiled eggs for different lengths as a chemistry experiment but that was really the only experiment that the class did the last 12 weeks of school. I would have expected more labs as part of a chemistry class. And for my daughter, who was in Family and Consumer Sciences the last quarter of the school year, she missed out on so much. They normally make a drawstring bag but with stores on limited operation and most students not having access to a sewing machine, the pattern was simply shared if they wanted to try it. For the kitchen half, the lessons were limited. She made a dish with an egg (souffles for her), a bowl of fruit salad and a vegetable. She still learned from the videos her teacher would post but they normally make so much more in class. The other gap was the absence of spring sports, spring dances, lunch room socialization, after school socialization on the bus or the walk, and so much more together time with fellow students. It is a unique experience that has impacted my kids and something that they will remember always but I do hope that we can return to classroom learning in the fall for the benefit of all students.

Baseball season is restarting for my son. He had three practices this last week and we have games next weekend. I have missed the families and the experience of being at games. It will definitely not be the season we had planned - the boys didn't have their high school season and had limited access to facilities so mostly had to keep in shape on their own. We have already learned that one tournament was being rescheduled which caused the team to drop out of that tournament and pick up another one. Many schools are not opening their fields so there is a scramble to locate fields for games. In the youth program locally, several kids have dropped out (not sure if it is concern, the change in timing for the season or some other factor). I am happy to have baseball back and hope that it is as near normal as possible.

I continue with my daily walks and have done at least 30 minutes (usually closer to 50 minutes lately) each day for the past 77 days (today marks 78 but I haven't gotten out yet). It has been a great way to stay active but also a chance to 'get away', let my mind unwind and destress and a chance to relax and soak in nature and sunshine (and rain on occasion). I have easily 80+ pictures to illustrate the soaking in of nature - I have trees and flowers, blue skies and cloud formations, 'artsy' shots with puddles and capturing the droplets collected on the leaves. It has been nice. I do hope to continue the daily walk. We heard yesterday that the pool at our gym will open in just over a week for lap swimming only. I am very glad to hear that news and will try to get there 4 or 5 mornings each week and likely move my walks to later in the day when I do. I was at almost 100 miles swam since January when the pools were closed with the gyms almost 11 weeks ago. My goal is to complete the 100 mile challenge and then try for another 100 miles yet this year.

My schedule as a whole will be changing here in a couple of weeks. I was offered a job and accepted it (actually, was offered two but one required relocation). It is such a relief after 6 months of being unemployed to have a job lined up. Job seeking during closure was interesting. I did all of my interviewing from home - a mix of phone and video interviews. It will be even stranger starting a new job at a company that is (at least right now) still work from home. I will be doing remote onboarding and orientation. I will meet the team that I will be partnering with by phone. I should have ample opportunity to explore the software and learn about the products on my own. I am a people person though, so it will definitely be strange.

Made some bread last night and it was perhaps the best batch yet. This morning, I am trying a new cinnamon roll / muffin type recipe.

What have you been up to? How are things opening up where you are?

Eight Weeks

8 Weeks! For (over) 8 weeks, I have made an effort and taken a walk. It didn't matter the weather, I found a window with less rain or snow or put on an extra layer, and I found time to fit in a walk of at least 30 minutes every day. On nice days, it typically stretches to 45 or 50 minutes, but my official 'target' was to make time for at least 30 minutes. As a result, I have also managed to hit my daily step goal every day (but one where there was a tornado that touched down in town and we had to spend the last hour of the night in the basement and I missed my goal by 100 steps) for those same 8 weeks. One auto goal management, it adds around 10 to 20 steps most days but does add more if I have really exceeded my goal. Now that I have made it 8 weeks, I would like to continue to fit in a walk everyday. I would like the streak to be much longer. Some days when I walk, I find myself wishing I was done before I have even 10 minutes in; some days, I walk very leisurely; some days, I walk as if on a mission to beat my pace. My VivoFit tried to prevent from success with the screen display failing (checked by replacing the batteries a couple of times in case one of the sets was old) and then Amazon's lead time for a new Garmin was 2 weeks because they were focused on essential shipments. I learned to 'count' the pressing of the button to start and stop my workout and to get the VivoFit to sync. Fortunately, my replacement shipped sooner than expected. I actually upgraded my device and really enjoy some of the added features, like getting my messages on my watch.

8 Weeks! It has been 8 weeks since the kids last went to school in the classroom. It has been 8 weeks since the last sports practice or event. They seem to be adapting to at home learning but certainly miss the social aspects of school. They have found time most days to fit in a workout. My son has tried to mix up long toss, pitching, and hitting (off the tee, bp or live pitching). Yesterday was the senior's last day of school for the year. To celebrate, they organized a parade and drove their cars through most neighborhoods in town. It was awesome to watch and cheer them on. It made me tear up a bit to think about the things they were missing out on. Our school is hoping that by postponing prom, graduation and baccalaureate, that they will be able to do them in person...but still have a back up plan in place. At the same time, it was impressive to see them driving through with signs and tin cans, mortar boards and decorations on their cars. And, the support in the community - there were families at the end of their drives and roads, with noisemakers, signs or simply a wave to acknowledge the completion of the kids' senior year. I hope that they add this as a new tradition, and based on posts I have read, others feel the same way. The birthday parades too! We have one lining up outside our house right now. They are such fun. Love the gatherings but what another great way to acknowledge and help the birthday boy or girl celebrate.

8 Weeks! For 8 weeks, I have been trying new recipes and dishes. I hit the jackpot earlier this week when we were enjoying chicken and rice bowls for dinner...my son said that he thought that the bowls that night were even better than Chipotle! Boom! Mission accomplished. My goal is that home made versions of our favorite dishes are just a touch better than we eat out. Don't get me wrong, I love to eat out but for years have been doing my best to recreate family eating out favorites at home. I started using the 'Copycat' cookbooks but for many of the dishes I have been able to find my own way. I have had to reinvent a few when favorite ingredients become unavailable. We have enjoyed very good bread - it's not the same as some of the bread loaves we pick up at the store but it is very good. We have enjoyed several iterations of donuts. I found a good 30 minute donut recipe but an even better glazed yeast donut recipe. We have enjoyed homemade pizza and burgers on the grill. We have also done our part by ordering in from the local places that are just trying to get through this crazy time. We have bought beer from a couple of different local craft brewers that we love. We found out that outdoor dining can open next Friday and indoor the week after. We have already talked about where to go when outdoor dining is open.

8 Weeks! For 8 weeks, we have had some unusual weather and fortunately, some beautiful sunny days. We have had crazy rain. A tornado touched down in town and a couple very close to here. We had snow in March, snow in April and yesterday and today - even snow in May! We have really appreciated the sunny days and the warmer days, where we could get outside and get some fresh air. The flowers and the trees have been in full bloom welcoming spring. We have had some beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

8 Weeks! For 8 weeks, we have used technology in new ways. We have used Skype and Zoom and MSTeams for game nights and girls night; we have used them for classes and for homework help; we have used them to interview for jobs and for coaching sessions. I had a dream last night that I had started a new job. The details were vague - I parked near the building on the street, the dress was business casual with jeans appropriate, and there was snow on my car when I left at the end of the day (coincidental with yesterday's weather I hope and not a sign that it is still months away). I had only gotten the offer the Friday before I started, hadn't told my family and when I came home, I realized I didn't even know what the offer had been and was trying to find the details. I was excited and elated. I was glad to know that I would be on an employer sponsored medical insurance and saving for retirement again. I hope it was a sign that good news would be coming soon. I found out last week that I didn't get one role that I thought I had a pretty good shot at (it was down to 2, so I knew it was at least 50-50). When it comes to reading, I have stuck with the old-fashioned paper book format. I have been reading through a stack of books that I have bedside that I picked up at book sales and just never got around to reading. This weekend though, I started a brand new book by James Russell Lingerfelt, Young Vines. I will share more about the book when I am done reading. I previously read his other two books, you can find those reviews here (Alabama Irish) and here (The Mason Jar).

Over the last 8 weeks, I have become better at ordering my groceries for pick up and last week managed to pick up from three stores in the same day that I placed the order (long story - was trying to catch some deals and so I ordered from more than one store last week - haven't done that in a while). I have tried new brands and learned that there are some brands that I would skip in the future and others that might be worth trying again. Online ordering isn't as bad when you are getting it the same day but I will have to determine if the fees are worth the effort saved (and the extra effort to order). The out of stocks are fewer but have shifted categories.

Last weekend, as the StayAtHome order shifted to StaySafeOhio, we decided to have a socially distant bonfire with friends. It was a nice relaxing evening and a great chance to catch up in person. It was just one other family and we were outside the whole time. They brought their own chairs and own drinks. It was a dose of what we needed. My son finally got his braces off this week too. He was scheduled to get them off a month ago but when the StayAtHome order went into effect, his orthodontist was among the places that had to close.

As I wrap up this post, I think the cats have had enough of us being home - they look chill here but they just want us to get back to it. My one cat comes and sits on my night stand next to my alarm clock in the morning meowing at me to wake up and feed her but I think she may also secretly be hoping that it will go off and it will mean we are all back to normal schedules and she can have peace to sleep all day.

New Habits and Activities

This time at home has lead to the development of some new habits and have introduced new things into our lives - some bad, some good.

As a family, we stay up later and sleep in. The first couple of weeks when it was all new and we didn't really have a feel for how long it might last, we were especially bad, not really paying attention to the time and really messing up our schedules as a whole. It is hard to argue why not one more episode of the show or one more chapter in the book or one more game, we literally have nowhere to be and no specific time to be there. I started seeing it impacting us, so I made the decision that we had to get better at it. Certainly bedtimes didn't need to align with normal but we needed to be reasonable. We successfully shifted and are getting to bed at more reasonable times and getting up to start the day earlier in the day. We also enforce more regular schedule during the week and allow a little flexibility on the weekend. This has helped us return to more normal eating schedule and with both sleeping and eating back on a more normal schedule, everyone generally feels better and has a better attitude too. It will still be tough when we have to be up and out the door at a specific time again but with a more normal schedule it will be a little easier to shift back to that then it would have been.

As a family, we have shifted from team workouts/group workouts to more independent workouts and activities. It's not that we are more or less active or burning more or less calories, we are simply doing it differently. I used to do group exercise and swimming workouts with an occasional lunchtime or evening walk to clear the head, now that those classes are cancelled and the gym is closed, I rely on walking for my daily activity. I have steadily increased the distance so as to stay ahead of my step goal in my otherwise stay at home lifestyle that we have had to transition to. I have successfully walked at least 30 minutes every day for the past 44 days. It has been tough on days that it was rainy or snowy but I watched for the breaks and even dealt with the light sprinkle of rain to get to 30 minutes at least once. It is noticeable too; when I was out walking on Saturday, two different people that were hanging out in their driveways commented on my regular walking. Strange thing is that the time of day I walk can vary greatly so the fact that they noticed surprised me. I have also used these walks to observe the world around me and captured many pictures; yesterday it was fun playing with taking pictures using the puddles.

My husband has been sticking with his running routine but doesn't have the bike/treadmill option on the cold or wet days like he used to. He has switched to running virtual races, as his race schedule for the spring and summer has slowly been cancelled or converted to virtual races. My daughter does a daily work out and often times fits in a short run too. My son, in addition to keeping up with throwing and hitting for baseball, has done several runs and has put more miles on his bicycle than he has in years.

We are cooking and baking more. The cookie jar is almost never empty. There is fresh made bread in the house every weekend. We have found ways to create the tastes of our favorite dining out meals at home. We have tried many new recipes - although it seems they are mostly desserts or at least sweets.

My daughter has Home Ec (they call it family and consumer sciences now though) this quarter - so far, there has only been one hands on assignment - make an egg dish. She chose a souffle - it was good and she really did learn things - separating eggs, why we fold in egg whites, why we cover custard with wax paper, why a souffle will rise and come out of the oven fluffy and deflate within a short window following. Even with that, we are still trying to support local and try to order in at least once a week from a local restaurant and get beer from the local brewery.

We are binge watching series and catching up on movies. On some shows, we have to wait for a new episode to come out and on others we have a few seasons to go. I have started watching new series on HGTV and Food Network, just for a little variety. Some shows we watch as a family, some we watch in smaller groups, some we watch on our own - we use our family room, our media room, our computers and the iPad to provide the flexibility. It helps us as we look to find the right balance of together and alone time - since we all are here pretty much all of the time.

We are reading more. I have been reading from the stack of book sale books that I have near my bedside. My daughter has been reading a couple of different YA series and has even been trying her hand at writing in the style of some of those books.

The kids are playing more. Together and apart. My daughter is spending more time on the swingset. She has always loved it but it is a way to be outside and change up the scenery. They have been playing games / challenges together. They set up a course the other day with dominoes, strings, weights and more. They sat at the top of the stairs and tried to toss a ping pong ball into a cup at the bottom of the stairs.

I am trying to continue the clean-up/purge journey I began when I lost my job. We went through the backroom in the basement and organized and got rid of and sold things that we no longer needed or wouldn't use again. We have gone through the kids clothes to pull out the things that don't fit (or don't wear) and have been trying to sell those. I have gone through some of my files (there are always more and I can only do so much at one time). I used this stay at home to organize the freezers and inventory the food we have on hand so that I could focus on what we needed at the store and ensuring we used things up. I am trying to work through my stack of magazines that have arrived monthly over the years and I simply never had the time to read them. I read them, pull out the page or two that has something that I want to try or look into and off it goes.

We finally have time to tackle home projects and it gives us something to plan and to do. I have painted doors and frames, I have painted (portions) of the playset in the backyard (limited by paint not time). My husband cleaned up and cleaned out the garage. Moved things to mark the change in season and make outdoor activities more accessible.

I have changed the way that I shop (but I will go back at least in some ways). I really like Target's drive up service. I think I will use that for more things even after this stay at home order. If I know I need a few things, it really is easier to order them and pick them up than to park and run into the store. I went for detergent and fabric softener yesterday. The whole trip - drive time and order pick up time was 10 minutes. Since I live 5 minutes away, it essentially took no time to get my order. I am convinced that the 'let us know you are coming' gives them perspective on how close you are when you push the button. They almost always are walking out the door with my stuff as I shift my car from drive to park. I love that the app / their spots are connected and it automatically lets them know I am there. I'm generally not a fan of grocery pick up service - although, I might be more of a fan when they return to allowing you to pay at pick up. I get frustrated that I can't simply maintain and add to my list as the week passes - I have to process a payment each time I make an update. I can start my cart a week out when I reserve the timeslot but I don't always know a week out what we will be low on or be craving or otherwise need when I do pick up. I also struggle to find the magic way to search sometimes. I have gotten better at managing the substitutions so that I get what I want...but that also means that I do without on some things because I ask for no sub even though I might sub if I was in store. I don't like that sales are fewer and/or that sale items are bought out all the time. I like to be able to shop the sales and stock up, so I don't have to buy during non-sales times.

What new activities or habits are you developing? What shows are you watching?

A New Week

Today is the first day of spring break for the kids. With my son being on the high school baseball team, it's been a while since we did something more than a day-trip or stay-cation for spring break. Even though we would only get away one day, we generally filled our time with other fun activities - hanging out with friends, mother-daughter pedicures, laser tag with friends, mini-golf and go-carts, sleepovers, swimming and ice cream. This year we simply are home. I have to say, it feels a little weird.

It's not like spring break is the only unusual thing going on though. One positive of this whole experience is increased family time. I am seeing it at my house and in the neighborhood. This weekend we took a family bike ride, just over 6 miles round trip from home to lunch and back again. We picked up carryout from a local favorite and biked back to the school to use the picnic tables to enjoy our lunch before biking home. We have always loved family bike rides (okay, who am I kidding, my husband and I love them and the kids come along because they have to and sometimes with a bit of whine as we plan for it) but finding time for them lately with two very active children (and parents) has been a challenge. Normally we do closer to 20 or 25 miles round trip but the restaurants we use as destinations on the journey are sit down places, that although I assume are doing carry-out wouldn't be as conducive to finding a picnic table or eating outside. It was nice to get in a bike ride locally and spend some active time together as a family. As we were out biking, I saw a lot of families walking together, biking together, doing yard work together and playing ball in their yards. It really was a nice sight to see.

This weekend we also enjoyed a family movie night in. We are definitely a movie family and have even included destinations like the dine-in theater as part of one of our staycation adventures. We watched Onward on Friday night on Disney+. It wasn't a movie that we had talked about going to see or were anxiously awaiting, in fact, even when we suggested it, my daughter wasn't really interested in watching it but we all did and discovered it was a good movie and everyone enjoyed it.

We also tackled a few projects around the house this weekend. We are entering the eleventh season with our Ultrabuilt playset this year and the kids (my daughter much more so than my son) still enjoy it. In the early years, I was very consistent in making sure that we gave it a fresh coat of paint each spring or at least every other spring to help protect it from the sun and rain. More recently, we have been a lot more busy and it has fallen to every three (or at least that is how long we think it was) years. This was not the best idea as we found a couple of boards that had not maintained the seal created by the paint (or maybe I missed a spot during the last one?) and had a bit of rot within those boards (or was it carpenter ants or something similar?). We made the repairs that were needed and then I used the paint we had on hand to paint the main slide platform and adjacent rails. We will need more paint so I can seal the rest but the store we bought it at doesn't carry that brand anymore and we tried but couldn't figure out how to do an online order for a paint blend - we could get the base gallon but there was no where to enter the color or see/select the color from samples. The rest will just have to wait until we can get back into the stores. We also had a water issue on the frame for our back door. We put in french doors several years ago and it looks like the flashing above the frame wasn't properly overlapped and so we have had a slow trickle of water in around the frame. This caused some of the wood to rot. We used some caulk to address the issue with the flashing and then tackled the frame. We dug out the bad part and filled it with wood filler to rebuild the space, sanded it and will paint it. Again, we don't have the paint we need, so in the short term we will use what we have from the front porch and will have to repaint later when we can select the color we need at the store.

I have found that I have fallen into a steady routine. I know that I am cleaning things more often trying to reduce risk. Each morning, I get up and feed the cats. If I sleep longer than they like, they make sure I am up by climbing up on my bed and sitting on my stomach to cry about eating. Then, I open up the blinds on the first floor to maximize the sunlight we are getting inside. Then, I start by cleaning up the kitchen - put away clean dishes, address any that were soaking from the previous night, take out trash and recycles, and then I wipe down all of the counters. To be fair, I had wiped down the counters and cleaned up after dinner too but I want to make sure that we are starting each day fresh. I then wipe down the counters, the faucet and the toilet in the main floor bathroom. It is the first place we go when we walk in the door to wash up from being outside the house - whether just out for a walk or coming in from the store - so I want to make sure that nothing was left behind on a surface in there. Then, I wipe the inside and outside door handles for all three entry doors and the button on the garage door opener. Then I swap the towels in the kitchen and half bath and add them to the washer to be cleaned with the next load. Then, I will typically work a bit on our puzzle, check e-mail and Facebook, have breakfast, maybe watch a show or movie, check out job postings and hopefully apply to one or two viable options. I typically will go for a walk in the afternoon but adjust based on weather - so far, I have found a way to get in at least a 30 minute walk each of the days that have passed since social distancing began.

We found out last week that school closures have been extended to May 1st and then that the Stay At Home order has also been extended to May 1st. I am glad that they didn't go as far out as some other states; I have heard June 10th for some state(s). I am hopeful and pray that we will be able to start to return to normal come May 1st. I know it may be a gradual return but a start to return is at least a beginning and something to look forward to.

Interestingly, I counted and May 1st represents 40 days of social distancing. I counted because I saw a blurb on Facebook about the number 40 and the significance. It referenced among other things, the 40 days of the great flood, the 40 days of Lent and so on. Of course I left to verify something and couldn't find the post when I went back into Facebook and I can't remember what friend had shared it. My husband found a similar one but it had less of the connections. One of the things it referenced (and one of the things I left to verify) was that even the word quarantine comes from the Italian word meaning 40 days (from Wikipedia: The word quarantine comes from quarantena, meaning "forty days", used in the 14th-15th-century Venetian language and designating the period that all ships were required to be isolated before passengers and crew could go ashore during the Black Death plague epidemic).

This week, I was able to schedule a grocery pick up, so I should be able to stay out of the stores this week but likely will do my own shopping next week. In part because it is so hard to get a time and in part because I still find shopping for myself easier but also a little riskier than I want - we learned this weekend that someone that works at our grocery tested positive. We are on about a 9 - 10 day schedule for groceries at this point. I am buying two weeks worth of bread and milk products each time so that we can stretch the visits out and have partial coverage if they are out of stock. The one thing that is harder to stretch is produce. We just make sure that we get our fruits and veggies fresh when we first shop and then we can move to frozen or canned later in the time between grocery trips. When we have a Friday evening without plans, we like to stop by the store and pick up a fresh baguette to enjoy as a snack. Not wanting to go to the store for one item, this weekend I made bread. I have made bread before but it has been a while. It turned out good and was a nice accompaniment to our dinner on Saturday as well. I will definitely plan to add flour to my shopping list so that I can make more.

How have you been doing? What adaptations have you made? How long are things 'closed' in your area?