Day 133: (Perseverence) Pays off

 Greetings from the Lake!  Walking into the cottage felt like coming back home after a brief stay in Cleveland Heights.  It felt pretty good.

 The craft of the week:  friendship bracelets.  We have taken to calling this table "the hub" as kids from all over the point gather here to craft, chat, and make their plans for swimming or walking or going to the park.

 After a week with Lulu this one has grown up noticeably.  She washes her own dishes after meals and wants her hair french braided and thanks to an older Point friend with multiple ear piercings she now wants double piercings.  So big but still so little.  Look at that sweet soft face.

 Friday evening alone was worth the drive.  Perfect lake, cocktail hour, kayaking and paddle boating, Zoom happy hour with Hiram friends in the soft evening air. 

 Saturday morning window cat.  She looks so sweet and innocent, you'd hardly know she woke me at 6am to attack me with love. She is full of snuggles and purrs at 6am, let me tell you.

 Started the day with a boat ride and some waterskiing.  Due to not packing his swim shorts, Jack chose not to ski (and instead was grumpy for quite a while til Barb saved the day with a loan of extra trunks at her cottage).

But Ivy was able to show off her accomplishment! 

We've got anoher waterskier in the family, folks. 

I am just so proud of this girl.  Her perseverence paid off.

In work-related updates:  This Covid-19 world continues to be a roller coaster.  After spending much of the week preparing my classroom and mentally gearing up for social distancing and masked teaching, all of a sudden things have changed. On Thursday the Cuyahoga County Board of Health came out with a recommendation that all schools in the county should start remotely due to high levels of community spread.  Solon was set to release more details about the schedules for in person and virtual instruction so parents could make a decision by Monday. Instead we got an email saying essentially-- um, looks like we need to take a minute here and talk about this.  Friday at 5pm we got the word that we will be teaching remotely for at least the first nine weeks.  While virtual instruction is certainly not ideal, especially for my learners with unique needs, I have to say that I feel immense relief.  It was so overwhelming to imagine shifting everything about how I teach, and doing it all in a mask and a face shield and always under the looming threat of contagion.  Now, I will still be shifting everything about how I teach-- but at least everyone involved will be safe.  I'll be able to set aside some of the anxiety and center my mind on providing the best virtual instruction possible.  One thing you can say for this pandemic-- we are certainly having the opportunity to challenge ourselves and learn new things!