Last weekend was quite an adventure, bookended by not so pleasant surprises. Friday was date night. After picking Esme up from daycare, we went to pick up our takeout from TGI Friday's. I heard a "bang" as I was getting on the freeway. I thought I may have hit something, but didn't see anything in my mirrors, so we kept on going. About a mile down the freeway the car started vigorously shaking and I just new we had a flat tire. I had just passed an exit and had a semi right behind me, but was able to pull off on an overpass with a larger shoulder to assess things. My assumption was correct and the front driver's side tire had blown out. We slowly drove to the next exit up to be in a safer place. I contacted our insurance roadside assistance then called Jimmy to see if he wanted to come pick up Esme.
Just a couple minutes in to that call I saw a man on the passenger's side of the car. I thought, "whoa, that was fast." But, it wasn't the assistance I had requested. It was a guy from the Minnesota Department of Transportation. I've seen their vehicles on the road before and didn't even think about it. He may have been dispatched by someone who saw us on the traffic cameras or was just in the area. Either way, we really lucked out. I've changed several tires before, but hadn't done my due diligence to know all the steps for the new van. Now I know where all the tool are and how to take down the spare.
Our new friend had us rolling again in about 20 minutes and we were so grateful. I took it in to Discount Tire the next day to see about replacements and Jimmy took it in this morning to have two new tires put on the front.
Come Monday, I was notified that I was potentially exposed the previous week to someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. We have been super careful and diligent to protect ourselves and others, so it was a little disheartening. I knew I had done everything in my power and followed recommendations to stay safe, but decided to get tested to rule anything out. There is a drive-up testing site nearby at North Memorial hospital and decided that would be my best option for same day testing. It was about an hour wait from the time I arrived, but it was super easy. Like you've probably heard before, it is very uncomfortable, but the pain/discomfort didn't last too long. I notified Esme's daycare provider right away. She hadn't yet requested we wear masks for pick up and drop off, but I happened to start doing it the day after my potential exposure. This made us both feel better, but it was determined we would keep Esme home for 2 weeks regardless of my test results.
Luckily, I wasn't left wondering for too long and got my negative result Tuesday evening. This made all a little relieved.
Work was a bit trickier with both kids home again, but my manager was extremely accommodating to my altered schedule. Esme loved setting up her own little work station next to me with her computer and phone. I also made the mistake of showing parker the answer button on my headset and he is obsessed with it now.
We filled out extra time together with more than just work. Esme has been stealing dish and hand towels to use as blankets for her babies and stuffed animals. I grabbed some extra fleece from my craft room and cut some little blankets for her. She has been carrying them around everywhere and making sure he favorite friends are tucked in nicely. We've been trying to get her to ride her small bike, but she still prefers her tricycle. What's cuter than a girl in a swimsuit peddling around?
We've been trying new kinds of Oreos this summer and our latest were Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. I think they were well received by both kids.
I also finally got around to making some writing practice sheets to be used with our clear writing envelopes. They use dry erase markers and can easily switch out the sheets. I made ones with upper and lower case letters, numbers, and a few sentences for each of them. Esme is still in the pre-writing stage mostly, but Parkers really enjoys working on them. I had hoped to do more educational stuff this summer, but I was really burned out after distance learning this spring. I eagerly await what is to come this fall.
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