COVID-19 Homeschool, Day 48

Do you remember, back when you were in elementary school, especially when it got close to the end of the year, sometimes you'd have a day when you really wouldn't do anything at all? Like, the teacher would tell you to spend the whole morning cleaning out your desks and doing independent reading when you were done, and then after lunch the whole class (or sometimes the whole grade, or even the whole school) would watch a movie until it was time to go home? I have fond memories of both Johnny Tremaine and Oliver!, both of which we must have watched a dozen times over the years. Well, that was the kind of day we had today.

Today was the day that the photographer/videographer came to take pictures for the 3-D virtual tour of our house. So I was up at 6am (oh, who am I kidding: I was awake at 4:30am doing all of it mentally) putting the finishing touches on the staging: removing bathmats and trashcans, rinsing out sinks, re-sweeping the floors, vacuuming everything one last time, fluffing and arranging pillows, making beds so they looked like they came out of a home decorating magazine. When we finished, my husband looked at me and said, with great satisfaction, "Well, I'd buy this house!" And at 8:15am, we packed the kids into the car and hit the road to let the realtor and the photog do their thing.

We started with breakfast at McDonald's, as an apology for not feeding the kids until 8:30. We ordered at the drive-thru and then sat at one of their outside picnic tables to eat, since it was an absolutely glorious morning. I'm not exactly a fan of McDonald's food, but I have to admit that those were just about the most delicious hotcakes I've ever eaten.

After we finished, we headed over towards our new house. We weren't able to go in, but since the kids hadn't even seen the outside in person, we wanted them to get a first-hand look. We parked at the park across the street and went for a walk around the pond, looking for turtles and frogs and fish.

Can you spot all 4 turtles in this photo?

We heard a lot of galumphing grandfather bullfrogs and spied a few. We saw lots of sunfish of all different sizes. We saw turtles swimming and sunning themselves. We saw water lilies ready to burst into glorious bloom. We explored the cool grassy amphitheater and peeked over the fence at the playground and tried to find all the different places where you could see our house through the trees.

After our hike, we drove around town checking out some of the places we were likely to go often: grocery stores, several different elementary schools, various restaurants, other parks and recreation areas, gyms and dance schools, and three or four shopping centers. I have a terrible sense of direction so it will take me a while to figure out how to get to any of those places, but at least now I kind of have an idea of what's grouped together and how long it's likely to get somewhere. I am relieved that our new street dead-ends not too far past our house, so at least I don't have to worry about which way to turn when I pull out of the driveway, no matter where I'm going.

We ended our adventures by ordering ice cream from a fabulous farm not far from the house. Ice cream for lunch helped to ease the disappointment the kids had from not being able to actually go inside the house. Plus, ICE CREAM! Ice cream is always a good thing.

We got back home at about 12:30pm, and my husband had to dive right back into work. At 1pm, both kids had a call with their teachers. Normally my son's classroom meets are Monday and Thursday, but I think they're doing Tuesday this week because yesterday was a holiday. He's supposed to have a band rehearsal at 1:15pm, so I asked him to stay in his class meet until 1:20 and then switch over. But it's nearly 1:30 now and I don't hear the sound of the trombone coming from upstairs, so he may have decided to stay, which is fine with me. (He came down at 1:30 and I asked him if he had switched over to band, and he blurted out, "Oh, shoot!" and then raced back upstairs.)

I've spent the past hour wandering around the house trying to find all the things that we tucked out of sight for the photo shoot: trash cans, soap dishes, toilet plungers, Alexa devices, extension cords, power cords, THE COFFEEMAKER, the hamster. I'm trying to only bring out the items that we really need for the next few weeks, in case we get some short notice on someone wanting to come and look at the house. I don't look forward to the quick "clean up and get out" events that I'm sure will happen, but I know the more we have the better the chance that we'll sell the house quickly and for a good price. It's a great house and I hope it finds a new owner who will love it and enjoy it the way we have.

There's a little-known musical called "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" which tells the story of the first century of the White House and the various families who lived in it during that time. Written by Alan Jay Lerner and Leonard Bernstein, with a Broadway cast starring Ken Howard (whom you may recognize as The White Shadow) as "The President" and Patricia Routledge (whom you may recognize at Hyacinth Bucket in the British sitcom "Keeping Up Appearances") as "The President's Wife," it seems like it should have been a huge success. But instead, it was a complete flop, running for only 7 performances before it closed. But one of the more successful numbers was "Take Care of This House," performed on Broadway by Patricia Routledge, and recorded since by such luminaries as Julie Andrews, Barbara Streisand, Frederica von Stade (who sang it at Jimmy Carter's inauguration), Judy Kaye, Marilyn Horne, Joanna Gleason, Cynthia Erivo, and Kelli O'Hara. The First Lady sings it as she prepares to hand it over to the next first lady, with these lyrics:

Here in the shell of a house
This house that is struggling to be
A beacon of light shinning all through the night
So bright that the whole world could see

But now there's a chill in the room
Windows are starting to leak
Floorboards are starting to creak

And hope, hope may arrive
The house will survive
If only these walls could speak

Take care of this house
Keep it from harm
If bandits break in sound the alarm

Care for this house
Shine it by hand
And keep it so clean
The glow can be seen all over the land

Be careful at night, check all the doors
If someone makes off with our dream
The dream will be yours

Take care of this house
Be always on call
For this house is the hope of us all

Beware of full smiles that lead you astray
When someone is telling you lies
Let truth lead the way

Take of this house
Be always on call
Care for this house
It's the hope of us all.

And so I say, to my home's next occupant, whomever that may be: Take care of this house. It may not be as important as the White House, but it's a pretty special place. Take care of this house.