34 months 23 days

Day 1057. It was a typical morning in every way, as far as I remember. After breakfast, I went downstairs with them, and we read a Bible story together. They got busy with the McDonald's stuff, and so I left to go upstairs and work. At 11:15 I stopped and went to the kitchen to make lunch, and at noon we sat down to eat. Tammy ate better than Emmy, and Sammy ate little, but they all ate icecream. After cleaning them up and dressing them, we did not go downstairs today, as time was limited. They watched a few fun children's songs on Alexa, then it was time for bed. It was about 12:45. They fell asleep pretty quickly.

I left them, fully intending to lie down and take a nap as I was very tired. However, I ended up dealing with the mess of the move in Mali, as well as with some stuff with students I'm teaching online, and so no sleep. In the end I did set my timer for 15 minutes and closed my eyes and couldn't believe it, when it went off a few seconds later. It was way too short.

It's been 2 months since we "lost" Sonja who used to come 3 half (or more)-days a week. And today was the first time since then that she came to our house. She was gonna come at 2:30, but already came at 2 pm. The kids were still sleeping, and so she went downstairs to wait for them. However, Randy and I talking woke them up right away. The first thing Emmy, who woke up first, was, "Is Sonja here?", and then he wanted to go downstairs to her right away. The other two woke up right away as well, and so they all ended up going downstairs.

Then I got Sonja's birthday gift that had been waiting for her here, and we all sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY for her and gave it to her. After a few minutes Sammy had to leave with Daddy to go to physiotherapy. I stayed a few more minutes to catch up with Sonja and then also had to leave. Sonja stayed behind with Tammy and Emmy to have fun with them until the rest of us was coming back home.

I left the house at 2:45 to go to another doctor's appointment. I was so tired that I could only close my eyes on the subway. I got off at the end and walked to the doctor's office. I was surprised that there were no people in the waiting room. They told me that four patients had canceled today because they tested Corona-positive. There was only one guy ahead of me, then I was called in for an ECG. I returned to the waiting room and was then called in to see the doctor himself. I had my second ever thyroid ultrasound, and the last one had been 4 years ago. It still looked the same, except for having shrunk considerably. He increased the dosis of my thyroid medication a little, and then had computer issues, so that I had to wait quite a while for my papers. I got another appointment for a checkup, got my prescription, and left to go home. There were still no people in the waiting room.

I had spent about an hour there. I walked back to the subway and once again closed my eyes and rested a little. I got home just before 5 pm; Randy and Sammy were already back. I could hear the kids having fun with Sonja. I realized how much I had missed having her come. Randy left to go to the grocery store and pharmacy, while I opened my computer to work. I prepared my next lesson for tomorrow, and before I knew it it was already 6 pm and time to make their dinner. I was still extremely tired.

Not long after I had started Randy returned. After having put the groceries away, he went downstairs, and everyone came upstairs. The kids excitedly opened the package that had arrived that contained a book for them as well as a refill for their bubble bottles. I had another opportunity to talk with Sonja, before she left on her 3-week vacation. Then we sat down at the table to eat.

The kids now always want to hear those German kids' songs, but they tend to go up and look, and so I turned the Echo device around, so they could only hear. That upset them, so they still would not eat. I guess we can't listen to anything while eating any more. They went into the bathtub, where they ate a little more, and somehow it was already 8 pm by the time they were all in bed. I sat down by them and once again it was Tammy who fell asleep last. I could finally walk away and get myself something to eat. After having eaten, I went back to work, and now it's midnight, and I really need to go to bed as soon as possible.