And we are entering week 3 of school closures and shelter-in-place. The first grade teacher has started conducting Zoom sessions – the first one didn’t go all that well as you can imagine with 28 kids and 1 teacher on a conference call, and the teacher wasn’t completely familiar enough with Zoom and didn’t remove the ability for those on the call to chat so some of them were sending chat messages to each other. The session on Friday was so much better, and she even managed to do some simple math quizzes with them, as well as a Chinese spelling test (听写).

Third grade Zoom sessions are in smaller groups, about 10 kids and the teacher is more tech savvy, so no issues there. But my third grader said that English work seems to be more than what they usually do in class! The teacher likes to assign them things in Seesaw, where they have to present a compare and contrast between the stories she assigned, or retell the stories from the different characters’ points of view. Hopefully things will be less hectic next week.

 

I’m luckily regularly a good sleeper but last night I woke at 1.55am with all these thoughts in my mind:

Could I be asymptomatic? Could my husband be? What about the kids? What would happen to them if something happened to me?

Did I not wash my hands for long enough yesterday when I handled the groceries? What if those 5 seconds made a difference?

What if something happens to my parents in Singapore? My sister lives in Singapore but I can’t help worrying about their health too.

I tried to go back to sleep, thinking of peaceful images, trying to put my racing brain to rest. I tossed and turned for a while, answering my own questions in my head, knowing that these are things (except the hand washing, and that I know I probably do for long enough) that I cannot do anything about. I concentrated on my breath, I relaxed my shoulders, visualised a calm space (for me, it’s usually a beach). It worked, a little, I fell asleep but I don’t think it was an entirely deep one as I felt so tired and my eyes felt tired when I finally awoke at 620.

Have you been more anxious of late? I have been trying to avoid reading the news after dinnertime. It doesn’t help matters, it just makes me more worried. How have you been trying to adjust to this new world we all live in?

Some photos from last week:

 

Making sushi for dinner

 

Currently…

 

Reading:

Darius the Great is Not Okay – Adib Khorram

 

 

Watching:

 

Making the Cut on Amazon Video

Listening:

 

Eating:

I had scrambled eggs and homemade bread for breakfast

Drinking:

Coffee

Cooking:

Slow-roasted salmon in the oven – I love this recipe and how the fish always comes out beautifully soft. The oven temp is only 275F (135C) and takes about 15-25 minutes depending on how thick your fillet is.

I might try making a chicken biryani

Also, since my boy’s birthday is tomorrow, I’ll be finishing up his cake today, and making some homemade hamburger buns for his birthday meal tomorrow.

 

Last week:

I read:

Mistborn – Brandon Sanderson
Pretending is Lying – Dominique Goblet
Black Canary Vol 1 – Brandon Fletcher
I posted:

#WeekendCooking Lockdown week 2 meals

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Library Loot (March 25 to 31)