Picnic, Pinwheel & Pizza

Before we could leave the house this morning, Emerson had to sign the card for her teacher Miss Jessica, for Teacher Appreciation Week! Last year (during non-covid times), there was a cute theme every day and I did stuff like bake fresh homemade bread, bought cute notebooks and brought fun books wrapped up in twine…

But this year, it was just like “survival mode” for appreciation week, so we took the easy route and got her a TJ Maxx gift card, which I hope she will enjoy shopping with, once stores re-open someday… haha 😉 Either way, Emerson was still very excited to bring her the card this morning!

Jeff had planned to come picnic with me at my office today, and we wanted to try to get Chick-fil-A. But the one on West Tennessee Street (between our house & my office), is always bananas at lunch time, especially while only the drive-thru is open right now, so we didn’t know how it would go. I hopped on my CFA app though, and had a free delivery reward from the N. Monroe street location, conveniently expiring tomorrow, and I also had hundreds of points for free food.

So I put my order in around 11:20, they said it would take 20-45 minutes, but it was delivered at my office by 11:40! It was incredible! I went back up to my desk for a bit since they were early and Jeff wasn’t there yet, and then went down at noon to wait for him to come. And we had such a nice picnic lunch, with delicious food, with the easiest delivery! I don’t know what they’re delivery rates are normally, but I’d be willing to consider it if needed sometime in the future for sure.

I had so many points, I got my sandwich & fries for free (and drank water from my office), so we only paid for Jeff’s meal, plus a tip for the driver. Sweet deal!

Oh, this is also Corrections Employee Week in Florida. We are usually given treats and small gifts during this week, plus a big building-wide luncheon in Cascades Park with free box lunches from Chick-fil-A, but obviously all that was cancelled this year. However, our Bureau Chief got some fancy snacks and treats for this afternoon, for the eight of us that are still not teleworking (due to lack of State-issued laptops), and it was all so yummy!

Nita and the girls went to pick up Emerson early from school today, one more time. The girls go back home to their family in Georgia tomorrow, so we planned to spend one last night with them before they go. Nita took the girls on a little walk around the park near our house before I got home, and then we got pizza for dinner, so we didn’t have to cook or clean up!

Oh, I mentioned the other night that Jeff and I did a couple random chores… One of them was that Jeff put up this little curtain on our carport side door, and I love it! There used to be a grungy old creamy one when we moved in 3.5 years ago, but we took it down and then never put anything else back up. Jeff actually picked out this curtain himself at Walmart the other night (from the Better Homes & Garden stuff), and he did good! It’s exactly what I would have picked myself. The curtain is a simple little upgrade, but I love it!

These sweet girls are only three of Nana’s six granddaughters, plus seven other grandsons!

We’ve had this weird little hammer thingy for a while, but only realized tonight that it’s a little whistle/recorder thingy, when Anderson started blowing into it. But then Emerson was obsessed with it!

She was also obsessed with this random pinwheel I found in my craft storage in the front room…

After lots of hugs and I love you’s and waves from the car windows, the big girls headed out out with Nana. They’re going back home to their parents in Georgia tomorrow, and I know Emerson will miss them! We’re hoping they can come down for another weekend or so in the summer, when we can take them to the beach.

The three of us then played in the front yard for a while. She specifically wanted Mommy to sit in the hammock tonight while her and Daddy ran around the yard, and I had no objections to that plan!

I read her “Opposites” bedtime book to her, and then just like last night, she read the book to herself, and did so well! She remembers every page like, “Slow snail, fast cheetah. Awake kitty, sleepy kitty.” It’s so sweet!

She randomly decided she wanted to put her pillow in her bed tonight, so she shoved it between the bars after reading the book. So then after lullabies, she sweetly laid down on her little pillow, and I covered her up, and it was just so sweet! She was still awake, so I asked if I could take a picture with a bright light, and she said yes and thought it was really funny. But look at her on her tiny pillow!

We finished Captain America last night, so we might just watch a couple of episodes of Parks & Rec tonight, since it’s getting kind of late already. Night friends!