Reality, Reschedules, And Researching Home School Resources- Travels Of The Texas Twins…
My twin sister never checks her email. I believe she is somewhere between 200k and 300k emails at this point.
How did Cindy’s email get so far out of hand? I have no idea but if you are trying to reach her I suggest calling or texting because the odds of ever getting a response to an email from my twin sister are slim and none.
I check my email at least 25 times a day so I don’t understand Cindy’s “email situation.”
It’s unlikely she will ever find time to weed through her emails. Because of this I’m the go to for any and all correspondence for business or school matters pertaining to Cindy’s twin granddaughters, Maryssa and Makenna.
Their two week extended spring break was an extended “time off.” Next week, online school begins.
Home schooling for many parents, grandparents and guardians is intimidating to say the least and has created a firestorm of hilarious memes. Laughter is the best medicine.
Discussions to prepare for next weeks homeschooling with Cindy are nearly as funny as the memes. Wendy “we have to keep up with core classes.” Cindy “what are those?” Wendy “English, math, science, etc.” Cindy “I don’t know what core math means.” Wendy “they explain how they came to the solution.”
Cindy “in the old days we memorized time tables. This core math is ridiculous and takes far longer. Why can’t they just answer the questions?”
Wendy “Maryssa is not applying herself to preparing for classes on Monday.”
Cindy “Maryssa is working on makeup tutorials and social media.”
Wendy “is it too early for a highball?” Ugh. Cindy and I have never been separated like this before so we are on the phone with each other so much that a few days ago, Cindy forgot I was already on hold and called me again.
Wendy “please hold a moment as my twin sister is calling on the other line.”
Cindy “I am your twin sister.” Wendy “yep and you put me on hold to take Leigh Ann’s call and forgot so you called me again. Hang up the other line.”
Our sister Tammy called from California while Cindy and I were talking to each other (as usual). Tammy “are you guys together? Wendy “no. Cindy is in Weatherford with the Twins. I’m in Fort Worth with Matthew.” Tammy can’t believe we aren’t together but it’s safer after Cindy’s heart surgery that we aren’t. Why? I’ve had a sinus infection and I’m being overly precautionary.
The stays in place orders in both Weatherford and Fort Worth prevent us from being together. Thanks to our phones though we are rarely apart. From FaceTime to phone calls, Cindy and I are staying in touch on an hourly basis.
Phone calls and FaceTime calls from Leigh Ann and her sister, Stephaney who is in treatment at a facility in Grove, Oklahoma while Leigh Ann is at Point Hueneme occur all day long. Leigh Ann calls Cindy or I at least every 2 hours. Stephaney calls every 3-4 hours.
My son is working for his dad and my husband remotely. His wife is on paternity leave. My only grandson is nearly a month old. I miss him. I miss my structure. I miss going to work everyday. I miss a lot of things. Things I will never take for granted again. We all do. We are all hanging in there.
Cindy and the twins will be adjusting to at home schooling while Wendy reviews the assignments and answers the school emails.
Maryssa and Makenna will be needing to wake up before noon too. Lord help us get through 2 weeks or more of homeschooling!
Meanwhile… because many couples were planning to marry at the JP and can’t because the courts are closed, the numbers of people rolling up at my home has increased so much that a neighbor told me this morning while changing a flood light “if I didn’t know better it would look like a parade was coming and going on Byers.”
The number of people coming to my home is unexpected on a sleepy street where everyone except me has a maid. The median cost of a home here is $600k and up. We don’t have a lot of excitement on Byers Ave. I should say we didn’t until venues began canceling their clients and events, the courts closed and other officiants flat out canceled booked clients out of fear. I have 62 clients. It is wedding season after all.
I have clients that have been scheduled by their venue and new clients with nowhere to turn. Hence my balcony drive up wedding idea.
Reviews of others have been mixed. From “you shouldn’t be working from home” to “I don’t think LBGT couples should marry” to neighbors concerned this increased traffic “might be bringing the virus to the neighborhood.” Yep, I’ve heard it all.
A large portion of my elopement clients are military. They are on a tight timeline. These clients had initially planned to marry at the JP.
They didn’t plan on my driveway and I didn’t either. But here we are. My original weekend clients were lbooked at venues that canceled, new clients who can’t marry at the JP, other client’s who were dropped by their “other officiants” and more.
While my vendor connections tell me of cancellations, I’ve my had clients swap to elopements and new clients flooding in on my books.
These new clients are a surprise but since I’m homebound and down, I came up with a plan. Did I expect my plan to be THIS SUCCESSFUL? Nope. I was just trying to get my venue bookings married and plan a larger celebration at a later date but others heard about my balcony ceremonies and the rest is history.
I feel like a juggler with too many plates in the air.
Meanwhile… I’m rescheduling Unit Weddings cancelled by TDCJ in March while fielding new bookings for inmate ceremonies in Texas and other states.
Because rescheduled inmate ceremonies are taking priority in April, new bookings are being moved to May and June.
Moving an entire client load from March to April with existing April bookings is similar to someone knocking all the dominos down. Seriously.
All of my traditional bookings at venues in March have eloped at my home or in a parking lot the past two weeks. Why the hurry? Marriage licenses have a shelf life.
I’ve signed so many licenses in the past two weeks and performed so many ceremonies that I actually pronounced an LBGT couple (male) yesterday as husband and wife. I’m mentally exhausted.
Luckily, they were good natured. I don’t generally make ceremonial mistakes but I’m thread thin while trying to get everything I need to do done.
My husband is working from home now. We haven’t spent this much time together in our entire marriage.
Makenna is an honor student concerned about her grades. Maryssa is concerned about her snapchat.
Leigh Ann has been trying to get tested for two weeks. She’s a hypochondriac and if she doesn’t stop going to doctors trying to get this test she may inadvertently expose herself to this virus by being out of her home.
Stephaney is ready to come home from treatment in May. Leigh Ann says she will never fly again after this.
Cindy and I have to fly for destination events. Not getting on a plane isn’t even something we can consider at this point.
I’m making crazy internet meals for my husband who likes to eat out but now can’t.
I’m waiting on my next elopement clients of the day and wondering when life will return to normal while praying it does from Fort Worth, Texas…
