Week 3 Update

I celebrated my 43rd birthday under "social distancing" rules. The kids came over and we took a drive around the lake. We got Culver's custard and then Raising Cane's for dinner. We played Apples to Apples and did hair cuts and dye.

Started week 3 at working from home. It's getting easier to figure out all that I can do and easier to stay focused on what I'm working on.

Steve said that when the Lincoln total of cases hits 10, he's ordering all of us to stay inside and no more going to the store. Gee will be the most impacted but I also get it. Gee is pretty much the only one who goes out now. The rest of us are doing our best at social distancing except every so often when we want a special treat.

We've ordered food in a lot more than we have ever done. It's silly because I love to cook but I feel like I just need something different or a change from the norm. I'm calling it "stimulating the economy" by ordering from local places. I'm sure that won't continue because who can afford it?!

Oh, I saw my McDonald's lady this morning! I was so glad to see that she is well. I told her that I was thinking of her, missing her and that I was looking forward to when this is over so I can see her again. She may have thought I was nuts. I may be nuts. The jury is still out.

March 25, 2020

When you have a large family, you accept the fact that when there is a bug going around, someone in your house is bound to get it and spread it to the others. Flu and cold season can be rough around here.

One of our children is being tested for COVID-19. The chances that she has it are very, very slim but the doctor is recommending that she be tested. I am less worried about her having it then who she might have exposed to it. She is a relatively healthy child who would surely be fine if she got it. Updates will come on that.

For a Civics lesson, I am making my school-age children watch Who Killed Malcom X on Netflix. We are not primarily focused on the WHO so much as learning more about Malcom X. I am trying to find some creative ways to "teach" my children during this remote learning. As of this week, they have some remote learning but most of it is review and there isn't much of it right  now. I do not expect them to be "learning" 8 hours a day but do want some lessons and instruction. On Monday, I taught one of them how to make chili.

Yesterday was a rough day for me. I just felt grumbly and frustrated with all of it. I also had a massive headache yesterday and a slight fever but today I'm fine. I will monitor my "symptoms" and hate that I have now second guess every cough or sneeze I have.

Today is a better day for me at least. I was sad when I woke up but have been able to keep my spirits up. I am missing my fast food breakfast but I'm sure my body is thankful for the break. My attempts to not eat everything within reach have been better today as I moved "everything within reach" further away and out of sight.

Gee on Covid-19

Dear COVID-19 when I first heard of Corona I said haha I'm underaged it won't bother me. Then they shut down international flights. I said I don't mind I'm broke and not planning on traveling. Then the toilet paper was running out. I said Its fine I just bought a new pack and napkins work fine. They started telling people don't go out you'll get exposed and I said a little cough won't upset me. They shut down Disney I said sucks to suck. They canceled school I said oof what will I do. I thought an extra week of Coronacation would be fun. That week felt endless. Now school is canceled indefinitely and I still don't have COVID-19. But I do have COVID-19 DEPRESSION. People talk about seasonal depression but now I'm talking about COVID-19 DEPRESSION. It's the depression of I want to go out but when I go out no one else is out and the shelves are out of my favorite soup so now what do I do? It's I have all this free time but can't hangout with anyone because of social distancing but I don't like listening. So I ask to hangout but they were listening when advised not to go outside. Three days ago I made a playlist named "Idk but I'm happy" it had songs about feeling happy and free. Today I made a playlist called "COVID-19 DEPRESSION" . Because now I'm stuck in this session of depression. With no end in sight. People post hash tag day 14 of quarantine while they do something fun but this isn't fun anymore. I'm bored. Tik Tok is full of jokes but this isn't a joke the world is broke.

March 23, 2020

The start of week 2 working from home. Purchased a new laptop today. That's always an adventure. Day 1 of Remote Learning. Fortunately there wasn't much for school work today. I will tell you this, the next time one of the teachers tells me that a particular child is causing distractions in the classroom, I will absolutely believe them. I may rethink the "you will do school work at the table with me."

On Friday, Gee and I did our bi-weekly grocery shopping. They were extremely helpful and it was really nice spending the day with them and being outside. BUT...

I don't want to go out anymore. It was dismal. The shelves are so bare and it made it all a little bit too real. The last time I had left the house was the Monday before. This was worse. I came home completely emotionally exhausted. This isn't the America that I'm used to and it took me the rest of the night and part of the next day to just make peace with that in my mind.

I realized how vulnerable I am. I have diabetes, fibromyalgia and chronic bronchitis. I actually realized that I AM at a higher risk and that it could be much more dangerous for me to get than it is for some others. Less than some but still more than others.

Over the weekend, we had family dinner, sent a care package to those in our family that can't be here and played poker with candy pieces. We had a lot of fun and there is more candy in this house than at Halloween. I'm not so sure that's a great thing. :)

So what I've learned the most after the first week is that it's all about balance. We are going to have good days and bad days. We are going to have good moments and bad moments. There are parts of this that we are really going to like and parts of this that we could do without. It's okay. It's okay to have those feelings. Stay strong (or have a total meltdown, just don't get stuck there)!

Today is harder. I'm super sleepy and just want to nap. I know that won't be good for my mental health. I have less focus.

We are watching on of Steve's co-workers daughters. That helps me get up each morning and gets me going on my work from home status.

We're ordering pizza for lunch. I'm hoping that will lift some moods around here too. Feed the soul?

Follow-up, as this is a work in progress document that I just type stuff into the throughout the day, the pizza helped lift spirits. It was probably less the pizza than the children eating at the table with me but the pizza absolutely brought them to the table so I'm giving the pizza a win.

Ariez is home which basically means that I will NEVER get to watch my TV again. Ha!

March 17, 2020

Happy St. Patrick's Day! As much as things are changing rapidly in the world, there is one thing that is staying the same. I will be making corned beef and cabbage with baby red potatoes for dinner! The family will come home for family dinner tonight as we all look forward to this meal. Well, there are a couple who don't love this dinner and they will be having chicken.

Treyson has been sent to work from home as his employer is trying to prepare everyone to work from home during this crazy time. They had been offering to let people work from home and now they are pretty much sending everyone to work from home. Steve works at the same place but he's a supervisor so he is still very much needed at the office. There may be a time in the near future that he will be working from home also.

Trey is actually going to be working from our house because we have better internet and it's probably not great for his mental health to be in his apartment 24/7. This will give him a reason to get up and stay among the living.

Jake works the same place and he was sent to work from home yesterday. He's currently working at their house but I told him that he could move over here and we could just set up a shop downstairs. I work from the kitchen table. No response from him yest so I'm guessing he didn't fall in love with the idea!

JobCorps has been shut down so Ariez is currently on a bus home and will get in this evening. It's about a 9 hour bus ride. He will be home until at least April 14th. He is excited. I reminded him that he will have to go back and he said, "yeah, I want to graduate from here!"

Things just keep changing. Every time we think we have a new normal, it changes again.

March 16, 2020

Day one work from home. It might take me a minute to get into the swing of things. I find myself distracted and late but I did get up and shower and get to work. 

Steve messaged me and told me to move money to a different account and go to the grocery store. There seems to be some concern that the government is going to close things down. My husband is not a fear monger and thinks all of these extra precautions are silly so when he told me to go to the store, we went to the store. 

Store #1 - there was absolutely no toilet paper to be found. We have an 8 pack at home and we have lots of paper towels so we bought the 10/$10 sale on tissues and left. 

Store #2 - absolutely no milk to be found. No milk. No powdered milk. We bought pasta, soup, chicken, macaroni and cheese that doesn't need milk. We also were unable to find any hand soap. Tai called and asked us to pick up milk for them and I told her our findings. She quickly went to the store near them and thankfully found milk and got some for us too. 

I sent the kids to the neighbor's to check in on her. She is an elderly lady and we just wanted to make sure she has our phone number in case she should need anything. I know her children are checking on her but wanted to make sure she had someone close. 

I'm not panicked but I am more concerned than I probably need to be. I reached out to a couple of friends with anxiety disorders to see how they were doing.

We are all in this together. All of us. We will see what the next news cycle brings us. 

Covid Weekend #1

Social distancing. It has a much nicer ring to it than "isolating". I mean, I'm sure they're different but contextually, it's the same thing.

Weekend 1 surviving the social distancing to flatten the curve. It's Sunday night. My children are going crazy. They are convinced that at least one of them have the virus and both of them are convinced that there is nothing in the house to eat and that we will run out of toilet paper and also soup.

Why soup? Because that was what was on the menu prior to us learning that we would be home for another week. Mind you, we have tons of food. The fridge is full, the pantry is full, the cupboards are reasonably full, the freezers are full. But they must have soup and there mind is set on the soup and we only bought one can of soup for each of us and so now we are going to die because we don't have a cupboard full of soup.

Tomorrow will begin the first day of extended Spring break and the first day of me working from home.

I decided that I will probably blog each day as a way of tracking my own sanity and as a way of remembering what this looked like when we have survived it.

The government declared a state of emergency on Friday. They canceled interest rates on federally held student loans (this created havoc in my husband/son's job). They have lowered interest rates on other loans so that people can afford to get loans to help sustain them during any type of shut down.

LES and Black Hills Energy have suspended shut offs. An LPS parent group is organizing a food drive with delivery to families in need. LPS is going to be providing 300 sack lunches at 6 locations for lunches and breakfasts each day. Many places are offering free meals, free delivery. Charter is offering free internet to families with kids k-12 or college. It feels good to live in America. Even in times of trial, community comes together to provide for each other.