Social Distancing.... And Other Stuff

Oh man. You guys. I have been MIA. I know this.  But blogging has been the LAST THING on my mind as of late.  You know that Corona Virus I talked about in my last post?  It's only gotten worse.  Exponentially worse. So bad, in fact, that school has officially been cancelled for the remainder of the year. Only 8 people max can be in the same room at the same time and you are not allowed to be near anyone who isn't living with you- you must stay at least 6 feet away.  It's like I'm in some sort of alternate universe.  The vibe in the city is just eerie!  The neighborhood is a different story, but when you leave the 'hood, everything gets weird.  But, our neighborhood is PACKED with kids outside, there are so many that it's almost impossible to stay 6 feet away at all times, but we are trying!  It's hard for my kids.  It's really hard.  They miss their friends.  And Sully is a kid who loves to high-five every single person he meets, so that's been tough too.  This whole thing SUCKS.  There is no other way to put it.

Stores limit how much food you can buy too.  I get it- they're trying to keep their shelves stocked and making sure everyone has enough food during this, but when they say "2 yogurts per customer" and I have 3 kids who love yogurt, now I can't buy them any because it's not fair to just give 2 yogurts to only 2 of my kids! It really sucks.  I know, I sound so privileged over the fact that I can't buy all the food I want to buy, but it's taking a toll on my mental health!  And school being cancelled was just the worst.  THE WORST.  We ADORE our teachers- yes, I say "our" and not "my kids'" because I spend so much time with them up at the school that I feel like they're mine too.  And Lucy and Piper miss their friends more than you know... It hurt so bad when we found out it was done. Just like that.  Over without a warning.  Me and the girls all cried.  Telling them was just brutal.  We've had such a fantastic school year with the best teachers, and it ended 8 weeks early.  I will be homeschooling them for the remainder of the year.  I started "school" with them last week and we are only doing 40 minutes a day for now, but soon there will be lesson plans distributed by the teachers and it will be about 2 hours of work a day.  That starts April 6th.

We can't go to the park, we can't play with friends, the pool isn't open (and will they even open it in May?!!?), we are just stuck at home.  It's beyond depressing.  The kids have been able to have fun this past week but eventually it's going to get to them too.  Thankfully we had a week in the 80's and 90's so there were sprinkler days, lots of trampoline jumping, bike riding, scooter riding and tons of Vitamin D. But this upcoming week is going to be rainy, so we will be stuck inside with the TV on way too much :( Last week I was doing OK.  I didn't feel the suffocation of being "qaurinatined" the way I do now.  My birthday was on Monday and I even joked that it was the birthday of my dreams because I was forced to stay home (since I'm such a homebody).  But now it's getting to me a bit.... I think it's because the President just made a statement today that said we have to keep "Social Distancing" up until April 30th.  That's a WHOLE 'nother month. My 10 year anniversary trip with Shawn to Mexico was canceled.  Sully's Soccer season never even happened besides 1 practice (I better get my money back!), Piper's dance studio has shut down and we are in the middle of doing YouTube dances that their teachers have posted while I'm still paying tuition, and the worst ever- school :(

This post is so depressing.  I can't even muster up the energy to be cheerful.

The one silver lining to this quarantine is that Shawn is home.  He isn't traveling at all so we have decided to get our house ready to sell!  I know, it's a weird time.  But this house is a piece of work and there is NO WAY I would ever be able to put it on the market without him helping me.  I would have died!  So, even though everything is uncertain right now, we are forging ahead and getting our house ready to list!  We have been working like CRAZY the last 2 weeks.  Last night we were painting walls until 1am!  We've had to paint every room in the house because our walls were just so gross.  Kids are disgusting!  We have even had to paint exterior walls.  Shawn has had to go to Lowe's about a billion times in the last week getting multiple paint samples (we are not on total lockdown and he wore a mask and gloves each time), then he would come home and test them, then go back to buy more- either trying to match it again, or buying a gallon of it if it was, indeed a match.  There were no original paint cans in our garage that were right so we have had to come up with all new paints and it has just been a nightmare.  I had to re-paint all the trim and doors too.  We've gotten SO much done, which is great, but it has left me with zero time to blog, or take the kids on walks, or play games with them (I DID squeeze in a little Easter photo session at least! I'll post those pics soon!).  We've just been working our tails off because this house, as I said, needed sooooooooo much work.  We also had a garage sale 2 weeks ago and the amount of stuff we got rid of was insane.  How did it all fit in our house?!?! I've packed up almost half of all our house to get it ready to be staged and that's been tough because I have to decide what I need for the next 2 months and what can go.  A LOT changes in 2 months so I have to be picky!  It's just all been a lot.  I'm feeling super down about life right now.

2 weeks ago was St. Patricks Day and Shawn was working in Oklahoma City (90 minutes from home) and I had a stomach bug.  I woke up totally fine, but then when I was driving to the doctor with Lucy for a weight check, suddenly I just got so nauseas and hot/cold/clammy.  It just hit me.  It progressively got worse and by the end of the day I was curled in a fetal position in bed with sharp stomach pains.  I couldn't even have St. Patrick's Day dinner :(  Shawn drove home to help me with the kids that night, and then drove back the next day to finish his week in Oklahoma City (after that week, all travel was officially canceled for him).  While he was there, he went to 6 stores to look for Crab legs for me! Jenks had zero at our stores, so he went all over the city down there looking for it.  He FINALLY found some at a seafood store and bought them out.  Who knew crab was such  hot commodity during a quarantine?!  Anyway,  I love him so much for doing that.

I posted this on my birthday so I'll copy and paste here.  It really was a wonderful day.

Thank you so much for all the love yesterday, guys! I had so many people asking me if I was OK and saying they were sorry we were in isolation, or thinking my birthday was probably ruined because of the quarantine. HOWEVER. Because of the fact that I’m a huge homebody and would way rather stay in than go out, it was the most perfect birthday ever. We did get out to explore a developing neighborhood (which is always fun!), Shawn made me Eggs Benedict for breakfast in bed and then THE MOST delicious crab legs ever for dinner (he had to go to 8 stores to find crab right now! He finally found some an hour and a half away from home last week and froze them ‘til last night!). He also got me my traditional slice of cheesecake because I don’t like dessert so I never want a cake. But if I have to eat it, I’d choose cheesecake. He buys me one slice because it’s all I will eat anyway, and then gets ice cream for the kids. This year though, we didn’t have ANY candles at home so he held a lighter up and had me blow that out after I made my wish🤣🤣🤣 It was an absolutely perfect day! Being forced to stay home made it the birthday of my dreams😂 I know. I’m weird. But it was the best💜

And now let's rewind a bit- sorry! 

St. Patty's Day

 

 The Leprechaun Trap didn't work! We will try again next year.... ;-)

 All of the rest of the pictures are pre-quaratine pics!

My little girly-girl tom-boy.  Wants to play in dirt, catch snakes and frogs and go fishing.... all while wearing the frilliest, fanciest dresses she can find! :)

Piper was diagnosed with the flu this year (influenza A), but since she had a flu shot, her symptoms were way less than normal.  Here she is, playing outside and being active and acting like nothing is wrong!

About Lucy's weight- she finally dropped down to 4% in body weight and even though she's been less than 10% for years, they finally prescribed me a pill that increases her appetite! I've been begging for one for 3 years now because she is so tiny and skinny that I'm worried about her!  So anyway, she went a whole year not gaining a single pound, and then within 2 weeks of being on her new medication she gained 2 pounds! She's now gained 4 pounds in 6 weeks and I could NOT be happier!  She was the size of a 1st grader so hopefully she starts to grow now that she has an appetite.  She is a naturally petite girl with almost zero appetite, so I don't expect her to get "big," but I just want her to eat and grow.  So we are on the right track!

Now we just sit and wait for the social distance ban to be lifted and maybe life can go back to normal just a little....I don't know what the immediate future holds.  I don't know how bad this will get.  I don't want to think about it.  All I do is think about it.  But this is where we are at for now.  This is my update!

Here are the "Quarantine" pics I've taken this past week!

And that's where I will end things.  Keep praying, friends.  It's all we can do.

Corona Virus

Every couple of years, it seems like there is some national event in the news that's SO BIG that I touch on it here in my blog.  While this one seems to be the biggest, I'm mentally exhausted just thinking about it and have ZERO desire to put words on a page about it, but I know for posterity's sake it should be included in my blog book.  I'll have to make another post this week (if I have time) to write about what we've been up to for the past few weeks *and St. Patricks Day* but for now it's all about COVID-19.

Here's the thing; we've HAD the Corona Virus in our midst for years.  Look on the back of all your Lysol containers and they'll say they kill the 'Corona Virus.'  But THIS is a mutation of that virus. This is the "new" Corona Virus, or the "novel" Corona Virus. One we have never had before, so we have ZERO immunity to it. Everyone has zero immunity- everyone IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD! 

Back in December/January they started talking about it in China- this strange virus that everyone was contracting.  Lots of Corona beer memes were made, lots of polite chit-chat about it here in the United States...  But in Wuhan, China (where it originated because someone ate a RAW BAT!!!!), everyone was catching it so in mid-January China started telling people they couldn't leave their homes.  The streets of the busiest cities in the country were empty. Thousands died. They couldn't control it.  Everyone was quarantined and on lock-down until mid-February and JUST NOW they are starting to get back on track- day by day.  The rest of the world watched from afar- we banned travel to and from there- and even though we felt really sorry for them, we also felt safe.  Here. Across the world in the United States of America, healthy as could be....until we weren't. It suddenly wasn't contained within their borders.  It spread to Korea, the Middle East, Italy, and Europe.  Italy became so infected so quickly that they had to shut-down the ENTIRE COUNTRY as well.  Italian hospitals have to choose who to save and who to let die because they have no room in their hospitals.  No travel in or out.  Borders closed.  A country in solitary confinement.  But because we were an Ocean away, we were still safe... 

Until someone from somewhere across the world caught the virus.  That someone flew to the United States.  That someone sneezed, or coughed, or touched a public door knob somewhere.  And another person caught that virus from the 1st person and then another, and another until the domino effect happened swiftly; that virus from across the world that we thought would NEVER reach us, reached us.  Suddenly there was case after case here in the United States. It spread like wildfire.  A few cases turned into a few hundred and then into a few thousand.  Our great country went on lockdown.  Flights are cancelled. People have started dying.  The world wide count of deaths is 7,000+.  Schools are shut down for who knows how long.  Restaurants, parks, bars, gyms, museums, aquariums, libraries, offices....Everything is shutting down.  The Masters is canceled. March Madness quit. The NBA stopped their season! We are in quarantine in our homes and they keep saying "practice social-distancing." "WASH YOUR HANDS!" "Stay away from crowds of more than 10."  "NO play-dates."  "No birthday parties."  NOTHING.  We are stuck.  And we are panicked.  Stores have sold out of Toilet Paper across the country.  Lysol is non-existent.  Hand soap is scarce. There are NO baby wipes.  Formula is hard to find.  Forget about buying your kids ibuprofen/Tylenol.  It's not in stock.  Online is out of everything too. Produce?  Gone.  Movie theaters have locked their doors.  The bread aisles are empty.  We are told NOT to travel for leisure.  Emergencies only.  Only leave the house for walks outside, grocery shopping or doctor appointments.  Nothing else.  I am panicked because I have a family of 5 to support.  I have to buy them necessary things like Toilet Paper and Ibuprofen and fruits and veggies.  I have to be able to have their needs met (like every other parent in the world) and what if I can't?  I'm so worried! And you know what else I'm worried about?  That my dear grandparents might contract this.  It makes me sick to think about.  I'm not scared of contracting the virus myself (it's being compared to the flu and only dangerous for the elderly or people with respiratory/ immune problems {I've been told Sully will be fine}). I'm scared of the global pandemic- the state of emergencies, the empty store shelves, the soon-to-be packed hospitals, the sheer panic and hysteria and chaos.  That's what doesn't sit well with me.  I am panicking because every minute of every day is unknown right now and I'm REALLY bad with the unknown.  Like, really, really bad.  I had a real life panic attack last night.  I know the scriptures say not to be afraid.  But I am so afraid.  Shawn has been gone for 3 weeks now (besides on the weekends) and it just feels like a lot for me being home alone with the kids trying to keep it together.  He was in NYC 3 days before they declared a state of emergency and shut down everything.  I watched him like a hawk for Covid symptoms because I know that every day for 4 days he walked miles around the city after he would get off work.  But as of now, he still has none.  

We have been to the doctor twice since the outbreak in the U.S. happened.  Both doctors told us not to panic about the severity of it.  But today at Lucy's weight-check appointment (more on that in another blog soon to come!) the doctor said she doesn't expect schools to reopen on April 6th like they have planned.  She said the country hasn't even reached the peak of it yet.  It will be at least another week (probably 2) before we hit the peak and can start to come back down... slowly though. Some are wondering if school is done for the year.  As in, it's Summer break 2 months early.  No make-up work is necessary.  No online lessons.  Nothing.  The teachers are not allowed on campus so they can't prepare lessons.  And since some kids don't have access to online lessons, they can't make mandatory assignments for everyone.  So we just sit and wait. And sit and panic.  And sit and worry.....

And that's where we are right now.  The country is shut down for the most part, but they are not silent. Turn on the news, go to any social media outlet there is, listen to the radio, go online- every single headline is about the Corona Virus.  Everyone is sharing pictures of their empty store shelves and the empty streets.  We are getting bombarded with emails of all of the current closures, all school and recreational sports are temporarily (or permanently depending on how this plays out) over.  Prom and Graduation might be cancelled. Everything has been paused or shut down.... But not silenced.  And the loudness of the hysteria over this virus is what scares me :(

Please just pray.  That's all we can do.