#RONA

50 days.  That’s how long its been since I have put gas in my car (and I still have a quarter tank left).  Thats how long its been since I have hugged a friend.  50 days since I’ve been inside anyone’s home aside from our family.  58 days since I have been to a restaurant.  60 days since I have watched Chase’s baseball or soccer games or played tennis.  65 days since I have been in the grocery store.  45 days of not hugging my parents.  But, I guess I should go back to the beginning.  #rona or Covid-19 entered our lives here in the US the first week of March.  And wow, it sure came in hot.  Mom and I went out on my birthday to a fun dinner and Hudson House and had an amazing Tuna Tower. (That is where I am going stat when all this goes away). J and Zoe were off at Sky Ranch for some daddy daughter time.  I had no idea that it would be the last time we could go out to eat for months.  That Sunday night we all celebrated my birthday at moms house.  It was the last “normal” day.  We had heard rumblings of this virus that started in Wuhan, China, but it just all the sudden got exponentially worse.  Mom and Dad cancelled their flight to Florida and left that next day to drive there, hoping to get some beach time in, but also needing a bunch of stuff they left there.  They only stayed 4 days.  It was Spring Break for the kids so we had a trip planned to Broken Bow with the Brazeals and DeJeans.  We went ahead with our plans and enjoyed being out in the woods with friends knowing that we would come back to some very different circumstances.  Upon arrival we Lysol’ed EVERYTHING in that house and then we really just enjoyed being together.  That trip was such a blessing.  One of my favorite memories is the girls and dads making up a dance to “Dance like your Daddy” by Megan Trainor.  But, we had to eventually leave. That’s when words like “social distancing” started to pop up - meaning stay 6 ft away from anyone not in your immediate family.  As we were driving into Dallas we received the Dallas Mayor’s order that we were to “Shelter in Place” for 2 weeks in order to “flatten the curve” (kind of like pulling a dominos out from a row that’s destined to knock each other down).  No Work.  No School.  No....Nothing.  What does that even mean you say- it means don’t go out, for anything, except needs like groceries.  And, when you do, don’t forget to social distance.  (And that last sentence sounds like someone yelling straight in your ear because all the bad things are being reported CONSTANTLY so much that you can barely escape it)  How many beds the hospitals have left, how many ventilators we are short, how the Italians are having to choose who lives and who dies because they don’t have the medical staff or equipment to handle all the sick.  How many months off a vaccine could be.  How the virus spreads.  How it is particularly dangerous for people over 60 or with underlying conditions.  In other words, FEAR is plaguing the entire world because we have never seen anything like this in our lifetime.  The WHO (World Health Organization, which I never even knew existed, labeled Covid-19 a Global Pandemic March 11th.  Social media is exploding. Then the economy begins tanking.  Part of the effect of “stay at home” is that basically all non-essential businesses are shut down.  Small businesses are taking a huge hit.  Amazon is basically going on overdrive to try to keep up with the demand since the only way to really get things it so order it.  (Making Prime mean 2 weeks instead of 2 days).  A Michigan Dr. makes a Utube video of how to wipe down all your groceries (including your produce) and people across the country start Lysol wiping all their food.  Which, bring up another interesting factor.  Finding toilet paper, antibacterial wipes, paper towels, or hand sanitizer is about like winning the lottery.  People are hoarding these things, and the supply cant keep up.  Thankfully I had just made a Sams run right before the crazy so I had enough to last me 1 month.  Stores like Target have entire rows of empty shelves.  Other stores have lines around the building to get in (social distancing, remember). Spring Break was extended, extended again, and eventually mid-April the Governor cancelled school for the rest of the year.  All public, private, and higher education institutions.  Done.  No Prom, Graduation, Shows, Senior Teas, no celebrations.  Weddings- on your front porch.  No gatherings of 10 or more.  No church.  All parks are closed.  No sports - professional or youth.  ESPN has really had to dig in for new material.  And the news... now regularly filmed in new caster’s own homes.   Flights, cancelled.   No one is using gas, but producers are still producing so gas is $1.33 around the corner.  Stadiums and Convention centers are filled with cots for the sick overflow.  Daily press conferences from Trump, Fauci and the team working on Covid.  Economy continues to tank while the government tries to bail out business so they can survive while having no sales.  Stay at home remained in place through April 30th.  Those are the facts...  but life, of course, goes own, like it does and we had to adjust.  We arrived home from Broken Bow to the news of Stay at Home, Work from Home, and school closed (indefinitely was the word RISD used).   Indefinitely.... sounds rather ominous no?  I rather thought so.  That first week - it was brutal.  We are all home, unsure of what is to come.  There are 4 (very hungry, mess making, somewhat cranky) people in my house ALL DAY.  I have to order groceries 10 days in advance, at midnight,(every 4 days) in order to feed these bottomless pits.  1 bag of grapes per day.  But, I was so thankful for Central Market Curbside.  When there is a global pandemic if you go anywhere with people, it kind of feels a little surreal after being so isolated the rest of the day.  That first week of school, I wanted to pull my hair out with all the apps, websites, log ins, emails, and information overload.  Everything has an app, and the kids apps aren’t the same.  ZOOM calls started, which is basically like a Group FaceTime chat, thankfully with the added bonus of a mute button for those poor teachers trying to corral 22 kids via screen.  We decided we need a schedule so I made one that we all tweaked over the coming weeks.  That schedule was the topic of much scrutiny.  At first it included waking up the kids at 7am(clearly not my idea) with 2 learning times, plus devotional, PE, read alone time, creative time, writing time, chore time, and play outside time.   Zoe wanted to stay to the schedule to the MINUTE and would freak out if we ran 10 minutes late to any of those afore mentioned activities.  And, if we did, she would need to know the whole plan of the rest of the day how we were going to make the time up.  I don’t think Chase ever even knew what the schedule was - he just went with what she said.  This is also interesting due to the fact that she has so much more work and is so much more self sufficient with it than he was.  His load was pretty light so I have added things like memorizing poems (which we actually really enjoyed doing together on the hammock), learning multiplication facts, and writing stories.  He is much like his mommy - he wants to do excellent work, but he is willing to take the quickest road to get there!  Zoe uses google classroom like a pro and aside from printing out some things for her she is completely on it and (hopefully) doing above and beyond what she is required.  We are now in a good grove of wake up 8/8:30 to do our devotional together (which has been so sweet) do school work and read alone time (where I fit in my daily workout), lunch, finish school, chores, and play.  They have both really enjoyed FaceTiming Ella and Evan for the 2nd part of the school time and doing homework via that.  Chase now has his own iPad now and both kids have LOVED texting and calling the grandparents constantly— with lots of emogis and gifs.   Those first few weeks we were social distancing even with the grandparents, and that was REALLY hard.  We all missed the hugs and the hanging out without the constant worry we would get them sick, even if we felt totally fine.  In fact, I think that was the very hardest part of all of this.  That separation.  It was awful. One day Pappy even brought over a a blanket to put over the kids so they could give them hugs.  We went 45 days without hugging my parents, and quite a while for Pops and Gigi too.  That’s a LONG time.  I’m not sure if it was harder for mom, or me.  Stay at home, social distancing is not for extroverts.  AT ALL.  Zoe and Chase miss their friends too, but honestly I think they are partially living their best lives at home.  Zoe particularly has been happy as a clam with the routine and being at home (once she got to hug the grandparents again).  They have been on one million bike rides.  At first just with each other, now with friends though still keeping our distance.  Chase has become Mr. Daredevil extraordinaire.  He’s popping curbs, riding no handed, and jumping up and down whatever he can find.  I think its his way of filling the empty cup no sports has left behind.  I have had to give him some strict rules for when they are riding without me - and Zoe is not a fan of all his tricks!  We have heated the pool and had many many evening swims - minus the pool fence!  The yard looks so different and much more appealing without it!  We spent one weekend pulling weeds, trimming and mulching back there and now it looks fantastic!  Right now in fact, I am sitting up by the pool doing my quiet time and other little things enjoying all the birds chirping and Lex sitting at my feet as I do many mornings before the kids get up.  They have been up SO late that they have been sleeping later and later.  Chase slept until almost 10 yesterday.  Summer is basically here - we are out in the yard until past 8 most nights.  They camped out in the backyard 2 nights with daddy.   We have played many many games or pickle ball, Kan Jam, and paddles.  The Spring weather has been FANTASTIC.   That has been a particular blessing because at those first weeks when the grandparents would come over we would mostly have to stay outside (and 6 ft away).  They and the kids lived for those outdoor Kan Jam and pickle ball sessions.  Chase’s birthday came up right in the midst of all this of course.  Clearly, no party, no friends, and getting the whole family together was challenging.  However, the day ended up being a really sweet one.  A few days before he got to be a part of the birthday parade in our neighborhood.  Cars line up at the school with balloons, banners, and crazy things on their cars and drive around telling all the birthday people HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  I think the parade was 8 minutes long.  That has been a pretty awesome thing to see the community come together to do.  He got “Chase is 8!” Donuts to start the day -always exciting!  I had all his buddies and family that are not here make a little video clip for him and Zoe did a fantastic job of putting it together into a keynote (like she loves to do).  She even added her own sweetest and most heartfelt clip.  Some were precious, others were hysterical.  The Walkers even made him an IMovie. We have watched it many, many times.  Mom, Dad, and Tay Tay came over and we did birthday presents in the morning outside - again a gorgeous day.  He got a Sphero Robot like Zoes so they have been making lots of use of those together.  Mom even made him a huge sign out of a plastic tablecloth and wrapping paper.  They ate lunch and his 1st requested birthday desert - Mom’s pound cake.  Pops and Gigi came over that afternoon and we played and played outside, mostly with their gift- a pickle ball set!  That night we naturally had Pizza - but Chase also added his other birthday requests - green jello and  Gigi’s Triple layer Chocolate pie. Can you eat that all with pizza - apparently so!  That night, without prompting, Chase said that was one of his favorite birthday’s ever.  I asked him why and he said because we all just hung out and played all day long and didn’t have to rush to go anywhere.  Really, he just loved having his people - tho he did miss having his cousins to celebrate.  Two days later we celebrated Easter.  Figuring that out was a bit of a challenge but we ended up having all the grandparents over together.  We set 3 different card table eating spots up by the pool, all 6 feet away from each other.  We were all set up to eat, then out of the blue - it starts thundering and raining . so we bring it all in, and everyone too.  Then 10 minutes later put it all back out after the shower passes and enjoyed an absolutely stunning evening outside.  The kids did their annual Easter Egg Hunt - and we have already found the 2 eggs we couldn’t find that day!  That most be a record! Usually we find a couple as the year goes on.  After that April has kind of gone by in a blur.  I myself have definitely had to adjust to all the sudden everyone being home and everyone calling “mommy” every half minute.  I still haven’t figured out why we have so much laundry when we aren’t going anywhere, but wow it piles up quickly.  That, and the dishes... My dishwasher is jammed full every night from 3 square meals plus everyone’s snacks throughout the day.  The amount of fruit this household goes through is truly astonishing... every 4 days.. 8 apples, 3-4 bags of grapes, 2 18oz cartons of blueberries, a bag of clementines, and a bunch of bananas.  I mean.. really... Justin eating at work saves my grocery bill more than I ever knew!  The kids are now the official doers of all dishes.  They empty them and put the breakfast dishes in in the morning, and are generally in charge of putting them in the rest of the day.  They each have daily tasks which include making their beds, feeding Lex, skimmers, putting up laundry, and DISHES.  One silver lining of Covid-19 - my kids now expect and know how to do chores.  They have organized (well, mostly Zoe) pantry, drawers, cleaned baseboards, pulled weeds, cleaned bathrooms, showers, and floors.  (no cleaning ladies for 2 months- ouch).  And usually.. they have a pretty good attitude about it!  While I have been juggling the domestic normals, I have also been trying to stay active (and really missing tennis!).  I started running and have slowly built up to 5 miles and I now actually really enjoy the time out of the house, and the quietness of it.  I totally get the draw of running like I never did before.  It’s kind of mind-clearing, soul-filling, sun soaking exhaustion.  I now look forward to my run days. I also hopped on Justin’s Wahoo trainer for a month.  It was a good workout.. but SO boring.. I told him I’ll never understand it.  But, I was grateful at least to be able to move.  Since the gym will likely be a sketch place to be for a long while and I was doing mainly spin there anyways, I ordered myself a Peloton... and man.. THATS a fun, great workout!  April was a really strange month.  Lots of change and sad things, but many silver linings too.  We love having Daddy home.  We have eaten almost every single dinner outside and played until the sun goes down (which means mommy and daddy are tired!).  We have enjoyed just being together- playing games, reading lots of Harry Potter, finding lizards, bike riding, just hanging outside, Kan Jam, Pickleball, hide and seek, long walks, and just taking each day as it comes.