One Week at a Time

Week 2 (Quarantine Days 8-14)

{s} Do you remember that 1970' TV sitcom One Day At A Time?  Well, I feel like we are changing that up just a smidge and taking life One Week At A Time.  Because, lets be honest...not much differs from day to day.  

Hannah & Parker returned home on Monday afternoon, as I was able to schedule Parker an "emergency" haircut with my cousin, Ashley,  before the entire city went into lock down-mode.  Seeing Ashley is always fun and knowing this was going to be the last opportunity to see her for awhile made it a little bitter-sweet.  I come from a long line of huggers so we caught ourselves in a quick embrace before realizing we were violating the social distancing rule (I'm really starting to despise that phrase).  

{m} I decided to start my Monday off doing something a little new and different.  Actually, it was more old and familiar, but I had just forgotten.  This was the day I was going to get up super early, shower, get dressed for work, and then...wait for it...walk a few steps to my sub-basement, Milton-style office.  It actually worked.  I felt refreshed.  I was more focused.  This is what I would do from now on in this quarantine chaos.  The day actually went fast.  In fact, the whole week would blur by in a hurry.  

{s} Tuesday marked the first official day of Kansas City's "stay-in-place" order, currently scheduled for 30 days.  It also became Parker's last physical therapy session since apparently rehab isn't considered "essential".  As an alternative, he was sent home with print-off copies of exercises to do...guess those will count as his gym class workouts.  I'm really praying this virus lets up and Parker will be able to take the baseball field in May...with a healed and stronger back as a result of all this forced downtime. 

{m} I barely remember much about Tuesday.  I was getting my new routine down.  The only difference with this day was that it was by brother, Fletch's birthday.  I felt so bad for him.  One day I'll blog a whole story about this man.  Born with special needs, he's always been my little brother who I look out for, and unfortunately his assisted living program he is part of was not allowing any visitors during the lock down.  All I could do was call him and video chat.  Oh, and of course (with Sarah's help), send him a 3,000 piece Where's Waldo puzzle!  

That afternoon, Sarah and I got out for a walk during lunch just to decompress and get exercise.  In the evening, Parker and I played some catch.  Man that kid can throw some heat.  And once he starts, good luck stopping.  He could throw for hours!  I finally invented a new game where we would hold our glove in place without moving and once we hit three in a row, game over...time to go in.  It took a while, but he did it.  The night winded down with some TV and blue screen decompression.  

{s} On Wednesday, we made it a family outing picking up Teegan from his mom's place and then stopped off at Sonic for a snack before returning home.  Hannah, Mike & I played Uno while dinner was cooking and we wrapped up the night by watching two episodes of the infamous Tiger King on Netflix.  If you haven't started this, I strongly encourage it!  It's a great distraction, and while I don't think it's intended to be comical, these people (and their hot-mess lives) are seriously amusing.  

{m} Umm, I could write about my day, sure.  But all of it (even the week, heck maybe even the entire COVID-19 lock down period) pales in comparison to the magical wonders of the disaster master himself...the Tiger King.  I've never watched a show where we had to pause in laughter so many times and literally ask "WTF just happened?!?"...and "Are you kidding me?!?"  This train wreck is exactly what we needed.  Apparently, it was what America needed, given all the online chatter about it.  I'd love to tell you the details of what else happened this day...or even the week, but all I can think of is mullets, meth-toothed rednecks, tiger cubs in suitcases, and what happened to Carol Baskin's husband??

{s} Thursday & Friday were almost cookie cutter days, consisting of bike riding, driveway basketball, backyard baseball and more Tiger King. 

{m} Ok, there is life outside of Tiger King, but at this point, nothing else seemed to matter.  When Friday night came around, all I could say was "Thank you, Netflix".  I do recall a viscous game or two of basketball with Teegan.  I love playing ball with him.  I wish he would have stuck with it, but I also understand why he didn't.  The competition at his high school is beyond fierce.  Regardless, I love watching him play and it was great just getting him out of his frickin' room!  

{s} Saturday morning I got up to hit the grocery stores (yes, I know that's plural - these days seems like you have to visit more than one to get everything you need) and when I got home...after a thorough scrub-down, I organized the pantry while putting away the groceries.  In spite of the wind, I worked for about 2 hours in the yard and then went with Mike to drop off the yard debris.  We wrapped up the afternoon by driving to see my parents for, what was supposed to be a "driveway chat"...in an attempt to maintain our distance...but my dad promptly met us at the door and said, "Come inside...we aren't afraid of you."  We visited with them for about 2 hours (Parker was quick to point this out), but everyone maintained the acceptable 6-foot spacing and we had less than 10 people, so no rules broken.  (Never in a million years did I think I'd have to add disclaimers when I discussing a visit with my parents.)

{m} It was great to finally see Sarah's parents after what seemed like a lifetime of quarantine.  I didn't like that we went in their house, only because I'm more paranoid than most and couldn't bare the thought of one of us carrying this nasty virus and passing it to them.  They encouraged though, and it was a nice visit.  

After we got back home, we decided to order some Texas Roadhouse.  Their online menu was pretty reasonable and the food is always delicious.  The order confirm said it would be ready by 7:05pm.  We arrived to something I had never seen.  It was like a Sonic Drive-in on crack cocaine!  Cars were parked in numbered spots all over the place.  There was a white tent that looked like it was a COVID-19 drive through test.  Instead, it was a hostess greeting you and also taking your order (or in our case), telling us what stall to wait in.  I was impressed.  Unfortunately, after we parked and waited an additional 45 minutes, that first impression quickly faded.  Still, we were grateful.  After feeding our faces at home, it wasn't very long before it was lights out.

{s} Sunday, by far, was our most productive day... I spent 4 hours cleaning and re-organizing the garage, Mike assembled a storage unit for the back patio, the boys worked at Uncle Chris' shop and Hannah was busy organizing and setting up her work space for her official 1st Day of Virtual Learning, starting tomorrow.

{m}  We decided to start our errands early Sunday.  Our first mission was to purchase a small storage shed for our backyard.  I mean, here we are at war with the invisible enemy and the whole city on lock-down and what was the essential item we needed to get out for?  A storage shed!  And no, it wasn't to store hoarded toilet paper or anything like that.  We wanted to put some of our items for BBQ, hot tub, yard work, and even outdoor couch cushions inside.  As paranoid as I am about this whole virus, I sure make some pretty stupid decisions.  Sarah always says, "people need to be able to live their lives" and "we aren't meant to be caged".  While I know she is right, I also worry about getting out too much and being around too many people.  But here I am, hypocritically shopping for crap we don't need.  To make matters worse, what has two thumbs and doesn't know how to measure a box to fit in a Jeep Wrangler?  This guy!  I was trying so hard to angle this ginormous box in the jeep.  I had the seats down and even moved the front seats up where I'd have to drive with my knees in my face.  It didn't matter.  There was still no way to close the back gate or window.  I quickly did the walk of shame back into Home Depot (through all the corona infested germs) to buy bungee cords.  I spent the next 10 minutes latching every single one through endless loops, hooking each end as tight as I could.  Needless to say, we took the long, scenic route home and our trip of errands came to an abrupt end.

I spent the next several hours toggling between putting the shed together and driving the boys over to my brother Chris' to help work in his shop.  I would proud of them for doing this, and also of my brother for getting his own business up and running during this time.  Reynolds Services, mobile mechanic.  I never knew anything mechanical that my brother couldn't fix.  We used to call him Mr. Fix-It growing up.  I was happy he was back to doing what he loved.  It was a good way to end the week, despite the fact that the President had just called for another 30 days of lock-down mode.

Just a few images that summarize this past week... 

Tiger King is life.

Boys helping Uncle Chris

Mike securing storage unit in Jeep.

Hannah's study space.

 

Sarah pretty much going crazy.

The Weekend Update

Quarantine Days 6 & 7

{s} When I awoke on Saturday morning I had the lyrics of Vance Joy's Riptide running through my mind.  Taking a closer look at the words, it made me think of how absolutely lucky I am to be weathering this insane world right now with Mike.  He is always so focused on making sure his family is cared for and often times, sets aside himself to ensure that happens.  He knows I'm a high-anxiety person and I haven't been the most enjoyable person to be around in the last 24-hours...yet, he remains steadfast... and I love him for that! 💗

Lady, running down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man

I love you when you're singing that song and
I got a lump in my throat 'cause
You're gonna sing the words wrong

I just wanna, I just wanna know

If you're gonna, if you're gonna stay
I just gotta, I just gotta know
I can't have it, I can't have it any other way

Hannah and Parker were able to get a much needed change in scenery by visiting their dad for a few days, but not before Hannah (and admittedly, me) played a little trick on Mike.  We told him there was something wrong with the toilet - said it was smoking!  With a puzzled look on his face, he came to inspect and then found - well, this!  

After the kids left, we decided to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy and make one last-ditch effort to find a desk lamp.  As we pulled into the parking lot of At Home, I burst into laughter at the sight of an older couple who had just walked out of the store.  Mike asked "What's so funny?" and I said, "They both just took off their face masks so they could lite up their cigarettes and take a drag.  They are worried about catching COVID but lung cancer is not a concern."  In hindsight, maybe I should have felt some empathy for them but for some reason, all I could think of was THE MASKED SMOKERS!

After a successful find at the store, we opted to take a longer route home because really, we have absolutely nothing but time these days.  We drove through a neighborhood we seldom pass through - found a friendly couple in their driveway munching on something from a Tupperware container and waving at all the cars.  My heart warmed when I saw that but moments later, we literally saw a family taking their toddler for a walk...on a leash; why are these things still allowed to be used?

When we got home we took advantage of the warmer weather and went for a nice long walk on a nearby trail.  We learned some folks on the walking trail must feel if someone says "hello" to you (abiding by the 6-foot rule) you can't respond for risk of contracting the virus.  Instead, quickly divert eyes and ignore the couple.  Mike & I were amazed at the number of people that simply didn't acknowledge our friendly salutation...what a shame. 

After learning city officials had ordered a 30-day 'shelter-in-place' order for the entire KC Metro area and schools wouldn't resume now until April 27th, we were feeling kind of deflated and needed a change in our nightly routine...I don't want to brag, but I am the official Yahtzee Queen! 

{m} Sunday morning we joined many others in the community for some online virtual church.  It's certainly not the same, but it was nice see our church leaders live streaming words we could all use.  After that, we looked at each other and simultaneously uttered what became the theme of the day..."Well, now what?"  

Boredom and hunger put us in the mood for a big breakfast (something rare in our house), so we cooked some ham and eggs with toast.  "Well, now what?" I asked.  Sarah then reminded me the mayor was going to be doing a Facebook Live Q&A about the coronavirus restrictions.  We watched with appreciation as we both agreed the mayor was doing a great job communicating the various information. However, no matter how positive his message was, the underlying reality is this city would be in lock-down mode for quite some time.  "Well, now what?"

From there Sarah decided to do some cleaning and laundry (for her, this seems to be a bit of a hobby when she's stressed).  For me, I turned to my hobby...music.  A couple hours later, we got some fresh air taking the dogs for a walk.  It's hard to "walk" Calvin, our Boston Terrier.  He's a measly 25 lbs, but he likes to trot with high intensity puppy curiosity, so it's more like walking an overgrown squirrel on steroids.  As for Sophie, our plump old pug, she's fine for about half a block and then she's panting like she's about to have a heart attack.  Sometimes, we end up carrying her back.  When we got home we decided to order some carryout from a local business to help them out (and give us a break from all the cooking).  Even though it was a bit of a drive, I wanted to order from The Quaff Bar & Grill.  That place has always been like family to me.  It's across the street from where I work and I've never had a bad experience there in 20 years.  It was odd driving downtown on a Sunday evening with so little traffic around.  When we arrived, Phil (owner) brought out our food.  It was hard to see someone so passionate about their work and business struggling during this time.  With the city's official lock-down starting Tuesday, it could make things even worse for businesses like this.  

When we got home, we gobbled up our hot meal like we hadn't eaten in days and decided to go a bit retro for movie watching.  I had promised Sarah I would watch her favorite movie with her one night--Father of the Bride.  Tonight seemed like the perfect night, why not?  Afterwards, we gathered up all the trash and once again looked at each other with a silent pause..."Well, now what?"  We both laughed.  We decided to enjoy a peaceful soak in the hot tub.  Little did we know, we would end the night with one last laugh...one that would yet be another priceless memory.  

Before I explain, you must understand the water level in the hot tub had gone down considerably in the last week due to all the use and I had been meaning to fill it.  Until then, you just needed to be careful using the jets since two of them (the most powerful!) were currently sitting about a a half inch above the water line and would blast you.  The key was to get in first and then turn the jets on, and keep them on low.  

At some point, we turned the jets off.  Things were going great until Sarah started talking about politics...something about Rudy Giuliani...when I decided to turn the jets back on to sooth my back.  Unfortunately, I hit the wrong button and the powerful jets that had been previously just under the water line were now above and proceeded to simultaneously blast me right in the ass and Sarah directly in her ear!  Best of all, this amazing moment was captured on our ring camera so we could relive it forever!  Right as Sarah mutters the word "Giuliani", you can see the water start to blast both of us.  You can hear me cuss "Aww shiiii-!!!" as I created the Bidet-Gone-Wild and Sarah begins screaming (or laughing...sometimes hard to tell with her!) as the water squirts into her ear drum.  My favorite part of the video is that once she starts screaming, you can hear a gurgling noise and see her legs and feet going up, while she appears to be going underwater completely.  There's roughly 10 seconds of silence as the gurgles clear, but then it's as if the scream-laugh didn't skip a beat as she bellows it out again, even louder than before.  At this point, the jets are finally off, but she's laughing hysterically, and I'm chuckling so hard I have tears in my eyes.  The video clip ends with me trying to mutter out the broken words between my laughter "I---to-ook---one--for--t-thh-ee---tt-ee-aaa-mm!" followed by endless chuckles.  What a way to end the week!

We Will Rejoice & Be Glad in it!

March 19^th (Quarantine Day 4)

{s} Today is my 'vacation day' - originally taken to do something fun with the kids, while on Spring Break.  But since the world has decided to come to a screeching halt, this day is turning out to be very similar to the last 3 days...has a certain Groundhog Day feel to it. 😉

After making breakfast (something I seldom do), I decided to change the sheets on the bed.  While this seems like a very mundane task, Mike and I always end up making things overly complicated but equally fun.  The flat sheet kept slipping off, the dog kept laying on the comforter and the pillow cases didn't want to cooperate.  This is when Mike lovingly called us the "Dumb & Dumber Couple".  Seems about right.  

I sent Hannah to pick up Parker so she could get out of the house for bit and when they arrived home, Parker didn't waste any time tormenting the pups; a little tug-o-war with them.  I also made an impromptu Tik Tok with Hannah...kind of surprised she even uploaded it.  

 

By afternoon, we took advantage of the warmer weather; I took Calvin for a long walk while Mike & Parker tossed the baseball around.  Teegan took a soak in the hot tub with us before dinner and the rest of the evening was pretty much a boring blur.  I'm at the point where I'm actually losing track of what day it is.  Not sure I'm going to do well locked inside for any length of time. 

{m} Basically, what she said.  And yes, losing track.  The only thing I can  add is that by now, it has become abundantly clear how we are each dealing with this pandemic differently.  Here's my one liner attempt to summarize:

• Hannah - "When can we go back to school?"
• Parker - "Can I just get out and go to a friend's house already...this is stupid!"
• Teegan - "What's the big deal...and when is dinner going to be ready?"
• Sarah - "Do we really need to be treated like caged animals...let us out!"
• Me - "What's the latest update?  How many now?  Who do we know who has it?"

At the end of day, we started to realize how differing our opinions were and ultimately came up with a plan on how we should be communicating information to the kids.  There was a happy medium somewhere between the world is ending and let's just play video games...and we agreed the main focus should be in alignment with what the experts and government were telling us.  We would try to  just focus on the next 15 days and then re-assess.  This is hard to do with a house full of high anxiety planners, but we would persevere. 

March 20^th (Quarantine Day 5)

{s} I found myself having a very difficult time falling asleep last night; so many things occupying my thoughts but the one thing that kept replaying in my mind was an old hymnal song I learned in church as a child; "This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it."  I'm quickly finding myself becoming a bit more cynical right now and only a quick 5 days into this quarantine nonsense, losing sight of the positive things.  So - as I write this, I'm going to rejoice the sun is shinning, Mike & I have jobs that allows us to work remote and even though they are bored to tears, children that are happy & healthy. 

{m} Since Teegan would be starting virtual learning on Monday and since he was going to his mom's today (and I wouldn't see him until Wednesday), I decided to sit down and walk through expectations of what was to come in the following week.  It seemed his teachers were mostly prepared and had various material out there for him already.  Still, I know this is going to be adjustment for all the kids. Other than that, this day consisted of more federal, state, and county Corona updates, watching some TV with Sarah, working on some music, and making some homemade pizza, which turned out far worse than my expectations.  I think at this point, everyone is getting a bit more on each other's nerves.  Negativity is settling in much quicker than before and our happy home is slowly becoming surrounded by the doom and gloom clouds lingering outside.  

WFH Wednesday, with a Twist

March 18^th (Quarantine Day 3)

{m} I’d like to say my mind was clearer than the day before and I was in a better place.  After all, I got out of bed, got dressed and told Sarah, “I’m headed downstairs to get an early start”.  Then she destroyed my theory with just four simple words, “Aren’t you off today?”.  Duh!  This was great news…because she was right.  I had Wednesday through Friday off for spring break with the kids.  This was bad news because I couldn’t even remember I had the next three days off!  What was the matter with me? 

After that, I decided to watch some morning news.  Bad idea.  Fifteen minutes in, I was convinced the stores were going to be bare soon so I was off to the store like an idiot.  My primary goal was to find a package or two of toilet paper (even though we were fine for now) and maybe a few canned goods.  Two hours and three hundred dollars later, I arrived home with a ridiculous amount of goods ranging from pasta, rice, and beans…to chicken, milk, and cereal.  Oh, and no toilet paper. 

From there, the rest of the day was filled with Netflix, recording some music and being glued to my phone for Corona updates.  Sarah and I both agreed by the end of the day we were going to disconnect more from phones/media and focus more on our family and trying to get everyone’s minds off the craziness.

{s} I typically work from home on Wednesday’s so today didn’t feel significantly different. I have, however, been a bit more observant about the daily activities of my neighbors now that I've had time to glance out my window; lots of Fed-Ex and Amazon vehicles flying up/down the road, someone had a dumpster delivered and although I can't be certain, I do believe I saw someone walk into their house carrying two butterball turkeys.

I've also determined after working three days in a row from my home-office, if I'm to do this semi long-term, I will need two things: (1) a wrist pad for my keyboard and (2) a desk lamp.  After logging off for the day Mike, Hannah & I set off to look for these items and then pick-up Teegan.  (Parker opted to stay home since Mike had taken him to physical therapy earlier in the day so he wasn’t feeling as cooped up as some of us).  After striking out at Best Buy, Office Depot and Home Depot, I surrendered and decided to at least order the wrist-pad through Amazon (arriving Tuesday) - the lamp could wait a smidge longer. 

While I was on my scavenger hunt, Parker had sent me a few texts, asking if he could go over to his friend’s house.  Perhaps it was a bad parenting move, but he had already seen this kiddo twice in the last week so I figured they were both already exposed to whatever germs they each had (and it would be a "gathering of 10 or fewer").  So – I agreed, knowing Parker is a very social person.

We dined on homemade tacos, took the pups for a walk and then wrapped up the evening watching another virus movie; Outbreak.  I remember seeing it as a high schooler, but didn’t recall many details.  Still a bit corny, but significantly better than last night’s movie selection.

St. Patrick's Day Cancelled

March 17^th (Quarantine Day 2)

{s} It’s not lost on me that today is typically one of my favorite days; St. Patrick’s Day - but there is a somberness to the day.  Life as we know it has forever been changed.  Parades across the world, celebrating Irish roots, have been cancelled along with a smorgasbord of other events (i.e. all sports!). And I typically enjoy my weekly work-from-home (WFH) day, but it’s different today; I already feel disconnected from my fellow co-workers. 

But I’m going to try not to focus on negative things, otherwise this is going to be a very tedious journey.  Instead, I’m going to look for the humor and bright moments – like the Corned Beef Cabbage that will be slow-cooking all day long! 

Mike and I both have our workstations set up; I’m upstairs in the bedroom and he’s snuggled in the sub-basement/recording studio. We congregated in the kitchen around lunchtime; our makeshift ‘break room’ and when the workday was over, we spent some time relaxing in the hot tub. 

Parker decided to snooze a great deal of his day (keep in mind, they are on Spring Break) and when he finally awoke from his slumber, he was itching to toss the baseball around.  Hannah created a schedule for herself that involved some workout routines, a dip in the hot tub too and some serious deep cleaning of her room (she’s now asking to clean out my closet!)

Teegan is spending the day with his mom but will be reunited with us tomorrow. 

We wrapped up the night by watching Contagion, knowing it would be a risky film to watch based on the current situation, but we were up for it.  While the beginning of the movie had great potential, it quickly became a story line that was all over the place and we ended up scratching our heads more out of confusion than being scared into believing this would become our new reality.  Mike rated it 1/5 stars.

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings! 

{m} Today started off with my morning dose of media chaos followed by a warm cup of daily CDC updates.  How many cases now?  How close?  Where’s the best place to find toilet paper?  I found myself getting caught up more than I should, so I disconnected and decide to focus on work.  Today was the first day that Sarah and I would both be working from home with all kids in the house.  She had her area upstairs and mine was in the sub-basement.  All I needed was a red stapler and I’d be set!  Actually, despite my Milton from Office Space reference, my area was a nice setup and most importantly, it was cut off from all the chaos of the world, allowing me to focus.

At 11am, I had to leave to run an errand (and getting some fresh air was also nice).  I was about to walk out the door when Sarah asked me a critical question: “Where’s your green?”  Wow, I couldn’t believe it.  It’s not that I had just forgotten to wear green, I had forgotten today was St. Patty’s day all together!  It was a special day we had talked about even the night before—and possibly even that morning…but by 11am, it had slipped its way out of my mind. 

Later that afternoon, there was another press conference discussing the virus updates, stimulus plan, and the overall plan for the next 15 days.  I liked the concept of taking it “15 days” at a time rather than making assumptions about the rest of the spring, summer, etc.  I decided to use the approach when talking to the kids, as well.  However, when you have the state of Kansas already deciding to shut down schools for the rest of the year, that doesn’t help ease their minds! 

My Corona - Just the beginning

March 16^th (Quarantine Day 1)

{s} Monday I was sent home from work, along with my entire department due to COVID-19 and informed I’ll be working remote until told otherwise.  Mike was already working remotely, and all three kids are presently on Spring Break.  Mid-way through dinner prep, I received a phone call from Hannah & Parker’s school district confirming what we already suspected; classes are postponed through April 3^rd …and almost simultaneously, Mike received an email regarding the same thing for Teegan’s school.

The seriousness of the situation quickly set in…and then the panic of “what are we going to do for the next 3 weeks” took over.   Parker was already complaining about not being able to see his friends and Hannah repeated “I can’t stay locked in here with you people for this long”.  Mike and I looked at each other, shook our heads and I said – “I’m totally blogging this experience.”

{m} I had planned to go into work on Monday, however, my allergies were in full force giving me a few more sniffles and sneezes than normal.  In an effort to avoid the glares and looks of fear, I opted to stay home.  My home office area allows me to keep productive, but knowing what was going on around the world made it difficult to focus.  In addition, we already had speculation floating around the office that someone in another building had been sent home last week with suspected COVID-19 virus.  The rumor mill was the case was now confirmed positive. Then there was talk about a whole floor of folks in my building sent home, but no official communication from our corporate office. 

Around 1:15pm, I received a call from Sarah explaining how her department was being sent home for at least 14 days.  My mind began to spiral through all the “what if” scenarios; but ultimately, I had work to get done so shifted my focus back to work.