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!