Quarantine, Coronavirus, And Life As It Is Now

I think we are on day 17 of distance learning.  Maybe day 27 of being home and quarantined.  The days do run together.

I really haven't been out yet except to go to my son's Xolair appointment at Rainbow's again.  My sister in law put two N95 masks in my mailbox so we felt fairly safe.  But it's still unnerving and I noticed that we were both exhausted when we got home at 11:00 am.

We are still doing "YouTube" mass.  I'm not sure we will change that even if churches open up May 1st.  I so miss my church and receiving the Eucharist.  But I think it's too soon.

You know how you can tell how serious I am about it being too soon?  I bought a gel nail kit from Amazon.  I am NOT planning on going to the salon anytime soon.  And my grays are coming through quite nicely at this point.  And I don't even care.

The Governor did decide that the kids will continue distance learning and not go back to school is school year.  Apparently the fall is up in the air too.  I'm glad they are not going back right now.  But possibly not going back in the fall is making me uneasy and definitely sad for my son that should be a college freshman in the fall.  I'm sad all around for him.  He's missing his friends and missing going to the gym which is how he reduces his anxiety.  What about graduation? Prom?  I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Getting food is a bit easier.  There's been more delivery and pick up options (I am not going into a store unless I absolutely have to).  Getting gluten free items has been hit or miss but so has chicken breast, chicken sausage, and lettuce.  I'm guessing that supply chains are having issues getting things out.  We are doing fine and have had no issues so far.  I'm even getting T.P. from Amazon, so that's an extra bonus.

The weather here is not the best.  Cold, rainy, snowy, are just a few words to describe Ohio right now.  I have been getting out and doing my  3 mile walk as often as I can.  When it's too rainy, I try to do something inside.

We are here.  We are good.  It's not the same, but we are trying to adjust the best we can.  I hope and pray you are also.

I Don't Know What Day It Is

I'm not really sure what day this is of the quarantine.  Day 18-19-20?  I just know that we are following the "Stay At Home" order from Governor Mike DeWine and we have been Distance Learning for almost 2 weeks now.  So I think that means we've been social distancing for 18 days but it's all such a blur.

Distance learning is going fine.  I could do better, but we are doing ok.  I set up a schedule for the seven year old today so he's not playing Nintendo Switch for 12 hours a day.  But it's hard.  What else is there to do?  It's sunny and 55 today but it's been cold and rainy the last several days.  Even today, it's so windy that I felt like I was walking through a wind storm on my daily walk.

The daily walk.  The daily walk is my saving grace.  I don't know what I'd do without that little reprieve.  I need that to clear my head and try to keep my stress levels down.  I have to keep reminding myself to "put it in God's hands".  But I do better at some times vs. others.  I'm trying.

The high school has the older boys on a pretty good schedule and I don't really need to do much there.  But I know the separation from friends is very difficult for them.  It's especially difficult because not people are following the social distancing guide lines.  That makes me the "bad" guy because I will not yield on this issue.  I wish I could fix this for them and make it better, but it's out of my hands and clearly in Gods.


Even more difficult then social distancing is keeping them in food.  I do not want to set foot into a grocery store if I don't have to.  I've been trying to use pick up or Instacart delivery.  I don't like the fact that Instacart adds $30-40 dollars to my weekly grocery bill with fees and tips but I really don't like exposing my family to the corona virus either by visiting stores which appear to be packed every day.  We are fine on food and there is no issue there, except that I have to shop weekly and the amount that I'm spending is causing me massive stress.  But these boys can eat!  And I don't know what to do.

I miss church.  I miss mass.  I miss receiving the Eucharist.  We are a little over one week away from Easter and I can't wrap my brain around the fact we will not have Easter Sunday service.  We are watching mass on YouTube, but it's a small consolation.

I'm not even going to touch on the fact that I have a high school senior this year and prom, graduation, even college in the fall are all in jeopardy.

I am thankful that right now, we are all healthy.  We have a safe home, food, and I scored some toilet paper from Amazon the other day.  We have each other (even if a child who shall remain nameless is mad at me right now).  Our extended family seems to be healthy (even if they are putting themselves at risk by not following the social distancing requirements as well as they should be).  I'm thankful that spring is on it's way and not winter.  At least we'll be able to get outside on a regular basis soon enough.  I'm thankful that we have this time together.  It's uninterrupted and that 's what I had wished for (less sports, more family time).

So for right now I'm going to focus on all the positive (and I'm going to stop on-line shopping so much).  I'm asking God to protect all of us and if you are reading this, that includes you.