Covid-19 Comes to the Q

The past month has been a whirlwind of events, and at the same time it seems like nothing much is happening at all.  About a month ago, in early March, we had hearing about Covid-19 (but were not really all that concerned), a Chinese born virus spreading throughout Europe and beginning to affect the big East and West coast cities of Seattle and New York.  Then, while I was at Costco shopping I noticed that more than half of the carts walking by me had piles of toilet paper packs, and cases of bottled water, not to mention that it was a lot busier than my usual mid-week crowd.  I felt a little uneasy, and went ahead and grabbed one case of each myself for good measure, and to be honest, I was pretty sure we were close to needing the t.p. anyway. Then, when I went to Target for some odds and ends later that week, I thought about snagging a bottle of hand sanitizer, but the shelf where they had been was already empty.  Those were the subtle warning signs of life about to be flipped upside down. Within a week and a half, we had decided to cancel our trip to AZ for Spring Training (all of the games were cancelled 2 days later anyway), Corey was told to work from home, the kids sports, school, and church were cancelled.  A week after that, all retail stores and restaurants were forced to close their doors, leaving only those with an online presence or take-out/pick orders with a chance at some business.  State and federal orders have been passed keeping us at home, at least 6 feet away from others while in public and most are now wearing masks, and sometimes gloves at an attempt to protect themselves.  I fall asleep reading updates, headlines, risk factors, stats, stories, recommendations, and controversy.  I wake up in the mornings, and realize once again that yes, this is real.  I honestly can't believe this is all real.

What they know so far is that this virus is like an airborne super-hero, staying in the air longer than it should and traveling farther than they know.  It spares the young, thankfully, but attacks the senior population with a vengeance, and scattered between those two groups are unknowns that they can't yet answer.  It can be very mild or very bad.  Everyone is at risk, but the idea for us staying home is to protect ourselves, and others.  When I'm feeling like this is madness and ask myself, "now, why is this such a big deal again?!", (because I feel like that every other day) my reasoning guides me back to the basic idea that I'm doing this to protect everyone else.  I'd likely be fine, but would spread to too many unknowns, and that's the idea of it all.  This exponential math is making our lives crazy.  House arrest for all, or else.  Oh, but you can get groceries!  Although, we haven't actually been inside a store in a month anyway, thanks to delivery at Costco and pick up at Walmart.  But, even then, we wipe down anything coming into our house.  I figure if we're doing our best, it's all we can do. Sigh.  Oh, and did I mention that a month into this, you still can't get paper goods or sanitizer?

SO.  All seriousness aside, we're making the most of this.  The first weekend in, Corey said we needed a schedule.  So, that's what we've done, and it's making this work! Corey and I are up to workout at 5:30, then he goes to work...best commute evahhhhh!  School (online, and things I come up with for D and B), jobs, piano and chores in the morning.  Then lunch, and Corey's here, so that's been nice! A couple of days a week, we head over to the free school lunch hand out a couple blocks away (and our cars get to drive for their 5 minutes per week, ha!  Oh, and did I mention that gas is under $2 a gallon???  What is this, 1999?) which is a highlight for the boys because they give out all of this packaged fun food that I would never buy.  Then afternoons are fun, free time...video games most days (each kiddo can pick a game for 30 min), playtime outside, sports, reading, games, puzzles, drawing, crafting (or attempts at it).  Then dinner!  The kids each have a night to help cook, which has been a suprising win for all...and I love that they're learning something useful.  We walk almost every night after dinner, which I'm loving! The kids miss their friends and sports, a LOT, but they're doing well and we're all adapting at our hopefully temporary new normal.

I know we’ll get through this, but with so many unknowns, we’re all wondering how long this can possibly go on.  Patience will be a big goal throughout this whole thing I think.  At least for me!