Our schedule hasn't been this empty since the kids were babies. This slow-down has not been all bad, though. A lot of blessings have come out of it already. The last few years (or rather 6--since Grant started sleeping at night) have been going by at lightning speed. I've often wished time would slow down. I love this stage of life in our family, with our 4 kids and the ages they are right now--16, 14, 12, 9--and I've wanted it to last longer, wanted to be able to savor this time and not take it for granted, wanted my family to be together as much as possible. Well, I got my wish! Never, in a million years, would I have guessed that this is what March of 2020 would look like. We should be freezing our tails off at tennis matches, standing around waiting for events at track meets, sitting in the bleachers watching water polo, driving kids to practices, youth group, and band events, serving at church, prepping lunches for another school day (I'm not sad about that one at all, I admit), and seeing friends and family at the various activities. None of this is happening, and it's so weird! We have gotten so much done around our house in the last 11 days. I'm running out of things to put on my to-do list. When has that ever happened? We've been doing house projects, working in the yard, reading, playing games, playing outside, watching movies and shows, cleaning, baking, cooking, bike riding, and taking walks. As the weather turns rainy, we'll be playing more games, doing puzzles, and eventually, doing school work. I told the kids we'd wait to do school until after this week, which was supposed to be our spring break.
I started making notes on the happenings of each day, starting on the Wednesday all of this craziness began to affect us here in Gresham, OR. I won't do this forever, but I think it will be interesting to see the progression later and how quickly everything changed.
Wednesday, March 11th
It was announced that the Barlow basketball playoff game scheduled for Thursday was going to be played spectator free, not even parents allowed. That seemed absolutely ludicrous and so unfair. That afternoon, when I saw Jen Wilson at middle school pickup, she said she thought schools would be closing soon. I couldn't believe it. It just seemed crazy!
Thursday, March 12th
Everyone but Grant had school that day, and I had Russell and Ellery here for the day. As the day unfolded, more and more things were cancelled. All high school playoff games cancelled...NCAA March Madness cancelled, NBA season suspended. The governor announced no gatherings of more than 250 people. And yet kids were all still going to be going to school on Monday. Didn't make sense. None of it made sense, and I was just mad and disappointed at all the fun being sucked out of life.
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| making cookies with Ellery for the elders' meeting that night |
None of the kids had school (grading day for teacher), so they were home when they heard first thing that morning that they wouldn't be going back to school until April 1st. They cheered! We had Russell and Ellery all day Friday, as well. The kids played, and I took the girls and Kate to Old Navy and Target to do some clothes shopping. It snowed while we were out, big fluffy flakes. It didn't stick, but it sure was pretty. Two kids had birthday parties, and Greg and I went out to McMenamins to celebrate a friend's birthday. The events of the last couple days just seemed unreal.
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| playing "catch an Ellery" |
Saturday, March 14th
It snowed some more! Greg and I worked together on a home project, removing the kitchen sink and faucet I've hated pretty much since we moved in and replacing it with a shiny new one. As with most home projects, it required longer than anticipated, had a couple snafus, and took a couple trips to Home Depot. I started researching what tools we might need to take out all our flooring. We signed a contract with Mike Miller's company to put in our new vinyl plank flooring we picked out a couple weeks prior. We were going to demo the floor ourselves, so I learned a few tips and tricks on YouTube (in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep).
It became official today that no visitors are allowed at Courtyard Fountains, where Grandma lives, and they will be eating their meals in their own rooms, not the dining room.
Saturday was when the first COVID-19 death was reported in Oregon.
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| after |
Woke up to a cold, sunny morning and had virtual "church" via FB live. The kids got out our old bin of noise-makers/instruments and had a lot of fun with the worship time. After church, the kids played tennis at Barlow for a couple hours, and Greg and I went back to Home Depot to get a few things and tools to start our floor demo. We picked up Sam on our way back to help, and the Wilson guys joined us, too. We started by ripping up carpet in our dining room, just to see what we were dealing with. We decided to go for it and dove in, taking out all the flooring in our downstairs, except for the bathroom, laundry area, and a couple closets we weren't ready to do yet. Kari and I quickly moved the stuff off bookshelves and moved all Joel's stuff upstairs to the playroom, and the guys tore the flooring out of his room, too. The kids took all the staples out of the subfloor, and we filled our garage with rolls of old carpet, padding, and stacks of laminate flooring pieces. It was a dusty mess, but we got a ton done.
Monday, March 16th
It was another cold, sunny day. Hopped on the elliptical early in the morning for the first time in months. Joel, Aubrey, Grant, and I took all the old flooring and carpet to the dump out in Sandy. (Kari had spent the night with friends and wasn't back yet.) When we got home, we moved everything out of the pantry and the big closet in the downstairs bathroom, and Joel ripped out the flooring in there, too. Made another huge mess, but I cleaned the shelves, sorted, organized, and got it all put back before Greg got home from work. That day, the governor limited gatherings of people to 25 or less (recommended 10 or less) and mandated all restaurants close for dine-in and only do take-out or delivery.
Tuesday, March 17th
More sunshine for my elliptical time, grocery shopping (stores had no flour or TP--don't really need more yet--and so many shelves throughout the stores were empty), packing Joel's stuff into boxes, and organizing the mess we made upstairs in our impulsive move-out of the downstairs on Sunday. The kids went and played tennis at Barlow again and then went to Silk for smoothies (Kari drove them, and they parked, then walked up to the drive thru--walking up to a drive-thru has been on their "bucket list"). I enjoyed some peace at home while they were gone and even enjoyed some sun, lying on my back on the trampoline, all alone, while listening to an audio book. Greg called to let me know he would be working from home, starting Wednesday, so I cleared out the computer armoire in our bedroom for his "office." And then we heard that school was cancelled through April 28th. Six whole weeks of no school! Joel and Aubrey had virtual middle school youth group via FB for the first time that evening.
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| Greg's "office" space |
Greg worked from home, and I did the elliptical then spent a couple hours weeding and doing yard work. During his lunch break, Greg and I took a 3.5 mile walk around the neighborhood. It was another beautiful, sunny day. After lunch I did more weeding, and the kids relaxed and played both inside and out. It was a quieter day. We tested out the Zoom app with Grandpa that afternoon with four of us on it. Joel went and roto-tilled Grandpa's garden and got a Jeep driving lesson. Kari got word that her AP US History class would be held on Zoom, much to her chagrin. I made sourdough pancakes for dinner that night, using my starter for the first time. (Blake inspired me to make starter last week, and I plan to experiment with it over the next few weeks, since I have the time!). That night Kari logged on for virtual high school youth group via FB.
Two more deaths were reported in the state, bringing the total to three.
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| sorting Orbeez--said she wasn't bored, but I wondered |
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| girls have had a lot more time to practice piano |
I got up early and drove to the truck to Boring Bark and bought a yard of bark dust. The kids and I spread it in our yard that morning while Greg worked upstairs inside. That afternoon I met Jen at her house to go on a walk, and the kids went to play tennis at Barlow again, all of us practicing "social distancing," a term that we had never heard until a week ago. Lots of worried buzz in Greg's company, as the possibility loomed of their plants around the world stopping production. We had a tasty chicken dinner, complete with stuffing, potatoes, gravy, and Grandma Carrie green beans. The kids commented on the fact that we've been eating well this last week. That's what happens when Mom is home and not working and when we are not running everyone to activities at dinner time. We've had dinner together every single night for the last week!
Friday, March 20th
Greg worked upstairs, kids played, and I removed all the baseboards downstairs, another skill I learned from YouTube-viewing in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep. My body is not used to all this manual labor. It hurts to move! We made our usual Friday night pizza and watched Groundhog's Day that night. The movie felt like an appropriate choice, as our days are feeling very much the same lately! Governor Kate Brown held a press conference, suggesting everyone "stay home" and alluding to more limits coming soon.
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| I was an absolute mess and exhausted by the end of the day, but I was determined to finish! |
Saturday, March 21st
Greg and Kari went to the Wilson's for a 9am outdoor meeting with the England mission trip team. We really don't know if it's even going to happen now (departure is July 4th), but they sat 6 feet apart and spent some time praying anyway. Later that morning, Greg and I dropped off some books for Mom A. and dropped off Russell's birthday presents at his house, since we have to have a virtual birthday party now on Monday. I spent the rest of the day filling holes in our walls (by the baseboards and elsewhere), texturing, and painting. Our house is all spruced up and ready for flooring (hoping it still comes later this week!). Greg cooked us a yummy barbecue chicken dinner with homemade bread and dijon potato salad. We went over to the Wilson's for a fire outside that night while the kids ran around in the forest. We decided outdoor activity, spaced apart would be okay, knowing it might be the last time for a long while. |
| took a little cat nap after I finished texturing and painting walls |
We had virtual church again, this time with YouTube live, which worked better. We had communion, too, with bread and white grape juice. It felt funny to drink it out of a big cup, as opposed to the tiny communion cups. It was a powerful, meaningful church service and communion time. Church is not a building. It never has been for our kids. We meet in a school! I already miss seeing people, but we're connecting through social media, and that will have to do for now. Greg and the kids went for a bike ride, and I planted some seeds in our garden boxes. The weather was predicted to change to rain, starting Monday, so we tried to make the most of the last sunny day.
Monday, March 23rd
Governor Brown announced the "stay at home" order today and ordered many businesses to close (shopping, fitness/gyms, barber/beauty salons, entertainment). Greg is working upstairs, and we are hanging out at home. No big projects today, just regular housework and chores. It rained this morning, and Joel, Aubrey, Grant, and I played a round of Settlers of Catan. We have plans to play all kinds of games over the coming weeks. We tried to save some things for the rainy days. We made a cake to have tonight when we celebrate Russell's birthday with him on Zoom. Actually, it's cake scraps, no frosting. The kids like to eat the "scraps" when I bake a cake and cut off the top to level it, so they added "eat a whole cake of scraps" to their bucket list. We're scratching that one off their list tonight.
Oregon reported 30 new COVID-19 cases today, making a total of 191. Five people have died so far in Oregon due to coronavirus. In Washington, 100 people have died. Still doesn't seem real, but the things we read on the internet and in the news remind us that it is.
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| first sourdough loaf--small but tasty. I'll try again. |
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| much prettier "big bread"--I'm better at this kind :-) |
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| virtual family birthday party for Russell |
