Quarantine Diaries

(3/19) Sarah and I met for our properly distanced walk this morning, and when I got back, the kiddos were up and getting started on their school work. That lasts them maybe an hour, and then they're on to video games for the day. Since I have to work, I wave goodbye as I go upstairs. Other than brief interruptions, they've been really good about this whole thing. J upgraded his blanket fort and invited D (as well as all of us) to sleep in his room. The dog got the entire bed.

(3/20) Sarah and I met for our morning walk, and I came home to boys doing their school work. They like to get it out of the way early. My office had a rather somber happy hour with all of us in our own video square on GoToMeeting. It was cool seeing everyone, not just the person speaking!  Dad still had to work in his building. He went grocery shopping and said it wasn't too horrible. He made a delish dinner of shrimp Alfredo tonight. And we had family game night with Catan.

(3/21) Ahh, the weekend. I slept in, and then met Sarah for a 3-mi walk. Once we got home, we packed up the car to go social distance somewhere else! We went out to Concrete and checked out Park Creek for some cool rocks. Cass LOVED the snow! He rolled around every chance he got. We then went to O'Toole Creek. We brought along some big garbage bags and picked up that site a bit while we were at it. The boys found some huge quartz! Dad ordered a new tumbler so now we can do three times as much. I went in and abducted the office plants from work since I don't know how much longer we're going to be remote. I filled up the entire back of my car.


(3/22) We planned a lazy Sunday. Reality? The twins were up and raring to go at 7am, and J was at the park by 7:30. I got up with the twins and cozied up with a book and my coffee until a more reasonable hour. I went for a walk in the sunshine this afternoon, and took a Zumba class in my bedroom on Zoom. That was really fun! I've been missing it!


(3/23) Monday-Monday. Sarah and I went for a walk this morning, and then I settled in to work for the day. The kids are getting their stuff done pretty early in the morning, and then are on to video games so they stay out of my hair. We watched Onward tonight, and it was very cute. The boys and I Zoomed with Nanan tonight and decided to make it a regular thing. We haven't seen her in a month and that's hard on all of us.


(3/24) Work day for Dad and me, and another day remote for the boys. They are doing about an hour of school stuff before they head off to play video games. D has been entertaining his class with pictures of our pets and keeping up the dialogue with his teachers. At work we video-conferenced briefly to see how playing games off of jackbox.tv would work for the whole team. That was really fun! We played Drawful. I took a Zumba class online after work today. Dad picked up pizza for our normal Tuesday night dinner, and it turned out that today was "The Great American Takeout," so we did our part.


(3/25) Day off for me today. Dad began working remote from the living room. It went pretty well. D got frustrated early in the day and lost his tablet, so was more than happy to come help make cookies this afternoon. He earned some time back by doing some school work, and later went out to use the treadmill to burn off some energy. We had video chats and calls with all the grandparents today, and that was fun!


(3/26) Work day for Dad and me. We worked on separate floors, and the kiddos did their thing, so we didn't see a ton of each other today. Or at least I didn't, until it was time to turn everything off. I got to Zumba at lunchtime in my bedroom, which was the perfect break to my day. There was a medical response across the street today. They were wearing full PPE gear, and took away a woman living there. Sometimes it feels like we're in a bubble and the horrible stuff is happening far away... but that certainly brought it back front and center.  We had a lot of technical issues with Zoom tonight, and got Nanan and Opa to download Duo instead. Hopefully tomorrow's chats will be smoother!


(3/27) What is it now, day 15? Sounds about right. I worked upstairs, the kiddos did their school work (and asked WHHHHHY they had to do both math & reading about a million times), and Dad had the day off. His schedule is changing, and he's going back to four tens beginning Sunday. He ventured out shopping today, and made us a ravioli feast for dinner. He said the stores are empty of people, especially for a Friday.  Though an employee mentioned that was because most of their shoppers had run out of money. Guh. I planted seeds in my hanging baskets today, and hope they grow quickly. I'm missing having spring flowers. Chatting with the grands went super smooth tonight. It was great to talk to everyone!


(3/28) This morning almost (?) felt like a normal Saturday. I got my iced coffee and did Zumba in my bedroom. I did my normal Saturday chores and checked on all the yard plants. I spread bee and butterfly mix some weeks back and the beds are full of tiny plants. The blueberries are budding up, the tulips are almost in, and the irises I planted are poking up. I went walking with Sarah this afternoon and the trees down my street are in bloom too. They're so pretty! We watched Real Steel tonight as a family movie. The twins only made it through candy and popcorn, and then they ran off to make noise upstairs.


(3/29) Dad went in to work this morning for part of his shift, and then came home to work the rest remotely. I slept in and had a lazy day of reading and not doing a whole lot. I planted some more seeds that I got in, as well as some new strawberry plants. I've probably over-planted my hanging baskets, so it's gonna be survival of the fittest. I Zoomed with my fam this afternoon and we got all the sibs together for a group chat. Everyone looks well and is hanging in there! We're going to do it again next week.



(3/30) Work day for Dad and me, and the kids logged in for school. I was pretty busy all day, but still managed to squeeze in part of a Zumba class during lunch. That and morning walks are keeping me more or less sane.


(3/31) Work and school for us all today. J had his first Zoom session with his class today. It was pretty chaotic with 16 second graders all trying to talk at once, but they figured it out. He was on visiting with his class for over an hour. D gets to Zoom with his class tomorrow. It hailed like crazy this afternoon, sending March out like a lion. It looked like it had snowed for hours afterward. I made some banana bread this evening. I put it in to bake shortly before bedtime and was mean and made everyone wait til breakfast tomorrow to eat it.


(4/1) D wished me a happy April Fools' Day many times today, but never did anything to trick me. I'll take it! Today was my day off, so I slept later and went for a walk with Sarah in the sunshine. The boys did their assignments, and D had his first Zoom sesh with his class this afternoon. They had about half of the kids on there, and are going to do another on Friday. I did an online Zumba class this morning and finally got around to clearing out the front beds this afternoon. Then I sat out in the sun and read my book.


(4/2) Day 20. Work day for me, day off for Dad, and school for the kiddos. D worked on the above poster ~ his favorite things include video games, Dutch Babies, and the color orange. He also gave me the glitter glue note on the right, which I have taped to the fridge.