Limited Sanity

Not really. Maybe. No one really knows and I think that is what is most terrifying.

Today is day 1 of working from home due to this COVID-19 virus that is ravaging the world. I’m one of a handful of people at my workplace that have that opportunity and I’m taking it. We didn’t have a confirmed case in our city until late yesterday afternoon, but I’m not taking any chances of being a carrier that is asymptomatic. So home bound I am and it’s a strange concept not knowing exactly when I’ll be back in the office. It’s weird. Anyway… figured this would be as good a time as any to get back in to writing. This will be our children’s version of “walking uphill, both ways, in 2 feet of snow” that our grandparents always used to yap about. Might as well keep a record of the chaos happening around us.

I’m hoping the world can take the opportunity to reconnect with themselves and their loved ones. The world is slowly healing itself again as we’re barred indoors. Why not work on healing our own personal little worlds, starting at home. I personally am looking forward to spending time with the kiddo and teaching her the things she has been asking me to forever, like sewing. We’ll also be getting more of our seedlings started for the garden and probably quite a bit of Spring cleaning, but most importantly is we’ll be taking it one day at a time.

I know while working from home for the foreseeable future, I plan on continuing my Duolingo Spanish lessons and perhaps work on that 1,000 piece puzzle I’ve neglected for years now. Maybe I’ll even try to get back in to painting! Or I’ll catch up on sleep. I just want to do ALL the things because never again in my lifetime do I expect to see another mandatory order to work from home and entire states shutting down. At least I hope not any way.

It’s crazy to think how quickly everything escalated. Monday started out like any other normal Monday until suddenly our city shut down all schools until mid-April. Then, states surrounding Iowa began shutting down non-essential businesses and putting entire cities under a “stay-at-home” order. By Thursday, we had our first official case in my city. Up until that point, the closest contaminated town was at least an hour away. It felt safer, more secure up until that point. After reading the reports of the confirmed case, I went back to work that evening and packed up my office. Here we are. Friday. Day 1 in “isolation.”  Makes you wonder what tomorrow will bring. Every “non-essential” business in my town is also receiving orders to shut down. Aside from the embarrassing TP and cleaning supply shortage we’ve all witnessed, I am proud to see so many residents rallying around local businesses in their time of need. I’m planning to order take-out from my favorite local hot spots as often as I can if money allows it, but right now useless spending isn’t the best idea until someone figures this crap out. All I know is until then, we’re set at the homestead and ready for just about anything.

We’ve been making sure to be upfront and honest with the kiddo about the seriousness of the situation because that poor child is lied to every day from her mother and “other” family so I promised her I would always be honest with her, even if it was something scary. She’s handling it quite well, even with her mother claiming she’s a nurse (failed CNA, actually) and knows all about this, yet as of last week was still looking for a way to get cheap Disneyworld tickets and take the girls to Florida, pre-shutdown of course. I am not making this stupidity up. I just wish we had the munchkin here with us the entire time this is happening so we could make sure she’s being properly cared for and not just handed off between households while her mother runs rampant all over town. However, that is neither here nor there…

D isn’t back to work until after April 1st… that’s 11 days from now. That’s 11 days of us being at home together. Gosh I hope he’s got things he can do in the shop, haha! I believe we’re cleaning and stocking the camper this weekend. You know, in the event these COVID deaths return as zombies as we need to bug out quickly. Or more so we’re ready to go camping on the first nice weekend we get. Either one.

I’ll check in later. Til then, stay safe!