Day 1 - All we can do is what we can do.

[Murphy101]

No matter what we think of how things are going, the majority of us have no say in it.  It’s getting nutty out there. If we gotta bunker down, let’s try to do it with as much courage and cheer as possible - yes? Yes. 

All we can do is what we can do.  Let’s help keep each other stay out of doldrums with accountability.

I will do my darnedest to start a new thread every day where we will share what we can do that day.  Big or small. Important or silly. Doesn’t matter.  We all have purpose and that’s important enough.

Today I can do the following:

We are adding more prayers. We do morning litany and night prayers. I think we will add another. Not sure yet which yet. 

I’m hoping to get a refund on my Curacao trip.  We bought trip insurance though I’m not sure it’ll help. I called the number and it said the “current hold time is 155 hours and 32 minutes”. So. Huff. Not optimistic about that at all. 

I’m setting up several online places to shop from. Hoping grocery pick up will go smoothly once the new normal has set in on everyone.

Cleaning stuff.

I need decide what my next knit or crochet project will be and buy yarn for it. 

I’m grading lessons and making adjusted lesson plans. Though I’ve limited news due to limiting tv, my kids are getting really anxious. Much as we’d like to have school like always I really don’t think that realistic.  Today I’m making a list of physical emotional therapy options. Play dough, art, wrestling, balloons...

Edited March 16, 2020 by Murphy101

[fairfarmhand]

I’m going to try writing more both on my blog and my bible study. Also, making a covid 19 bucket list of both daily things and other fun/not fun but needed projects. Think I’ll make my kids do it too.

[1GirlTwinBoys]

Today my boys pulled our fridge and stove out so I could clean really well behind those (which is always gross).  I'd really like to accomplish some deep cleaning during this time my kids are home.  It's a little easier for me to do that because my boys are almost 16 and daughter is 17.  

Also, if anyone is interested, I just finished When Calls the Heart series on Netflix and really enjoyed it.

[SamanthaCarter]

I reserved a grocery pick up slot for Thursday. Making chocolate chip cookies today. 

[Ausmumof3]

I rearranged my pantry so I knew what we had and wasn’t buying essentials that someone else might be needing in the panic buying.  Bought dd some vege seedlings.  She’s pretty passionate about her gardening but the budget has been tight but I figured this was a good excuse to splash out.  

[mommyoffive]

12 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

No matter what we think of how things are going, the majority of us have no say in it.  It’s getting nutty out there. If we gotta bunker down, let’s try to do it with as much courage and cheer as possible - yes? Yes. 

All we can do is what we can do.  Let’s help keep each other stay out of doldrums with accountability.

I will do my darnedest to start a new thread every day where we will share what we can do that day.  Big or small. Important or silly. Doesn’t matter.  We all have purpose and that’s important enough.

Today I can do the following:

We are adding more prayers. We do morning litany and night prayers. I think we will add another. Not sure yet which yet. 

I’m hoping to get a refund on my Curacao trip.  We bought trip insurance though I’m not sure it’ll help. I called the number and it said the “current hold time is 155 hours and 32 minutes”. So. Huff. Not optimistic about that at all. 

I’m setting up several online places to shop from. Hoping grocery pick up will go smoothly once the new normal has set in on everyone.

Cleaning stuff.

I need decide what my next knit or crochet project will be and buy yarn for it. 

I’m grading lessons and making adjusted lesson plans. Though I’ve limited news due to limiting tv, my kids are getting really anxious. Much as we’d like to have school like always I really don’t think that realistic.  Today I’m making a list of physical emotional therapy options. Play dough, art, wrestling, balloons...

 

Unless you got some really special kind of trip insurance, I don't think it will help.    I think it is going to be better to wait and see and go through the airline.  Not sure what airline that you were supposed to be traveling on.   We cancelled a trip we were taking to Japan this week.   We had trip insurance, but it didn't cover that.  Pretty much everything else.  But the airlines kept changing what they would do and we got lucky.  We could have booked it farther out.  But we went with the 100% cash refund.   But I am getting lots of things from airlines saying unless your trip is in the next 72 hours, don't bother calling.  They need to deal with the people with trips sooner first.  I would wait and see what your airline will offer for trips for that month and also what the country you are going to is going to do. 

[Murphy101]

1 minute ago, mommyoffive said:

 

Unless you got some really special kind of trip insurance, I don't think it will help.    I think it is going to be better to wait and see and go through the airline.  Not sure what airline that you were supposed to be traveling on.   We cancelled a trip we were taking to Japan this week.   We had trip insurance, but it didn't cover that.  Pretty much everything else.  But the airlines kept changing what they would do and we got lucky.  We could have booked it farther out.  But we went with the 100% cash refund.   But I am getting lots of things from airlines saying unless your trip is in the next 72 hours, don't bother calling.  They need to deal with the people with trips sooner first.  I would wait and see what your airline will offer for trips for that month and also what the country you are going to is going to do. 

yeah waiting until closer to try for a refund is pretty much the conclusion I came to when I got that long wait message. LOL Bc so far the apocalypse has not made me anywhere near patient enough to wait on hold that long. Not even for money apparently.

[Carol in Cal.]

17 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

 

I need decide what my next knit or crochet project will be and buy yarn for it. 

 

Please consider buying your yarn from a local yarn store.  They have been wonderful creators of community, and they are really hurting right now.  Many have curbside pick up services.  Some are doing local deliveries for free.  Many are providing free shipping with low or no minimum purchase required.  

If you don't have one, here are some to perhaps support:

https://fengari.net/

http://www.greenplanetyarn.com/shop.htm

 

[Melissa in Australia]

DH has a dental appointment 100 km away. It will most likely be our last chance to go shopping. If there is any left.  Also chook food etc

Twins have speech pathology. I wonder how long she will continue to come

Last day of TAFE for ds16 as they are closing down this afternoon 

The stupid bower birds have found our veggie garden. They have eaten most of the lettuces etc. We have 6 foot fences round the outside to keep out kangaroos, and now DH is trying to net in the whole top. It is a big job as it is the size if a tennis court 

[Ausmumof3]

4 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

DH has a dental appointment 100 km away. It will most likely be our last chance to go shopping. If there is any left.  Also chook food etc

Twins have speech pathology. I wonder how long she will continue to come

Last day of TAFE for ds16 as they are closing down this afternoon 

The stupid bower birds have found our veggie garden. They have eaten most of the lettuces etc. We have 6 foot fences round the outside to keep out kangaroos, and now DH is trying to net in the whole top. It is a big job as it is the size if a tennis court 

I’m torn between feeling sorry for you about the veggie garden and in awe that you have bower birds.  But I’m pretty sure that are not popular right now 😉 I can imagine how that would go down here.  Jays have decimated the last of our quinces and moved on to the persimmons and we don’t have enough net yet for that tree.  
dh put tennis balls on top of the fence posts in our orchard to help net slide over but it’s only set up on individual rows not the whole set up 

[Carrie12345]

I’m looking forward to joining this thread on Day 5. 🙂 

[Familia]

Still a little in shock/denial.  Denial as simply a coping mechanism, not denial of need to cooperate with flattening the curve suggestions.  I have lost my part time job today due to this, and, although I knew that was coming, I am sad about that.  Also, not expecting to go to Epcot in May, as planned.

We began the original St. Michael the Archangel prayer as a novena last week.

With my new found free time, I want to deep clean my house, get the pup's training back up to our standards (winter is a welcomed time of standard's devolution=), and finish a crochet baby blanket.  Or two or three.

Thanks for beginning this, @Murphy101 it is so good to have goals and a way to time it.  It helps me think: someday, the numbers will stop going up, and we will all step back into the light of a post-COVID-19 new day.

[CTVKath]

Well we started the day by doing regular school (kids are 2nd and 4th), then cleaned a little in the basement, then broke a dining room chair, then learned to draw "Pigeon" in Day 1 of Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems (free), watched a couple of short science videos and created the beginning of a giant cardboard house creation in the living room with an HVAC box. I usually make Mondays be stay-home days so it's sort of a normal day for us but the thought of not going anywhere for the forseeable future is freaking me out a little bit.

Last Friday and Saturday were full of emails, phone calls and FB posts about canceled events and activities for the rest of March. Today I started getting emails about cancellations in April. It's really weird.

Oh - also had both kids try samples of the Self-Paced Veritas Press history courses so I can go ahead and purchase because their sale ends today. DD will be doing her 3rd year of Self-Paced. DS will start at the beginning.

[AFwife Claire]

We spent time in prayer for all affected. We just heard that my brother in Seattle has been exposed--a close co-worker just tested positive.  He has been working at home since March 4, so maybe that's enough time past that he won't be affected.

This afternoon we made cut-out cookies, since we never got around to do that over Christmas break.  I have to say--I am enjoying a breather from all the driving around I have to do on a normal day, I know I'll get tired of it, but for right now . . . I'm enjoying it.  

I'm also trying not to worry about what's going to happen for my oldest son and his fiancee, who are supposed to be getting married May 23 in VA.  🥺

[Scarlett]

Today is my day off work....i was able to get my dad to cancel his sleep study schedule for tonight.  And I think they are on board with staying in. And keeping others out.  I did a big run for my family and my parents to WM.  Still no water or toilet paper....neither which is the end of the world to us. I called my parents and told them I would put their bags on their step and not to open the door to me.  This shopping trip was very unplanned.....but now I should not have to go back in the store for several weeks.  
 

I am working on my 4th load of laundry.  Dss18 is making a stew of some sort tonight.  

i am exhausted.  

[Scarlett]

1 minute ago, AFwife Claire said:

We spent time in prayer for all affected. We just heard that my brother in Seattle has been exposed--a close co-worker just tested positive.  He has been working at home since March 4, so maybe that's enough time past that he won't be affected.

This afternoon we made cut-out cookies, since we never got around to do that over Christmas break.  I have to say--I am enjoying a breather from all the driving around I have to do on a normal day, I know I'll get tired of it, but for right now . . . I'm enjoying it.  

I'm also trying not to worry about what's going to happen for my oldest son and his fiancee, who are supposed to be getting married May 23 in VA.  🥺

My niece is getting married end of May in Houston.  Huge. Very expensive wedding.  😱

[Murphy101]

14 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

My niece is getting married end of May in Houston.  Huge. Very expensive wedding.  😱

No, she isn’t. She mighta been. But she isn’t now. If she is super lucky she will have a wedding at all with maybe a couple local witnesses. 🥴

[barnwife]

I decided that this week is spring cleaning week. That is, we are going through the kids rooms and majorly downsizing and organizing. We will go through their dressers and check sizes on clothes. While I don't love doing stuff like this, I love the way it feels when it's done. Though it means we aren't doing most schoolwork, my kids aren't happy about it.

I tend to put off doing this as long as possible, but if we are forced to be here, I want things clean/organized. So here we go!

[Scarlett]

8 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

No, she isn’t. She mighta been. But she isn’t now. If she is super lucky she will have a wedding at all with maybe a couple local witnesses. 🥴

My sister is in total denial. 

Dh still going to work, the rest of us stayed in all day doing school work.  We got quite a bit done. Tonight I think dh will try to exercise with kids.  They normally swim a couple hours a night so all the time inside is going to be a killer.  My mother is dropping off dinner.  She is going crazy at home with my father who has dementia so cooking is her only outlet.  Maybe more contact than we should have with them, but I need her to not flip out dealing with him.

project list - knitting I need something new.  I started knitting socks last May when my son and I went to England and I have done most of both of them the last month.  I tried the local shop when we got my daughter a project over the weekend, but I could put together the colors I wanted. My husband started cleaning out his closet - at least remolding the mess it had become - and I really need to find some new bedding.  The pottery barn quilt from when we got married 18 years ago is in shreds.  Scrapbooks - I REALLY need to download pictures, but extracting the laptop from my children is a problem.

thanks for starting this thread.

[vmsurbat1]

We are in the one European country with no known cases (Montenegro), which has preemptively instituted strict measures; not quite a complete lockdown, but close.  With a week of sunny weather ahead, we went to the local garden store and got our spring seeds (hardly anyone there), found a little store on the outskirts of town (also with few people--whereas the hypermarkets had long lines to enter (limited to 50 people at most at one time) )to pick up some milk, and that's it.  Hopefully we can hunker down for the next two weeks.  My one concern is that Serbia has *just* declared they are keeping all pharmaceuticals they produce in country and little Montenegro gets most of its meds from there.....  So maybe we should go out tomorrow to pick up what meds we can before they are all gone..... Sigh.

[ktgrok]

We did school work, but a late start after dealing with the whole my dad in the hospital for a kidney stone thing last night. DD10 and I cleaned out the kids' closet a bit while DS7 and DD2 put various items in the tub to see what would sink and what would float, then on his own DS7 created a boat out of two empty seltzer cans and made a sail! Then he emptied the dishwasher while DD 10 learned to draw duck on Art Hub for Kids (we were learning about ducks today). Had her run toilet paper over to the neighbors as I heard they were low. More school, then a trip to a local lake to feed the ducks and enjoy nature. 

At least we enjoyed it until someone stole DD's brand new water bottle! She shouldn't have set it down and walked away (looking at birds and fish and turtles) but still - who steals something someone put their mouth on in a pandemic?!? Oh, and then in the bathroom (ended up having to use it because we stayed so long looking for the bottle) DD2 used the potty, listened seriously as I reminded her not to touch her face, and then PUT HER HAND IN MY MOUTH as I leaned over to pull her pants up. Apparently I should have also said not to touch anyone else's face!!!

Got home super late because we kept looking for it. Heard the newest recommendations and got very sad for all those who will be out of work. Told neighbor across the street who is a chef that I heard the news, and I know this will hit them hard, to please tell us if we can help in any way. He laughed it off, said they are still busy, and then invited me to a barbecue. So....yeah. I tried. 

 About to put dinner in the instant pot and maybe pick up some library books while I can, for our next school unit. 

Somewhere in this I printed out a new bible study through the year booklet that I'm going to try to start tonight. 

[Jenny in Florida]

I think I'm practicing a certain amount of denial, too. My husband's office went to "optional" work from home last week, then changed course and kicked everyone out by noon today. My office is still in optional mode, and we had words when I got home today about my declared intention to keep going in to work until they tell me I can't. He has played the "you (meaning I) just recently finished radiation therapy and might qualify as someone with underlying medical issues and are therefore being irresponsible by refusing to isolate ASAP," but my position is that I am also dealing with a pretty serious depression that we all know is aggravated by being stuck in the house for days on end and that, as long as I am extra conscientious about avoiding large groups and washing hands frequently and taking all the other steps I need to take, I am being as responsible as I can by balancing the potential for infection against the near-certainty of deepening my depression.

He is not pleased with my choice.

In terms of what I have done: I have made multiple trips in the last week+ to try and get us stocked up on everything important, and I have already re-organized the pantry to accommodate the additional volume. I  have been, as previously mentioned, extremely conscientious about not touching more than I have to and washing my hands when I do touch things and sanitizing everything in site. I'm staying aware of whether anyone in my universe seems symptomatic (which I haven't seen yet) and staying aware of my own condition so that I don't risk infecting anyone else (again, no signs at all). Should I see either of those issues arise, I'll reassess. I tweaked my schedule to make sure I would be home and available in time to enjoy the first of the Metropolitan Opera's free steaming events tonight (a poor substitute for the four live performances I was supposed to see in the next month, but better than nothing).

I also did have a heart-to-heart with one of the young adults who lives in my house about the face that it would absolutely be irresponsible to go to work --especially in a role that involves contact with potentially large numbers of people -- while coughing and generally feeling sick. (I won that battle.) 

Oh, and I did dig out one of the crochet projects I abandoned when I left the library job and sort through what I have and what needs to be done. So I now have something to work on and feel productive when I am not doing some of the things I would normally do to pass time.

Edited March 16, 2020 by Jenny in Florida

[alisoncooks]

We've been staying busy. We just wrapped up a 3-week carpet installation saga, which required the complete emptying of most of the rooms in my house. So now we're putting all the pieces back together, but in a super tidy and mindful way. We purged so much and are really thinking about purpose and organization. It's like the world and our house are complete chaos...but our house is slowly clicking back into perfect, working order (which is soothing). 

And we did school today, which got dropped most of last week. 

[JustEm]

We actually had a pretty awesome day. I woke up right after 10(don't judge I'm on newborn time 😁.)  Dh had made pumpkin muffins for breakfast so with my coffee, muffin, and baby in hands I headed to my mom's part of the house to see how she was fairing. To my delight her and my ds11 were just about to start an hour of writing. So, I hunkered down in her room with the book I'm working on and joined them. It was a wonderful hour. 

Then ds7 and I made putty while dh played Pandemic with my mom and some of the kids. The two middle kids are sick so they watched TV most of the day.

Later in the afternoon all the kids and I sat down to watch the Mo Willems lesson(he's doing them every day at 1 I believe.) That 20 minute video turned into hours of drawing. 

I just finished dinner and in a bit I'm going to finish organizing the homeschool room while everyone else watches a movie.

Once the kids are asleep dh and I will play a board game and I'll get a good solid of reading in or more writing.

[Melissa in Australia]

2 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I’m torn between feeling sorry for you about the veggie garden and in awe that you have bower birds.  But I’m pretty sure that are not popular right now 😉 I can imagine how that would go down here.  Jays have decimated the last of our quinces and moved on to the persimmons and we don’t have enough net yet for that tree.  
dh put tennis balls on top of the fence posts in our orchard to help net slide over but it’s only set up on individual rows not the whole set up 

you are more than welcome to the bower birds they are a very big pest.  we get some every winter, but at the moment we seem to have a huge flock of them, I guess they have been driven out of the bush by the fires. 

Dh has also been training the border collie to chase them out of the orchard. They have stripped just about the whole orchard bare, not that the fruit was much with all the drought etc....

[LMD]

Day 1 what I did: 

spent a few hours in the garden getting my winter/year round stuff in.

Checked in with my sister. She may be sent to work at a pop up test clinic...

[purpleowl]

We did school. We went for a walk. I feel yucky with what I believe is a common cold, so getting those things done kind of felt like a win. 

We also received today the cup of caterpillars that we ordered recently from insectlore.com. So we spent some time watching the little guys crawl around. We've named all five of them Bob.

[GaHadley]

I'm trying to make our days have some out of the ordinary activity each day so that we don't feel so trapped in the house.  Today we did one of the free art tutorials on facebook.  It was a cute watercolor picture, and several kids hung around and painted a while after the first picture.  Later we burned some limbs that we had collected around the yard previously.  Of course we roasted marshmallows with that activity.

Our local schools are still meeting, so I made a quick trip to the library to refresh our book basket.  I got some read alouds for all of us, some nature books, and some how to draw books.  I'm optimistic. . . 

Tomorrow we will probably take a nature walk - it's not something I've fit in very much, but want to, so I figured now would be a good time.  I'm thankful that we live in the middle of no where on the edge of our farm, so we have plenty of room to roam while being socially distant 😉.  

I have a couple of books I hope to read and I'm crocheting a blanket.

Fun thread!

[Murphy101]

One of my “sisters” and her husband came over for dinner.  God I love them. We know it’s dumb but we cried at the car when she was leaving.  I don’t think we’ve gone 2 months without seeing each other in person since 7th grade.

My real sister called to tell me she is out of toilet paper and to hint at me sending money. Seriously.  She was not even joking. 

[Annie G]

Dh and I drove the 90 minutes to my dad’s house to be there when a contractor showed up for an estimate.  And he dumped a three inch thick file of assorted receipts and statements on me and asked me to do his taxes for him since the volunteer group who usually does them has cancelled the program.  Dad is 88 and has some dementia (which for him is less about forgetting things and more about how difficult it is for him to process things, like what the contractor is talking about). And the only stocking up he has done food wise is shrimp and salmon. 
My sister lives a few miles from him and mostly cares for him. But she needed some reinforcement. And she absolutely has no idea how to deal with him. 
 

On the plus side, there was NO rush hour traffic in the Atlanta suburbs we went through on the way home. That was weird, but made the drive easier. 
 

[rebcoola]

We spent the day getting everything ready for DH to be quarantined at work.  Got his meds did chores we need him for packed his go bag.  He will get 24hrs notice though it might be awhile since they are waiting for a confirmed case on site to go that stage.  I actually wish they would go sooner a lot of the essential personal are higher risk and they barely have enough licensed operators as is.  They are pulling all former licensees off their teaching/supervisor jobs and getting them watch ready.

[Shoeless]

Today I emailed my estranged mother and asked her if she would be willing to take a call tomorrow.  She said yes. 

[sangtarah]

We slept in. 9 for the littles, 10 for the middle, and noon for the teen. We did minimal school. My anxious kiddo who was in public school is the hardest hit; she was in a good place mentally. 😥

Dh flew last week, so now I’m waiting anxiously to see if he stays healthy. 

[Ali in OR]

This thread is a good idea. I did not do enough today--need to set some goals each day.

I did a small grocery run this morning--got nervous that we had no acetaminophen in the house and I was able to get some plus a few other normal groceries (1 gallon milk, 1 carton eggs, lettuce, whole wheat pastry flour). I went to the grocery store closest to us that is more expensive than the bigger place I usually go to, and I went about 8:00 this morning. It was a good experience--I can see doing more shopping there throughout this event. I know the bigger place has been very crowded and has more out-of-stock situations.

We have all the kids home and it's kind of a throwback to our homeschool days. No work for me (aide in the closed high school), dh is working from home. College kid took an online final. I foresee a lot more cooking than I have been doing the last couple of years. 

[Murphy101]

Look for the day 2 thread about to go up. 

[historically accurate]

I like the idea of this thread - it will hopefully keep me on track.

I woke up to the news that the libraries in the area (we use 2 different) were not reopening. We had planned to hit one of them early to gather before they closed. But no go.

DD, who just turned 18, and I went to early voting as soon as it opened at 8:30. We wore gloves and stood apart from others. They said in articles that they were doing extra things like wiping pens, etc. I saw no evidence of that yesterday. I was glad we wore gloves since the worker used the pen and then handed it to me to sign. 

Lots of anxiety yesterday, so we cleaned. I am trying to get the house in order so it is easy to clean if someone gets pretty sick; I figure empty surfaces are easier to disinfect, so we're doing lots of decluttering. Middle DD worked on her co-op project, which is due at the online class today. Oldest learned her college will be going completely online after her extended spring break.

We had a telephone appointment with DD's cardiologist. She will be getting a new med that will hopefully add to her symptom improvement. We are sooooooo happy to learn that cardiologist does not think DD is at too much of a higher risk for coronavirus than most. Still have to take precautions because she does a slightly higher risk, but not like total decontamination for DH after he comes home from work. So big relief.

DH made a panicky grocery run last night - his anxiety is really, really high. I'm not really sure how to help him.