Day 4 - Doing what we can.

[Murphy101]

I’m still up from day 3.  Getting ready to cast on some water bottle holders.  Less putting down everywhere and cluttering my counters and less cups to clean and store in cabinets I can put staples in.  They can hang them in their dining chair when not in use.  We usually do this in the summer and clean them before bed, refill and put in freezer for the next day.

Tomorrow we have to put gas in the vehicles, a couple grown kids have applied to work at grocery stores and want to follow up on their applications, and then dh is taking dd to clean out her dorm to stay home for a lot longer than planned at start of spring break.

While they are gone, I’m going to mop floors and shampoo the carpets downstairs. Strip beds to clean and remake. Then put down bed killer/repellant.  Today was super nice out so I opens all the windows and 2 kids now have some kind of bites on them.  So I’m going to put down strong stuff on the perimeter of all walls and windows inside (raining outside so no point there yet) and lay down some diamacitious (sp!) earth in the carpet and under beds.  As soon as the yard dries a bit, we’ll do all the yard work and I’ll spray the yard too. 

Is anyone else hanging onto faint hope it will be a relief to finally be able to stay cozy in the nest instead of ending every day exhausted from efforts to get the nest ready to stay in?

Also.  The seasonal bug spray thing leads to ... It occurs to me that I have some kids due for vaccines. With no in person non-emergency appts I wonder how vaccines are going to be handled?  I mean they aren’t going near other kids anyways but I don’t want a sudden outbreak of measles or polio a month after people are trying to put their life back together post-Covid either. 

[Melissa in Australia]

Dh and I spent most of the day working on netting in the top of the garden. another full day might have it finished. 

I also planted out some cabbages, celery, and silverbeet seedlings

 yesterday I planted carrots, beetroot, spinach, rocket, turnip, and mustard seeds in the garden, and in the greenhouse I planted some Broccoli, Cauliflower, Chinese Cabbage, onions,  and spring onions  seeds into trays

Ds16  is sad, He has been told that TAFE will not be running after next week, and today he was told that his work is shutting down for a while. He will have nothing at all to do. 😞

Edited March 19, 2020 by Melissa in Australia

[fairfarmhand]

I envy y’all who can work outdoors. It’s rained for about 5 days straight here, and we’re forecast to have rain for the foreseeable future. This all would Be much easier if we could get outside.

[CTVKath]

Well ok. Day 4. The grocery store no longer opens at 7am so I'll be doing a double take in a few minutes. I'm hoping to get my act together today. The week started great because we usually stay home on Monday so it ran mostly like normal. Then continuing to stay home and keep up with the latest news........and I lost all motivation yesterday. So today I'm not going to keep up with the news - only morning and evening checkins - and try to get myself motivated again.

 

Calling it day 4, but really been longer as schools closed last week in Michigan...

school work for 4 kids ages 6-17...that has been going reasonably well.  14yo has his Latin class with MPOA today

clean bathrooms (much overdue)-got the rugs washed, but need to wash floors before returning them.  Bathrooms are my least favorite cleaning task.

wash load dish towels- trying to conserve paper towels so going through a lot of dish towels.
 
get daughter’s Stars and Stripes project description submitted- don’t see how that is going to be all completed by December 1st birthday with no ability now to fundraise, but hopefully they will make more exceptions.  We could pay, but they cap how much family can contribute and include out to cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles as family.

keep boys working on trail life badgework and exercising 

yesterday I called ahead to the yarn store to get yarn for a sweater project for me and yarn for my daughter to knit hats for two cousins for Christmas presents.  I also bought new needles for the socks I am making since the bamboo double points all had one rough end that would snag the yarn.  So happy!

we’ll see how much gets done today

[PeachyDoodle]

Cabin fever is setting in around here. DD is moody and the quarantine has not been good for her anxiety, which she was just starting to make major headway against. Today we are going to ds' piano lesson, the only activity still running. His teacher is a friend with only a handful of students so we've decided that we will continue for the time being. I'm dragging dd with us even though she is balking because the timing messes with her school "schedule" (self-imposed -- there's the anxiety again) but she has to get out. 

After piano we are going to stop by to see my mom for a few minutes at least. I have debated this all week because she is in her 60's and also recovering from having had the flu (tested positive so we are sure) last week. She sounds good but still has a cough. But my dad is still going to work every day, and not at the kind of job where he sits alone behind a desk, so if she's going to get exposed to anything, it's more likely to come from him. 

It occurred to me last night that dd is probably not going to finish driver's ed this spring and get her permit in May as planned. Which is a bummer. I haven't said anything to her. 

Hopefully the weather will be nice for part of the weekend and we can go hiking at the state park. My weather app shows nothing but clouds for the next 10 days. It's so depressing; some sunshine would do us a world of good. But with nothing else to do, we are getting lots of work done in our yard!

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm working from home again today, mostly because I just couldn't muster the energy to make an actual decision about whether to go to the office or stay here, and staying home seemed the path of least resistance.

Tomorrow I have a doctor appointment downtown, which will put me about five minutes away from my office by mid-morning. So, I think I will go in to work after the appointment, unless there is some specific reason not to do so.

I just finished requesting refunds for three of the theatre events we had tickets for that have been cancelled. I'm still super sad to be missing them -- and the free Met Opera streams are nice, but not really an acceptable replacement. However, what with all the medical bills, I will admit that it's not a terrible thing to anticipate seeing my credit card balance decrease by a couple of hundred bucks once those refunds hit. That will basically pay off some of the medical bills I paid with that card this month.

Opened an email from the philharmonic orchestra informing me that another performance for which we have/had tickets has been postponed to some indefinite future date.

Cancelled the multi-gym membership program I signed up for through work back in January that I have never used and now can't, since most of the gyms in the area (including the YMCA, which was the thing that made me sign up) are closed, anyway.

Took an extra-long walk with the dog this morning and will do another walk on my lunch break and one more once I log off work for the day.

Will watch the Met Opera performance tonight.

Maybe do some laundry.

As one of my co-workers always says when I ask how she's doing: "Livin' the dream."

[ScoutTN]

2 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

I envy y’all who can work outdoors. It’s rained for about 5 days straight here, and we’re forecast to have rain for the foreseeable future. This all would Be much easier if we could get outside.

Amen! 

We've been out walking every day at a nearby natural area, taking our chances with the rain, but the mud yesterday was a challenge. We might stick to pavement today.

I am ready to work in my garden too! Praying for a warm high pressure system!

[Murphy101]

3 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

I envy y’all who can work outdoors. It’s rained for about 5 days straight here, and we’re forecast to have rain for the foreseeable future. This all would Be much easier if we could get outside.

If it isn’t thundering - go play in the rain. That’s what we do. 

I think I fell asleep around 2am and didn’t sleep well at all. Tried to watch the live streaming of local mass on YouTube but the dumb electronics wouldn’t cooperate so we all watched it on husbands laptop via Facebook.  All the animals had never seen us standing, kneeling, bowing, and praying before a laptop before and they all came around to voice opinions about how wrong they thought it was. “Talking” and bumping at us and pawing at our faces and the laptop. So I sure hope tomorrow we can get it to stream on the tv. 

Edited March 19, 2020 by Murphy101

[sassenach]

I have 2 online classes today. I did manage to dye my hair yesterday, and I feel much better for it. 
 

I have made appointments with my kids to do big projects in their rooms. I realized that even though they’re basically doing nothing all day, I still needed their buy-in so I asked them when it might work for them. Ds agreed to Saturday and dd to Sunday.

We are producing so many dirty dishes! Everyone eating all their meals at home is a real mess maker. 

[Murphy101]

So I had a full on panic attack screaming fit at dh a few minutes ago. I thought he had ordered his diabetic stuff that he needs online last week. Nope. Apparently that pos company Medtronic is saying we have to pay $1500 up front for a bill from April 2019 before they will send his supplies.  They are claiming our bankruptcy last year doesn’t apply to that debt and refusing to mail it out.  To be clear $1500 is only the cost of ONE order. And usually what we do is make a large paymentS every month. So it’s a debt that’s never ever been paid off in the 28 years we’ve been together but usually we are never more than $300 in arrears.  Which frankly I think is a bleeping life achievement to manage. 

But today they claim that we must have missed something big and that even if we filed bankruptcy, which they can’t discuss with us - only the attorney on record - it wouldn’t apply.  We haven’t received anything about this and have received orders no problem in this time. And we wouldn’t have known about this if I hadn’t thought hey shouldn’t your order have gotten here by now. So we need to contact the atty and have his fax them documents claiming this is not valid and have him contact them bc they can’t discuss our bankruptcy with us and they can’t mail out any medications or supplies until the debt is paid. Ya want to know the odds of getting ahold of our 62 yr old bankruptcy attorney when all the courts are closed during a pandemic? So far it’s been zero.  Dh is just shrugging and what can I do  🤷‍♀️

I don’t handle ransom threats to kill my husband nearly as well. It’s a good thing my temper can’t cause anything to spontaneously explode or that damned company would be burnt to the ground. Which I can’t allow bc I need the supplies. Evil bastards.

Crap like this is what I hope this pandemic forever puts an end to being able to happen in America. It’s fluffing nuts.

I feel like puking. 

[Familia]

I'm sorry your not getting enough sleep @Murphy101, but I had to laugh at the description of your animals!

I went to the grocery for what I hope is the last time in awhile.  I did  not wear a mask, despite a friend urging me not to go into public without one.  Requested our eldest come home to roost.  Cleaning.  Especially his room to de-cat dander it.  Began a new book, continuing to crochet, and trying to keep myself off of the internet, to no avail.

Be well, everyone!

Edited March 19, 2020 by Familia
...was posting while you posted your latest update, Murphy101

[I talk to the trees]

Placed my Walmart order for grocery pickup for tomorrow. Still anxious nervous about being exposed through that, but this should be my last stock up for a few weeks, except for flipping toilet paper. Oh, had I known, I would have been one of the crazies out there with two carts full! 
 

Still need to finish hanging the carpenter bee traps, clean up some bricks (Leftovers from our chimney repair last year) for the porch/herb garden edging, knit the other half of a dishcloth I started yesterday, send in my rebate forms for my dogs' Sentinel, and do the daily “wipe down”. Oh, and we got our census form today, so I guess I could get that out of the way. 
 

Murphy, I think you are being much calmer than I would in your situation. I’m so sorry you have to deal with that, on top of everything else going on! 
 

[Scarlett]

1 hour ago, Murphy101 said:

If it isn’t thundering - go play in the rain. That’s what we do. 

I think I fell asleep around 2am and didn’t sleep well at all. Tried to watch the live streaming of local mass on YouTube but the dumb electronics wouldn’t cooperate so we all watched it on husbands laptop via Facebook.  All the animals had never seen us standing, kneeling, bowing, and praying before a laptop before and they all came around to voice opinions about how wrong they thought it was. “Talking” and bumping at us and pawing at our faces and the laptop. So I sure hope tomorrow we can get it to stream on the tv. 

My puppy barks at us when we pray too.  So weird.  LOL

And my last dog would always go slurp water.

Edited March 19, 2020 by Scarlett

[Scarlett]

Dh got a case of water for my parents on his way to work this morning.  And a package of toilet paper which he says (jokingly) he is keeping in his car.  I told him that was pretty risky for working downtown...someone will smash his window in for it.  He said, 'well, I'm  not carrying it into the office.'  Good times, good times.  Gotta laugh to keep from crying.

I am seriously starting to panic even though I know I should not.  I listened to a pandemic expert on NPR yesterday....I am going to link it in a minute. 

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/03/18/us-government-response-coronavirus

It is only 10 minutes long and very informative.  But scary as heck.

We still have plenty of food.  I just went shopping on Monday, so not that long yet, but this will be weird because I usually go at least twice a week.  And we normally eat out at least 3 times a week....we are cooking more...not even doing take out....and working very hard to not waste any food.

I am at work today, at the office.  Our work is drying up.  And dh has plenty of work at the moment, but we are both very aware he could be laid off soon.  We are preparing mentally for losing our jobs.  My mom says as long as she has a house we won't be homeless.  Gotta love moms.  

[EmseB]

Today I am comforted by the fact that I ordered a ButcherBox last week and it is supposed to be delivered today. I couldn't get meat at the commissary yesterday and this box was more than I would spend on meat...ever...but it's a good security blanket.

My kids are upset that I won't let them play with the neighbors who are all playing together. Normally I wouldn't care about being a Mean Mom, but it's eating at me this time.

What's really eating at me and making things 1000% worse in all other areas of life is DH's work situation, but I can't do anything about it, so ::shrug::

We are going to go do Mo Willems' lunch doodles and think about cartoons instead of anything heavy.

[Ali in OR]

Today was grocery day, and I think I won't do it like this again. I went to the bigger, cheaper store at opening, along with a hundred other people. it might be worth it if you desperately need tp, but otherwise, the benefits don't outweigh the costs. And it really threw me off schedule, because I went before exercising, showering, or eating breakfast, so I have to fit all those things in later in the day. It gets hard to do that and still do all the care for my disabled dd in a timely manner. Other goals today:

Cleaning: put away laundry
Food: make veggie broth and learn to make pho. And grocery shopping of course.
Exercise: long walk with the dog
Something to help: deliver some PB, jelly, spaghetti, and pasta sauce to our school district. They're making food boxes for our poorer families.
Nap! It's dh's worst allergy season (tree pollen), so he snored all night, drowning in snot. I went out to sofa at midnight. Could hear teen dds still up. Not much sleep.

[Murphy101]

I ran up to Costco for someone else and the stuff people are not buying is so weird. 

So I get hand sanitizer is great but really we should only use it between contact with people outside our house which should be very limited. So buy hand soap people. They had some 4pk of 16oz hand soap decorative pumps like you leave on your counter for $9. Which is cheaper each than the singles of dial antibiotic hand soap. And ya know what it’ll do? People. It will wash your hands! No one was buying it.

I bought powdered creamer for college dd and told her this doesn’t mean I’m willing to do without my coffee for her though. Jk! Sorta. 😉 But also.  Do people not know you can cook use powdered non dairy creamer as a powdered milk substitute in a lot of cooking?

Everywhere is out of peroxide  too  okay.  But entire pallets of oxiclean are gathering dust.  

They were sold out of typical liquid bleach but they had one gallon Clorox bleach “cleanser” with refillable spray bottle.  No one was buying it.

They are sold out of eggs. And my son says the distributors have already said no more eggs are going to be available for a while.  No one was buying the egg white liquid pour stuff.  People.  It works and unlike eggs it stays usable in your frig for nearly 3 months.  I mean you can’t make merengue with it but otherwise it’s perfectly safe and useable for cooking or scrambled eggs.

Bottled water was down to one per order. Got one so now I have a total of 2 which is what I keep on hand year round anyways. I’m counting on running drinkable tap water. 🤞

and I just got a call from another kid under 25 saying um. Hey. I know a couple days ago you said I needed to get on this but did you know the stores are sold out now? My god. YES. I’m going to pick you up and take you to costco myself.  Oh. You think we can go this weekend instead? NO!🤬  

I mean don’t hoard bc there’s no point to that. But dude.  You do need some basics on hand for a couple weeks?! Like even without a plague?!

[fairfarmhand]

8 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

I ran up to Costco for someone else and the stuff people are not buying is so weird. 

So I get hand sanitizer is great but really we should only use it between contact with people outside our house which should be very limited. So buy hand soap people. They had some 4pk of 16oz hand soap decorative pumps like you leave on your counter for $9. Which is cheaper each than the singles of dial antibiotic hand soap. And ya know what it’ll do? People. It will wash your hands! No one was buying it.

I bought powdered creamer for college dd and told her this doesn’t mean I’m willing to do without my coffee for her though. Jk! Sorta. 😉 But also.  Do people not know you can cook use powdered non dairy creamer as a powdered milk substitute in a lot of cooking?

Everywhere is out of peroxide  too  okay.  But entire pallets of oxiclean are gathering dust.  

They were sold out of typical liquid bleach but they had one gallon Clorox bleach “cleanser” with refillable spray bottle.  No one was buying it.

They are sold out of eggs. And my son says the distributors have already said no more eggs are going to be available for a while.  No one was buying the egg white liquid pour stuff.  People.  It works and unlike eggs it stays usable in your frig for nearly 3 months.  I mean you can’t make merengue with it but otherwise it’s perfectly safe and useable for cooking or scrambled eggs.

Bottled water was down to one per order. Got one so now I have a total of 2 which is what I keep on hand year round anyways. I’m counting on running drinkable tap water. 🤞

and I just got a call from another kid under 25 saying um. Hey. I know a couple days ago you said I needed to get on this but did you know the stores are sold out now? My god. YES. I’m going to pick you up and take you to costco myself.  Oh. You think we can go this weekend instead? NO!🤬  

I mean don’t hoard bc there’s no point to that. But dude.  You do need some basics on hand for a couple weeks?! Like even without a plague?!

Yeah, my dd and sil were here Sunday kinda poo-pooing it all. I can totally picture them being like this. Thankfully, sil works in a grocery store so he can grab stuff when it comes off the truck but good grief. I totally can picture them as the type to party on the beach for spring break. "It's not even as bad as the flu." I simply made the point "Yes, for most of us that's true. But would YOU want to be the one who got Ms. D (sweetest old lady at church) sick with a virus that put her in the hospital on a ventilator? Or would YOU like to be the one who gave it to Ms. V who is like 90 years old and probably would DIE?"  I wasn't vehement or angry, but they did get my point. IT's not all about you and the people that you're friends with. It's about your grandparents and these precious elders. (I know it can be bad for younger people too, but 22 year olds are 10 feet tall and bulletproof.)

 

Edited March 19, 2020 by fairfarmhand

[Arctic Bunny]

Got my online grocery order in at 10am. The site was crashing last night and at 8am. By the time I tried to add something at noon, it was crashing again. Definitely best to do these things at off times.

[Ausmumof3]

Any other Alexander McCall Smith fans? This post from his page was so sweet

These are very difficult times for so many. I have been very touched by the messages that I have received from readers, many of whom are isolated now and are renewing their friendship with Mma Ramotswe and the others. I have written a poem especially for this moment, and the text is below. It comes to you with my warmest wishes, and my hope that you are keeping well. AMcS

----------------------------------------------------------------------

~In a time of distance~
 

The unexpected always happens in the way

The unexpected has always occurred:

While we are doing something else,

While we are thinking of altogether

Different things – matters that events

Then show to be every bit as unimportant

As our human concerns so often are;

And then, with the unexpected upon us,

We look at one another with a sort of surprise;

How could things possibly turn out this way

When we are so competent, so pleased

With the elaborate systems we’ve created –

Networks and satellites, intelligent machines,

Pills for every eventuality – except this one?
 

And so we turn again to face one another

And discover those things

We had almost forgotten,

But that, mercifully, are still there:

Love and friendship, not just for those

To whom we are closest, but also for those

Whom we do not know and of whom

Perhaps we have in the past been frightened;

The words brother and sister, powerful still,

Are brought out, dusted down,

Found to be still capable of expressing

What we feel for others, that precise concern;

Joined together in adversity

We discover things we had put aside:

Old board games with obscure rules,

Books we had been meaning to read,

Letters we had intended to write,

Things we had thought we might say

But for which we never found the time;

And from these discoveries of self, of time,

There comes a new realisation

That we have been in too much of hurry,

That we have misused our fragile world,

That we have forgotten the claims of others

Who have been left behind;

We find that out in our seclusion,

In our silence; we commit ourselves afresh,

We look for a few bars of song

That we used to sing together,

A long time ago; we give what we can,

We wait, knowing that when this is over

A lot of us – not all perhaps – but most,

Will be slightly different people,

And our world, though diminished,

Will be much bigger, its beauty revealed afresh.

[historically accurate]

Day 3 was a bust. I pretty much vegetated and overindulged in virus news. I have been better today ignoring the news. 

Day 4 started at Walmart. I got a lot that was on my list. Very tense place - very few people spoke, smiled, or in any way interacted. I had to settle for weird, often pricey brands, and I got the absolute last box of macaroni in the store, but we are now pretty well stocked here. I did have one lady comment that I was so cute because I got excited they had a can of tomato sauce left (haha it doesn't take much in my life!). After spending money on food, I ran through a drive through for kids' second breakfast and my first. 

Cleaning goals: bathrooms - we split this up (I did shower/bath, youngest did floors, middle did sinks and mirrors, and oldest did toilets). Doing the bath mats and regular laundry today. I unfortunately did not get the refrigerator cleaned before I filled it this morning, so that will probably wait. I paid the bills since today is payday, and I spent some time writing up an email for DH to explain to HR the issues we are having with our health insurance. I've tried and tried to get Aetna to resolve it, but they're idiots. Hopefully, HR can handle it. 

Fun/Relaxation goals: Well, we bought a puzzle a week or so ago at Goodwill and set aside for this time. Today we broke it out and there was no picture on either side - it never got printed! 500 pieces of nothing. So, kids are doing a puzzle we already had. I played a game with the kids, and I read a few chapters in my book. 

Exercise goals: Did Just Dance (a few songs) with two youngest. That's more of a workout than I expected. 

School goals: I got none today. It's gray, rainy and dingy outside, and my motivation is waning. Middle is currently reading her science book, and youngest is doing a FB live feed from her youth group. Oldest got some books online from the library that she's working through. 

[Emba]

We are still on Spring Break but just got word (as I predicted we would) that the next two weeks of school are also cancelled. So I am preparing my brain and my ps boys’ brains for the fact that there will be not one but three homeschoolers here next week.

had a migraine last night. It went away, mostly, but  today I feel like I’m walking on egg shells so that it doesn’t come back, being really careful about loud noises and bright light. 

 I did yoga as soon as I got up. I’ve also disinfected all the counters and door knobs and clean the kitchen. I think I’m working out some of my anxiety by cleaning and escaping the rest by reading.  I am usually not this motivated to clean. 

I’m happy my kids are all in a phase of wanting to cook right now, so I’ve been letting them do quite a bit. But it’s hard to convince them that they need to use fresh ingredients and cook from scratch instead of using up the package foods that are much easier for them to fix. But I want to save those packaged foods for later.

[alisoncooks]

Math and reading got done today. So...yeah, good enough. 

Tomorrow I'd like to not be sitting on my butt, online, so much. Sheesh, it was like all day today. At this rate I'll die of DVT before coronavirus. 

Still putting the house back together after the recent carpet installation. Equal parts satisfying (because we've cleaned and purged so much) and frustrating (why is this taking so darn long?!)

[JustEm]

Today is so much better than yesterday. But i don't have the energy to go into detail.

[katilac]

38 minutes ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

 He's a really good kid, he just feels everything very strongly.  His joy and enthusiasm are infectious, and they've carried us through some very tough times.  If the complaining is the flip side of that coin, I won't complain about it!

I have one of these! I'm like, hey, people pay good money to get on roller coasters 😂

 

[Arctic Bunny]

Went to Costco for regular stuff, like milk, since the grocery store doesn’t have any. They are only letting in a certain number of people, and have made aisles with pallets instead of stantions to create a path to get in, appropriately distances the whole way. They have signs everywhere advising they will not be accepting returns of all the high want items. Everyone was calm, and the store was very peaceful. Also only every second till open (distancing) and no food or drink available except hot dogs and whole pizzas, and they have employees adding the toppings. Also, the tables are gone.

At home, reading, homework, video games, and a very stubborn child who insists he has picked up a quarter of the dog poop. If the yard is 70’x50’, he has done approx 2x3. So he is still sitting here.

ETA: I think he is actually asleep... maybe that will help!

Edited March 19, 2020 by arctic_bunny

[Miss Tick]

4 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

But also.  Do people not know you can cook use powdered non dairy creamer as a powdered milk substitute in a lot of cooking?

Thanks for that! I have a large bottle on my counter left over from our last Biology lab and I had been wondering what to do with it. Now you and the Corona Virus have solved that quandary.

[Murphy101]

I’m so tired. Today was emotionally exhausting and I am sure that’s going to be a new normal soon. But it’s still hard.

I’ve come to the conclusion humanity is gonna die bc of a lack of basic math skills. Like NO ONE can estimate what 6 feet of distance looks like.  I got frustrated and came home and told all my kids that I wanted to make sure this was not an education gap for them.  So I explained it this way.  Imagine that there has to be enough space for a full grown infected dead man to be laying prone on the ground between people.  Now the average grown man is at least 5,5 ft but respect the dead and add a few inches and you’ll be far enough. 

I’m probably going to look at some memes and work on those bottle holders while watching something dumb on tv.  Hopefully not until 2 am again. 

[Murphy101]

Day 5 is up.