The Pandemic

Here we are practicing social distancing by staying in our house all day everyday... except for when we have to go out to do “contact-less” deliveries of Mighty Meals.

After the first 10 days of the voluntary quarantine (as of today, it is “recommended” in our area and not yet mandated by government like it is in Atlanta and Savannah) with Norm trying to work and me trying to work along with all kids being home we nearly lost our minds. So  late one night we implemented COVID Academy.  Norm would be teacher in the morning while I dedicated (mostly) uninterrupted time to work. Then we’d have lunch, kids nap and I’d become teacher in the afternoon while Norm focused on the business. More details to follow regarding COVID Academy on another post.

I am so grateful for having found Sarah Knight and having listened to this book just a few weeks before the pandemic struck. Without her and her anti-guru advice, I would be a complete, walking , freak-out episode after the next.

You see, the word "pandemic" just means widespread. But because it sounds like "panic", I think people automatically tend to freak out. I have chosen to focus on what I can control within this pandemic viral infection and I do so by brushing up on excellent (an a bit neurotic) handwashing and instilling these habits on my children. And also by lysoling all the things and wiping all the things. I respect people that need to be distanced, like my mom, to avoid risk of becoming sick. And I applaud business such as Aldi that are making every effort to establish the 6' distance between people.

We have been doing all sorts of activities via the internet, just like pretty much every single human in the country, therefore the internet runs slow when trying to stream. According to Nico, when their shows won't load, he says we are "out of internet".

Today, and last Sunday, we were able to participate in Mass straight from the Cathedral of Savannah via their live stream. Last week we had technical issues and had to watch it on the laptop..

But today we hooked up the laptop to the TV via HDMI and got it on the big screen.

Due to the extreme tempation, we did have to hide the toys located directly behind us.

After Mass, Benji tried to set up the TV to watch their shows and he couldn't figure it out becuase the TV was still set to HDMI connection. So he came and asked Norm for help because "Mass just used up ALL the internet"

Later on this week we will start Kindermusik via Zoom. And just like that we are slowly adjusting to this new (however temporary long) normal. 

Today

Today is Saturday, March 28 and it has been exactly a long time since my last post. Good grief so much has happened. We had a gender reveal party for baby #3 and found out we were expecting a girl... although deep down I honestly was rooting for a boy (girls scare me), at least we already had her name picked out - Sofia Grace.

She was born on September 19, which would have been my parents 49th wedding anniversary. We got to pick her birthdate since she was born by c-section. I am totally head over heels over this child. 

Norm quit working at the hotel... it became too toxic and tolling on our family life.

Norm and I attended a Retrouvaille weekend retreat (all the way down in Orlando) when I was 7 months pregnant and since we have been heavily involved in the ministry.

We started our own business, Mighty Meals, while we were in the hospital during Gracie’s birth. 

I ended up in the hospital while pregnant due to the very weird pain I (used to) get on my side only to find out there was nothing wrong (insert lots of frustrating, hormonal tears and a $2,500 bill).

We celebrated Benjamin and Nico’s birthday at the park and it was Blaze and the Monster Machines theme, we got fancy cookies.

 

We brought my dad's Trooper home from the shop it had been sitting at in Putnam County for the last several years.

Benjamin started Pre-k in the fall of 2019 and he is such a wiz - he is better at math than I am. That’s why I plan events and requiere a calculator to tell you what 20% gratuity is off your total bill.

Nico ended up in the NICU when we went to the beach over Labor Day... we were only there one night, but we were quite ill prepared and I was 37 weeks pregnant and not to mention an evacuation order of the SC governor due to the on-coming hurricane.

OBVIOUSLY all these things, and lots more, are kotnlisted in any kind of order except for the one it came into my head. I would add more pictures but I realized earlier this year that lovely Apple decided to create (AND default) a new picture format that is not compatible with Microsoft... or the rest of the world for that matter.

And now we are in quarantine due to COVID19. It is wild. It is overwhelming. It is scary. But we just keep washing our hands and I spray all the things nightly.. so far I haven’t had to access the black market to purchase disinfectant products.

So, mainly because we are living in the making of history, I figured it was my responsibility to record it - and because I need an average of 27 hours a day to try to make it through each day of this mind blowing reality, I decided it was time to make the $2.99 investment and purchase the app so I could try to record life on the go. Don't hold your breath, just be pleasantly surprised when you see a post come through... whenever that is.