In which I discuss the impending lockdown, snail mail, and Quiplash...
This was our last day before Indiana's official lockdown began at midnight. It was already our 13th day of staying at home and practicing social distancing. Not much will change for us except we can no longer make discretionary trips out in the car to randomly leave things on people's porches or exchange insignificant items. But there was a sense of urgency to think about what needed to be done before official lockdown:
1 Send Drew to Kroger to shop for us and to shop for Grandma LeFebvre
2 Send Michael to the post office to stock up on postage stamps
3 Acquire four seasons of Foyle's War and other random DVD's from a friend
4 Deliver puzzles and books to nephews
5 Sew and deliver a tea cozy
I weighed taking a walk, wanting to gather video for my next Nature Nibbles clip but realizing I would end up with a whopping sinus headache if I braved the colder temperatures. I finally gave up on the walk.
David and Laura (ages 13 and nearly 10) get up at a reasonable time (around 8?) and are quick to jump on their chores and one of them on their music practice. David heads to "his" chair and spends hours reading everyday. Laura is able to occupy herself in a number of ways and also works on her project of creating cards and letters for friends.
Drew and James (17 and 15) sleep in even longer than I do. I'm so happy for them to be getting sleep. Drew now has a letter from his employer (Subway) which he can show to police if he is stopped while driving to and from work. (Seriously??!! It sounds like we are living in World War 2!) But my neighbors have these letters too. I almost feel like I'm missing out on a letter!
My sister, Emily, sent a picture of herself from the hospital. Boy it makes it all seem real. She's there working, five days a week as an occupational therapist. She said that this week they seemed to have enough masks and that makes us all feel better. My sister-in-law, Crystal, gives ultrasounds at her hospital and it's scary because she is in close contact with her patients for long periods of time. I am proud of these women for doing what they are doing. And I must remember to keep them in prayer.
Tuesday morning was slow again because of my late wake-up and all the little things that go into the morning routine. I got some painting done before lunch, Face-Timed a friend for a few minutes for a brief catchup, taught Laura how to make chocolate chip cookies, and headed out to drop some things off on people's porches. I've been trying to write a letter or two as much as I can - to put in the "real" mail to people. I miss that so much. When I was a teenager I lived with my family in the heart of Chicago and it must have been similar to lockdown because my brain reverted to that time period as soon as we got stuck home two weeks ago! In Chicago we had few friends, could not leave the apartment by ourselves, stayed indoors in a small space much of the day, and conducted almost my entire social life via pen, paper, and stamp. I had at least three people whom I wrote to weekly. Many, many others I wrote within a months time. There was hardly anything better than getting a letter in the mail and my family stills laughs at how much I loved checking the mail (I still do but I'm willing to let others do it too).
Our evening routines are very similar right now. We gather in the front room around 8pm. Half of the evenings we begin our time with a game we all play with our cell phones and the xbox called "Quiplash". I would describe it as a word game. It's so funny and even Laura is fairly decent at it. During spring break we are watching a movie afterward (otherwise it would just be a shorter episode of something). And then it is time for bed! (During our Quiplash we were delighted to hear a knock on our door and find friends out delivering cookies! How special. Thank you!!!)
Food Eaten: Two pieces of gluten-free toast with tea for breakfast (so thankful to find a number of loaves of GF bread in the freezer!), leftover rice and egg casserole for lunch, Laura's cookies for snack, and taco salad over rice for dinner with another cookie thrown in for dessert.
1 comment:
Thank you for sharing about what your family has been doing during this crisis. It is so nice to be home, but hard when we are very limited in our usual activities. It sounds like you are all doing well and keeping busy.
Old fashioned letters in the mail are always a joy to send and receive.
Stay well!
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