Living our best (house arrest) life

The term "quarantine" keeps being thrown around, but I read somewhere that when sick people are told to stay home, that's quarantine. When healthy people are, that is house arrest (except for trips to Lowe's -- everyone in New Bern is at Lowe's). I agree that the elderly and other people at risk need to isolate themselves, and that it would be wise for us to all refrain from shaking hands and hugging for the time being; but this extreme approach of shutting everything down and causing people in "nonessential" industries to lose their jobs, boggles my mind. My cousin shared something on Facebook, a couple paragraphs of which I'll post here because they sum up the ridiculousness and hypocrisy so perfectly:

***

You expect your garbage to be picked up, you expect the grocery store to be open so you can get milk, you expect truck drivers to supply the stores, you expect farmers, meat packers, fruit and vegetable pickers all to keep food in that grocery store.
You expect Amazon to still ship all the things you’re ordering while you sit at home shopping. You expect the delivery driver to leave it on your doorstep. You expect your phone to work, your power to stay on, and your mail to show up rain, sleet, or shine.And most important, you expect the doctors and nurses to be there if you need them.
The whole premise of shelter in place is based on the arrogant idea that others must risk their health so you can protect yours. There is nothing virtuous about ignoring the largely invisible army required to allow people to shelter in place.

***

While it's clear that I think it's high time that things reopen, I can't deny that I am one of the fortunate people who are in no position to complain.

Not a whole lot has changed for me in my little world, and yet it feels like everything has. I have even fewer reasons to put on real clothes and makeup than I had before. I have been been on a break from having to wake up at 6:30, from driving kids around, from squeezing dinner in among their activities, and from Saturday mornings at the soccer field. Not that any of that was so horrible. But all this extra downtime, as I'm sure many can agree, is a gift. Tim was recently chatting on Facebook with a friend from high school who said that once things get back to normal she's telling her kids, "You each get to pick one thing." She doesn't ever want to go back to rushing around the way she was before. Tim thinks nope, everyone's going back to the way they were before. Including us. I have to agree, in our case. It's not that our kids were ever involved in too many things, it's just that that we have more kids than most people.

This is my COVID sweatshirt. It arrived sometime early March, and I've been wearing it nonstop. I want to order every color, and all the tie-dyes and dip-dyes. But that seems a little greedy; how many sweatshirts do I need anyway? However, after discovering random bleach spots all over the lower part of the front (how?!? I don't even use bleach!), I went ahead and ordered a blue dip-dye one. They're on sale (as always, ON has a sale) , and it's tempting because it is the softest and most perfectly fitting sweatshirt I've ever worn.

I've still got housework to do, and I've still got to make sure the kids are doing what they ought to be doing, i.e., doing their school work, picking up their rooms, and stuff like that. I've been filling the hours that remain with:

- More time spent outdoors, either on my porch or on walks or runs
- More time in prayer and spiritual reading
- More time taking care of my body, currently in the form of a 30-minute Daily Burn workout, and stretching videos in the evening (Yoga with Adriene on YouTube is still my favorite for that).

School has been cancelled for the remainder of the school year, so remote learning till June it is! In the absence of classrooms, the kids have been scattering around the house doing their work in a variety of uncomfortable-looking positions.

Annie and I have been working on a stamped cross stitch together. I forgot how relaxing it is, sewing all those tiny x's. Stamped was the way to go for her as a beginner, but I wonder if there's a way to get those stamps off the fabric once it's done. I do not want to make a big pink border around the flowers like it wants me to do.

Since the lockdown began, I think Delaney's life has improved for the most part. She doesn't see her friends in person, but they are never far away when she has Zoom. We finally got a Disney Plus subscription, which after the free trial ended, she has been putting a portion of her allowance toward. She loves The Clone Wars. She and I have watched a few episodes of The Mandalorian, but I'm not feeling hooked. I think I like the Baby Yoda memes better than I like the show that has Baby Yoda. If you're wondering how Delaney took the news of Tom Brady's decision to go to Tampa Bay, I think this photo says it best, despite having been taken a couple weeks before that happened. 

I changed out of my COVID sweatshirt once or twice, and was so thrilled I had to take a picture. I posted this one on Instagram and tagged my cousin Bridget's little resale shop where I had bought it from, back when I anticipated more reasons to want to throw it on.

Annie's been baking more than ever, leaving behind the irresistible smell of the goodies and her special signature of every cabinet door left open. These cookies, breads and brownies are NOT helping me take care of myself, by the way.

They've all been getting way too much screen time, and periodically need to be booted out of the house so they can experience fresh air and sun on their faces. Soon enough it will get too hot to be outside, and we all need to be enjoying it while we can. Two nights ago Tim and I were explaining to Timmy why playing outside is so important. He broke down crying when he said he would want to be outside more if he had a friend. Last night I went over to the new house to see how the paint was coming in the girls' room. Tim told me that a bunch of boys had asked Timmy to play with him, and he'd run off with them for awhile. I pray that this is the beginning of what's to come, that Timmy will have friends he can play with every day. That's a big part of why we chose this particular neighborhood.

Speaking of the new house, it is coming along very nicely. The living areas are all painted, and the kids' rooms will be done by the end of the weekend. At that point I guess we'll be about 80 percent done with the paint. The previous owners, upon listing the house, painted every room, bathroom, closet and hallway the same ugly shade of khaki. Except for the FROG -- that's a nice color for some reason. The ceilings were all a dingy greenish color. What a difference it makes having the right colors on the walls, and white ceilings. New lighting for the living spaces, as well as cabinets and shelving for the new built-ins, have all been ordered and will hopefully be all done before we move in May 28. I've been putting together Pinterest boards with my decorating ideas. Tim and I went to Lowe's this morning, and when we got back we found that our sweet realtor had left us a surprise:

I should be heading over there soon. Tim is doing the boys' room a color that we chose on the spot at Lowe's, so it feels very risky. I had a first choice and a second choice picked out, both by Sherwin Williams, and Lowe's did not have either of them. So I'll get going over there, so I can perform my crucial function of observing and commenting on the paint that he has put on the walls. Till next time!