Shelter in Place
Day 2 of Shelter in Place and Day 13 of the Spring Break that would never end. Since I'm now parenting 24/7, I didn't have much time to wallow over my surgery being postponed. Most parents get a break after bedtime but Claire hasn't been able to fall asleep ever since Jeff let her watch Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. She is convinced that "Big Bunny" is going to break into our house and steal all of our vegetables and then we won't be healthy and we'll die of "the virus." She started sneaking down the stairs at 11pm and silently appearing behind me. Even if I survive cancer and coronavirus, Claire's going to give me a heart attack.
Speaking of not sleeping well, we went on our first family camping trip. I had reserved a campsite at McKinney Falls over spring break (only 15 minutes away), and it ended up being the perfect activity during this period of social distancing. All of us made it through the night in our tent, although I bailed at 6am for an appointment with my lymphedema therapist and I may have stopped for coffee and enjoyed the comfort of my car for a few minutes before heading back to camp.
Now that Austin is under a shelter-in-place order, we can only leave to go to "essential businesses" like the grocery store or the liquor store. Yes, parents will continue to stockpile beer and wine and cocktail supplies until schools re-open.
I feel so fortunate to have a swimming pool. It's been in the high 80s, so the kids have been swimming constantly. They'll be ready for the Olympic trials before this pandemic is over.
At least Austin is beautiful in March. My front yard is overrun with bluebonnets.
I randomly took up gardening because it gives me an excuse to be outside and avoid my kids for an hour every day. They "helped" for two and a half minutes the first day and then lost interest.
Before you critique my backyard gardening, there are a few things you should know:
1. I have never gardened before.
2. I bought half of those plants over the phone due to social distancing. "What variety do I want? Uh... surprise me."
3. It looks incomplete because I can't get more plants during shelter-in-place.
4. That soil was compressed and full of old bamboo roots, and now it's nicely aerated and mixed with compost. Whenever the kids won't stop fighting, I go in the backyard and stab at the ground with my giant garden fork.
I've also been deep cleaning the house to stay sane. I pressure washed my entire patio and found it very satisfying. My house may be spotless but my family is filthy. Until today, we had collectively stopped showering, getting dressed, or brushing hair. But then Julia had her first day of remote school (a thirty-minute Zoom meeting), and I had to make the top half of her look presentable.
If you're quarantined at home with no pressing medical issues, be grateful. I heard that all port surgeries have been canceled, so cancer patients are being forced to get chemotherapy treatments through an IV, which sounds terrible and dangerous. When I go into the infusion room for my Lupron shot next week, I may hand out rolls of toilet paper and Easter candy to cheer everyone up.
Speaking of not sleeping well, we went on our first family camping trip. I had reserved a campsite at McKinney Falls over spring break (only 15 minutes away), and it ended up being the perfect activity during this period of social distancing. All of us made it through the night in our tent, although I bailed at 6am for an appointment with my lymphedema therapist and I may have stopped for coffee and enjoyed the comfort of my car for a few minutes before heading back to camp.
Now that Austin is under a shelter-in-place order, we can only leave to go to "essential businesses" like the grocery store or the liquor store. Yes, parents will continue to stockpile beer and wine and cocktail supplies until schools re-open.
I feel so fortunate to have a swimming pool. It's been in the high 80s, so the kids have been swimming constantly. They'll be ready for the Olympic trials before this pandemic is over.
I randomly took up gardening because it gives me an excuse to be outside and avoid my kids for an hour every day. They "helped" for two and a half minutes the first day and then lost interest.
Before you critique my backyard gardening, there are a few things you should know:
1. I have never gardened before.
2. I bought half of those plants over the phone due to social distancing. "What variety do I want? Uh... surprise me."
3. It looks incomplete because I can't get more plants during shelter-in-place.
4. That soil was compressed and full of old bamboo roots, and now it's nicely aerated and mixed with compost. Whenever the kids won't stop fighting, I go in the backyard and stab at the ground with my giant garden fork.
I've also been deep cleaning the house to stay sane. I pressure washed my entire patio and found it very satisfying. My house may be spotless but my family is filthy. Until today, we had collectively stopped showering, getting dressed, or brushing hair. But then Julia had her first day of remote school (a thirty-minute Zoom meeting), and I had to make the top half of her look presentable.
If you're quarantined at home with no pressing medical issues, be grateful. I heard that all port surgeries have been canceled, so cancer patients are being forced to get chemotherapy treatments through an IV, which sounds terrible and dangerous. When I go into the infusion room for my Lupron shot next week, I may hand out rolls of toilet paper and Easter candy to cheer everyone up.
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