Coronavirus. Minnesota. April 19.

Well, here we are. Going on our 4th week of “stay at home”, still without our internet upgrade, which means you can often hear one of several people in our hone yelling out “WIFI PLEASE!!!”, which translates loosely to “for the love of all that is good and holy SHUT YOUR WIFI OFF!!”. I still find myself heading to the store more than ever and feel like we are single handedly keeping dairy farmers in business with our milk consumption.

Yesterday we learned of the first confirmed case of coronavirus in our county, “confirmed” being the key word as I’m sure there have been many unconfirmed cases up to this point.

Last Thursday came the order at work that masking for ALL employees is now mandatory, unless you are in an office by yourself, which, praise be to God, I am because wearing a mask makes me feel short of breath and these days that feeling is a doomsday sentence. Minnesota has not yet hit “peak”, which I’ve heard is projected to now not be until around July 4th because we Minnesotans are not only nice, but we are also fantastic rule followers and have done a great job of squashing the curve. Also, for quite awhile now, MN has been at 50% or more of recovered cases...so that is good!

We are hearing of other states cancelling school for the reminder of the year (I’m looking at you, Texas and Florida) and my guess is Minnesota is not far behind. Paul and I were talking about Ellie’s senior year and how much fun these last weeks of her senior year should be, but here she is, stuck at home with us! (Lucky for her, we’re cool parents...or so we think. 😜) The good thing is she and her fellow classmates don’t know what they’re missing...they’ve never had a senior year to miss out on, so to them, this is a bummer but nothing soul crushing.

Spring weather is back, after a short reprieve in which winter returned, and we have been getting a TON of outside work done. To be honest, I think I’m driving most of these projects cuz mama tends to eat when she’s bored and golly if I’m not well on my way to the Quarantine 15...and just in time for swimsuit season. 😒 Outside work keeps me busy, provides me with some good exercise and keeps my hands occupied so I can’t stuff my mouth full of Nerds jellybeans (OMG MY FAVE) and fruit snacks. 

Tomorrow, our governor is opening up golf courses (with some creative changes that I didn’t really pay attention to cuz I don’t golf but I’m gonna start just for something to do) and marine businesses...I’m also starting to think maybe we need to buy a boat cuz it’s beginning to look like the only things we’ll be able to do in the near future is golf and boat (and I think boating is more my thing).

I’ve recently tasked Ellie with preparing one meal a week and she came up with a new favorite...knock-off KFC Famous Bowls! We all enjoyed it!

Oh! And big news...when I went to Walmart yesterday, I found the TP aisle to be at least 2/3’s stocked!! Things are looking up, people! 

All in all, I’m really enjoying this time...we are privileged to be a family that benefits from this slowed pace of life. I love the family time and having my kids around, I love not having to worry about who needs to be where, what activity or banquet or obligation is coming up, and just generally slowing down in life and enjoying my family.

To be continued...