April 2, 2020

This reminder is floating around Facebook. I’m not the author (and would gladly give credit to the person who is if I ever find out who wrote this list.) just thought it was a great list of things to remember about this unique time in our lives.

“Just so I never forget….. April 2, 2020

-Gas prices were $1.89, $1.59 in some places (even Lakeville went below $1 at some stations)
-School cancelled – yes cancelled – distance learning with only 8 days to prepare
-Self-distancing measures on the rise.
-Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers (6ft) from each other.
-Limited number of people inside stores, therefore, lineups outside the store doors.
-Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed.
-Parks, trails, entire cities locked up.
-Entire sports seasons cancelled. Like NBA, MLB, ALL sports!
-Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events – cancelled.
-Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings – cancelled. Funerals limited to a specific number and being live streamed.
-No masses, churches buildings are all closed…during the Easter season.
-No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, now 10 or more, and even this is encouraged to be limited to immediate family.
-Don’t socialize with anyone outside of your home.
-Children’s outdoor play parks are closed.
-We are to distance from each other. Six feet!
-Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.
-Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.
-Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer.
-Shelves are bare. Hard to find beef, eggs, milk. Sending one family member to shop.
-Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE.
– people see masks and mail them or drop them off at hospitals!
-Government closes the border to all non-essential travel.
-Fines are established for breaking the rules.
-Stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.
-Big industries help make more ventilators, & more masks for hospitals.
-Press conferences daily from the President and the governors. Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths.
-Government incentives to stay home.
– Restaurants close and are open for only take out or delivery.
-Barely anyone on the roads.
-People wearing masks and gloves outside.
-Essential service workers are terrified to go to work.
-Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020.”

Virtual Mass

We are so grateful for our pastor, Fr. Jim, and the staff at our parish who have made it possible for us to participate in mass virtually while in-person masses have been suspended.

Shecklet #2 turns 12 🎂

Happy birthday to our witty, fun-loving, and big-hearted Shecklet #2! He’d rather be heading back to school today, but we will make the most out of this time of social isolation by celebrating at home throughout the day – including his dinner choice of spaghetti and pie for dessert. 🥳

Current Vocabulary

These are some of the words our family has started using in the last week.

Social distancing – keeping at last 6 feet between each other when in public

Quarantine – keeping away from others while we are well (as far as we know) so as not to expose ourselves to getting sick

Distance learning – going to school remotely using online tools and completing all work at home

My kids haven’t left the house since Sunday morning 3/15. (We attended what we now know was the last mass we’ll be allowed to attend for an unknown amount of time.) Jake works 100% remote, so working from home isn’t a new thing for him. The Shecklets are on spring break this week, but we were told over the weekend that they will now be home (without school instruction) for another week and then they will likely be learning remotely.

The stores are empty of fresh meat, bread, rice, and in some cases, eggs. There has been a run on TP (pun intended) for over a week. Thankfully, we did have our regular stash – and it’s POM, so it’s single ply and has many sheets per roll, so it should hopefully last for at least a little while. We’re using sanitizing wipes sparingly and Jake scored a bottle of 409 disinfectant at Menards before that was also in short supply. I always keep a bottle of sanitizer in the vehicle, so again, we have some for now at least.

The news and my social media feed are filled with coronavirus news.

How do I fix this?

I noticed the curtain rod in the Barbie room was sagging a bit.  Upon closer review, one of the brackets was pulled out from the wall and hanging by the screw tips.

We were later told by the child responsible, that they were trying to shut the shades and in doing so, pulled out the bracket.  It must have been quite a pull!

Ren Fest 2019 and a train ride

Today’s trip to the Renaissance Festival was a first for three of us. We saw knives, royalty, and acrobatics, ate Scotch eggs, beef sticks and cheesecake, two Shecklets tried sword fighting, and the girls had face paint and henna done. We enjoyed spending the day with cousin Jess, who was a gracious guide.

Meanwhile, Shecklet #1 spend the day with Grandpa Dave. He started out at Grandma Lois’ house and had breakfast with her before Grandpa came to pick him up. They went on a train ride across the St. Croix, stopped by a candy shop in Stillwater and then headed back to Grandma Lois’ house to watch the Gophers beat Purdue! He spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, went to mass and then met Jake and Shecklet #2 at Aunt Kari’s new house. Jake worked on her getting her internet working while the boys helped with unpacking and putting things away. I’d say Shecklet #1 had a pretty packed weekend.

📷: Grandpa Dave

Mono – not the opposite of stereo

Sung to the tune of “on the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…”

🎶 On the 8th day of school, the PA said to me…your son has mono 😞

*sigh*

This kid is such a trooper.  He powers through anything thrown at him.  I’m just glad we have a reason behind his fatigue and increased need for sleep. 💤

The 2019-2020 school year

Here we go again!

We have two middle schoolers (7th and 6th grade) and two elementary kids (3rd and 1st grade.) So thankful they are all still at the same school with the same schedule.