Adventures in Social Distancing: Day 14 - 3.27.20

  Happy Fri-yay! On this, the two week anniversary of the last time we experienced life as we knew it, the sun was shining and the only count higher than the number of people with coronavirus is the pollen count. God bless me. • This morning Camryn got to Zoom with her teachers, whom I may miss more than she does. • I added Orthodontist Assistant to my resume, as we were able to have a virtual appointment for Brynn (I’ll spare you the bite photos I sent directly to Dr. Patrick’s cell phone

).

KlarVoorhees Orthodontics

is amazing, in case you’re in the market for an orthodontist when the world starts spinning again. • We got plenty of vitamin D today, and I should have a solid six pack thanks to all the sneezing I did because of it. • I made a pretty lunch that brought me joy, and I spent happy hour alone in my living room with Dave Matthews. It was dreamy. • And then I was inspired by

Lauren-Ashley Garan

to dig up some old gymnastics footage. And then I cried. Because adulting is overwhelming right now, and I’m allowed to cry about it for a hot second if I need to. • Thankful to have finished the night with my people, on my couch, safe from the world, ready to hunker down again tomorrow to save it.

Adventures in Social Distancing: Day 13 - 3.26.20

I usually have coffee with my yoga on Sundays, but since it doesn’t really matter what day it is, I started Thursday with it instead. • The girls got up, did their school work, and eventually joined me while I baby step it back to running (walk 2 minutes, run 1 minute for 30 minutes in my pretty new shoes). • We saw the sweetest message for the people who need it most, made friends with an inchworm, kicked a ball around, ninja-ed in the backyard, went for a bike ride, and FaceTimed my oldest friend

Christina Caffelle

. • I did my hair and makeup for the second time since this adventure began, and I noticed I’ve earned about a million more grey hairs since this adventure began as well. • I made sun dried tomato and spinach turkey burgers on the grill, then Ryan and I ditched the kids and went out on a date. Which made me realize how things really aren’t all that different after all. • Once again, Brynn and I ended the day with a movie...Groundhog Day, because it was 100% appropriate.

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Adventures in Social Distancing: Day 12 - 3.25.20

 Took a solid pep talk to get me out of bed when the alarm went off this rainy morning, but getting a good workout in before the girls get up feels normal, and anything that feels normal feels good right now. • We had a bumpy start to the “school day” but recovered quickly with the help of baking time (strawberry muffins for the win). • I went through my dresser and quasi-Marie-Kondo-Ed my clothes (my closet is next, but we have time

). • We kept waiting for the rain to stop, but when it didn’t, I recruited the kids to the Psweatbox for a workout (they did not enjoy it). It did seem to get Camryn fired up for a workout of her own (dragging her mattress to the floor for some back tuck practice), and when she was done I got a rainy walk in all by myself. • Brynn and I finished the night off watching Twister while Camryn and Ryan did Camryn and Ryan things (Camryn is legit afraid of tornadoes, would have been a looooong night if she watched!). • I was reminded this evening that today is Wednesday, so yay for us getting over the hump of this week. And for knowing what day it is, if only for a few hours.

Adventures in Social Distancing: Day 11 - 3.24.20

Going into Day 11 of god-only-knows-how-many is daunting. There’s no end in sight and having nothing to look forward to is so depressing. • Our morning message was about where they’d go if they could travel anywhere in the world, and they both just answered that they want to see their friends. It’s heartbreaking. But we can’t control that (other than with FaceTime and social media), so we just have to deal. • We enjoyed virtual “recess” with Camryn’s classmates (who’ve apparently never heard of Red Rover), ziplined and made cards for hospital workers. • On our daily walk, we stumbled upon some messages a teacher left for students in the streets (which maybe brought me to tears, or maybe it was the pollen). • I tried another new workout, and am finding I’m drawn to the martial arts variety. The punching and kicking is incredibly satisfying right now. • We did the new normal thing of wiping down the groceries Ryan brings home before putting them away. We’re finding assembly line method works well here. • Camryn got to video chat with one of her best friends, and I swear it breathed new life into her. Keeping contact will be our key to success until Day only-god-knows-how-many gets here.

 

Adventures in Social Distancing: Day 10 - 3.23.20

 Today feels like the rug has been pulled out from under us. In less than 24 hours, we have learned the spring break trip to Costa Rica we booked in August and gave the girls for Christmas has been cancelled, AND the girls won’t be going back to school this year either. There have been lots of tears of sadness and total disbelief. My children have had an incredible school year - thriving academically and loving their teachers - and to see it come to a screeching halt breaks my heart. Knowing my days as an elementary school mom are done bring me to tears...I wasn’t ready for it to end in June, so March feels like a sucker punch. • But as parents, we have to lead by example, even if we have no idea how. So my kids have watched me cry, but they’ll also watch me throw on Missy Elliot radio, curl my hair, and pour a glass of wine just because. • But before life got cancelled, we learned stuff, we baked stuff, we went for our walk, and did what we do.

Adventures in Social Distancing: Day 9 - 3.22.20

Today was so strange. It felt like any other March Sunday, where it’s not quite winter yet not quite warm enough to park it at the beach all day. There was a “what should we do?” about every 30 minutes, and no one was happy with any of the suggestions. We went for our daily walk, played with the neighbors’ dogs, and I even took a nap. We eventually decided to take a long drive through Pungo just because, and ended up playing in a parking lot at Munden Point Park, also just because. Camryn joined me for

Joanna Stahl

’s move of the day, and we enjoyed home videos by the fire. It felt like kind of a regular spring day...until we watched the news and were reminded that we’re not even close to being out of the woods with this thing. Tighten up, y’all. Please.  

Adventures in Social Distancing: Day 8 - 3.21.20

 Rainy Saturdays are a challenge for us whether there’s a pandemic or not, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say today was easier than I thought it would be. • Ryan and I walked an 8k in honor of Shamrock (it was my first Shamrock where I got to hold an umbrella), Camryn found the googly eyes and we FaceTimed friends with them, I had a huge come from behind Phase 10 victory, we ate nachos for dinner, we watched Twins (which came out 32 years ago

), and the girls ended the day playing mancala together. • It’s far better to focus on what you can still do than what you can’t.

Adventures in Social Distancing: Day 7 - 3.20.20

 It’s been a week since things were “normal” around here. And while that’s been tough on us all, we made it and will continue to find joy in the suck. Like iced coffee in the fresh air, algebra in a hammock, reading a few chapters up in a tree, (online) retail therapy, and 88 degrees and sunny. So maybe we tried to go to the beach and deemed it too crowded to stay, and maybe we sat at the door and wiped down every item our hero provider brought home from the grocery store (so not normal!!!). But we made it through the week and we’ll make it through another. We got this, people.

Adventures in Social Distancing: Day 6 - 3.19.20

 Started my day with some yoga (should probably end each day with it too

). One of my fitness goals for the rest of ever is to have a full split, and it’s nice to see I still have that going for me. • We did our morning walk and talked about what we’re actually enjoying about this time stuck at home (more time playing outside, watching tv, and so much time with Mommy

). Said morning walk ended with one child holding the other in a headlock so there’s that. • The rest of the morning was checking the boxes that needed to be checked (laundry, cleaning, schoolwork) before we could hit the beach with a clear conscience. • Once we got to our happy place, the irony of the 2017 Shamrock beach towel I grabbed from the closet gave me a good chuckle...slightly different weather today than what we had three years ago when I earned that towel (82 and sunny today vs 35 and sideways sleet in 2017). • The much needed vitamin sea was well worth the minor sunburns we all came home with. • Maybe we’re finding our groove in this new normal (which is nothing short of batshit crazy), but even if we’re not, tomorrow is Friday and we’re going to treat it as such.

Adventures in Social Distancing: Day 5 - 3.18.20

Camryn demanded I run a tighter ship in regards to the homeschooling schedule she created, so tighten we did. • During our morning walk, we discussed today’s message of “What would you tell someone your favorite thing is about your family?” (Camryn: the fun things we do and I don’t have 8 other siblings; Brynn: no brothers). • Schoolwork was done, we came up with a delicious yogurt parfait, and I organized the linen closet in my bathroom. • We spent plenty of time out in the fresh air, and we’re seeing neighbors out on walks who we never knew existed.