Quarentine Season

Day 7 (Sunday) - My anxiety is kicking in, but we haven't had a need to by toilet paper. Now the leaders of the country have to go on national television to ask the hoarders to return excess purchases. Toilet paper, paper towel, Clorox wipes, etc. We can't even find Clorox Wipes. Folks I try to not go to the store normally because I don't like going, I order and have shipped to home our needs. If I have to go to the store I go quarterly. I can't even get some of these items shipped now, when I especially don't want to go to the store AND chances are IF I went to the store I couldn't find them. 

My eyes are tired, it has been a week. There are far worse things, we find we say that a lot around here.

We are currently a nation that is suddenly, surprisingly, needing to be reminded to slow down and take the time to clean. I keep seeing reminder after reminder for how to wash hands, clean surfaces, and what products not to mix together (I learned the hard way in my younger years).

Our childcare center closed Monday along with the schools, we're altering our work hours, and working from home as possible. We are finding we are still vital employees. We are touching base with neighbors, and praying.

We are not bulk buying, we always bought minimally in spurts before so we're doing OK. But we're going to need to pick up more "fresh" essentials than usual as our kids are not at care. We eat at home on a regular basis as is, but now we're eating three more meals than usual. I suspect other homes are seeing this as usual as I'm seeing posts like "Use your school stomach". I'm super thankful I did a quick Willy Street Co-op run in February as a birthday treat to myself to stock up on specialty items we get from there as our Co-op closed last May. We haven't tried to do a regular grocery shopping trip since about two weeks ago, just a little spot drop trip the weekend before everything went crazy to pick up a couple last items and dog food. We were able to pick up two gallons of our preferred milk today, and the grocery store looked pretty well stocked. Please if you have to go out only get what your family needs for a couple weeks, don't bring your own bags (we're not going to use any this time), bring hand sanitizer, and practice your social distancing. We run on a mixture of frozen and fresh as we cook a lot of our meals here at home. If need be we could make our own bread, it's not gotten to that point for our home but it has for others.

Things I'm Happy About:

1. Family support
2. Extended time with our kids
3. A slower pace, at times (there are still 24 hours in a day and all the work to do in it)

A few things I bought for the kids this week:

1. Croc-like tennis shoes from Zulily. I sized up so they hopefully last into fall - $13.99 each
2. Homeschooling Plan - 21 days free via https://othergoose.com/free
1. The founder of this program, Erin Loechner, also wrote the book Chasing Slow
3. Yogi Fun Yoga Kids card kid from Amazon - $19.99

We're already starting to see push back/cancellations of appointments on so many levels. Put down phones, turn off the news, be patient, be kind, hold your loved ones close, get outside, buy a park pass, find a new project or complete an old one you've been putting off, plan a Zoom with friends or get out the games. Except if you have toddlers and you're just to dang mentally exhausted, then go lay down.

Above all continue to be safe. We're right here with you.

1980 + 40

10 years ago, I turned 30.

It's a lot of feelings, I'm not sure they'll all fit here.

________________________________________________________________

In 10 years I know more now than I did before BUT I'm still learning! What a blessing to be able to continue to learn.

In 10 years I sure hope I get to travel and do as much (if not more) as the girls get older. But we try to take it one day at a time.

Birthdays bring questions. What do you want, what are you doing, planning something big? Are you where you want to be, where you imagined you'd be? (If you know me I'm always planning something, big or small) I personally struggle to celebrate my birthday and/or holidays. Did you know birthday depression is a thing?! See here.

This year I turn 40 - forty - 4-0 - FORTY. I'm lucky Brett and I still have all five of our parents. I'm lucky to have two littles and a Binne turning another year older. To start I have in mind a small dinner out with just my husband and littles. Last weekend I started with a little me time at the salon getting my nails done, followed by some special treats from the Willy Street Coop. You can't get just every little thing here in our local shops (and sadly our Coop closed last May, special treats being the food/home good brands we don't have access to at the in town stores).

UPDATE: Brett, Nicole and Josh surprised me with an amazing 40th birthday party at our house. There were so many people there from all corners of my life, it was great to see everyone! they definetly got me to the point where I was speechless. The thought and work put into keeping this from me and getting so many friends and family here without my knowing is not an east feat. Here I thought he was at home sick...

This year I'm not focusing on one day and hopefully I remember this going forward too. It's not just about this one day, it's about celebrating everyday and living life to the fullest with the ones who want to live it with you. I think back to my 30th, things have changed a lot and I'm working on a lot more schedule balancing than I was back then. Back then it was just me.

This year if you must get me a gift, treat ourselves to time together! Lets go out for coffee (there are still a number of places to visit on my list from 2019), wine, a concert, an activity, gym, yoga, or walk.  Please set up time with me or the family and lets catch up. Life gets so busy and I miss my friends. In addition to coffee, wine, and hanging out at the local COOP stores or library I also like music and listen to CD's often (old school, I know). Who is currently your fav to listen to? It would be cool if you made me a CD for the car, I love listening to music in the car with the girls.

If you have a donation kinda person please send it to American Family Children's Hospital in Madison or go donate some time at your local humane society or non-profit shelter. Adopt don't shop!

Activities I'm hoping to do this year? Photo sessions, salt room, pedicures/manicures/facials/self-care, new tattoo (who's with me?!), Brewers game with just my husband (this is a big deal), ladies only trip (November), arts & crafts events (think Revel in Madison, Diakonos in Stoughton), winery/coffee shop visits, exercise more, Summerfest (?), day trips, the beach, hiking at state parks, camp (back yard or park, we need a bigger tent first), and as always spending more time with our friends and family here at home or locally, but of course reserving time to take good self care for our family unit (and savoring every minute).

Happy birthday to ME!