Safe at Home

We are now entering our 22nd day of staying home (with the exception of a car ride). It is easy to feel alone and isolated because well…that is what we are but all of us are so in a way, we’re together in this. If you are able to stay home and doing so, thank you. I can only hope and pray that in a few weeks we can poke our head out and go “the wave never happened” and social distancing would have worked. I know based on reports that’s a long shot but it’s worth hoping and praying for.

I saw a really interesting post from one of the business accounts I follow on instagram and it said “I am not working from home. I am trying to work during a crisis at my house”. I feel like that pretty much sums up this situation. Typically working from home is a luxury as is having days on end to be here. But it is hard to relax and decompress when the world seems like it is falling apart around you.

Yesterday I only looked at my phone for texts and emails and spent the day either working as much as I could or spending it outside with otto. That boy LOVES to be outside. In fact I bet he would just rather sleep out in the barn with the sheep if I let him. He keeps the joy level high around here. I thought yesterday oh to be a little boy and think this is just one big vacation or maybe the way life is now. Every day his parents are home doing nothing but hanging out with him, doing chores, riding bikes and playing bubbles. Each day a cozy adventure. I let myself live in that headspace a little bit and it was quite nice.

It is not lost on me how fortunate we are to live out in the country. Trust me, there are times it has it’s real pitfalls, commutes, old house problems, no uber eats … or restaurants in general. In times like this though, I am extremely grateful for the things we have. I have found myself the last three weeks being extremely resourceful and realizing I probably should have done this all along. Using up every last bit of produce I have, freezing things, turning into sauces not letting things go to waste. I use one sheet of paper towel to wipe down the counter and continuously wash my hands to the point my skin is breaking.

Yesterday almost felt like a typical sunny spring day. The sun rose, the birds chirped and we played outside and went for a walk. We are actually settling in to a new routine. I wake up around 5 so that I can work for three hours before Otto gets up. Then we have breakfast and play in the living room. I pack a “picnic” lunch to eat outside in the barn for after we do chores and then we go for a walk so that I can listen to my conference call in peace. Otto has been falling asleep on the walk so I continue to work through his nap. He wakes up around 3, we play some more then bath, dinner, play, bed and do it all over again.

As I lay my head down each night I think to myself, we did it. We did another day where we are all going to bed safe and healthy. For that I am extremely grateful and I will never take for granted. I don’t know how long we’ll be in this I wish I had the ability to see the future but I continue to remind myself that this is our now, not our forever and we will see the other side.

I hope you are doing well friends. This world is crazy and has turned upside down. I appreciate you being here and all of your words of encouragement. We are in this together and I am here for you too.

ps ottos shirt is from lulu and roo – support small business!