Wednesday, April 15, 2020

One Month of Quarantine - Things I’m Grateful For

We’ve officially been quarantined for an entire month. 

We’ve had lazy days, we’ve had super fun days, and we’ve had many days that were just plain hard.  Even though there are many things to be afraid of right now, and even more things to be sad about, I’m trying with all of my might to focus on all of the things that are GOOD. 

Here are a few of the things I’ve been grateful for this past month…

So much quality time with my three favorite people!  Our little family is typically on the go most of the time, but since all of this started, we’ve had so much extra time to watch movies together, play games and do puzzles together, and go for family walks around the neighborhood.  We used to take walks a lot when the kids were younger, but they’ve been few and far between since the kids have started extracurricular activities.  It’s nice to have an abundance of good quality time together again without being so rushed.

That Brian has a job that allows him to continue to work full-time from home.  There are so many people who still have to go to work and compromise their health and the health of their family members and there are also lots of people who have lost their jobs altogether.  We are so thankful that B still has a job and that he never has to leave the house.

That we belong to a wonderful school family who has done a top-notch job of transitioning to distance learning.  Seriously, I cannot rave enough about our school and all of the wonderful faculty and staff for making this transition so seamless.  You would think they’d been preparing for this for months!  Our principals have been doing morning prayer Zoom videos every morning to keep us all connected, our teachers have been having live Zoom lessons daily to keep the kids on track with their learning, the school has been hosting virtual spirit days to keep things fun, and we’ve even had a “homeschool happy hour” for all of the parents to just hang out and “mingle” with other adults.  Our teachers have been super organized, so communicative, and so accessible, and they’ve also been creative with their live Zoom meetings with the kids… they’ve had live scavenger hunts and play dates, and Friday they’re doing show and tell!  They’ve even sent some happy mail to our house for the kids.  They have truly gone above and beyond to show that they love our babies as their own and we have just been SO GRATEFUL to belong to this brilliant school.  They have made this a million times easier for me as a parent. 

That we also belong to an amazing church family who has done a wonderful job of keeping us all informed and connected.  Since we can’t physically attend church, they’ve been livestreaming masses every day, they sent a packet in the mail for holy week so we could be prepared to celebrate Easter, they’ve been having live “friar-side chats” to keep us informed of happenings in the church, and they’ve started doing live “friar bedtime stories” on Wednesday evenings to keep the kids involved.  We just love our church so much.

Zoom Bible studies.  Being able to have real conversations about this situation we’re living in, commiserate over homeschooling, and pray with these wonderful ladies has been food for my soul.

Zoom in general.  I guess I just need to give a shoutout to Zoom altogether since we’ve been using them to keep in touch with most everyone.  I’m just so grateful to see everyone’s faces!

Facetime and Facebook Messenger Video Chat.  Can’t forget those guys either… we’ve been using them, too, to talk to my parents and my grandmother!

Less busyness.  I’ve never been a fan of super packed calendars and aggressive scheduling for the kids’ extracurricular activities, and I’ve often felt overwhelmed since the kids started soccer, baseball, and dance.  Now that we literally can’t go anywhere, we’ve had lots of downtime, and the kids have had ample time to just play and be kids.  They’ve told me a couple of times recently that they were bored and that actually made me happy because they’ve literally never had time to just be bored!  I firmly believe that creativity blossoms from boredom, and so many of my best childhood memories were made because of boredom.  I just think it’s really important for kids to have that time.

Sleeping in!!!!  I’m not a morning person at all, so waking up every morning at 6 AM during the school year is tough.  Since we no longer have to drive anywhere to get the kids to school, I’m able to sleep in for an extra hour, and y’all – it is glorious!!

Watching Jacob’s and Olivia’s relationship grow and flourish.  Sure, they fight some of the time, but I can honestly say that they play together and get along, like, 95% of the time.  It’s actually pretty unbelievable.  They have become even closer during this time together at home, and they are just the best of friends.  I pray that they are creating a lifelong bond that nothing can break.

Gorgeous weather.  For the most part, we’ve been experiencing highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s with abundant sunshine, low humidity, and cloudless blue skies.  It’s been absolute perfection the majority of the time we’ve been home.  And guess what?  We’ve actually been able to enjoy it because we don’t have a jam-packed schedule. 

Lots of time to work on my tan.  Between the great weather and all of this time at home, I’ve been able to get a jumpstart on my tan for the summer!  Getting all of that extra sunshine always makes me feel healthier, and I’ve had a ton of energy lately.  And yes, I know, sun can be dangerous, too, but we always use lots of sunscreen! 

Lots of time to work out.  For the first couple of weeks, I really struggled to squeeze in workouts, and I also struggled with how to work out since the gym has closed.  However, these last two weeks, I’ve found my stride and I’ve been enjoying lots of family walks outside, I’ve started running again (kind of), I’ve been doing lots of workouts on my stair stepper, I started doing yoga, and I’ve been doing some mixed cardio workouts with Jillian Michaels on YouTube.  I was telling B the other day that by the time this quarantine is over, I’m going to be in the best shape of my life!  Haha.

That our credit card bills are lower than they’ve been in three whole years.  Yep, not being able to go anywhere has certainly had a positive effect on our wallets.  March was officially the lowest month for credit card bills for us since March 2017.  Craziness.

Takeout.  Man, if there’s one thing I’m sick of, it’s cooking three meals a day seven days a week.  So. Many. Dirty. Dishes.  Sheesh.  We’ve been trying to support local business and order takeout at least once or twice a week, and it’s been a nice little break so I don’t have to cook, I don’t have to clean, and we get to enjoy some of our favorite meals that we’ve been missing so much since we haven’t been able to go out to eat.  It allows us to have a little taste of our city at home since we’re missing going out to eat terribly. 

Disney + and Netflix.  I’m grateful to have these to keep us entertained when we’re out of ideas.

Not having to iron.  Now that we’re not going anywhere, B isn’t ever wearing polo shirts or khaki pants, so that means… zero ironing for me!  Yass.

Wine.  And beer.  And Moscow Mules.  And margaritas.  Because they’re always there when we just need a pick-me-up after a hard day.

What are y’all grateful for?


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20 comments:

  1. These are all wonderful things to be grateful for!

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    1. I think so, too! We're trying so hard to find the good!

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  2. Isn’t it so true, our emotions and days are all over the place. Love finding smalls joys and I love your grateful heart!!

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  3. I am grateful for FaceTime (and the phone in general), too! And for takeout. And wine, haha! The time at home has gotten me to work on a few things I probably would have put off, like going through my paper files.

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  4. Looking for the bright spots is so important! I'm grateful to be able to go outside and the quality time with my family. xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  5. There's still so much good to be had during these uncertain times. The time together has been so nice and I'm also very thankful for Eric's job and his ability to work from home. We're looking forward to consistent weather and I'm looking forward to no longer being pasty lol. And all the yes to sleeping in, when the kids let me :)

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  6. This is a great list! I️ feel like I️ could say the same things :) While this is definitely a strange time, I️'m very grateful for the positive things it's done for all of us - especially giving our families lots of quality time together!

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    1. Yes, this amount of quality time is something we never ever have, so it has been wonderful to spend so much time together.

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  7. So much good going on despite the times. Hear you on the credit card, when I logged on to pay mine I could not believe how low it was! I am loving getting to workout whenever I want, makes it easy to get it in when the gym is at home!

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  8. Ditto for this entire list! I'm so thankful for Michael's job and all the extra family time.

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  9. I love this list, Lindsay! I too am loving the fact I get to sleep in these days. And the new "business attire" is on point (yoga pants and t-shirts!). Great post :)

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  10. I'm grateful for so many of those things, too! My emotions are all over the place, but I try so hard to focus on the good!

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    1. Same here! I think I've cried more in the last month than I have in the last year. I'm a mess. But I'm so thankful we're all healthy. It could be so much worse.

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  11. Takeout, Disney +, sleeping in, less busyness and so many other things that I am grateful for as well!

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  12. I am so thankful that Matt has a job where we can work from home. So many families have parents that have been laid off or simply can't do their job. I've had to stop looking at Facebook and the news. It has been nice not to have to run around so much, and that I can put Aubrie down for a nap when needed. ;)

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    1. Yes, I've stopped watching most news as well because it was all too upsetting. Focusing on the good is what's going to get us all through this!

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  13. Wow so many lovely positives! It's been so lovely to spend more time with my family, it's been so rewarding xo

    Makeup Muddle

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    Replies
    1. Yes! It's the best part about all of this for sure!

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  14. So true about the credit cards. I've been spending so little it's great.

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