Quarantine – Part 2

The other day I posted a blog about COVID-19 and how we as a family are learning to survive being up each others butt 24 hours a day 7 days a week! Today I want to talk about some of the things we have been doing to survive this new found “normal” way of life. Let’s face it…if it’s going to be our new normal for a while then we might as well learn to make the best of it!

This morning was the first day I have gone to the office in several weeks. I’m not going back to the office permanently just yet, but I needed to go get more supplies and do a couple of things I haven’t been able to do from home. I realized from the moment I opened my eyes this morning that this was going to be a much more stressful day than I had anticipated. While it’s true that staying home day in and day out can make you feel a bit claustrophobic and isolated, I have also found it to be true that there is a lot of time and stress that is saved by working from home!

For instance, since I have been staying home I have been able to get up at 7:00 am, take a shower, get ready, go make breakfast for everyone, and still be in my chair ready to work by 8:00 am. Wait…notice how I said “make breakfast for everyone”, because in a normal work day that never happens! Why? For one, the kids don’t get up until 8:00 which would mean whatever I am cooking at 6:15 will definitely be cold, but let’s face it… with them waking up at the last second to get ready I highly doubt they would take the time to heat it up and eat before they go! Secondly, I have to get up by 5:45 so I can get ready and get to work by 8:00. In order for me to make breakfast on a day I have to be at the office I would need to be up by 5:15. I know you are thinking….that’s only 30 minutes difference! However, I suffer from insomnia. So if I’m lucky enough to be asleep then I dang sure don’t want to wake up any earlier! If I’m already awake…then I’m 100% certain I’m still going to lay there and pretend I’m asleep. That may sound a bit ridiculous, but sometimes I just want to pretend for a second that I’m normal. That I’m not this crazy female going through early menopause which has made “sleep” somewhat of a fictional word! Hey, a girl can dream can’t she!

So how was my day different today when I had to go to the office? Well that’s really a loaded question! My day started by getting up at 5:45. I laid there far longer than I should because my body quickly got used to the 7:00 am wake up call! I took a shower, got ready, made my breakfast, made my lunch, loaded up my car, and was out the door by 7:00 am. I’m halfway down the road when I realize I forgot my cell phone. So I came back home, ran up the stairs to get my phone, ran back down to my car and started round 2 of heading to work. Then I get to the highway to find it bombarded with several 18 wheeler’s blocking me in and slowing my speed down to nearly 40 mph. I began to feel a bit of road rage, but being the little car in a mosh pit of huge semi’s, I was a bit out of my league. So I put the road rage back in my pocket and busted out some of my favorite tunes. It was time for me to perform my own personal concert in the car to a little Sinead O’Connor, Nothing Compares To You. I think I sound pretty good, but I’m not quite prepared to share all this with others yet, so I just keep my concerts limited to a private party of 1 in my car!

I finally arrived at work with a whole 5 minutes to spare. That means I get to haul ass into the building, get my computer up and running, and act as if I have been there forever. I finally catch my composure from the hustle and bustle of the morning when I begin to get bombarded by other employees. Don’t get me wrong, I completely enjoyed the interaction with other adults. This is something I haven’t experienced in a few weeks. I think a couple of times I laughed so hard I tooted a bit. No worries though my toots smell like roses, or at least to me they do, so they will never know…shhhhhh. Truth be told, half of the people I work with are men. So if they smelled it they would have assumed one of the other men dealt it and probably high fived them for it. In no way would they ever suspect little ‘ol me letting out a silent but deadly fart!

Needless to say the catching up came to an abrupt end as the problems of the day started to come to light. One by one, someone brought a problem to me to solve. I found it interesting that as we work from home somehow people figure out how to handle the problems on their own, but the moment I walk in the door they completely forgot how to resolve anything! I don’t know if this is them being lazy, wanting human interaction, or too dependent on me when I’m around. However, what I figured out pretty quickly is that I can’t get anything done when I go to the office! I always wondered why I’m stressed all the time… I’m stressed because when I’m home I’m not interrupted that much so I’m able to do far more work in far less time.

As the day came to an end I packed my things up and headed out the door. I ran to the store, and then began my journey home fighting the traffic and enjoying my private concert for 1. I run by one of my employees houses to drop off paperwork, then I went to the post office to drop off the mail, and finally headed home. Once I arrive I rush in, change into comfy clothes, and jump back on the computer to try to do the things I never completed while at the office. Just as I’m getting situated, the doorbell rings. Normally, I get excited when our groceries get delivered. However, lately I know there is going to be disappointment as I go through the groceries because I will soon learn what all they were out of. I used to order groceries and know with 100% certainty I was going to get everything I ordered. Now I’m typically missing atleast 10 items. So this time I didn’t get my toilet paper. Lately, I have found this very hard to get. If I order online it will take a month. There are none in the stores, and every time I order it they are out. So to save myself a little heartache I elicited the help from my son. I yell, “DAWSON! The groceries are here. Come get them and put them away.” To which he replies, “Why me?” I said, “Well because if you plan on eating then you better plan on helping!” He said, “I did help, I did the dishes.” So I replied with a little bit louder voice, “1…2…” He said, “I wasn’t saying I won’t help! I was just saying I already did a chore today.” To which I replied, “Threeeeeeee…” as he quickly walked down the stairs and began helping. Why can’t kids just say, “Ok, mom.” I mean, if I have to work to put a roof over their head, I have to feed them three meals a day, and I have to dress them, then the least they can do is just say, “OK” when I ask something!

I finally finished my work, and started cooking dinner. I’ll be honest here, this is my favorite part about working from home. I know today I went to the office, but since my daughter was home she was able to boil the chicken so it would be ready for us to work on together when I got home. Tonight we were making chicken and dumplings. It’s one of our favorites. She and I aren’t skilled at making it yet so we reached out to my mom. We love learning how to make her recipes. This is something I wish I would have done before my nanny and papa died. My nanny used to make me the best salmon croquet’s, and my papa could make a mean chocolate pie and ginger snaps. I remember the smell of the kitchen when he made the ginger snaps. He knew they were one of my favorites. Since he has passed I’ve never learned to make them for fear I wouldn’t be able to make them like him. I wanted the memory of his perfect gingersnaps to last forever in my mind, and if I screwed it up and tainted that memory I would never forgive myself!

So we got mom on the phone and she began to explain how to make it. We first boiled the chicken for about an hour and a half. We chose to boil ours in chicken broth, water, salt, and garlic. We used three cans of buttered biscuits that we cut each one in six triangles and tossed in flour. Once we pulled the chicken out we put the biscuits in the boiling water and let them cook while turning continuously. While I was doing that, Laney was shredding the chicken. It took the dumplings about 10 minutes to finish cooking. We then added the chicken, salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and heavy whipping cream. We didn’t measure anything. We just cook…taste…cook…taste. It’s just a better way of cooking! I noticed the sauce was a little thin. So mom told me to mix a little corn starch with water and pour in it. I love my chicken and dumplings creamy. Finally, we added a package of frozen peas and carrots. My husband would have been a lot happier had we left that last part out, but the rest of us love it! The chicken and dumplings turned out great. I don’t know if anything will ever taste as good as my moms cooking, but I sure do love trying out her recipes!

Now it’s time for my second favorite part of my day…sitting down at the dinner table together, praying together, and chowing down together! The laughter today was fierce. At one point Dawson laughed so hard his drink flew out of his mouth and nose like Niagara Falls! You will never truly become a close family if you don’t make time to spend together, to laugh together, and to get to know each other better. The thing about going to work every day is that we never have enough time to do these things. Most days we don’t get home from work until after dark. The kids are starving after school so they typically make something quick for dinner like Ramen Noodles or pizza. Then when we get home we check on the kids and their homework, we do some house chores, make something to eat, and then get ready for bed. Taking the time to cook with my daughter has been pretty awesome, but sitting down, eating and laughing together as a family is just flat out amazing!

So I will sum this up by saying, I know this new “normal” is only temporary. There will come a time where I will be forced to go back to the office. However, THAT TIME IS NOT NOW. Right now I can focus on my family, on myself, and on the new things we are learning to do together each day. I feel blessed at this extra time I’m getting to spend with my daughter before she leaves the nest for college. I’m also enjoying getting to know my son. He has such a funny personality that I never got to see because there was never enough time for us to just sit and talk. I’m loving that my house is staying clean, projects are getting done, and we are making home cooked meals each day. Yes I know we are still in crisis mode with this pandemic. Please don’t misunderstand this post as making light of the situation before us. This post is more to show that through crisis there is still good. It’s all in how you choose to look at the situation. I have been sick and I’ve known people that have been sick. I would not wish that upon anyone. What I would wish is that people would choose to find the joy no matter what life throws your way. I did, and it’s pretty freaking awesome!