How we are doing with self-quarantine:)

The short answer? Delightfully well:)

I realize that we are in the middle of a pandemic with so many unknowns medically, financially, economically, etc. Yet, at this time anyway, I feel like God has been protecting us and holding us in safety. I am trying every day to stay focused on His goodness and blessings. I often start to feel guilty feeling like I don't deserve for us to be doing well when so many are not, but then I remind myself that I don't deserve any of what Jesus has done for me and to focus on being thankful for God's sovereignty - in the good and in the bad.

Family: I am delighting in this time with our sons. I am sad that our girls are not with us but, in total honesty, it would have been indescribably difficult if they were here with us during the self-quarantine. I am so thankful they are getting the instruction they need and that they are safe where they are. I am also very, very thankful that we have this respite from their behavior. Getting to know our sons during this time has been a joy. We have seen Buddy out of his room more in the past 6 weeks than we have seen him total in the past 10 years. He eats a meal a day with us, plays at least one game with us every day, comes out just to talk to us, and goes for walks on nice days with us (and still gets A's in all of his classes lol!). He is so fun to be around. Buddy often tells us that he loves this time - he is an extreme introvert and is enjoying not having to leave the house lol! Superman is having a harder time. He is an extreme extrovert and being without his friends is very hard on him - but he has a good attitude about it. With his sisters gone it also means that he has taken on some of their chores (all of us reallocated chores so he did not get all of them) and with his lack of attention to detail he hasn't liked that much lol! But he is home! He used to be gone all of the time with sports/friends/school so it is has been fun to get to better know the young man he is growing into. He is learning the board games that we never got to play before due to the toxicity of our home with the girls here and it is fun to see how he thinks:) We have played almost every single game we have in the house - multiple times lol! JJ has been doing so well! He is sleeping through the night (except a handful of nights), his tantrums have all but stopped, and he is doing better with school. The current calmness of our home has allowed significant healing for all of us.

Eating: We have more time for cooking more involved meals and eating as a family. When this first started we asked "speed friending" questions during our meals but now we don't need that to have good conversation anymore. We are making the kids' favorite meals and snacks and Superman and JJ have been learning more about cooking. My husband and I are as dairy and gluten free as we can handle right now so that has also forced healthier meals lol!

Grandkids: I am sad that we don't get to have them over to our house. But, I am thankful that we have gotten to go on walks with them. Bella can run over a mile and keep up with us!! She is quite the energetic child...gets it from her mother;) It is a blessing that we live so close and we still get to see them. I make them treats and we see each other through the glass door now and again:) Oh, and the FaceTime. Bella and Jr. are learning all about "talking" on the phone though FaceTime!!! Today Bella made "blue cake" and "fed" it to us through the phone. She is so precious:)

Daughter and Son-in-Law: We are so thankful for them!!!  We attempt to not leave the house for anything - so our SIL brings us groceries that we can't order in, etc. Last night he brought us take out for the first time in 6 weeks! It was delicious:) He doesn't come in the house anymore but we exchange on the porch and move on:)

Work: I am so incredibly thankful that I can still work, and that I can work from home! While I am grateful for that, I will admit that work is very exhausting right now. Trying to connect with people over a computer screen (I use a HIPPA compliant Telehealth platform) is so exhausting and nothing like meeting in person. On top of that so many people are hurting so much right now:( There are people I am seeing multiple times a week just trying to keep them stable through this time. So many hurting people, so much anxiety, so many unknowns. It is even harder than when the typical advice to people would be to encourage them to interact with others, get out of the house, do hobbies, etc and right now no one can do that...

Unfortunately that means that I am wearing my "psychologist hat" a lot and trying to keep that "hat" on while downstairs working then walking upstairs a couple of minutes later and having to put on "mom" and "wife" hat. It has made for some interesting transitions. Thankfully my family has been incredibly supportive and understanding of my erratic work schedule during this time.

My mental health: I am working hard to do the things that I am encouraging others to do. I get up at 7:30 every morning and run 5 miles (according to my iwatch) on my trampoline. I am taking all of my vitamins and drinking a lot of water. I am in the Word daily reminding myself of God's truths and sovereignty. I am spending intentional time with my family. I am eating healthy. I am doing projects every day to keep focused on goals and have purpose. I definitely have days when I have less energy and less concentration/focus but I try to give myself grace on those days and still do things to feel productive. My love language is Acts of Service so it is important to me to "check things off a list" to feel good about the day. Initially I did a lot of cleaning and baking/cooking. Now I am moving into longer projects that I haven't done for years like catching up on scrapbooks for the kids and getting back to working on a denim quilt I haven't work on in over 8 years.

Connecting with others: This has been a hard one for me. I told myself at the beginning of this that I would be intentional about texting with people to let them know I am thinking of them and trying to be encouraging. However, I have to be honest that after "connecting" with people for up to 10 hours a day via a computer for work I am sick of communication devices and just want to avoid them lol! Even so, I think I am doing a better job than I did before when life was crazy busy for other reasons. With that said, despite me being a strong introvert I am so thankful there are 5 of us living in this house and even I am ready to talk to people in person.  Uff da!

Is everything perfect? Of course not. But when I do start to panic about something (admittedly it has happened quite a few times over the past 6 weeks) I bring my mind back to Truth. I am thankful for how He has protected us during this time. I know that life won't always be as calm as it is right now (and the past 13 years certainly were not!!!) but I am sure delighting in it right now:)