Corona-cation, 10 Weeks In.

So we've been at home for nine weeks, and are starting week 10.  It's been a crazy, boring, scary, uncertain, anxiety-provoking time.

We have thankfully settled into a semi- routine.  Alec has an online class at 10 am and wakes up at 8am to have breakfast.  The rest of his day is spent playing video games with his friends, chatting in group chats, attending math and band meets, and getting his assigned work done.  He goes to bed around 10:30pm and reads for a bit.  Then wakes up and does it all over again.  We went out for ice cream at Stewarts last week in the evening, and he said in amazement, "This is the first time I've left the house in like three weeks!"

Michaela has been totally self-sufficient with finishing up her online work and as of May 5th she officially became a college sophomore.  She did really well this semester, earning 3 A's and 2 A-'s and made the Dean's List.  She's planning on taking three classes over the summer.  She has some job applications in to places for a summer job, but the opportunities are slim unless you can work in a grocery store.  Most restaurants are still doing take out or delivery only but hopefully will start opening up in the next few weeks.  We've had a couple of bumps in the road adjusting to her being back, but overall she's been incredibly accommodating and adaptable to being home.  It was a tough transition to parenting her as a college student, and then she suddenly came home, and we had to pivot again.  She and Jenna have spent lots of time together, and she's in touch with her friends, but hasn't spent much time outside the house.  Finally yesterday we arranged for her to go to Aunt Jaime and Uncle Michael's house until Thursday, so she could help out with Kane and she could have a change of scene from us.  It's a win/win!

Jenna turned 15 during quarantine.  For her birthday I emailed bunch of her family and friends and teachers and asked for them to send a quick video wishing her happy birthday.  People were great about sending clips and Michaela put them all together into a movie for her to watch.  She planned out her day, which in typical Jenna fashion was mostly centered around meals and snacks, and I think despite our limitations she had a nice day.  I still can't believe she is 15 already.  She is so beautiful and smart and grown up and very blond.  She has her first meet of the day around 9 or 10, and has several throughout the day for different classes.  She's struggling with not having too much structure and needs some supervision to get everything accomplished.  Her phone is a big distraction and sometimes she hands it over to me for an afternoon so she's not tempted to go it while trying to complete her work.  At first she enjoyed not going to school, but now is missing the flow of the day and the in-person socialization.  She and Michaela occasionally join me for trips to the bank or the grocery store, but mostly they are home all day, every day.

Dan is working from home from around 8 am to 5 pm.  The first few weeks of it were a rough transition, but I think he's gotten more used to it.  He takes a day off here and there to work outside and burn off some energy, and has helped both Michael and Jimmy spread mulch on their properties.  He comes up for lunch and for short breaks during the day.  He and I have been watching Netflix series- we finished Ozark, watched Outer Banks, and now are in season 2 of All American.

And finally, I have been trying to figure out what to do with myself.  My business shut down on March 15th and I applied for unemployment on March 30th.  The whole system was so overloaded and dysfunctional, and I only finally got approved and got the first deposits of money in May.  It was incredibly frustrating, with dozens of phone calls that were cut off, paperwork needing to be uploaded, and initial denial then approval, and website malfunctions.  I laid off my workers in hopes that they would be able to get unemployment as well.  The whole relief package that was passed by Congress was a mess, with big companies getting the bulk of the money, long delays and other administrative hassles that only made their programs work for a small number of business owners.

It has been hard imagining what my businesses look like post-quarantine, and to know what the best option is for everyone- my employees, clients, and myself.  The business made money last year, and had 4x the sales of the previous year, but my income was just not enough to justify the amount of time and effort I put into it.  So the question is raised then of what the best path forward is- do I shut down permanently, get another job altogether? Do I keep the cleaning business only? Organizing only? Or move ahead with both businesses in an uncertain climate and take on the risk of exposing myself, employees and clients to the virus?  And if I do move ahead, how do I make it more profitable?

I found a job online at Albany that I was really interested in and applied for it but tomorrow is two weeks and I haven't heard anything.  I could apply for other social work positions in the area, but do not want to be in a hospital or nursing home setting, where the risk of exposure is high.  I could apply for positions at insurance companies, which has good pay and benefits but the work is not terribly exciting to me.  I would likely be able to work from home at an insurance company, at least a few days per week, which would be ideal.

My days are spent getting people fed, cleaning up the kitchen and other areas, doing laundry, grocery shopping and baking, supervising school work and a few projects thrown in here and there.  I've tried to work on some scrapbooking projects and have made progress.  I have been tele-meeting with two clients and that has been nice to re-connect. I led an online Bible Study for BLC for three Thursdays, giving women a chance to see each other, share their worries and look at how the Bible tells us to handle anxiety and uncertainty.  It's like being a stay at home mom again except we can't go anywhere or see anybody.  My heart breaks for moms with toddlers or special needs kids who are getting no break or respite from a constantly- on state of mothering.

Overall, we have been doing okay.  Everything is closed.  We now wear masks anytime we leave the house, and I spent a day making them for all of us and my mom.  I go grocery shopping generally once per week and we might go for ice cream or get take out food on Wednesdays.  We get pizza on Fridays.  Those are our only outings.  There is no sports, no new things to watch on tv except for home-produced music specials.  The summer looks like it will be long and camps, sports, the Saratoga track, and vacations are closed or limited.  The news is hard to watch but necessary to keep up with the changes everyday of what we know and how to be safe.  Just today it was announced that the clinical trials of a vaccine have shown good results and that is boosting people's spirits.  Everyone is tired of this, tired of the worry, the isolation, the loneliness, the changes, the uncertainty and the worry.  NYS is divided into regions and our region looks to start a phased re-opening later this week if more contact tracers are hired.  It will be so interesting to see what happens and how safe things turn out to be.  There is already warnings about a second wave coming in the fall, co-mingled with the regular seasonal flu, and having to shut down again.  School in the fall is still up in the air, and administrators are trying to balance safety with the need the students have for structure, learning, respite, safety, and support services.  A new complication has sprung up in children who have been exposed to Covid-19 and its a scary multiple system inflammation syndrome, taking away the comforting fact since January that children are generally the least-impacted age group.

It's this uncertainty of what life will look like that is so hard to deal with.  But we soldier on, thankful for our safety and financial security and the ability to be together.

Alec needs to use the computer for work, so I'm signing off. :)