2020 - Chapter 12

Day 1 of Quarantine.

The girls walked to a friends...and stood in the road 6' apart to say HI.

Governor Walz closed schools in Minnesota Wednesday March 18-27. Farmington school district decided to close a day early, on Tuesday, leaving Monday open to give parents/teachers one day to prepare to be off for 2 weeks. We decided not to send Lilli on Monday since she had everything she needed already at home. Alexa wanted to go to her 2nd hour ceramics class to finish her project. She text me right after and I picked her up early. She said there were very few students at school. Only 8 in her ramp class and they combined 3 physics classes and still only had 21 students.

Both girls were home together and had the Budde girls over for the afternoon. They did each other's hair and put together a little of craft supplies they wanted at Michael's so they could stay busy the next 2 weeks. The Farmington school district decided not to give students any new assignments via iPad this week and then next week is spring break. So, they kids have 2 weeks off with no homework.

I stopped at Target to pick up some groceries on my way home and then brought the girls to Michael's for their supplies. We also went to the library to pick out a few books.

Day 2 of Quarantine -

Adam took Lilli to the middle school to pick up her math workbook and smelly gym clothes. The girls stayed busy by making shamrocks for our front windows. People in the community are posting them in their front windows/doors for people to drive by and find them. We are supposed to be in groups less than 50 people with a distance of 6 feet away from each other and stay at home as much as possible. The girls have been walking the dogs, writing in their bullet journals and painting.

Today the government announced the shut down of all bars, restaurants, arenas, fitness centers, hair salons, nail salons, spa's , libraries and community buildings. Crowds are down to 10 people or less. People are losing jobs. This is getting so scary. Today is St. Patty's day and for the most part there has been very little mention of it. Jolene, Stacey, Michelle and I did a virtual happy hour with our green beer.

Day 3 -

Trying hard to keep the girls on a normal schedule, not letting this get too out of hand. It's not summer break, after all. The girls are busy reading, painting, walking the dogs, doing their dances. I did a check in with my family and Ben is currently unemployed as Finnegan's brewery is closed. He had to help his 12 employee's apply for unemployment. Crystal closed her office and is working from home. Kelly is no longer traveling, and working from home. Tiny and Courtney are preparing their students for distance learning. And mom and dad continue to work and take care of grandpa Carroll and grandma Katie. My mom is doing their shopping and delivering their items to their garage with gloves on. She's not letting them leave the house and my mom is not allowing anyone in their house, including herself.

Day 4 -

The puppies are loving that the girls are home and in quarantine. They are waking them up with snuggles in the morning and getting 2 walks in, at least, a day. Lilli is doing work outs with me after work. And we are finishing each night with popcorn and Boy Meets World. I am loving this extra family time. Even tho the world is in the craziest place right now.

Day 5 -

We went from 9,400 cases of COVID-19 yesterday morning to 14,000 this morning. It's saddening to see all the events on our calendar not happening. We started implementing Daily Family Challenges. The girls came up with the first one, which was a yoga challenge. It was super fun. We did a FT HH with our friends and then watched BMW.

I was up super early Saturday morning. I let the dogs out and drank my coffee while watching the dreadful news. The COVID-19 is taking over our world. We staged a fun little photo of the girls in swimsuits on a floaty to wish Kaylee a Happy 16th Birthday and did another fun little photo shoot outside with the girls.

We ran out of popcorn this week and haven't been able to find any at the store, so we went on a mission and found some at HyVee. Adam grabbed the last 4 bags. We are also only allowing one of us in a store. The girls haven't been anywhere since Michael's.

We did a big Grout Family House Party chat which was super fun, a little chaotic, but so great to see everyone and catch up with how they are all doing. We also chatted with Dre and Cesar in NY. NY is the biggest hot spot for the coronavirus right now. It's so scary to see hospitals running out of ventilators and equipment. They don't have enough masks even for their own staff.

The girls and I woke up and wrote some fun cheerful messages on the front sidewalk in sidewalk chalk. Adam cleaned the garage and he and I took a scooter ride to the Budde's where they made him a bloody mary with gloves on. We stood 6' apart in their garage and visited for just a short while. It's so weird how this is becoming our new normal.

Adam finished the garage and shed and the girls and I wrote in our bullet journals together. We took the dogs for a walk and did our daily challenge. We drove to our church where Fr. blessed us from our car.

We made nachos and watched BMW.