News at Home: Happy Birthday?!
The 24th kicked off our birthday season and it’s such a bummer! Jesus, my stepson’s little brother, turned 14 on the 24th. They did something at his house but we couldn’t join in like normal. Today is my husband’s 46th birthday and as of 10 p.m. Saturday night, I still don’t know what I’m doing for him. I HAD a plan. I had a babysitter all lined up and we WERE going to a murder mystery dinner. He always says he thinks he could do great because of all the TV he watches, so I thought, let’s test that out. But obviously that’s not happening. I’m open to ideas folks, because Amazon isn’t delivering last minute gifts in 1 day anymore. And we’re not doing takeout/food delivery. He’s too scared – he doesn’t even like that I insist on talking a walk every day for sanity.
April 6th is both Franky’s (step-son) and Zach’s (brother-in-law) birthday. Franky is going to be 20 and we’re not going to be able to be with him. It blows. Later in April Franky’s other brother turns 25 and my niece turns 21. Big birthday’s all around. Seriously sucks. And we have our 15th Anniversary on April 24th. So yeah, this is a special time of year for our family and COVID-19 is definitely taking some of the shine off of it.
BUT I will stop complaining and say, this week was decent. Am I thrilled with this new way of life? No, obviously not. But I am learning that it is my new normal and I just need to accept it. We made some decisions and that has helped a lot. Kiko will keep working, I will NOT be going to stay with someone else and Dante will keep going to daycare as long as they remain open. I’m finding a new routine that allows me to take care of myself- I started doing my miracle morning again and to replace my commute – which was ME time – I’m taking Buffy for a walk at the start of the day (after dropping Dante off), lunch time, and end of the day (Before picking Dante up). I’ve basically reclaimed my me time and it’s making a big difference.
On Tuesday Dante got his 6 month shots. The doctor’s office was being super careful – they told me to call when I arrived but wait in the car. They called me when it was our turn and only then did we come into the office. I had a carseat cover over Dante so he wouldn’t pick up a lot of air and I wore a scarf around my face (because a Dr.’s office doesn’t seem like the smartest place to go right now). He did really well with his shots – of course he cried, but he calmed down super quick. They advised me to keep him home that day, since his immune system would be temporarily weaker. So Tuesday I didn’t get much work done – didn’t even try. I decided that I would just enjoy Dante and make up the time the other days. I can’t stress myself out anymore trying to do both.
Wednesday my job announced that they were extending work from home restrictions to April 30th… so yeah, this is not ending anytime soon. Not that I thought it was, but a girl can hope, right?
Thursday I found out that one of the Doctor’s I work for, who has been busy treating patients at one the city’s main hospitals, had been exposed to COVID-19. I knew it was a matter of time before someone I knew was exposed, considering that the people I work with are on the front lines daily. Thankfully, he is showing no signs, so it looks like he’s okay for now.
Friday Daycare notified parents that they can only take children of essential workers moving forward. It seems that since Kiko is an essential worker, that means they can still take Dante, even though I am working from home. So we’ll keep taking him, but it seems likely that we’re getting closer and closer to the point where Dante will be staying at home and I’ll have to find a way to take care of him and work. As of Friday – before the new restriction – his room had gone from 8 babies to 2. Who knows what Monday will bring.
Anyway, I sometimes wonder when we’ll wake up and find out that this has been just one great big nightmare. Who would have dreamed we’d live through the worst pandemic the world has seen in a century? Stay safe and stay home as much as possible. Let’s end this ASAP.
Blog News
I’m so thankful that we started COYER back up! I’m reading slowly but enjoying my reading. This week, as part of my plans to reclaim my normal life, I’m taking lunch breaks again and will start blogging again. At least that’s the plan. If Dante ends up at home, everything will change.
Last Week on the Blog
- [28 Mar] #MyTBR #Review ~ House of Shadows (House of Shadows #1) by Darcy Coates
- [29 Mar] Sunday Post with Berls | Happy Birthday?!
I am sorry to hear birthday season started and you can’t visit anyone :(. That’s just so sad you can’t celebrate as normal. hopefully you can do all those birthdays once this is all over. That sounds good how careful they were at the doctor’s office. And sometimes you just need to do nothing in a day and just take care of yourself and Dante. That’s nice you can still take Dante to the daycare for now. These sure are weird times we’re living in. And I just keep wondering how long it will take. With most of the changes not being as extreme as they could be, does it mean this will all last even longer. Who knows? Stay safe!
Yep, things are crazy. I’m glad you are all healthy and safe. We are good, very isolated. We visit with our neighbors who are also quarantined, so that gives us some other people. My daughter turns 14 next week. Not sure what we’ll do to celebrate. They are doing “birthday car parades” in my town but she’s kind of past the age where she’d get a kick out of it (and too young to appreciate it). Glad you are reading – I’m struggling with that.
Oh, that’s a bummer about all of the birthdays. My brother and I each have birthdays in April and we will not be doing a damn thing. 🙁 My daycare closed 10 days ago and I miss my kids so much. The state has us closed until at least May 4th. I know it’s a good call but oh, I want to be back in the classroom with my children!
It sounds like you all are coping well, even if your husband is feeling paranoid. Honestly, I’m right there with him.
Take care, stay safe! Hugs for Dante.
Lots of birthdays. Hope they had good ones despite not being to together will the whole family. Our states number increase everyday but no stay at home order.
Our states number are increasing every day and no stay at home order but even if it does my husbands job has been deemed essential. I’m a high risk, so no shopping or family gatherings for a little while. Stay safe!
We had a scare with my daughter as she’s a teacher at a school near an air force base here in Alabama which has had a high number of cases and a number of her kids whose parents work there were presenting symptoms. Luckily she seems to have just had regular crud and not the virus. She’ll be turning 23 on April 7 and this will be the first year we haven’t gone to see her around her birthday which will be weird. But we can still transfer her money and I hope she and her husband will find some way to celebrate! My birthday is coming up so it will be interesting to see what we do. Hopefully you’ll figure out something for Kiko! Hope you stay sane and have a great week!
I hope you guys were able to celebrate your husband’s birthday in a special way in spite of all the restrictions. Doesn’t this totally suck lol? So crazy now. All the birthdays and other celebrations that have to be curtailed or put on hold. Ugh. Anyway… hope you guys are well this week and stay safe!
Argh! I had a comment all typed up, hit submit and something glitched! Grr… lol.
I’m sorry that so many family celebrations have been de-railed by the social distancing measures. That really sucks. Hopefully, you’ll all find a way to mark the occasions after the measures lift. 🙂
Lockdown is hard. We’re one week into a three week lockdown and I’m not holding my breath that it will be lifted once we reach the three week mark… But I hope so!
Here’s to staying safe! Hope you have a good week Berls.
Wow, you do have a lot of birthday and family events this month. We have one birthday, but then a wedding in May that my nephew and his fiancee are playing by ear right now.
That was a good idea getting a schedule going and scheduling in some personal time to recharge your batteries.
I don’t know if Kiko enjoys this sort of thing, but I once did a treasure hunt for my husband one Christmas to follow clues through the apartment to his hidden gift. It wasn’t a big outlandish gift. Maybe you could even do a flyer IOU gift for the mystery dinner night.
Have a good week, Berls!
You are doing great. I’m not adjusting as much but I don’t have to adjust as I don’t do much that is critical or timely these days. I am enjoying reading and so glad to have more COYER. I’m so glad you were able to get some ME time into the schedule. I keep working to get a schedule together which may improve with my daughter having online classes starting this week, she won’t be able to sleep all day. I remember when she got her shots. She didn’t cry, she just looked and looked at the band-aid they put over where they gave her the shot.
Stay safe and healthy! Be thankful you have each other, jobs and that beautiful boy! Happy reading!
Wow, lots of birthdays. Everyone will certainly remember this year’s birthday. Not because of what they did (parties, etc.) but because of what they weren’t able to do. Glad you’ve both made some decisions you can live with and are forging a new routine. It really is crazy to think this is real sometimes. A global pandemic in our lifetime. It’s still hard to grasp.
I’m sorry about your birthday plans. It’s going to be rough on all of us. I think Kiko will be happy to have you and Dante there and healthy. Do you have a cake mix so you could make a cake? Or muffins, even? You could always stick a candle in a muffin, a stack of cookies, or some ice cream if you don’t have a cake. As for a present, why not order him something, and give him a homemade gift certificate for whatever you are giving him? That way, he’ll have something to look forward to as well as something he can open on his birthday.
Happy birthday to everyone! I’m sorry for all of the canceled plans. 🙁
Hang in there, Berls! We can do this.
I feel pretty weird myself these days… and my birthday was last weekend, with all my plans cancelled. But I still had a nice birthday, so don’t worry about Kiko. I’m sure he’ll be happy just to be with you, and feel the love.
Teaching online is strange, too – and I miss my students so much! Most of them keep telling me they wish we could just go back to school.
We know for sure that schools are closed until the end of our Easter holiday (which is Sunday, April 19th), but it might be even longer.
I wish you a wonderful week ahead <3 Stay safe and healthy! *hugs*