The World is Upside Down and Sideways

Well, so far I cannot say this quarantine time has been eventful...

• Chewy came down with a fever on Tuesday morning--and for a full hour we awaited with increased anxiety for his doctor to call back, to see if perhaps, despite all the precautions, he had gotten the virus.  THAT was a long hour.  Luckily (and who knew I would be saying this is "lucky") it seems he had gotten cellulitis again.  SO...quick trip to the ER, and admittance was in order.  He also got the Covid test--but expectations are the result will be negative.

• Until he is given all clear, I am working exclusively remotely, instead of only half time remotely.

• Then Kif went missing...and that was a wonderful scramble to find him...some how he had gotten outside...not sure when that happened...but now he is back.

• Meanwhile, I have gotten some nice quality moments with the children.  Michael was nice enough to play a board game (Jaws) with me the first night Chewy was in the hospital (when we still were not certain of his diagnosis).  Willow watched silly television with me and snuggled next to me at 1 a.m. (yeah, our time is all messed up here).

• We are running low of toilet paper, and sanity...but we are still here and safe.

And the World Turned Upside Down...

The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
Down, down, down, down

So.  We are here. We are safe. We are uncertain. We are anxious, depressed, happy and scared, angry and tired.  The world has turned upside down.

Today, I worked remotely from home (only 2 days a week at this point), while both children were home.  Chewy worked beside me.  The cats...well, two of them really wanted to hang out with us.  (Kif especially made a nuisance of himself, in a cute and cuddly way).

Frankly, it was a successful work day for me, I got a lot done and was able to do most of my work without too much technical difficulties.  It almost seemed normal.  But.   

Mid-day, I took Michael and Willow with me to go to the grocery store to pick up a few items.  A lot of empty shelves, but all in all, we found things and we are not suffering for things to eat.  It was strange, but also made me thankful for what we do have...and worried for the many people who do not have it so lucky.  

Sometimes it takes times like these to have perspective.  All our troubles and worries--well, they are still there...but bigger concerns eclipse them for now.  And we hold our breath.

January was long..February quick...now it is March?!?!?

Remember New Years?

This balloon does!  It's one of the 3 helium balloons I had gotten to celebrate the new year...and this one has just been hanging around and floating like a ghost throughout our house.  It pops up in our bedroom as we sleep, in the shower when we get up...last night it was hanging out while we were making dinner.  I don't have the heart to cut it and throw it away like the other two (actually, one of the other two balloons made for some helium speaking fun with Willow...)

So...the balloon lives...drifting through 3 months of time---there is a part of me that wants to see if it can at least make it to half a year!

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Meanwhile, life has been busy and...well...life.  Willow has had some issues at school, Chewy got orthopedics for his feet; Michael is finishing community college and wants to study paleontology and film history at UMass Boston....and I am surprised at how quickly we are already past some of our biggest markers of the early part of the  year....

Michael already turned 21 years old!

He needs to get more experiences outside the home socially interacting with people, but...otherwise, he is an interesting, thoughtful young man who loves movies, history, video games and junk food.  He is currently into Star Trek (finally!) and we have watched a lot of old generation and we are up to the Sixth movie...and he is watching "Picard" with us.  

Willow got BRACES...

It is kinda cool to be able to be part of the "braces club" with her, as I remember my time with braces.  She has it a little better--she gets to the have the invisible type, and to help with cavities, they gave us an electric toothbrush and water pick! (A water pick!  -- I want one!)

We went to Total Con--and I had a blast playing the games--Michael was sometimes trying...like I said, he needs more experiences dealing with social interaction and being out in the "world"...but the games, they were awesome!

Willow was a riot playing Land of the Lost Miniatures with me... she boldly (or more appropriately, foolishly) wanted to be the first player in each new scene, so she often was our "distraction" while we ran/sneaked away from danger!  We all laughed so much, our faces hurt!

I also played a Marvel Role playing game (as The THing!) and, of course, an Andre game...I had a lot of fun!  I also got to spend some quality time with Willow and some pool time with her.

So...now we are in MARCH!

Looking forward to Willow's 12th (!!!) birthday, and the spring...although, we really have not had winter too much here at all....

The outside world is scary right now, we are anxious about that, and about our own battles we are fighting...but, we are doing well so far this year!