Life Got In the Way!

Look! All my ducks are in a row!

Wow! It's been forever since I sat down to write. This year has been crazy busy and full of unforeseen events. If you had told me what had been in store for us, I would have laughed at you and said you were nuts! 

January brought a serious back problem for my husband. He was hospitalized for 10 days, home health care and therapy for a few weeks then physical therapy for a few months. In fact, he just wrapped up his physical therapy a couple of weeks ago. He was off work for a couple of months, started working part-time from home, then just got the OK to go back to work at the University when the Covid-19 shutdown happened. He has not been physically to work since

January 17th! He's been telecommuting every since and he loves it! 

I've had a bunch of adjusting to do. Not only is hubby working from home, but so is our son. Our son was looking for an apartment when this all hit. That came to a halt when the shutdown happened and now, with working from home with his job from the University, he's putting more time in than he'd be doing physically at work, which seriously limits his time to look for any housing - besides the issues with social distancing and the instability of the future. 

My daughter lives on the other coast and was supposed to fly out and stay out here for 2 weeks. I was hearing rumors of a shutdown and quarantine for those that travel, so gave her a heads up. We were watching things closely, and just before she was scheduled to leave, shutdown happened. She had to cancel so many things that was planned for here, including her wedding. She was coming out here to finishing arranging things for the wedding that was to take place this year, when everything went haywire. She and her fiance decided it was best to cancel and wait this mess all out and then do a wedding out there, close to home. 

Another heartbreaking thing happened was my best friend, Val, died. She was one of the most amazing people I had ever encountered in life. She always made me laugh and was there for me when I needed someone. She would drag me around to places that I would have never have know about. She introduced me to so many things and added so much to my life. She was not only my friend, but a friend of the family and was like another family member - especially to my son. Val didn't have children, so she "adopted" him. She died during lockdown, so there was no public funeral for her. I never got to say goodbye. Goodbye, Val. I miss you so much...

It's been a huge adjustment for all of us. With a wedding cancelled and a best friend gone, lockdown with freedom taken away and having to get used to having two very independent males underfoot all the time, it has been an emotional challenge. Mostly emotional because there was no one to grieve with. There were a few days I just shut down, but I guess I needed to.

However, even after all that,  I can honestly say I'm enjoying the forced proximal closeness of family. I hear all the negatives about the shutdown/lockdown and not really any positives. For me, there are a few negatives, but overall I'm enjoying home life.  I'm shopping more because most is being done online. I have large, heavy things like kitty litter delivered now, but I started that in January when hubby had his back issue. It is so nice not having to put a 35 pound bucket of litter in my cart, take it out and put it in the car, then take it out of the car and lug it in. Now, I just have to lug it in, and that's really wonderful for an older woman like me! LOL Yes, I still have to get fresh, frozen and refrigerated items at a physical store, but that's about it. I have some physical issues with wearing a mask, so I limit my time out in one.

I've also found our family has grown closer. There aren't really any arguments - maybe an occasional tiff, but even they aren't really happening. In fact, I can't tell you when the last time was that we had a disagreement of any sort. Hmmmm....  And out house is small - only a tiny bit over 1000 square feet, so it's not like we can really run away from each other! 

We've all been looking into hobbies - my son has started concentrating on woodworking more. Hubby putters around more but is still physically limited and not able to do what he used to. He's had to refocus and give up some things. His has been more of a mental challenge - having to give up things he loves to do and finding new things.

Me - well, I'm always learning and trying new things. This year, I've been wanting to make my own things. I've been focusing on handmade items to see how many things I can make or repurpose and not have to depend on trying to find the "right" fit of clothes, style, etc. I've taken a few online classes, made my first cardigan, designed my first crocheted top, dehydrating new foods, experimenting with growning unusual (to me) plants, solar cooking and making my own jewelry. I'm sure there's more that I'm not mentioning.

So that's 2020 up to July in a nutshell for me. Life is different - and I'm enjoying it. I'll be sad to see the guys go back to work when this is all over. I'll miss them.