Quarantine Journal Week 5
Another week.
They all run together now.
It is starting to feel like this might not ever end – but also, could the end be near? There are few signs of improvement here in New England while my friends in Texas talk about things beginning to open back up.
There’s talk of my sisters not being able to go back to college classes in the fall. How long will Ben be working from home? When will Lincoln and Adelaide start referring to Grandma’s house as our house?
There is little of note to report this week. We made another delicious pizza for our regular Friday night pizza night. We had Chick-fil-a for our weekly outing (to get the food and bring it back to the house). We started rewatching While Collar at night while Ben keeps working from the couch.
We read 150 Jack Prelutsky poems. We looked at statistics on new cases and death tolls. We gave Westley his first bath with his siblings.
Things making me happy this week:
- Running: Well, having had run is making me happy. The actual running isn’t all that fun for me, yet. I ran my first 3 miles on Saturday (I think I ran that distance once or twice before in college after breakups, but I can’t be sure).
- Sitting: Westley is getting much better at sitting on his own and it is a whole new experience playing with him sitting up.
- Playing games with Lincoln and Adelaide: We haven’t done a lot of structured learning in the last few weeks and then I realized that playing games was doing just that. Connect Four is strategy and counting. Spendor is addition, subtraction, and strategy. Candyland is more counting and fine motor skills. I’m enjoying the start of this new stage of playing games with the kids that we both enjoy and I’m not feeling bad about doing few other structured activities.
- Reading: I read zero books our first month of quarantine, compared to my usual 8-10 books per month so I’ve been carving out more time in my day for reading. Right now I’m listening to “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman, “Savor” by Shauna Niequist, and “Attachments” by Rainbow Rowell. I’ve also started reading a hard copy of “The Christ Who Heals” by Fiona and Terryl Givens and it is even better than when I listened to the audio in February. This book is giving words to a lot of what I believe about my relationship with God and is SO beautiful.
- Sisters: Ben has been working very long hours and it is so nice to have my favorite adults to talk to and share my days with.
- Outside: Getting outdoors is such a pick me up for all of us. Remind me after all of this is done that we need to prioritize more time in nature. Here in New Hampshire just a walk around the neighborhood feels like a hike (the trees! but also the hills).
Favorite purchases this week(ish):
- Trader Joe’s hylouranic acid: I use this before my moisturizer in the morning and it is really hydrating. Plus, the price can’t be beat. You can order it on Amazon but it’s about 3909 more expensive (see it here). This is a good alternative if you aren’t grocery shopping at Trader Joes these days.
- Retinol + Vitamin C serum: THIS is one of my favorite beauty purchases in a long time! My skin feels more supple and looks brighter after just a few days of using this.
- Indestructible baby books: These are designed for babies to eat, bend, rip (except they don’t actually rip) and Westley LOVES them. I ordered a few more last week and it is so nice to be able to give him a book that I don’t need to worry about him ruining (or eating cardboard).
- Cozy black joggers: I got these from my favorite Amazon brand and have been living in them ever since. They’re thick and soft. I love the cropped length and ribbon waist tie. They’re a great quality for the low price point and come in a handful of colors. They run slightly big so if you want them tighter, size down (I stuck with my regular size and they work just fine).
Previous Quarantine Journals:
