1. Yesterday, I purposely avoided any news of the current situation we find ourselves in. I did not read the numbers. I did not read the headlines. Whenever my mind started to wonder or wander, I reigned it back in and asked for some Help keeping my mind focused. I haven't felt such peace in weeks.
2. Today, I looked at the numbers and read the headlines. I let myself linger there for a few minutes. I stayed long enough to collect facts, but not long enough to feed the fear.
3. I've never been more thankful for the way the oldest 3 do school. It was no change for us and their teachers have been so, so amazing. One of T's teachers in particular had me in tears several times last week as she spoke calmly about the situation, reassuring the students. She's very matter of fact, but just has a way about her that brings peace. I sent her a note and told her as much.
4. A few nights ago we had an amazing time of prayer with the kiddos. Full disclosure: it's not the norm. We had reached a breaking point. Everybody was fighting, fuses were super short and anxiety was through the roof. Sean's job, the military aspect that lingers, typical brotherly clashes...it was a day! I had everybody settle in in the coffee nook. Isaiah 26 was the focus. (It was all somber and holy until someone realized there is a verse in the Bible about farting. 'Tis true. Read Isaiah 26 and find it for yourself.) The reason I bring all this up besides trying to make everyone think I'm super holy and righteous is to ask: do you pray with your eyes closed? One of our littles was really shy about praying out loud. Closing our eyes and bowing our heads only made it more awkward. I get the reverence aspect and blocking out distractions, but in practice: do you chat out loud to God? Do you keep it in your inner most thoughts? Do you set aside time to close everyone else out and spend guarded time alone in prayer? Or do you giggle shyly, quietly say what's on your mind and find comfort in knowing He hears and He cares?
5. A separate, but related point: Each kid was asked what/who they'd like to pray about. Know that every single family that we know who is still stuck in Japan was prayed for by name.
6. Jude learned to whistle. He's really good at it. It's been raining for two days. Jude learned to whistle.
7. I've made more than quite a few quilt tops lately. I was planning to do some sandwiching, basting, quilting of my own, but my favorite long armer just announced all of her quilting is a penny a square inch. That's huge savings! It would still cost a small fortune to send off all of my tops, but if I send them off, I can start more tops instead of focusing on the parts of quilting I dislike.
8. One of the first friends I made upon moving back home happens to have a ton of Sakura trees on her property. I visited her home for the first time in the Fall and didn't really take notice. I saw her amazing yard as a whole, not the individual pieces. A few visits later, my heart flip flopped as I recognized the knobby knees of my favorite trees. She was kind enough to share a few weeks ago before the plague was upon us:
10. Could anyone have ever imagined we'd be here? Who would've thought it would make it from funny memes to lockdowns in, what, one months time? I really like the idea of having the kids journal their feelings or perspectives during this time, but I know that won't happen. Not my kids. Write? For the future? Nah. This may be an attempt to do that for them. To remember the time we were all forced together for a long stretch of time. Our Monday-Friday hasn't changed a heap, but it's a little different knowing the rest of the world is locked down, too. It's different knowing we can't just run to the store whenever the whim hits. We can't even load up and go for a picnic. We haven't been out of the house as a family unit since Jude's birthday. I have never been so thankful for a day at the beach with my kiddos. We went for donuts and ice cream that day. We went to the fabric store where I made a joke about "stocking up for quarantine quilting." We stopped at the guitar shop for Felix and we rounded out the day with Sparrow falling asleep in the car just in time for some Nordstrom Rack clearance shopping while we waited on traffic to clear from the tunnel. It was a jam packed normal day, three long weeks ago. It was before I was super concerned about how far X number of bread loaves would go and how many ways I can play Tetris with my freezer. I wonder what three weeks from now will look like...
**A bonus #11. We've been taking walks through our neighborhood at least twice a day, if it's not raining. We met more neighbors on one walk than we've met in the many years we've lived here. One of them I met three years ago. I made a joke about having to go all the way to Japan to get Sparrow. She laughed and laughed and I just stared at her. It occurred to me after the fact that maybe she didn't realize we left for two and a half years. Maybe she thought I meant we adopted Sparrow from Japan? Either way, it was awkward. Anyways, on our walk the other day, one of my children said completely out of the blue, while staring up at a large Magnolia tree: "Well, mom, those would be good leaves...if it comes to that." Ba dum pshhhh #toiletpapershortage
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