It is March 19, 2020, I decided to start my day with a run as I always had before everything happened, so I do not have much time to write this morning before I need to get started on stuff for work.
What is new in today’s news: Trump has declared himself a wartime president. I am not sure exactly what this means. I do support him, and I pray for him. I believe that should all be in absolute support of our leaders right now, even if we do not normally agree with them. Our leaders in America are faced with tough decisions. The situation continues to change day by day. They are putting more and more restrictions on citizens in cities across the US. New York appears to be the hardest hit at this time.
Challenges with present situation: The economy continues to be my biggest concern.
While there are those that have an absolute belief that everyone should stay home, and we should shut down the world until this passes over, and there are those that think we should not make any changes at all, I think that most of us are simply unsure. We are angered by drastic actions, driven by media panic, which are crippling our economy, but at the same time we fear not taking the right actions could be catastrophic. The truth is that we just do not know.
On a first world challenge front, I am working all hours of the day. My lower back is killing me because I have been sitting for so long each day. I need to set boundaries, and adhere to a work schedule as I did before the “new normal” began.
Update on the Birds: Brainy Bird met yesterday with the same positive attitude that he has had since this all started. His high school course work is all advanced placement classes, and robotics and the computer science competitions take a great deal of his time. Prior to this all starting, he was simply exhausted. Now, he is well rested, and he is looking forward to starting online classes on Monday.
Yesterday, Brainy Bird asked if he could take Little Chirp to the basketball courts and stay there with him. This is a first. Brainy Bird normally drops Little Chirp off. Brainy Bird is not much on sports. I think that it is twofold, Brainy Bird actually has time and energy, which he did not have before, and he senses that Little Chirp is sort of down.
Little Chirp is trying to hide his worry, but I can see it in his posture, and facial expressions. The highlight of Little Chirp’s day was making salads like Olive Garden’s and going to the basketball court. I think having something to do is hugely important. I am going to give him a schedule of activities going forward.
Things I am grateful for: I am grateful for the company that I work for. The company owners have done an amazing job of helping all of their employees with their mobile work situations, and we continue to maintain our strong company culture. Today, my company is posting a blog that I wrote on the company website. Ironically, the blog was written before the “New Normal”, and the post is about the commonalities of my career as an energy consultant, and my life raising two boys, and the importance of creating a “speak up culture” for both. I actually wrote the post initially for my personal blog, but the piece overlaps into work, and I offered my boss first rights to it. They decided to pick it up, which made my day. I am grateful for all of the people that I work with.
I am also grateful for my clients. I love the people that I am working on my projects with. I am grateful that we are able to continue our project while working remotely. I miss going to Canada.
Shout out to a friend: It is hard to pick just one person for the daily shout out. I honestly could do nothing but write shout outs to people for the next 15 days, and I would never run out of people to write about. Today, I want to give a shout out to Tommy and Nancy.
I met them about twenty years ago. Interestingly, they have played different roles in my life. When I first met them, Tommy and my then husband were coworkers. Fast forward, some years and Tommy and Nancy would join us for our house parties. My mother loved them!
Funny, the things we remember. At one gathering, some of my friends that work for the US Marshall Service, were talking about the arrest of the Texas 7, who were a group of escaped inmates. As one can imagine, the US Marshalls have incredible work stories. At the end of the story Tommy, who works in oil and gas, says, “I stopped for a kolache on my way to work this morning.” This made us all laugh.
Fast forward another ten years or so, and Tommy and Nancy become my neighbors. We both moved to the same neighborhood about six years ago. It is no surprise that we established the same circle of friends in our new neighborhood. I have since moved, and today, they are great friends.
Tommy and Nancy are loving to each other; they are beautiful example of a healthy marriage. They make time for their children, grandchild and friends. They are the life of the party. Nancy is always smiling. I love that Tommy and Nancy support our local restaurants and bars. I look forward to grabbing brunch with them, and our other neighborhood friends when the “New Normal” comes to an end.
Positives with present situation: The biggest positive is that I have so much more time with my boys and my fur kids.
Yesterday’s highlight was that I finally cooked a meal that was not terrible. I am actually a pretty good cook, but cooking is like any skill – “use it or lose it”. I had been traveling so much that I had gotten out of the habit of cooking. This is further challenged by the fact I don’t actually everything that I need to make a meal. Cooking each day is sort of an experiment, figuring out what I can substitute for what. Yesterday, I made a killer Italian meatloaf with our last package of ground beef. I was without bell pepper and breadcrumbs, which the recipe called for. I substituted capers and olives for the bell pepper, and just went without the bread crumbs. Chef Little Chirp gave me his stamp of approval.
It is the little things in life….