staying in, week 11

Keeping track of the days during quarantime is hard enough, and then throw in a 3-day weekend, and I'm amazed that I managed to write this post on time. But here we are: end of week 11, and still staying in. My state is opening up a little, but still in general under shelter in place orders until mid-June, which is good with my family. Definitely planning on waiting a solid 2 weeks after some of the loosening restrictions to see where things go before we change any of our activity level, for our safety and others' as well. (And acknowledging how lucky I am to have a work from home job, have outdoor space, and be a homebody anyway!)

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Good things

Here are some of the little things that made me appreciate life this week, even if the to do list did feel a little out of control at times after a long weekend:

Best book: Happy and You Know It was a fun and quick read - one of those moms with juicy secrets stories that takes kind of a farcical turn but is an enjoyable ride. Also (totally different) loved The Wild Robot Escapes, one of my May TBR books that I finished in a couple of sittings as well.

Tastiest recipe: just revisited this no-bake peanut butter bars recipe and it is SO GOOD.

Most fun delivery: a beautiful embroidery kit that I purchased from the shop of a reader - so glad she commented when I mentioned thinking about trying out embroidery, because her wildflower patterns are so pretty, and they look manageable for a beginner too!

Extremely appreciated taste of summer: around here, Memorial Day weekend came with summer-like weather - never know when that's going to happen in Michigan - and it was a treat to have this taste of summer along with a 3-day break from juggling work + homeschooling. Lots of reading and walking time while the boys went golfing (which is open here now), plus some time on the shores of my favorite Great Lake too. YAY.

Best pre-summer kid wardrobe upgrade: the arrival of summer-like weather also comes with the realization that Hendrik has outgrown swimsuits, sandals, summer pjs, you name it. Have had to place a few online orders accordingly, and I can't get enough of how cute these pjs are (especially compared to the not-cute action hero selections from Old Navy and Gap, which are totally failing me on boy style right now).

Best pre-summer me wardrobe upgrade: I went ahead and ordered the Everlane midi dress from my recent wishlist, and I definitely intend for this to be my new summer uniform. Fit and fabric are great, and I feel like I've got some pretty cool-girl vibes going on here.

Most satisfying to-do done: dropping off a whole lot of cans and bottles outside a youth ministry building - they will return them for the 10 cent deposit when it becomes safe to do so, using the proceeds to support their youth programs, and I get to be done having so many cans rolling around my house (after the, admittedly, pretty much daily beer drinking going on for the last 11 weeks...)

Bummers

Of course, still feeling plenty of feels about life as it is in corona time, even if I do feel a sense of peace from having made a decision for our family that we're still staying in for the time being, even if some restrictions are looser - that one decision helps with the decision fatigue of the current state of the world, because it just does away with having to consider whether certain things are safe, if we just skip most things for the time being (but this article about the risks of various summer activities was super helpful for thinking through some practical approaches in the months to come!)

Bummerest cancellation: school has been cancelled for ages, but I'm just feeling it right now, the idea of Hendrik not getting to finish out his first official year of school with his class. After all the hemming and hawing and discussion about whether to put him in first grade for this year (which we're so glad we did), what a different year it turned out to be... He's doing totally fine, but I'm still mourning a little his loss of the full first grade experience.

What I miss the most: going for hours at a time during the day without anyone talking to me. Ha!

Overall feeling: kinda burnt out. I've actually had opportunity for some breaks, thanks to various things like Peter having occasional half days, the long weekend, and also Hendrik generally being pretty good at entertaining himself, but the combination of trying to work and take care of a house and also have a kid around all the time during it is just leading to some burnout. Especially when I consider how even if we get rid of the homeschooling portion of it all next week, I've still got this kid around all the time with no camps or babysitters, and I still have to work! I'll have time to get it all done, but still, it's the having to do it all at the same time thing that's just getting to me right now.

Hope you're continuing to hang in there!