New Life-Covid!

hmmm, it certainly has been an interesting week, right? this new life, is a lot of adjustment, right? I surely cant be the only one feeling it, right?

positives-
slow mornings for my kids with extra morning kisses, the no rush life...
endless time, daily with my kids, its kind of magical....
pjs, no makeup, no hair (sometimes no shower) days....
laying in bed doing nothing at 8pm, strange concept....
accomplishing the summer to do list in....whats this month? March....
the calendar only contains activities for who knows how long of....just us, #thedertings....

negatives-
this is scary
the unknowns are scary
I miss people
people are dying
is it floating around us right now? and we dont know it?

I find it very important to document what we are currently living these days---we are making and living history. one day we will look back and it will seem so crazy that our worlds stopped and things were forced to slow down in order for things to heal.

I can already feel a difference within myself....and I see it in others as well. we are taking time to be kind, to think of others and not just ourselves, we are greeting random strangers because we have been given a lesson. a lesson that it all can change at any given minute, on any given day.

I will say when I open my calendar or I hear the kids talking to their friends, its painful. its painful because that was my normal 2 weeks ago and I grieve losing what I thought I had control of....I also grieve because we miss our friends, we miss soccer, we honestly miss school. this week has lasted longer than an EOG testing week---and thats hard to beat! this new normal is challenging, I honestly think working outside of the home will be welcomed back with open arms when we are able to!

my thoughts are random and I am sure there will be more, but for now, I just wanted to jot down----day 11 of social distancing, day 4 of working/zooming from home & virtual homeschooling!

I hope you all are well, I hope you all know that in the end we are going to be so much stronger, better and appreciative when this is all over......can you imagine how glorious that day will be?!

Much Love, Alysha

milestone kids.....

It is hard to imagine what life was a week ago.....think back it was Tuesday, some of us were on Spring Break, some were working a normal workday,  life was good, no chaos, no panic.....and now 7 short days later, there is chaos, there are many unknowns, life is changed forever from the way we lived 7 days ago....yes, things will hopefully return to normal, sooner than later (we pray), but we are changed by this, this is a new life....

I feel the need to document the current events because its like nothing I have ever lived, my kids have never encountered, most of my go to people are living this day to day just like me.....we are in uncharted waters.....the plans we even made Saturday are changed...last week we thought we could schedule weeks to months out, but now our lives are changing quickly.....we can no longer plan for days, we are living in minutes at the moment.

We were supposed to have a teacher workday yesterday, which we did, but it went nothing like it was supposed to, nothing that I thought would happen this is week, is going to happen.....and I am okay for the most part with this new-ness of weird-ness....I am okay, staying home and hanging out with the kids....watching Dennis the Menace, getting back to working out (totally blew that last week)....cooking at home, eating at a decent time....I am not okay with the unknown, the broken heart of no regional math expo, no 8th grade DC trip.....those things make me sad, sad because its weird, its hard to explain, its hard to understand....but mostly I am heartbroken for the milestone kids...

I have one....a milestone kid, he isn't a senior in high school or college, but its a big milestone year (in my eyes).....we are moving from middle school to high school in what we thought would be August, we are now possibly moving there without even finishing middle school. (I am crying, again)....I get it, there are much bigger things in life, much bigger things happening right now to others in this uncertainty....but for me in this moment, this is me, I am living with my 14 year old not going on a school trip to DC, not competing in the district robotics competition, most likely not finishing his 8th grade soccer season (and I am so mad I did not force him to take a pic at one of the games he's already played....but who freaking knew?!?!).....probably not having an 8th grade graduation..I know all of these are not completely canceled, but it does not look good....and I also know there are bigger things happening.....just documenting my heart at the moment.....

I also know there are others out there hurting for some of the same things.....I cant imagine having a senior, I am a freaking mess with an 8th grader.....I am sorry to you moms, dads and grads, I am sorry because it is heartbreaking losing these precious milestone memories with no real warning! Possibly no prom, no graduation, no senior trips, I am certain your list is endless......I am also sorry to those last year of preschool parents, kinder parents and 5th grade parents! Milestone kids are being robbed of many joyful times currently!

As I said before, I get it, I know there are more things in life to focus on at the moment...I know that others had awesome spring break plans scheduled, Easter celebrations, birthdays, weddings, it is a sad, sad time.....but in this.....I HOPE I can overcome the tears sooner than later, I HOPE we can embrace this given gift of downtime, I HOPE that this sickness slows and stops spreading at the current rate, I HOPE and PRAY there are no more lives lost......

I know in the end there is a reason, there is a plan, its all a little blurry at the moment, but it will shine at the right time.....I also, know that these milestones we are missing are going to be replaced somehow with possibly even better memories then we could have imagined!

So for the time being, I am going to embrace this gift of time, snuggle my kiddos, do some (more) spring cleaning.....and make the best of this life changing situation....

I HOPE and PRAY you all stay well, EMBRACE whats been dealt, and find PEACE in our new life.....

Much Love, Alysha