Working from Home

Apparently the photos in my April folder on the computer got out of date order. So I posted about her birthday way earlier than I should of. Oh well. posts will be a little out of order for a while. 

Starting March 20, both Ryan and I started working from home due to Covid-19. Ryan worked upstairs in the "office". Yes this is the office, with an 8ft banquet table and a computer chair. It's the 4th bedroom upstairs. It's the catch-all room for all things I don't know where to put them :) I worked downstairs in the kitchen. I worked from the couch some and the kitchen table. Working from the couch was pretty relaxing as I was about 34 weeks pregnant when we started working from home. 

We started keeping Addison home with us on April 10. She really enjoyed "working" with us. We took turns watching her, but I took on most of the time with her. My job was really stressful for a few weeks as we figured out what was happening with students on campus and then events on campus. It was announced at ISU that employees were encouraged to work from home if possible starting March 17. I worked in the office the rest of that week and starting staying home after that. Students were off campus until April 3. Then the decision was made that students would be off campus until the end of the semester. 

Here she is working with Ryan. She has her crayons, stamps, markers, scissors and glue. She is loving cutting and gluing things right now. We also were practicing our letters.

A few things about how our world changed temporarily for you to remember in the future:
- Restaurants and bars closed. Many places frantically started trying to offer carry-out to stay afloat.
- Malls and stores closed. Only essential stores were allowed to stay open. Places like grocery stores, Target, Walmart, and then home improvement stores stayed open.
- Hair salons were closed - this really affected people's routines - ha!
- Dentists offices were closed unless emergency. Doctor's visits were modified.
   My doctor's office went to seeing expecting mom's in person every other visit. They closed one office and left one open. I was still going every week since I was close to delivery. No one could go with me. Many doctor's started doing tele-health and people have really liked that.
- Churches closed and starting broadcasting services online.
- Family gatherings were canceled (for most people). Nolan's birthday party was canceled and so was your's. We spent Easter by ourselves as well.
- People use Zoom like crazy. Zoom is a conference call system. Schools, workplaces, and families were using Zoom to stay in touch.
- Companies halted travel and vacations everywhere are canceled. You get asked when going to the doctor if you have traveled out of the country/state or have come in contact with someone who has.
- All sports are canceled. Basketball, baseball, everything. Pro and high school. The NFL draft was done remotely, which was a big deal. Everyone watched it as it was the only thing sports related airing. Your dad and I did watch a really interesting documentary on the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan :)
- Disney started pushing new movies out sooner than planned and online only to entertain people while quarantined. News stations and live TV is now done remotely. News anchors are broadcasting from their living rooms.
- Many people are out of jobs. Your dad and I have both worried about our jobs as they are affected by this. We had a couple of weeks where we were quite worried we could both end up unemployed and have a new baby! But we think your dad is okay now. I'm still worried about returning from maternity leave.

Ryan went to Fareway once per week for groceries. I stayed home to keep me and the baby safe. Addison was pretty distraught that we had to stay home. She loves to go places (and doesn't care where) so this was hard on her. We knew keeping her home from school would be especially hard. But she did really good for a while. I tried to keep things exciting for her.

There were shortages on many things in the country. When Covid-19 started to get serious here, people started stocking up and hoarding things. Like toilet paper. It's quite the joke of the pandemic. It's shear craziness. Toilet paper went flying off the shelves. It's June 22, and it's still hard to find in stores. We ran out about the first of June and had to buy some :) I am more worried about the lack of good peanut butter on the shelves - ha!

Grocery stores are picked over bad. And it's crazy some of the things that are gone. Like peanut butter, all baking supplies, meat, etc. There is a shortage on flour and yeast because people think they will have to start baking their own bread. There is a huge shortage on medical equipment and personal protective equipment for those treating infected patients. Price gouging is happening. Hand sanitizers is listed at $40 a bottle online (generally like $2 or $3).

It's a scary time. We have no idea what would happen when this came to the US. Other countries have shut down as well. It originated in China. Italy was hit really really hard. We selfishly are thankful that we had our trip to Italy last year!

I personally was and am still quite scared by this whole thing. I first worried about you and myself (while pregnant) getting sick. We never left the house, unless we just drove around in the car. I was and am still worried about taking something to my mom as she is high risk. And then also my uncle Gary as he is very very high risk and is still working with Grandpa in the field. We didn't see anyone from our family for what felt like forever!

I know you will learn about all this in school, but I thought I would give an update from our view. I will continue with more tidbits I'm sure in coming posts!