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- Well, another week down.
- Today is “Day 13” of quarantine for us – meaning, the kids & I haven’t left our property in 13 days. Oh wait, that’s not exactly true – yesterday, we got in our car & drove over to my sister’s house to drop off my niece’s birthday present. We just dropped it off on their front porch, didn’t see or speak with anyone, and the kids didn’t even get out of the car. Does that “reset” my quarantine count?
- I’m not even sure how to describe the week – other than I feel like I’m going thru the stages of grief: you know – denial, depression, anger. So many emotions, so many feelings. Last week didn’t feel so bad because we didn’t have anything going on – we didn’t have anything on our calendar to get canceled whether the world was spiraling into chaos or not. But this week? This week is an entirely different story. This week – we were supposed to be traveling. Today – I was supposed to be photographing a beautiful wedding. Tomorrow – is my niece’s birthday. Monday – is my Mom’s birthday. So many events we should be gathering together with family for & yet here we sit, alone at home. It’s been rough.
- We did all participate in a “virtual” birthday party for my niece today. That was definitely a fun experience – although not quite the same as everyone gathering together to sing ‘Happy Birthday’, to pass the new baby around, and to enjoy one another’s company. But I guess if virtual parties are the best we can currently do, I’ll take it.
- I think another reason this week has been particularly hard is that we’ve had to seriously consider & talk about some really difficult scenarios – in particular surrounding my sister Amy’s bridal shower. We have it planned for the beginning of May, but with the fog of “unknown” surrounding the next few weeks – who knows if we’ll be able to actually host that celebration or not. It sucks. And it’s not fair – not fair that my sister might not get her traditional celebration as a bride-to-be, not fair that we might not get to shower her with love & gifts & well-wishes, not fair that we have to figure out “Plan B” and “Plan C” because we just don’t know what this virus is going to look like in a month. It’s not fair.
- And, that’s probably why I’ve felt like I’m going thru the stages of grief because it’s not fair, and it does suck, and my heart is breaking over all the things we’re missing. We’re missing birthday parties, and welcoming new babies home, and helping new Mama’s adjust to 2 kids, and time together as a family, and opening up the Lake House, and it’s sad.
- Okay, moving on to happier topics: I wrote the next to last chapter in Derrick & I’s love story this week – did you read it? Everyone is home & in a state of “quarantine” right now, so now is the perfect time to get all caught up, right? That way, when I publish the last chapter – you’ll be ready to go!
- The weather has been slowly turning warmer & nicer and we spent lots of time outside this week. Almost overnight, it seems, everything is starting to (finally) bloom & bud – it’s definitely a bright spot! We cut some branches off of our bushes in the yard & brought them inside to try to force them to bloom faster – fingers crossed!
- The one big bright spot to the week was that my 2019 family album came!! Oh my goodness. Words can not describe how excited & overjoyed I am to hold this massive book in my hands. I’ve been talking about it for a while, but just in case you’ve missed it, I put it in my goals at the end of 2019 that I wanted to create a “family yearbook” from the entire 2019 year. I specifically put it in my goals because even though this has been a task I’ve been wanting to do for 4 years now (I have folders on my desktop called “2016 family album”, “2017 family album”, and “2018 family album” – and none of them are full) I have never even come close to completing it. Well, I’ve been working on it since January, I finished the design about 2 weeks ago, and the book came on Thursday!! It’s massive: I figured, go big or go home, right? So, it’s 12×12 & just shy of 400 pages (200 spreads). I’ve learned a ton over the course of the last 3 months, including some new processes I’ve already started to implement so that next year, the album-making process is way quicker – and I plan to write a whole blog post about that soon (with images of my big beautiful book to go along with it!)
- Since I’m stuck in my house all day long, I’ve been looking around for projects I can work on (in other words, desperately searching for things to keep myself busy). I’ve patched holes in the walls, hung art in multiple rooms, and cleaned/organized alot. That doesn’t mean I’ve exhausted the list of things to do – no way, Jose. I keep looking at my dining room – I would LOVE to fix up the walls & paint in there. I’ve looked up lots of tutorials online & even had some friends share how they’ve repaired/cleaned up their own walls. There is just one thing keeping me away from just digging in & starting it – (okay, 2 things) – 1. I don’t have the supplies & would have to order everything & 2. I don’t have the paint – can you order gallons of paint online? So, right now, I’m in a holding pattern. I can’t make any promises that I won’t be updating you next week on my progress with the dining room walls though!
- Now, be like Abby, and go wash your hands.
