what we've been up to during this strange time

I thought I'd share a little bit of what we've all been doing since COVID19 has overtaken the world.  Plus, my blog is mainly for my own self, and I'd like to have some of this documented so that I can look back on this strange time.

The first thing I have to say that I've been doing is laughing over images I see on social media.  I don't need to read any posts that make me anxious, and I keep unfollowing people on Facebook, but I can definitely appreciate some posts that make me laugh.  I need to laugh.  Needless to say, when I saw this next image, I laughed out loud and had to send it to the ongoing group text my sisters, mom, and neice having going.

Is this not hilarious?  I am one such person in need of some fresh highlights, and I only do it three times a year, and now this has stopped me from going.  You just have to laugh.

And then I thought I'd share the natural highlights that are coming in, and now I'm seriously just contemplating letting all the color grow out and letting it gray naturally.  My late friend Kari did this with her hair, and it was beautiful.  I'll keep you posted.

(A lot of the underneath of my hair is this way...for some reason it's comig in more underneath than on top, though I do also have some grays on top.)

This is me.  I spent a crazy amount of money on groceries yesterday, and it'll last a week, hopefully more.  We'll see.  I'm texting with my friend as I write this, and we're talking about how the stores keep running out of meat.  And about that, I will say this: people need to stop hoarding and stockpiling.  They need to buy what they need, and ONLY what they need, because the ones like me who are doing that will eventually run out of meat, because I'm trying to just make it through a week as a family of six.

And for all my friends who have freezers full of food, I'll be calling on you when I run out.

Kroger, Walmart, and all the other stores need to put a limit on what people can buy.

Okay, rant over, and I'm not talking about that again.

I've loved writing out some Psalms!  I found a new unused notebook and I've been picking one chapter of Psalm a day to write out.  This was Psalm 1.

Yesterday, our garage got cleaned out.  This is a big deal.  With all these people in the house, things get put out of place and all the stuff keeps edging its way more and more towards my car.  They spent a couple hours out there yesterday afternoon straightening up everything, throwing things to the curb for trash or recycle pickup, and sweeping out the floor.  It's so nice having that all cleaned out.

The boys have been mostly at home.  They might go play basketball at an outdoor court where nobody else is, or they might go to the gas station to get a drink, they may drive through to get food, or they may go to a friend's house, but it's always less than ten, and they're not really out in the "public".  It's hard on them, this whole social distancing thing, but they know there's nothing we can do about it, so they're all accepting it.  Drew has actually gone by himself to ATC the past few nights, but there's not anyone else around hardly.

Jonah came home last night and asked if anything like this had ever happened before in our lifetime, and our answer was no.  I keep thinking to myself how weird all of this is.  I've met people in the grocery store who are just as baffled as me about how they keep running out of meat and produce, along with rice, pasta, and beans.  In my personal opinion, I feel like this will die down in a few weeks and especially when warmer weather hits.  That's why I feel like people should calm down, but I know a lot of those people just don't know Jesus.  I don't even want to imagine the shape I'd be in without Him, and I have family members who are lost, and I am praying for them even harder now than before.  He alone can bring us peace.  (If that's you, reach out!  I'd love to talk more about this with you if you don't know Him.)

I've been keeping things as normal as I can during these days with all of us at home.  I like to straighten up each night and get things ready for the next morning, so I took this last night as I was on my way up to bed.

I updated this little area and added more to this board.  I keep piddling around and doing things like this to help pass the time.  I have cleaned and organized and done just about anything else you can think of to keep from being bored.  I'm not used to staying home so many consecutive days in a row, and in eleven days time, I've gotten out four times.  Twice I've gone to church, and twice I've gone to the grocery store.

Speaking of church, we're having ours livestreamed beginning this week.  That being said, we're going about it as normal, and there will be a small praise band and praise team to lead worship, a small tech team, and our pastor will be there preaching.  I love that it'll seem like normal, but with no one there in attendance.

I love for things to look pretty, so I've been buying fresh flowers every three weeks.  The ones at Kroger are so inexpensive and last forever.  I change the water every few days and keep trimming the bottom to keep them from getting gunky.

As I write this, Graham is getting ready to go do a job for their company, and then he'll come back home if he doesn't get another service call.  Drew got sent home from his work until one today, because they're down in their number of kids.  And Jonah and Noah are still sleeping.  Why not?  It's still spring break for them.

Todd and I started a new show last night on Hulu, called Little Big Shots, and it's so good!  I highly recommend it.  Melissa McCarthy is the host (and in this she is both clean and hilarious), and it's all about kids and the great things some of them do.  It is funny and very heartwarming and something the whole family would enjoy.

That's about all we've been up to....I've also been reading a lot, and I told my best friend I'd share my books with her, because I think the libraries will close down eventually.

What have you and your family been doing to stay busy/sane?  I'd love to hear!

Well, thanks for reading!  Love to all.