To Remember This Time: Days 12 & 13

When I blogged last night (technically speaking, it was early in the morning on Saturday...and right now, it is early in the morning on Sunday...so does that count as last night or not?) :), I should have mentioned that that blog post came about, thanks to David.  You see, as we were wrapping up the Phase 10 game we played as a family late that night, I had mentioned that I wanted to blog; but by the time the game was done, I was so tired that I knew my energy would be completely gone by the time I got the little ones in bed and could turn my attention to the keyboard.  Rather than letting me go collapse in bed as was my intention, David used his considerable powers of persuasion to convince me to stay up and blog.  Actually, what he really did was tell me, "I'll go down and get you a Vanilla Coke and pour it into a glass with ice for you, so that you can drink that and then blog!"  :)

Which is exactly what happened!  :)

So THANK YOU, David, for your nudge to push through my fatigue and write.  I am very grateful.  (And the Vanilla Coke was delicious.)  :)

Now back to the story...  :)

When Jeff went to Harrisonburg on Monday, March 16, to work in the barbershop there, he went alone since there was no need for the rest of us to go--and in fact, really nothing for us to do there.  At the time, we knew that it might or might not be his last trip to Harrisonburg for quite a while, so I made sure to gather up all the materials we had borrowed from the library and send them along with him so they could all be returned.  I suspected the library would close and would not impose late fines if items were not returned promptly, but I thought it safer to not take any chances and go ahead and get everything back where it belonged.  That was one of those little tasks that eased my mental burden and helped me feel ready to settle in and stay home for the long haul.

As the following Monday, March 23 (Day 12) approached, Jeff deliberated for HOURS, trying to figure out what was the best thing to do--to go and keep his 20 or so appointments there, or to stay at home and prevent the possible spread of germs.  At that point, the governor of Virginia had not issued any rulings about barbershops, so he was certainly allowed to go to Harrisonburg for his normal work day.  But after much deliberation (and after hearing back from a friend of his in the Harrisonburg area who is an ER doctor), Jeff finally decided to not go.  I wasn't going to tell him what to do, but I was relieved when he chose to stay home!

I believe it was actually on that day that the governor held a press conference and announced that he was indeed closing all non-essential businesses...and that means barbershops.  The handwriting on the wall that Jeff had seen a number of weeks prior had come to pass, and he was officially out of work.

And so, we began to settle into our new routine as a family.  A family of eight.  All stuck in a 2,500 square foot house together.

It's a good thing we like each other.

A lot!!  :)

On that Monday, we read some books together and did some school things (our homeschooling can continue without major interruption to it, and I'm grateful for that).  But the big project of the day was an assignment that was motivated by a story in a neat book called Story Starters, but rather than having the kids write an ending to the story, I asked them to decide together how to act out the story and, using David's impressive technical skills, make a video of it!  I absolutely loved watching them work on this project throughout the day, and I was thrilled with the result.  Here it is...  :)

For dinner that evening, we had balsamic chicken (a family favorite, for sure), salad, and yummy Italian bread.  And later that evening, Benjamin had his turn to choose a special activity, and he chose a Scooby Doo movie--which some of the family watched, but not all.  Benjamin didn't mind.  ;-)

Day 12 was a good day.  :)

Tuesday, March 24 (Day 13) was Jeff's first day of not going to work at his regular job here, the barbershop in Pentagon City; and we enjoyed having him home.  I had to laugh though because Jeff kept thinking it was Wednesday and had a terrible time remembering that it was Tuesday!  :)  He asked me several times about the women's midweek service that evening...except midweek is on Wednesday, not Tuesday, so there was no midweek.  :)  Without the regularity of trips to Harrisonburg and work at the shop here, what do we organize our weeks around to keep the days from getting all mixed up?!  :)

The big event of the day really was a big event.  :)  I had been toying with the idea of getting a haircut, but I'm not sure if I had even mentioned it to Jeff.  On that day, however, I asked Jeff out of the blue if he would cut my hair, and he said yes!  I'm no good at estimating measurements, but I think it's accurate to say that he cut off 8-10 inches.  He can correct me if I'm wrong.  ;-)  From having long hair that I almost always wore pinned up (because I HATE having hair in my face) to suddenly having a very short hairstyle was quite a difference, but I was thrilled.  No regrets.  :)

During the rest of the day, we again did some homeschool things; and that evening, we had a dinner of delicious curried lentils and rice, along with fresh veggies, before Jeff's chosen family activity: Ticket to Ride.  David won with an extraordinarily high score of 348, having managed to connect all of his trains in a row and thus earning a huge bonus, as well as completing some mission cards.  Very impressive!

Day 13 was a good day, too.  :)