Social Distancing, Day 8? I think?

It's been an interesting week, maybe the first in dozens... or even hundreds? Yikes. Let's take this one day at a time.

First of all, my family is largely introverted, and this social distancing thing isn't as horrible as it could be. Also, we mostly all like each other mostly all of the time, so that's definitely making things easier. Furthermore, we're not as stressed about finances as I know many people are (even though we've lost A LOT of our 401(k) equity) because James is able to work from home. 

Next up: We had an unpleasant surprise last week when I realized that the brand-spanking-new heat pump we had installed a month or so ago was leaking. I ascertained that from looking at the spreading rust-colored stain and dent in my kitchen ceiling. The company who installed it was so responsive. He came out and brought a bunch of fans and a dehumidifier (which pulled about 2 gallons of water from our ambiance every 24 hours) and is having a contractor replace the sheetrock.

Mal has, as you may know, has a weird hearing thing where certain sounds are "too loud" for him, even if they're not objectively LOUD. Like, he wants his headphones at Urban Air because of the fan that keeps one of the inflatable areas full. The fan isn't actually loud, and Mal can handle much louder noises if it's something like driving down the road with the window open, or blasting a song he likes. 

Anyway, he thought the fan and dehumidifier that were in the kitchen were "too loud," so we spent Friday shut into his room. He vacillated between watching TV, playing Sonic the Hedgehog and/or Lego Minecraft (like with toys), and playing Mario Odyssey on his Switch. Saturday, I shut down the fans to give us a little break. I love hanging out with Mal, but his kid-sized table and chairs weren't doing my back any favors, and I wanted to do some stuff in the common area of the house.

I left the trundle out but down, and Mal enjoyed the seat. We were eating breakfast at his mini-table.

Saturday afternoon, Mal asked, "Can we turn the fans back on? I want to go into my room and have another best day ever."

He is basically thriving right now. I don't have to change things up on him, and transitions are often hard. He doesn't want to leave the house, then once we go, he doesn't want to come back, etc. So this is probably very calming for him.

The fans are gone now, and today it was nice out for the first time in a couple of days. Mal and I are going on walks almost every day (we didn't Saturday or Sunday because of cold drizzle) and today saw three different neighbors we've never seen before. Two were out just sitting on their porches, watching the world go by. I'm sure it's because they're bored out of their skulls, but it was nice to meet them, anyway. The other was planting wild sunflowers in her yard, and she gave us three to plant for ourselves.

We also saw Mal's friend's grandma, and chatted with her from a healthy distance (minimum 6 feet), and Darrell, the neighbor who gave us our irises.

This is the second time he's walked as Mario. Whatever gets him out and moving, right?

We have decided to eat out on the front porch whenever the weather is amicable (and until the mosquitoes put the kibosh on our al fresco dining). Mal got to run around and we had a nice meal, so everybody wins!

#turquoisetable

D's banjo lessons are being held online, and so far that's not something D is comfortable with. I hope we can make it work since we don't know how long it will be before they can do in-person classes again.

We've been able to find almost everything we need at the stores, but that's only because we've taken probably 4 trips to the stores in the past 10 days, and because we have a subscription from Charmin Forever Roll. We haven't been able to find flour, but have about a pound left. A neighbor has offered us a 5 pound bag, so hopefully I can go get that from him soon.

The mayor announced, along with many other "urban" Texas mayors, a "shelter-in-place" order that goes into effect tomorrow. We've been mostly doing what it mandates, except maybe walking down to the lake. I think, as long as we kept moving, it could fall under the "outdoors exercise" category, but probably playing on the playground would be a no-no. Again, *so far* this is not being a huge issue for Mal. let's hope that trend holds fast.

Nothing very interesting is going on in our little neck of the woods, otherwise. So far, the family is thriving from this mandated down time. Hoping everyone else stays healthy and safe out there.