I’ve decided to document our time where we are supposed to shelter at home in Illinois. Below is how week one went.

Day One

I let him watch shows more than usual, but also we spent some time outside batting the ball back and forth. I guess you can call that recess.

I ordered lunch online and picked it up at Rapid Pickup at Panera (St. Louis Bread Company. in St. Louis.) He wanted a soup with a cookie today. Tonight we are having Chinese delivery.

David is picking up pre-school homework, so we can keep up on his pre-school studies.

Day one went pretty well, hope day two goes good.

Day Two

Today’s big activity was playing outside since it wasn’t raining. David played some kicking the soccer ball with Andrew. I cleared out some weeds and leaves around the yard. I also started up the old mower to see if it still ran. After a few tries, I got it to go. I need to get a new one, just haven’t got to that yet.

Andrew decided that he also needed to mow so I got the bubble mower and he was busy with that for a while.

Late afternoon we went to the bike trail and Andrew went biking. This felt like an all right activity since no one was really around.

So far we found activities outside that we are not near anybody.

David made special food of the day, which was green eggs and ham in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday and St. Patrick’s Day since we couldn’t go to a restaurant or have a get-together.

We also worked on his homework from school. He refers to it as “paperwork.” These papers help him learn his letters. We’re doing six sheets a day so at least we are keeping up on his education.

Day Three

Schoolwork today consisted of word learning. The coloring sheets allow him to match the word to the color. Such as finding the parts of the picture that have the word “It” and color the section purple. It helps him learn his words while coloring with the crayon. I wish they had these when we were kids. I remember paint by number but I look the word one better.

I experimented with pancake making. I made them with Mickey Mouse ears, then added cinnamon, a little sugar along with baking soda to make them taste better and fluffier.

After lunch, we had to get dog food for Chewie. She has a special diet. There were only two bags left at the pet store, I could have hoarded them, but I could imagine someone in the worst shape and decided we’ll get a bag next time.

We were home a few minutes when my husband texted me and said they were closing the bank lobby for a while and that I needed my social security card to obtain the new Real ID driver’s license when I get my driver’s license renewed.

So I headed out right then. I pulled up in front of the bank and remembered that I forgot the key. So I had to head back home grab the safety deposit key and head into the bank.

The bank had changed policy that tellers can’t go into the safe for the safety deposit boxes so I had to wait while the bank officials helped out clients. Finally, after about 15 minutes, they got to me. It seems like every day there is something else with the coronavirus.

Day Four

David decided to rearrange Andrew’s bedroom. This was a good idea. He moved the bed to one side by the window and close beside it he put the green Ikea bookcase. This turned out to be a really good idea and allowed for more space in his room. I wish we had thought of this sooner.

We put in a DVD of Game of Thrones, yeah we’re way behind on this series. Then to top the day off we had a power outage due to a tree following on the wires down the road.

I went to the hardware store to get some extra flashlights and found one that floats in the water for five bucks. I thought this would be useful for the boat.

David got a message from the electric company that they had restored power. We had to go down and trip the electricity. We had to do it for each room so I had to stand on the stairs and check to see where lights were going on at.

We found out that the downstairs refrigerator was not on so we had to figure that out. It just made for a long day today. I hope tomorrow goes better!

Day 5

Andrew watched The Lorax, again for the sixth time. I actually like this show more than I thought I would. Best of all it has a good environmental message on the importance of saving the trees and how they help with clean air.

The hardest thing to do during the day is not turning my attention to the running tally of coronavirus cases. That seems to be haunting me. I have congestion, normally like I do in spring with my allergies, it just feels worst since this virus is everywhere now.

My hope is that no one I am close to dies or myself as well. It is something that really can harm an older person like my parents and aunt and uncles.

My husband has been creative in the kitchen, we had cabbage, pork and mashed potatoes with rice crispy treats. He is doing a lot more cooking since we don’t eat out as much. He is putting together a lot more variety of dinners than before.

I am looking forward to when this is all over though; it is a lot to be on top of each other not knowing when this is all going to end.

Day 6

Today I went out to get a new pair of glasses since I have a vision test at the Department of Motor Vehicles. I am of course being overly cautious but I don’t want to fail or something like that.

Anyway, I headed for the eye doctor. I first had to fill out a questionnaire. Was I sick? Do I know of anyone who has gotten the coronavirus? Have I been tested for the coronavirus?

I think that about summed it up. We could only enter the place one at a time.

My vision was a little worse so doing this seemed reasonable.

As I looked at glasses I had to put the ones I tried on in a basket for cleaning. It was a little odd since I was more conscious of what I picked up.

It was just a very different experience of eyeglass shopping.

I will either pick up the glasses at the curb or they will be mailed to me depending on what the regulations are when they come in. I might receive them faster since they have had a slow down in business.

Day 7

We all worked on puzzles together. It is a new thing we’re doing and since it was a cold rainy day, we couldn’t get out of the house.

After having gone to the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney our son wanted to watch some of the movies. David found The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones playing on the cable channels. We decided against Revenge of the Sith since that one is pretty scary for a four-year-old.

I forgot how much I really didn’t like the first one, it was to slow and I didn’t care for the storyline. It was too much of a kid’s story and feels totally out of whack compared to the other movies.

I actually find the second one passable since at least you get to see the scene with Yoda and the young Jedi and the answer to the disappearing planet. That was one of the better scenes. We also went to Dublin and saw the Trinity College library that the Jedi library was based on. We watched both these shows.

David and I settled down to a gay romance movie. It was nice to spend some quiet time together while Andrew was asleep. Nice ending for the day.

LINKS:

Dublin Has A Star Wars Connection

At-Home Activities with Kids During Coronavirus