april 12
Today I wore a very silly, but totally radical, 80s prom dress to our Easter lunch. Not one kid mentioned it. Hmm.
Normally, we celebrate Easter by brunching and egg hunting with friends. And never at our house. This year, the crew planned a brilliant quarantine potluck by way of porch delivery. So, I delivered my potatoes to each of their homes and they all made something delicious and delivered it to our home – all without touching! It does feel a bit dangerous or illicit to enjoy items from other households, but I know we are all diligent with the hand washing. And it can’t be any worse than bringing something from Costco into our space. Right? It was a really nice way to simulate community.
Surprisingly, our tiny yard was pretty well-suited for egg hunting! Giles won with 81 eggs (I was never good at the ‘guess how may M&Ms are in the jar’ game. Same with plastic eggs in a bin, I guess). The tell-tale sign of good egg hunt yards is when the dog finds leftovers the next day. Check.
Giles bid goodnight by saying, “Thanks for the homemade Easter.” If I read into this, I think he means I did a pretty OK job of recreating some traditions and happy memories that we have always enjoyed elsewhere. Between this and the green pancakes I made onetime for St. Patrick’s Day, I’m feeling good about my motherhood legacy.
april 13
Feels like I’m getting so used to no obligations each day that when there is an actual appointment, be it a zoom meeting with friends or a virtual tutoring session for one of the kids, it’s an imposition to my schedule of nothing. A day in the life of April 13, 2019 would make my head spin right now.
After our first porch pickup potluck success, my friends and I decided to do it weekly. Up next: Mexican. Homemade tortillas are on the menu!!!
april 14
With all these homemade signs papering local businesses, you can really tell who had a designer on staff – or even someone savvy with a home office printer. Leny’s, the dive bar in my neighborhood, was not so lucky with either.
Defunding the World Health Organization. Wow, that sounds like a brilliant way to coordinate global efforts and streamline relief during future pandemics. Not.
april 15
Just for a taste of the old days, I filed my taxes today.
Remember how March felt like ten years? April is not behaving the same way. The days are flying by! I wonder why that is. I hate that this new existence is starting to feel normal. It feels like accepting “the new normal” is acknowledging that we won’t be returning to our old lives. So then I start reflecting on olden times, like back in February, and it turns out I really loved our lives. I’m mourning that loss, I suppose. Which is a real treat compared to what many others are mourning right now.
diary of coronavirus 
Linds, as you’ve seen by my social media feed, I’ve been mourning big time. Living under the line as it goes. I have always had trouble with authority, and being told what to do, rather than being told I have a choice in what to do is really hard for me. I guess I’m of the “if you’re scared, stay home and don’t go see grandma” camp. I’m trying to log off, and the fact that we had let our production coordinator go—too many mistakes, and not a very good way to “retrain” with all the social distancing, plus the whole money thing—is a good thing I guess because work is busier than ever for me. So I’m just trying to dig into it, but I loathe it, it’s my least favorite, least creative work, and my wrists are killing. Just hoping our business stays afloat and we don’t have to dig too deep into our reserves. We’re preparing ourselves, I mean, no one is buying ads when their businesses are forced to close their doors. So… it’s way rollercoaster-ville on my end. I wish I had a little more free time on my hands so I could feel like a better mom. My high schoolers are literally failing with a whole bunch of capital F’s at distance learning. I guess, like me, they hate authority, too. And, I don’t have enough time to do the gardening I want to do, or take my kids for a hike, or to the beach, or whatever. But, I’ve found a whole bunch of keto dessert recipes which is pretty awesome for Donovan. I cannot imagine being a diabetic teenager… And there’s been some good puzzle building and a few fun rounds of skipbo. So it’s not all bad. Love getting your emails, keep it up – xo’s
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When people talk about this gift of an opportunity to spend time with the kids, slow down, get to all those projects you’ve been saving – I bristle. It’s just not the reality for so many. I wholeheartedly support embracing those goals, if you can! But nobody needs extra guilt right now. And those kinds of “suggestions” seem tone deaf. I can’t believe we are weeks beyond this post (just learning about blog platforms and email responses!) and even deeper into the storm. It’s SO confusing right now about the right way to proceed – the ethically right way, the economically right way, the appropriate public health way. I can’t imagine the added pressures and unknowns you operate under right now. Not that you want to hear this kind of cheerleading, but it’s true: you and Tommy are the most resourceful, persevering, hard-working people I know. And kind and funny and all that other stuff. xoxo
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