QOTD: 03/30 Something Different
 

I'm going to forego the Friday Fun Facts so if anyone wants to take that over, please do so. It was fun to do but I was running out of things to ask and I'm busier now with my CT work, so please....if anyone wants to keep it going....go for it!

I'll continue the QOTD on Mondays. That's easier for me to do. So, today's question is.....

Tell my something that is different...in your schedule, your menus, your exercise routine...anything you can think of.

A fun positive thing that is different in our neighborhood is the hearts that are being spotted around the neighborhood.

I first noticed a rock with a painted heart on it, placed on a tree stump along the river path. Then I noticed my neighbor has many paper cutouts displaced on his windows.

Then I found another painted rock along a different path a few days ago. I think there is some kind of game going on for the neighborhood kids, to see how many they can spot when they are out for walks. What a simple way to bring joy, to have fun.

I get to telecommute so now I wake up early, hit the treadmill, and then work. I have my afternoons free to hang out with my daughter!! I'm loving this!

Our two college students are now home, but they can't have friends over with Ohio's stay at home order, so it's really quiet here, definitely different as typically when the boys are here all their friends are here, too!

Hubby and I are still working, so in that area, nothing has really changed.

We enjoy breakfast at a local greasy spoon on Saturday or Sunday mornings ... and we both really miss that!!

I miss not being able to run out to JoAnn Fabrics, JCP, etc on my lunch break. I'm definitely saving $$ through this all! LOL!.

I work from home anyway, so the only thing that's really changed for me, is that I can't pop out to the shops whenever I want. Didn't realise just how many times I jump in the car to get something on a whim. I'm definitely saving petrol :)

While you're seeing hearts in your neighborhood, Rae, I'm seeing lots of chalk drawings in my neighborhood when I go out for a walk. There are lots of rainbows, flowers, sayings like "We're all in this together," "Be Positive," Smile," etc. I think it is very uplifting!

As for schedule, since I started working from home, I do not need to wake up very early to get the kids ready for school.

My exercise routine was disrupted as I usually go most week nights to Jazzercise. Since gyms are closed, I sometimes do the home videos. Starting Wednesday though, there will be live FB classes from my local Jazzercise so I will be slowly but surely getting back to my routine again.

Lastly, I miss going out shopping! I am a shopaholic so before this COVID crisis, I usually shop or window shop at stores like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Kohls, Home Goods, Sierra, Home Sense, Michael's, Joann Fabrics, etc.

I'm still working at the office but my kids are home. I'm happy to not make lunches every morning. Ha!

My gym is closed so I've been working out at home. I mostly find workouts from Instagram accounts that I follow. My gym is also posting daily workouts. This morning I scored two 10lb and two 15lb weights at Walmart. I had two 5lb and then the next smallest I had are 20lbs. So yay!

I am now working from home and trying to help my son with his now "online" school. We recently moved so it's been nice to have the extra time to unpack and decorate, but it's also frustrating because I can't go to the store to buy things I need to get. My son has been struggling with the new format for school. Our new house has a nice office that is actually designed for two people to work in it. I had these grand visions of us working in there together and enjoying it, but he's easily frustrated with his work and seems to have questions when I'm in the middle of something, so it's not been the relaxing scenario I was picturing. Plus my husband is now working out of town a few days a week so that's been different too. Normally I enjoy having alone time but with all that's going on I don't like that he is gone so much now. I have enjoyed not going into the office and having more time at home, but sure don't like the reasons for it all.

A neighborhood near us put out sidewalk chalk for people walking to decorate a square of the sidewalk with positive or inspirational things.

I donated ALL of our sidewalk chalk about 2 months ago!!! ALL OF IT! LOL!!!! I see a lot more families walking together. I love seeing that!

Im with Kjersti; I love all this togetherness. I just wish I didn’t have to manage school for my kids.

My favorite part of the lockdown is that we’ve been watching movies every night after dinner together. We watched the Lord of the rings last week, and now we’re watching the hobbit. My husband read these books as a kid with his parents, so they are really special to him.

I am LOVING having all my kiddies home, even if they are going a bit stir crazy! We have watched a lot of movies!

I love the 'no alarm clock' thing, but miss my babies.

I love seeing all the neighbors outside and walking (at a safe distance)

Not fond of cooking every night! LOL

Between the schooling and the increased cooking and cleaning, I feel a lot busier than I used to. I've switched from teaching preschoolers 3 days a week to teaching my own kids 5 days a week. (My 10th and 5th graders are pretty independent, but my special needs 8th grader needs a lot of support to stay on task, adult assistance with handwriting, etc.) I had visions of all the fun family time we'd have while staying home and ideas for all the scrapping and home projects I'd do, but I'm kinda laughing at myself now. All complaining aside, I feel so lucky that we have paychecks coming in and that all 5 of us are able to stay home!

There's quite a bit different right now...

Work: I am working 1/2 at office 1/2 at home.

School: Kids are all home and this week we start our new "curriculum" from the school, they will be delivering the work to each house daily with a sack lunch. We live in a very poor little town, and most kids probably wouldn't have lunch, if it weren't provided by the school. We have about 300 kids total in our district (that's K-12).

Life: We're avoiding any special trips to the grocery store, which is helpful on the budget; we typically run down to the little store in town a couple times a week. I went out this weekend, and told the kids, no more for 1 month, make it last, or make it from scratch! They've also been finding new recipes for us to try for dinner, since I have a little extra time to get that done during the week. We've done quite a few "family PE" nights, where we go for a walk down to the river and back with the dogs or play volleyball in the grass.

Me: My anxiety is sky high and my creativity has tanked. Trying to force myself to take my camera out as that's a huge stress reliever. Hubby asked me if he could help by making dinner tonight, so that I could log my hours for work. We've also been getting out to hike in the mountains (far away from ALL people) - Like we traveled 1.5 hours up into the mountains on Sunday for our hike.

Family aren’t working for however long
No job applications to do cause there’s no jobs to apply for

The only thing that has really changed for me is not being able to go to certain stores or go to my inlaws for coffee. Things like that. I am a SAHM so I'm home a lot anyway....oh, and having my husband & son around me 24/7. We do make sure we have our own space and not get in the way a lot but I love it that I can go to my son's room and just talk to him anytime I want (same with my husband).

I get up at 6:00 am instead of 5:00 and don't always shower right away. Life has become more leisurely because there is no where to go and nothing to do. It makes me feel lazy.

the most noticeable difference is the kids not being in school. Other than that, both my husband and I are "essential workers", so we're still going in for our regular hours. I work in a group home and he works in the hospital setting. I worry about the kids starting their e-learning and keeping up. I know everything will be okay, I just....worry. It's my thing. LOL

Love your siggy! Having my hubs around 24/7 is weird. I'm so used to working at home during the day and it's just me and Taz. We've been having lunch together every day when normally I'd be at my computer, scrapping and watching something on my laptop.

I saw something online this morning, it said something about 9:00 pm being time to change out of our daytime jammies into our nighttime jammies :)

Yep! I've been really slack about what I'm wearing b/c I don't go anywhere except to walk Taz around the neighborhood. I'm curious to see what everyone's hair looks like at the end of this. Mine is already growing out and needs a trim.

The biggest difference for me is that everyone is home right now. My husband and kids are able to work from home. We're definitely going over our data limit for the month!

I'm worrying about my parents; their jobs are both classified as "essential". My dad has been sick and he was instructed to go get tested this morning. Not sure how long it'll be until we know if what he has is COVID or something else; all the other tests have come back negative. They don't live close to me, so I can't really do anything practical for them. So I call to check on them and worry. :unsure:

ME TOO. I'm an every-6-weeks haircut kind of girl, so this is going to get ugly, I think, lol! Oh well, I was thinking about growing it out a little bit anyway, so here is my chance. Other than longer hair, one major change has been having my husband around 24/7, which I actually LOVE. We are having a good time together. I've been staying up later because sleeping is getting difficult, so I'm waiting until I feel really tired. I'm still getting up early, though, because that is such an ingrained habit.

What isn't different?

Actually, the only real difference is work. Since school buildings are closed we are revamping everything. My work day is so much different. I don't have any specific hours at this point. It looks like, for the next 7 weeks, that I will be doing a virtual STEM lab from home once a week. I feel like I need to do more. A lot more. However, I am also rather reluctant to put myself in a position of going into work each day to be around people when they might have come in contact with someone who has been exposed. Its making me a bit crazy.

I was already working from home two days a week, so there was really no transition to working from home 100%. I know some people are having to get used to that. I am so thankful that I can still work full-time, but I haven't had much time for scrapping, so that has not changed.

Even though our son is a college commuter, it has been a real adjustment for him, since he was gone a lot with studying and activities. He now has all of his classes online, so that's a change. Fortunately there is Facetime, so he can keep up with studying with his friends and "visit."

Hubby will be learning to teach classes online for middle school, so that's definitely a change for him.

We're used to going to church, usually on Sunday evenings, and then grabbing take out. That changed in early March. Many places are offering take out and delivery, but I just don't feel comfortable doing it.

Probably the biggest change is that DH and DS have been doing the weekly grocery shopping. I've always done that, but I need to stay home for health reasons.

Stay safe!

All I do now is work and I don't like it. I am used to having a lot more to do and I miss the gym