social distancing

Editor's note right out-of-the-gate: I feel as though I may "wake the beast" in some of you, when you realize just how 'easy' I have it. (Generally of course, but specifically now.) PLUS, as my sweet husband tells me, we are about to start knowing of people who are, you know, fighting for their lives from this COVID-19, so please take this blog as it was intended, a simple run-of-the-tongue introspection on things, as let's face it, all of my blogs are. That being said, here goes:

Aye Aye Aye. Am I right?

Ok, so I'm not going to make this blog about homeschooling (I'm not even doing it--my kids are independent, praise the Lord), or politics (so help me), or who has it the worst (hands down my firefighter brother-in-law, my nurse and doctor friends and all other first responders, people who live alone, the sick, the elderly, parents of young kids...pretty much the ENTIRE world). I want instead, to talk about my reflections on socially "shutting down," specifically in the face of you know, a global pandemic. You want to talk about something else? Get your own freakin' blog! (Sorry, my language has gone to pot these last two weeks.)

First of all, there is a BIG part of me that was secretly happy for some forced at-home time. I mean, I've been decrying the fact that I may never get another whole week where I'm not thinking/worrying about work, so what a blessin' (footnote #1) from the Lord that I'm facing three weeks at home! Besides, of course, the tens of thousands of dollars my store is losing each week, and the global pandemic the world is facing. At any rate...silver lining, right?

Last week I was working sporadically, so had time to accomplish my "Spring Break list":

Worshiped with our dear friends and neighbors, the VandenBergs on Sunday.
Deep cleaned the entire house. Like, washed the box spring mattress covers, dusted beHIND the pictures, vacuumed beHIND the fridge, the ceiling, and under the couch (footnote #2), brought a load o' treasures to my most favorite local donation center (do I know of a place!).
Touch-up painted our ceiling beams. Apparently I did not fully "stir" the paint can, so I had to paint twice, as the first time dried REALLY dark gray. Greg wondered out loud why I'm "so very hasty," so I spent the remainder of the day singing, "I don't get many things right the first time...." We have fun. Except when we don't.
I asked/forced the kids to chemically straighten my hair from a perm box, which made my hair-knowledgeable SIL rather nervous but she wasn't here to stop me.
Got caught up on filing (also happens 4x a year...again, we live in squalor.)
Ran to the library to stock up on books and movies.
Forced my kids to watch a movie at night, mostly time-travel related, sad, and/or slightly inappropriate. (Picture one naked butt in each film--not on purpose of course, but the kids are starting to notice and ask, "Is this what you like, Mom?")
Got caught up on email correspondence.
Greg and I, upon finding many-a Kate selfie on our iCloud, took selfies of ourself to prove a point. Which backfired, when Kate said, "Isn't that great? Now you can see what outfit you want to wear each day!" (footnote #3)
Recorded a family song for our online church service. Nailed it, but sadly I hadn't done my hair in two days, so I looked like an 80-year-old ghost (not to be offensive to 80-year-old ghosts).
Took some slow motion footage of our beloved Stella Rae (the dog) running towards food, for a future video. It'll be great. Just wait...Greg has added this to his docket...but just a little sneak peak:

Leaves you wanting more?!

I worked on Monday again, as we'd opened our store doors to a FLOOD of donations, and then the 3-week stay-at-home order was effective at midnight, so honestly I haven't left the homestead since. This week has looked a tad different. I think it's Thursday (?) and so far I've:

Worshiped with our dear friends and neighbors the VandenBergs on Sunday.
Walked twice (I only like to walk on 50 degree+ days.)
Taken the trash out.
Talked (daily) about painting Elia's room.
Plopped on the new cream chaise chair in the study (footnote #4) beside my 24/hr/day/online/teaching/husband to exclaim, "I've lost all will to survive." I did, however, keep the will to sing, "Nothing Really Matters" the rest of the day.
Ironed the last 6 months worth of ironing. (Which totaled two shirts. If it wrinkles, Mama don't buy.)
The Schemper Sibs GroupMe'd the "enter your first name then 'glamour shot' and see what pops up," and it was well worth the time! (footnote #5)
Yesterday was a big day, I gave Stella a bath. While she was drying, Elia put Stella's collar on herself, and said, "I'm gonna see if Stella says anything!" As I was leading Elia outside on the leash, Stella ran to the door and looked really confused. She's so smart. (Stella.) Then, (if this weren't enough for a day's work) I did some more talking about painting, I called my mom, we FaceTimed my in-laws, AND at night we spent a couple of hours putting together a world map puzzle, spending the last hour on the blue ocean pieces, all whilst Greg and I sang to Alexa's best of Garth Brooks...Oh, the memories! That man has done well for himself. (Garth. Greg has done OK.)
I have, on a whim of fancy, started laying out my children's book, "Sarah's Wild Hair," (a semi-autobiographical tale of this girl named Sarah who has wild hair.) I asked yesterday via facebook, for artists to illustrate a page, and they're starting to come in--I'm SO excited! Watch for it (free online, Spring of 2020.) You guys, this is a page-turner! And I've already written the back "About the Author" page, which Kate says is, and I quote, "super long"!

(Artwork above by my cousin Aaron's 13 year old daughter Ayayah!) It's not too late to jump on this game--facebook/email me if you'd like to participate!

On a side note, I've always wondered should I ever have everything stripped way from my life, if I would start being better at regular exercise and devotions. The answer to that, sadly, is no. Even though I have (another) SIL who is an online exercise mogul. (Free exercises from bodyfitbyamy people!) Bless her heart, she looks great!

So...alls to say, how are we doing? I appreciate you asking. We're OK! (Again, not as good as Garth Brooks.)

The first week I did tell all Schempers (and there are a lot of them) that I had to step back from the continual texting/GroupMe updates, as my "blood pressure rises with each ding of my phone." (Not because of them, but because I needed a break from my phone!) I feel like today's ways of instant communication are a blessing in many, many ways, especially now. But I've been struggling with the overall new level of "connectedness" for months now, and the past two weeks have been a breath of relief for me.

(Though, how fun are they?!)

I heard the other week (back when the world was running) that we all over-estimate the time we spend working at home, and a big part of that is that a certain amount of energy is exerted whenever our phone is in sight/hearing distance. We are expending energy in the anticipation of our phone alerting us, whether or not it actually does. I had a hard time even taking a walk without my phone, as I felt like I had to respond to everyone right away. With "directing" a store that's open 6 days a week, there is a large part of me that feels responsible to be on call constantly. So, last week I turned my phone on silent, and enjoyed a peaceful-er vacation from my constant-connection. This, has been my greatest gift from Corona. I do believe that we each have a "healthy tolerance level" of connectedness, and it varies per person. I am a rather borderline introvert/extrovert, (picture the perfect balance) in that I have yet to lack interpersonal communication, but I do gain energy from being with other people. I also like to feel a deadline, so I could get more accomplished in say, 1-2 days off of work, than in 3 weeks of no-work. Does that make sense? (What I'm saying is, I may not get to painting Elia's room until I have more on my schedule.)

I guess my personal take-aways on the current situation are these:

We need to be concerned with people who don't have the luxury of self-examining their lives right now because they are concerned with where their next meal or mortgage payment is coming from.
We need to be aware of people who are feeling emotionally unwell/physically exhausted/financially strapped.
We can still, of course, take time to consider the mental stress on the rest of us, from our new normals of constant social media contact. I think there's got to be a breaking point for me at least, and I have yet to make some hard lines in the sand.
I personally don't believe God has sent this plague to bring us to our knees. We were watching my beloved Beth Moore yesterday, and she was saying that we are not living "God's Plan B"; this current plan has been set since before creation. Not to say that God willed death, destruction, hatred, and Hitler, but this has not taken God by surprise. We can rest assured that our God is in control, while we still work to fulfill His will and pray for relief from all these things! I have, thankfully, not felt highly anxious, hopeless, or stressed, but I'm not sleeping great and the wheels came off my motivation cart two days ago. We are praying for those who feel overwhelmed, and are calling more often those in our lives who might be getting lonely. We are praying for strong, wise leaders in this and future global and national issues, and are trusting in God that this will pass soon. And no matter what, I'm resting thankful that He loves us all!

May God Bless us, one and all!

Footnote #1:

I have this note from Elia (to Greg) in our study from when she was little, which makes me smile whenever I see it: "The Lord has giving you so much blesins...You are an angle of Crist!"

Footnote #2:

Ok, so Greg vacuumed the radiators, the floors, the ceiling and behind the fridge, because he cares slightly more than I do, and he likes to prove that he's the best husband out there.