3.16.20 (Monday): Today was n’s birthday! We tried to make the most of it. D picked up the kids from my parents’ house. My parents and sister had given him his birthday presents (books about WWII and Legos), which were perfect for all of his time at home.

We had made camping reservations at Crystal Cove State Park when we realized that we would need to cancel our Seattle vacation. Since then, rain had crept into the forecast, but we did not want to cancel another set of plans. I will try to write a separate post on our trip. While we were on the beach, we received notification that the kids’ school (and my work) would be closed until April 10th. n kept on saying he would not believe our spring break was longer than a week until he heard it from the Superintendent. It was a relief to finally have a date to plan around. I was told I would still need to report to work next Monday in order to plan for online learning.

3.17.20 (Tuesday): We spent the morning at Crystal Cove State Park.

We picked up boba and popcorn chicken on our way home as n’s final birthday treat. The afternoon was spent doing laundry and putting everything away from our camping trip. I organized another shelving unit. I heard that I no longer had to report to work next week. A couple of hours later, we saw that Orange County was being told to shelter in place. However, by the evening, that message seemed to be retracted by the OC Health Agency.

3.18.20 (Wednesday): I had been putting off another trip to the grocery store, but I decided we needed to do some more stocking up. I tried to go just before 7 a.m. to avoid the crowds, only to see a sign that Ralphs was now open only 8 a.m. -8 p.m. I returned at 8 a.m, and there was a line of about 50 people. They were letting people in about 25 at a time, and people over 60 years of age were given priority (rightly so). This made my previous trip to Ralphs feel like a breeze. Anyway, I was able to buy some more toilet paper, milk, eggs, ground turkey and 4 chicken thighs (all of these items had limited supply). I was able to find pasta (hooray!) but they were all out of flour. I spent about $120 during that trip, which is double the amount I usually buy at a time. Hopefully I will not have to go for another week.

Back at home, I organized yet another shelving unit-ha! We went for walks (I have been successful so far in getting 10,000 steps a day). n watched Sully. Amazon delivered n’s birthday present from us (a teen/adult-sized scooter). D also bought one for himself, so two members of our family can go riding together.

3.19.20 (Thursday): It was a drizzly day. For breakfast, I made Buttermilk Protein Waffles with a mix from Trader Joe’s.

D had some phone-in meetings, so we all had to keep quiet. I organized my desk area where I blog. We threw out an absurd amount of old pens/pencils. I wrote a review for a couple of games, which also kept the kids entertained in the morning.

For lunch we ate quesadillas with cheddar, ham, and spinach. This cooking for four, three times a day is going to get old, fast. However, everyone has been pitching in to help cook or wash dishes, so that is good.

The kids and I did some GoNoodle (exercise videos) and started a new 1000 piece puzzle. k practiced her viola (I should see if she will let me post a video). D and n rode their scooters outside. In the late afternoon/evening, n and D re-watched one of the Star Wars movies that we have on DVD (don’t ask me which one).

While they were watching the movie, we received notification that Governor Newsom put all of California on lockdown (for real this time), for at least a month. This basically means that you cannot go out, except for essentials (food, gas, bank, doctor). We are the first state to do so; it will be interesting to see how long it takes for other states to do the same.

COVID-19 has officially disrupted our everyday lives, and I feel the need to document how it is affecting our family. Perhaps years later, my grandkids will be interested in hearing about what we did and how we felt while going through this time of so much uncertainty.

3.14.20: March, Friday the 13th, marked the last day of school before our district was scheduled for our one-week spring break. LAUSD and several other school districts in our area announced that they were closing schools. D received notification that he was to work from home immediately, until at least March 31. The kids and I left school not knowing if our break would be extended.

• We made Primo Pasta Pie for our Pi Day dinner with Kidstir. (Enter our giveaway here).
• The kids and I went to the public library and loaded up on books and some DVDs since I had a feeling all libraries would be closed soon.
• We watched Spaceballs, one of D’s childhood favorites. (Should be more of a PG-13 movie than PG, in my opinion-ha!)

3.15.20 (Saturday):

In the morning, I went to Ralph’s to do some grocery shopping. The pasta aisle was completely empty except for some gluten-free varieties that I am pretty sure my family would not enjoy. They were also out of meat and cheese. The store was crowded, but not too crazy. However, when I went to the check-out line, there were only two checkers, and each line was about 15-20 people deep.

We took a walk to a local park and hiked up a small hill. I wanted to make sure we all got some fresh air and exercise.

Disneyland may be closed, but n wanted to play his Disneyland game on Xbox. I usually do not play with him, but decided to try it out. I ended up feeling dizzy and sick after playing Pirates of the Caribbean.

Luckily I found some heavy whipping cream at the store, so n helped me make a chocolate pudding pie (also with Kidstir).

I am trying to organize our house by organizing one area at a time. I tackled this shelf area and decluttered.

At night we watched Groundhog Day as a family. Again, it seemed more like a PG-13 movie to me than a PG. Am I just getting older, or were guidelines less stringent back then?

3.16.20 (Sunday): Since there was a California ban on gatherings of 250+, our church decided to hold an online service. (We also have a lot of seniors in our congregation, so we wanted to exercise an abundance of caution). We watched our service online and also some of Rick Warren’s message on Coronavirus. Both messages urged us not to be fearful during these times and reminded us that GOD is still in control.

I made a Dutch Baby (German pancake) for breakfast. I feel like I definitely have more time for cooking these days. It is just a matter of being able to find the ingredients!

We brought out our folding table and set up a puzzle station. D implemented his organized puzzle piece strategy.

Later in the afternoon we took a walk near my parents’ house and dropped the kids off for an overnighter. I think it was good for all of us to have a little “break”. D and I did not really want to venture out (most places were closed anyway) so we just did take-out from Piadina and watched Sully at home. (This movie is rated PG-13, but I thought it was more like a PG! I might let the kids watch this one later).

What are you doing to keep busy?