Week of February 22-28: Completely Unaware of What Corona Was
Since I really don't watch too much news, I really only started reading about Corona the last week of February because of my National Sales meeting was in Boston the March 3-6. Even, at that time, I only processed it being in China at that time, as they had been on lockdown since January 23. I wondered if Lilly would cancel our meeting but mainly because I was concerned what that would mean for me rescheduling my flight with the family to Phoenix on May 6. On March 2, it got a little more real when Lilly announced that they were canceled other division's national meetings that were 2-3 weeks farther out but that we were set to get on a plane the following morning and convene in Boston, MA, all 220 of us. Life was still normal....
Week of March 1-6: In a National Meeting "Bubble" in Boston Not Worried About Corona at All Until the End of the Week...
While in Boston, the tension regarding Corona was growing, but since you go 18 straight hours a day and are in a bit of a "bubble" in a hotel, I don't recall me checking the news once that week. It got more real when, on Thursday morning, our senior leadership team made the decision to send the 8 employees home that live in Washington State, due to the massive way it had grown and taken over the state. Washington was "ground 0" where most of this started in the US, at a nursing home there. But again, at this point, I really wasn't too worried about it. I was happy and felt safe flying across the entire country that Friday afternoon from Boston to Phoenix to start Spring Break.
March 7-13 - Palm Springs and then deciding to start our family's quarantine. Smack in the middle of Spring Break is when it all started to change
This is the week where everything changed in the United States, while we were relaxing and having fun in Palm Springs. Each and every morning, Kelly and I would spend at least an hour, researching all overnight stories, the increase in the infection rates and what our government was saying. But it didn't effect our vacation in the slightest of ways. We enjoyed night out in Phoenix, Joshua Tree National Park, and a couple of days in Palm Springs. The world didn't feel any different. When we flew home late on Wednesday night was the first time, that we were doing things dramatically different, like constantly reminding the kids not to touch anything and wiping down every seat with clorox wipes before sitting down and wiping down luggage as soon as it came off the conveyor. It was then that transition back to work, although I had planned an admin day that Thursday to be home with the kids and then that Friday, March 13 where Lilly officially pulled all sales reps out of the field as of noon that day. I remember at that point thinking my manager was crazy telling use to cancel a month worth of lunches. I only canceled a week, still doubting that they would keep us home for more than a week or two. I remember letting some rumors, from friends calling, get to me that Friday afternoon that President Trump was going to call for a mandatory lockdown for 14 days. I recall that morning was the first time that I told Blake, maybe he should go by CostCo and stock up on some stuff. For some reason, that this exact time, everyone was going crazy buying up toilet paper in mass quantities. I remember Blake saying, I think we are okay, every bathroom has 4-5 rolls and we have some extra and I felt peer pressure to buy yet another case, so Blake waited in line at Costco to get it for nearly an hour. That Thursday and Friday, with it being the end of Spring Break, the doorbell with neighborhood kids wanting to play was going non-stop. I remember letting them play togehter, but as Friday progressed, at 2PM, the announcement came out that NEISD was canceling school for the entire week and it made me feel uneasy with all I knew about how easily it was passed on. I wasn't confident on where I stood and I didn't know what boundaries that we wanted to set with the kids and playdates, it was really the only unsettling feeling I had that week. Well, besides feeling "peer pressure" to buy toilet paper.
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| Looking back at photos, this was probably the first time I made the kids take Clorox wipes and wipe down public areas. |
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| Traveling home from PHX to SA wasn't stressful although I recall wiping down plane seats and suitcases. Was this the last time we wouldn't be wearing masks on a flight? |
Week of March 14-20: Week 1 of "Our New World" - We Were Very Proactive in Staying Home and No Interactions Since We landed on Wednesday Night, Besides the Kids Playing with Neighborhood Kids on Friday and Saturday Morning. And the First Week of Mrs. Brown's Corona Home School, including Day 2-8 of Family Quarantine. Focusing on all physical health and emotional health on making sure this is the most positive experience for our family while educating ourselves to what is going on in the USA and world. (We will be HOPEFUL and NOT FEARFUL)
We got back home, took kids to scheduled Orthodontist appointments and even had some meet up with friends but then rumors of people flipping out at grocery stores started, rumors of hours of long lives and empty shelves caused us to jump in on the craziness.
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| We will never forget celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary is such a strange time. |
On Friday, March 13, 2020 is when our family considers that everything officially changed. I was at Target when the email came though saying that NEISD schools would be closed for an extra week though March 20, 2020. Just an hour prior, Lilly had officially announced they were pulling all field sales to a work from home status. Blake's company didn't officially announce it for 2 more days, on Sunday.
So, Blake and I decided that we would go to a 90 minutes Orange Theory class on Saturday morning, then pack up and head to Port A. It was wonderful and the ideal place for us to be and to start this new journey together. We never came into contact with anyone with in 10 feet and just played, relaxed and read about Corona. It was in that time that very first weekend, that I was confident in everything I had read and knew that social distancing was important to me in this temporary time. As much as I love my dear neighbors, I knew that if some weren't taking it as seriously as we were, as we knew they they were still out and about leaving the neighborhood multiple times a day, having dinner downtown at the riverwalk, having all kinds of different people at their house, still going to kid events and practices, and combine simple kid's interactions with our family's diligence not to do all those very things, would be negated when they played basketball together, jumped all over one another on a trampoline, shared water bottles, iPhones and video game consoles. So, it became a really easy decision for me but gaining confidence on how to tell the friends that knocked on our doors starting the morning we got back, is where the hard part of the this new way of life, laid. We honestly didn't want to even want to come back, everything we needed was with us in Port A and social distancing there was simple. But Blake and I were 14 weeks from Sun Valley 29029 hike and we really were missing our Orange Theory workouts. OT had closed down all corporate owned studios over the weekend but our franchised location was still open so were anxious to get back for a Wednesday 6:15 AM workout. Some could say I was not being consistent in my above points, regarding social distancing, but I felt that as an adult, I have better knowledge and self control to make good hygiene and personal space decisions. Also, I feel that Orange Theory is already one of the cleanest places I could be.
On Monday, March 16, 2020, while in Port Aransas, started a structured Brown Family Home School Lesson Plan.
Back at home in San Antonio, we were finishing up dinner at 6PM, Tuesday night, we got the dreaded email that our Orange Theory was shutting down as of that same night. That evening, day 3 of the kids being home with us, was definitely the hardest moment for me (and it really wasn't all that bad) because for the 11.5 years since Addison was born, group classes 3-5 times a week, had been my thing. There wasn't a week in nearly 12 years, besides vacations, that I hadn't attended scheduled group classes. So that evening, knowing that for the first time, I wasn't going to be able to sign up, show up and get an incredible work out in, in a setting that I know I would push myself, was hard for me to process. But, I immediately shared my worries with Blake and he jumped into action calming my fears and together, we put a written plan into place following the 29029 training plan. As of just a few days later, that Friday, I was more sore than I had been in a year of Orange Theory, even when I do two 90 minute classes, back to back.
With all of that behind me, I knew as of that very first Saturday and Sunday while we were in Port A, that this situation, for our family of 5, was a true gift. Blake and I both had companies that had us working from home with no real pressure of lists of things to do, besides helping with customer needs during this transition. I was putting in 3-4 solid hours of work each working day, much of it first thing in the morning and later in the afternoon when doctors or offices needed help, as they called. But mid morning to mid afternoon - I knew I wanted to be dedicated to the kids. Over the weekend, I loved putting together a week long's lesson plan for the 3 kids. It came together so easily and it was just things that honestly were on my mind that I wanted to focus on with the kids. It was the things that if we weren't going at the pace of our normal lives, these are the exact things that I would want to do with them. The official "work" came out to exactly 3-4 hours of work each day. It was short enough blocks, around 15-25 minutes to keep them moving, yet engaged. I dedicated at least 90 minutes to the things that I needed to do with all 3 of them and the things that I wanted to help Delaney on. I felt mentally and physically present every single day this first week. I left the morning, afternoon and evening with a feeling of such gratefulness and happiness. We are staying busy, but a good busy, a really good busy. Thursday, they didn't turn the TV once until we watched Survivor as a family at 8:30PM. Everyday, I am adjusting to try and be proactive to keep them physically and emotionally happy. We started letting Delaney and Addison Face Time with some friends on Wednesday and Thursday and that provided both the girls with such fun. All 3 really got into playing a math online Prodigy game with friends, which was awesome.
We talk some what transparently with the kids about what is going on. We have told them that we are not afraid if one of us gets it, that we won't dye and it won't be the end of the world so do not be afraid. They know that protecting people like YaYa and Grandpa, Pops and Lolli, Meme and Papa Lance is the biggest goals and to do our part to decrease the infection rates so that our hospitals and doctors don't get overwhelmed is why were are social distancing. We have the news on for an hour or two a day, with no fear of what they hear. They hear Blake and I call some CNN stories ridiculous and one-sided and we talk about why we thing that. But then we share the facts. On Wednesday night late 3/18, we had no problem sharing with them that the number of infected cases had gone from 5 to 25 in 24 hours time. I sense absolutely no sense of being scared in all 3 of them, in fact, a couple of times, I had to get on them, not to make Corona jokes and to really take time to drive home what this sudden global pandemic is doing to small businesses, restaurant workers, people that work at Fiesta Texas and movie theaters and all kind of places like that.
Photos from Wed 3/18 - Friday March 20, 2020:
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Interesting though, by Thursday and especially by Friday morning, due purely to Instagram posts, I was doubting that our family should be happy, when I saw several people posting about how horrible of a time they feel like this is. These aren't people that have lost jobs, own small businesses or have been financially effected by the events of the past 6 days. These people that still have a great jobs and lots of support, good kids and they seem to be melting down due to the social distancing part of the past 5 days, which I am honestly, having such a hard time understanding. I respect everyone's differences of opinions but it made me doubt for just a minute, how great this week has been for us and our family. I journal about this here to reflect on how much social media can get inside people's heads, even my own. I want to be aware of it and make sure that I can be exposed to it and quickly be about to emphasize with that person but know that it is not us and I am not doing anything wrong since I don't have this "the world is ending and I am so sad" mentality.
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