It’s so unsettling. This whole coronavirus. The world seems to be spinning out of control.

What does this mean? What are we allowed to do? Where are we allowed to go? Can we have people over for dinner? Can I grocery shop for that dinner? Should I be going to the gym?

My school just closed down for 2 weeks. Disney World is closed. Everything is being cancelled.

I can’t make sense of this. It is so unsettling. I hope that we can be kind and compassionate and understanding.

What will I do? Clean…Read….Oh and all the laundry.

I love my bed.

I love laying in my bed watching tv.

I love laying in my bed doing work.

I love laying in my bed to nap.

I love laying in my bed to sleep.

I love my bed.

I love to sleep but I know my sleep is not as restful as it could be. The Fitbit tells me so. My sleep scores fall mostly in the fair category. There is a rare night that my sleep hits a good score. Today I went to a group hypnotherapy class at my yoga studio. The focus was on having a restful sleep free of tossing and turning. Wish me luck as I get ready for my slumber.

Did I mention I love my bed?!

I am not an overly anxious person. I think I take things in stride. But in this day and age of constant news cycles and social media, all kinds of issues are being blown up and exaggerated. This 24/7 streaming about the Corona virus makes me nervous. I can’t put my finger on exactly what makes me nervous, but it is there. That pit in my stomach. I am not worried about my health or the health of my family. It’s all the uncertainty of not know what is going to happen. Will schools be closed? How long will they be closed? What does that mean for the end of the year?

What does it mean for April vacation? We made plans to travel to Florida and go to Disney. I am desperate for sun and warmth. Do we go? Do we stay home? What happens if we go? Will we be forced to self-quarantine?

I feel bad for all the kids who played winter sports. All the playoff games have been cancelled in our area. Our high school’s production of Cinderella have been cancelled. They are even suspending ticket sales for the Senior Prom in May.

Are these precautions too much? Are they not enough?

I just keep thinking that I can express my anxious feeling and my concerns. What about those littles we all teach? How are they feeling? It must be so overwhelming and scary to them. We must remember that right now.

I had coffee with my friend on Saturday. You know that friend. That one friend that no matter how much time has passed you can pick up right where you left off. Not missing a beat. She is that kind of friend. We don’t see each other as often as we use to. It is called work, kids, life. But it doesn’t matter.

Let me tell you the story of how we met. Our gym was having a running challenge. She posted on the gym FB page that she was looking for someone to run the hill sprint challenge with her. I must have been delusional because I quickly responded that I would meet her. It was the best decision. We became fast friends.

When we get together, we laugh. We cry. We laugh some more.

She is someone I can talk to about everything and anything…husband, kids, work, politics, money…we cover it all. We have been through similar experiences so we get it. You need that person.

She brings me joy!

It is Sunday and time to plan for the week.

First up dinner planning and grocery list. This is the bane of my existence. Who can feel me? After a long day of teaching, the last thing I want to do is make dinner. It does help if I have the menu decided for the week…most of the time. I also have to be more diligent in prepping for the week. My goal is to roast some vegetables and cook up some meat for whatever I plan. Fingers crossed.

Next up, the laundry. I like to have empty baskets by bedtime on Sunday.

Third…planning my outfits for the week. It just saves me time to have an idea of what I might wear everyday…not that I actually wear what I plan. But it is good to have a plan.

Did I mention that I have to go to the grocery store today? Ugh!

Another to do…edit and revise my report cards. They go out at the end of the week and have to be done Monday. Along this same line of work… I have to get ready for students to plan for their student-led conferences. I am trying to streamline this process.

Finally, there is fundraiser at a brewery for Project Graduation. Yes, my daughter is graduating this year. Oh man. I don’t drink beer anymore and it’s school night and it means a shower…so trying to reach down and harness the energy and desire to go.

What is not on my to do list …my nap! It doesn’t seem like there will be time for that in my day. Boo!

Have a productive Sunday!

Some things that make me happy…in no particular order

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the people in my life. I am extremely lucky to have so many people who have loved and supported me in different stages in my life.

Lately, I have been struggling with the loss of a good friendship. As this friendship moved away in miles, the closeness did as well. I didn’t expect that to happen. I thought we would be able to keep it going strong. The distance wouldn’t change anything. Maybe I was being naive.

I believe that things happen for a reason and the universe steps in and gives you what you need when you need it. Slowly, I am coming to the realization that the universe put this friendship into our life for a reason. This friendship came into our life when our family was struggling through an extremely difficult time. These friends were there for us when no one else was. We were able to open up and share what was going on with them, even before we shared with our family. No matter what was happening, it was a judgement free zone around them. They listened, let us cry, and offered advice, food, drink, whatever we needed it. It was unconditional support. It was the one place were we could go for a break (and did I mention…drinks). With them, we weren’t worried about what might happen next. It was a place where we could always relax.

So the universe put them in our lives because we needed them during this tumultuous time. Life has since calmed down and we have gone our separate ways. Connected by the memories on Facebook and an occasional text. And it’s ok. I love this quote by Washington Irving:

“Sweet is the memory of distant friends!

Like the mellow rays of the departing sun,

I hope you read that like Jan Brady saying, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!”

How much laundry is too much? Is there even an answer to that question? Last night I folded 3 baskets of laundry (And yes, I am still sick). I am not sure where all this laundry comes from. I keep up with the laundry on a weekly (sometime daily) basis but it’s like it multiplies overnight. There is always so much. It is not like my children do wear multiple outfits a day. Remember when we were little and we had our school clothes and our play clothes? It’s not like that anymore.

So let’s do the math.

My son wears a sweatshirt, a t-shirt, sweatpants (Yes, my high schooler wears pants!), socks, and underwear. So that would mean 5 shirts, 10 pairs of socks, and hopefully 5 pairs of boxers (lol) I mean can’t he wear a sweatshirt or a pair of pants more than once?Insert shocked emoji here! Seems manageable, right? It’s similar for the my husband and I. My daughter actually does her own laundry most of the time.

So where does overflowing baskets of laundry come from…and mid-week? I think I know where the missing socks of the world end up!

I spoke in an earlier blog about how I do too much for my kids, especially my son. I will admit I put away my son’s laundry. DO NOT JUDGE! Why do I do it? If I do not, those clean clothes end up being rewashed. He takes the basket with the nice, freshly laundered clothes that are neatly folded and he fills it with the dirty clothes that he has strewn around his room. So that means in the morning I will hear, “I have no …fill in the blank!” Mind you he has draws filled with clothes but obviously what is in those drawers is no good.

Now don’t get me started on the towels.

As I am recovering from my flu, this saying pops into my head. I am a teacher. I am a mom. I am a wife. Flu! Smu!

As a teacher, every day I have to write sub plans. I also think about how the class is doing with the substitute. Are they behaving? Are they getting work done? As the complexities of the curriculum increases, leaving quality sub plans is really difficult. It hard for the sub to understand, nevermind execute. I tend to leave nothing to hard. I always say that teacher is like rocket science. Oh and did I mention that report cards are due next week.

As a wife, I have to tend to my husband. DO NOT JUDGE! Coincidently, my husband threw his back out on Saturday afternoon. For most of the weekend, he could barely move. That means all the basic chores went undone. Could I just leave them? Is that really a question? The laundry is not going to fold itself.

As a mother, I can not sleep in. My kids, 15 and 17, do not wake up with their alarms. My son has one that shakes his bed. Nothing works. So that means I have to wake up and get them going. See above as to why my husband can’t do it. While I am up, I make breakfast and cleanup the kitchen. Why? Because I am up.

I know…I know…my kids really have to step up!! And they do when we ask. But that’s a blog for another day!

Now I am back to bed with the morning talk shows and going to try to get some rest.

March came in like a lion, roaring loudly. I was at an event Saturday night and was overcome with nausea, aches, and chills. The Flu has hit. It had been making its way around the school and into my classroom. I would joke that a nice flu that would give me some days off would be great and that maybe I should lick the desks. But really, I was diligent about cleaning the desks and the janitor sprays some magic spray throughout the rooms every night. The joke was on me as those little stinkers got to me. While it was too soon to be positive on the test, the doctor diagnosed me, gave me tamiflu and sanctioned me to my house until Thursday. I came across this saying, “If you don’t pick a day to relax, your body will pick it for you.” I shared it with all my fellow teachers. We are so hesitant as teachers to take care of ourselves – it really is a process to be out for one day nevermind three, so we keep going and going. So sometimes your body just has to says STOP!