Stayin' Home, Stayin' Busy

2020 is surreal. Prior to March, I had finished reading The Stand by Stephen King. Little did I know it was a strange foreshadowing to the string of events related to COVID-19. This new reality continues to shock me. I have waited in line to buy groceries, seen completely empty aisles in stores, seen a fight in grocery stores, and been far too pleased that I had three bottles of hand sanitizer in my car. Also, doing the math on how long my eight rolls of toilet paper will last has been interesting.

I am now in week two of working from home after my job's building was evacuated. The City of Portland continues to work, but we're all learning to use Microsoft Teams, making due with personal laptops, limited software, and wonky internet. I've even learned that a good chunk of my coworkers don't have wifi. It's a strange time.

While the impacts of "Stay Home, Save Lives" have been pretty isolating, it's allowed me to get a ton of work done around the house and helped create the balance I was trying to find. Good in the Hood 2020 has been cancelled. My various NSBE and City African American Network events have been postponed. Concerts cancelled. Professional Engineering (PE) exams have been postponed. All of these cancellations have given me the free time to cook healthy meals, garden, cuddle with my cats, study without deadlines, and craft without trying to balance my work and extensive volunteer commitments. At first I struggled with losing my sense of purpose... it is hugely fulfilling to plan events and be a part of my community. But, keeping the community safe so that someday we can be in large groups without infecting one another is also important. I'm proud that all of my organizations value the communities they serve.

Anyway, in spite of being home, I'm keeping as busy as I can with self care and productive things around the house. :)

Mulched my front yard myself this year! Was happy my perennials came back nice and healthy this year.

Garden boxes ready for seeding when this week of rain is over.

Dining chairs freshly reupholstered and our newest cat family member, Rocky, approves!

One of the things I'm also taking a break from is thrifting and Found on Fremont in general. The shop is temporarily closed until the virus is over, which saves me some more time and is actually a nice break from tagging and making little displays. Its likely this Easter display wont get much love though, ha!