What is normal these days?

Interesting times that we are in right now.  This whole pandemic situation is so far out of anyone,s imagination, that it is still hard to comprehend how we are living our lives at this moment in time.

All the schools have been closed.  Students are doing everything from home.  Home schooling has to be a challenge for some.  It takes a lot of self motivation to keep up with the assignments teachers are putting on line.  Jamie sent me a picture of Peyton up at 7:30 to do Zoom (I think that is what it is called) with her teacher.

We have been asked by the governor to "Stay in place, stay safe".  Almost all business are closed.  Malls, shopping centers, with the exception of grocery stores, almost all medical facilities except hospitals.  I called to see about a dental visit.  Offices are closed.

Pampering yourself with a massage, manicure, pedicure, etc.  Not available.

All gatherings of any kind are cancelled.  Church, temple, ward meetings, etc.  I think you get the picture.

We have been asked to keep a distance of 6' from other people if we do have to go out of our homes.

It is hard to try and find a normal in all of this chaos.  Is there one?

Yesterday Mallory, Neal and I tried to carry on our Saturday as close to "normal" as we could.  Mallory and I took down all the plants off the tops of the cupboards and while Mallory pruned, added dirt and vitamins and water to the plants, I went along the top and vacuumed and dusted the tops of the cupboards and along the walls and ceiling.  It was a lengthy project but such a good feeling to have everything cleaned.  Even the plants were happy with the new soil and the pruning.  A funny story here.  Above our china hutch there are two boxes that hold the electrical connections for the lights inside the hutch.  As I was handing one of the pots to Mallory and it seemed to be stuck on something.  We discovered this:

If you look closely you will see that the plant entered one whole and then wrapped around the whole inside and came out another whole!!  We had to carefully cut the stem and then carefully pull it out.  We had a good laugh over that one.  Silly plant.

After the task, Mallory cleaned the basement and I cleaned the main floor.  I was desperate for something new or a change and so I changed all the furniture in the front room.  Somehow that added to my 'feel good' need.  Neal helped me clean all the blinds and he vacuumed the upstairs.

With the house all clean and sparkly, Mallory and I decided we needed to get some exercise and some fresh air so we went for a walk.  It was absolutely the topper for my day.  We walked for about 45 minutes and I listened to her stories about her mission.  One funny thing on our walk.  We were walking down one of the side streets and we saw a lady get out of her car.  Mallory said that for just a minute she was in missionary mode and felt like she should run over and talk to the lady about the gospel.  Actually, I kind of wish she had.  It would have been fun to watch her in action.  We also saw some signs of Spring.  So fun to see the buds starting to form and pop out and to feel the temperatures getting a little bit warmer every day.

 Mallory spotted this tree on our walk.  Had to take a picture of it.  Very clever.

Mallory and I did run a couple careful errands.  We stopped at the grocery store and bought just a couple items, then to home Depot and then to Coasta Vida for our pick up lunch.  The governor encouraged us to try and do take home at least 3 times a week to help our restaurants get through this crisis because they are obviously all shut down as well.  So we are ordering and picking up.  Actually, I love the idea of ordering dinner 3 times a week.  I hate trying to figure out what to have for dinner!

So to all - happy new way of living for a while.