Looking back on week 3 of work from home, which is the starting point that we’re counting from, this week had a “getting used to the new normal” feeling. Miles and Ashton had a full week of online classes, reconvening after spring break; our work from home schedules seemed to regularize a bit more; and John and I kept to pretty good exercise schedules, most days running in the morning before starting the work day.
Miles spent a little of that quarantine time dressing up in clothes raided from his, John’s and Liam’s closets for his first day of zoom classes.
We had some more zoom social events and phone calls too. Nice to see Art and Erin are doing fine in Colorado!
At my Chicago History Book Club, Linda hosted which means she was responsible for providing snacks. She put up (a picture of…) a very nice spread!
John and I have found a loop for running that is both extremely scenic and puts us right over 3 miles. All going well, we should be very ready to sign up for some 5Ks on the other side of this thing! My running buddies may note this is faster than my usual speeds – I think I do run faster with John, and also there is no traffic so no resting at traffic lights!
We’ve seen all kinds of written expressions of how people are feeling. From the more pessimistic
To a more positive and message with a good reminder
And a very heart-warming message of thanks to our doctors and nurses from Maddie!
Friday after work the weather had warmed up a bit and we went for a walk in Humboldt Park, where people were practicing good distancing.
Playgrounds are closed
And we saw several of this type of duck, unusual in the lagoon but John said they’re common in Stephen’s Green in Dublin.
On the way home we saw a teddy bear in a window (more on that in a bit)
We skyped with Paddy and Kathleen on Saturday. Paddy had just finished 10 laps around the garden – having to exercise in the back garden with the Irish rules about no going out if you are over a certain age!
On Saturday morning, John and I masked up and went to Municipal for a food run. I may ask Maddie to send Municipal a thank you letter too – they are doing a truly heroic job of running a local grocery store during this situation. They were so well stocked, they had a box of gloves at the front door, and they’re installed a shield between customers and the cashier. We are very lucky to live by some really great local shops. Here I am in my “mask” – I discovered that good thing I never had any inclination to go into a medical field because I can’t really get masks to fit me right. I’m trying to use bandanas but it seems like my ears are too floppy for elastic, my head is a weird shape, and glasses and hair kinda gets in the way too.
So, to end on a funny story, after our walk Friday night, I put Liam’s old Teddy in our front window so kids passing by can spot it. However, several times on Saturday I found Teddy on the living room floor. Nyx was presumably responsible for but I didn’t have proof. This morning, John was sitting in the living room and caught Nyx in action, taking Teddy out of the window and dragging him to the floor. What a rascal! Hope everyone enjoys the pics and has a good week!
Rory loved the cheeky cat and that you are putting a teddy in your window! Looks like a pretty good week with a nice routine… I think there’s going to be a lot of people registering for 5km’s and other events when this is over!!
I think it’s a wood duck.
Nice that you have Humboldt Park so near. Very cool that John can track the run on his phone. And great photo of the two of you and of Miles in his trendy stay-at-home clothes!
I really should send you some masks. The kind that are made for the purpose fit so easily!
I guess Nyx is practicing the hunting skills of his ancestors, but really, could he bring down a bear in the wild? I don’t think so. 🙂
Thanks for the duck ID! And no need to send masks – I got a tip on using a t-shirt to tie around the whole head that I’m going to use. It’s very secure!