COVID 19 - WFH Day 11? I don't know. I just know I haven't put pants on in over a week.

No, like for reals.

There is literally no reason to put pants on.

Like real pants.

I'm wearing leggings of course. 

I left the house once in the last 9 days.

To go pick up dinner for me and Steve.

Curbside.

We got Italian from this place we've one to many times before. It's right near the water.

I have no intention of leaving the house again, unless it's to get another meal, curbside. I want ZERO interaction with people.

ANYWAY.

I do a ton of video calls.

So....I have no need for pants.

I've found a bit of a routine, too.

I "go to work" upstairs in our loft.

I bring my coffee.

I bring my food/snack.

I've been leaving my laptop up there too.

I feed the pigs their breakfast (sweet peppers, romaine lettuce, fresh hay).

I get to work.

What's nice is what I get to do during my "lunch break" these days.

It was a beautiful day for a walk in the woods

got the whole fam out (well, minus the pigs and chickens)

Nose straight up that tree. lol. She's a "treeing" dog. lol

Then I grab my food and go back upstairs to my office and eat at my desk. 

LOL.

Some things don't change.

I got a lot accomplished today. And my leftovers were AMAZING (ate my lunch at 3:40pm - sounds about right!)

The 'work from home' directive is now pretty much based on what the government is telling us. Right now, the 'stay home' instructions are saying we should be social distancing until the end of April. 

END OF FUCKING APRIL, FOLKS.

That's another FUCKING MONTH, PEOPLE. 

Even if no one reads this blog. 

I hope to return to it in the future (I hope to still be running Ruple Farms in some sort of way, forever!) and I'm sure I will be amazed to read this shit. 

Reliving it.

Obviously as I age, I will experience so many things.

I lived through 9/11.

That was "one for the history books" if you will.

So is COVID 19.

This is absolutely, fucking insane.

Schools across the country are closed and are conducting online classes, if they are so lucky.

Stores and business are closing because people can't gather.

They had to let their employees go.

People are losing their jobs and their incomes. (UGH)

My kids (Mila at least) will remember being home for an extended period of time and literally not leaving the house. 

She'll remember "homeschooling" and mom being super stressed out.

This working from home with kids present is just also plain insanity.

That's probably the word I'll be using to describe so many things lately. 

I do have to think positively.

I get to spend a good portion of my days with these little ladies:

And of course, these little ladies:

I consider us the lucky ones.

Steve and I still have our jobs.

He's considered "essential services" since he runs the shop.

I can do my job remotely.

He only works 3 days a week, to boot.

So we are getting in some nice family time.

COVID -19 WFH Days 8, 9 & 10

We made it through another week of working from home and homeschooling.

It was not easy.

I cannot stress that enough.

Working and parenting simultaneously is incredibly difficult and I bow down to the parents who do this on the daily as their norm.

No fucking thank you.

I mean.

We are definitely making it work and we are kinda, sorta finding a routine.

A very loose routine.

And now Steve is home for the next week for his "heaven week" and I can focus. Or try to focus.

The girls will literally come all the way upstairs to ask me for a snack when Steve is in the kitchen.

But, it's been helpful.

I can take my calls and at least know that my kids aren't being completely neglected.

But, with this damn coronavirus.

Things have been shitty.

My company had to make some tough decisions.

I had to let someone on my team go today.

I've never had to do that.

It came down to these uncertain times and the economy.

Every kind of organization is suffering and we're no different.

Homeschool vs. Unschool vs. Whatever

So there have been a lot of posting all over social media about how to spend this totally weird time together. People are straight up panicking about their kids missing school.

I mean, I did too at little at first.

I'm grateful that my kids are still young and I can handle their schooling at home.

But I'm also not going to stress out too much about it.

I have a job to do also.

A paying job.

I know that kind of sounds shitty. Picking work over my kids' paused education.

Here's the deal.

The economy is suffering and we are likely heading into a Depression (not just a recession).

People are legit losing jobs because their places of employment had to close indefinitely. These small businesses cannot keep people on payroll if they aren't making any money.

I'm incredibly grateful that I have a job during this unsettling time.

I'm able to do 100% of my job from my house (or anywhere for that matter).

And while my kids are home and I'm trying to be super mom, I really have to think about keeping my job so I can keep a roof over their heads and food in their bellies.

I'm not trying to be dramatic.

It's the reality of it all.

So I've been trying to make the best of it.

The kids will learn stuff.

Stuff they likely wouldn't learn in school.

Like Shop/Technology class. (Do they even do that anymore???)

Building a house for the pigs

Tightening the clamp

Using a saw

Applying some adhesive

Learning how to use a nail gun

And it's complete!

The man who didn't really want Skinny Pigs. Made them the cutest house. 

I also consider time outside as "school"

Unsupervised time outside is so important to our kids' mental health. 

They are naturally curious beings and it's so cool to watch them absorb it all.

The sun came out for a bit today, so instead of spending 45 minutes to an hour doing "afternoon school" (we did "morning school" already), I kicked them outside. 

They spent a good 45 minutes out there before it got a little chilly.

Green Egg!

I didn't think we had any breeds that laid green eggs.

Unless when we crossed two breeds and got those babies...not sure if that could be it?

Unfiltered photo to show the true color! So cool.

COVID 19 - WFH Day 7

Yesterday was a success in my world.

Girls were able to stay busy (without watching TV!) and I got a lot of work done.

Today is proving to be a bit harder.

I had no meetings in the morning, so I planned to do school with the girls right after breakfast.

Everyone should be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, right?

NOPE.

JESUS FUCK the complaining.

But, we powered through for about 45 minutes before calling it quits.

They did get through several work sheets.

Mila did 2.5 math worksheets on top of that.

Ava practiced her name, my phone number and some shapes.

They took a break and video chatted with a friend (Mila's BFF). They spent 25 minutes catching up and showing off their new piggies.

Having these littles pigs around has been super fun. They are very entertaining and we spend quite a bit of time just hanging with them.

The girls have really been resilient and are handling this quarantine pretty well. 

Yes there's complaining. 

Yes there's arguing. 

And yes, there's been some crying as well.

But, we're managing as well as we can be, considering.

We're eating.

We're resting.

We're reading.

Hang in there, folks. 

We'll get through this! 

COVID 19 - WFH Day 6 (Monday)

Well, here we go again.

Starting off the week with some work meetings.

Keeping the girls home under Matilda's Law and staying the fuck home.

It's scary.

I've been obsessed with watching the news and I'm trying to stop.

So right now I have The Great British Baking Show on in the background while I do some work.

The girls were amazing during my 2.5 hours of conference calls this morning.

I broke for lunch and then did school with the girls for about 1.5 hours, which is NOT bad!

We worked on some things while also doing a zoo tour (they only watched like 5 minutes of it, but...oh well, we tried).

They didn't complain TOO much about having to do their worksheets and I have to say, Ava impressed me a lot with her ability to follow directions and complete her work quickly (and correctly).

I definitely feel weird going out.

I can't even buy groceries and do curbside today or tomorrow! 

So Steve is going to go tonight. 

We don't need anything crazy. Just normal weekly groceries! Fruit and veg! Milk! 

I do need some paper towels.

Some dishwasher pods. 

Nothing serious.

We had a surprisingly good day. 

Let's see what tomorrow brings! 

Stay safe, everyone. 

Welcome to the Family!

Mila came home from school a few weeks ago and said this:

"mommy, can I have a skinny pig for my birthday?"

me: uh. What?

(I met my first skinny pig about 10 years ago at a place called "Steve's Wonderful World of Pets" in Buffalo.

They are hilarious little rodents.

Like, hilarious.

They look like little hippos.

You guys.

I literally cannot. 

Their very first night at home. 

The girls are obsessed of course and I have to remind them not to overwhelm the pigs. 

We are excited to enjoy these little ladies! They are so cute and incredibly interesting to watch.

Piggy Smalls (the pink one) is much more outgoing than the black one (Notorious PIG) who tends to hide more.

Stay tuned! I will be posting regularly about them! :)

COVID 19 - WFH Day 5

Welp.

We made it.

Barely.

Like. Barely.

Made it through week 1 of "social distancing"

My kids did maybe 2 hours of school work during this 5 day period.

It's okay.

They've also spent a decent amount of time outside.

And I'm MORE than OK with that.

I had one conference call in the morning - another client presentation.

It went well.

Our Governor just announced an order that all "non-essential workers" should stay home.

Any non-essential gatherings of any kind should be canceled.

If people go out, it's recommended to stay 6ft from one another.

This is insane.

It's going to get to the point that it's scary to go outside or go to the grocery store!

Steve's work is still open, as it's an "essential" function to keep our infrastructure going. I wasn't sure if it would be or not, but I guess "Auto Repair" falls into that "essential" list.

So here's the thing.

I wanted to go get Mila's "birthday present" like ASAP. Before this lockdown happens.

Before we're ordered to "shelter in place" OMG. I just fucking typed that. Steve's sister is currently on a "shelter in place" order in SF in CA.

So we dropped the girls off at my mom's house so we could get an early start.

Like, really early.

Like, 6am early.

COVID 19 - WFH Day 4

Holy fuck you guys.

It's just getting weirder and weirder.

It's been tough juggling kids and work all at the same time. And my kids have spent time at my mom's house! Like, I didn't even HAVE THEM WITH ME THE ENTIRE TIME!!

And then today?

Of all fucking days.

Just in time for my 10am - 12pm VIDEO conference call with about 8 people.

Yup.

Of course.

We're presenting a detailed analytics dashboard for a 3-month campaign that just ended.

I high-tail it to the office and get there with about 20 minutes to spare before my meeting starts.

I didn't think my laptop would be able to make the full 2 hours without juice, especially using video and screen sharing, etc. 

I spent a good two hours at the office.

It was kinda nice.

Only one other person there. Super quiet. Dark. 

We're all just trying to get through this odd time. Clients alike are navigating this situation and are looking for our guidance.

We also talked about stocking up in case we do have to do mandatory quarantine or shelter in place.

Definitely not trying to make light of the situation. BUT. My client happens to be a spirits company, so I happen to have sixteen liters of liquor! 

I will likely get through all of this during this weird WFH time. Just kidding. I barely drink!

After the drama of my broken cord, I got my backup cord and made it back home. 

My setup is much nicer, now that I'm back at my home office. 

Got my dual screen set up. But I forgot my mouse. Fuck. 

It was one hell of a day. I had like 6 video meetings today. Got a TON done, but JESUS. This is hard.

It was around 5:30 when I finally decided to be done and closed up the laptop and headed out. Steve took the girls out to do a few things so my afternoon was quiet to complete all my work. I used this still quiet time to take the dogs for a walk.

Only I ended up taking only Bella for a walk. A chicken was out and I couldn't risk MR getting out and eating this bird.

So I took my girl for a hike in the woods. I didn't bring my phone, since I've been connected to it and my computer non-stop for the last 3 days. It's been hard. 

Tomorrow is Friday. 

We got the email today that we are going to be working from home next week as well. 

I hope I get into a groove here. This is just crazy.

COVID 19 - WFH Day 3

Day 3 and I made a last-minute decision last night to ask the girls if they wanted to sleep over at my mom's.

I just got a LOT done yesterday and have so many deliverables I knew I wouldn't be focused enough to get through enough of it while they were home with me.

There's a certain amount of guilt, but at the same time, they would normally be in school! And they get to be with my mom, who loves them more than anything. They get to watch TV, do crafts, play, eat as many snacks as they want, etc.

I also feel like I'm pawning them off on my mom...

But on the flip side, I've never had a village, so is this what it feels like?

See how my crazy mom brain works? Guilt one way or another!

Which is precisely why I'm medicated. To balance this shit out. 

They are also sleeping over Friday night so Steve and I can take a quick road trip to pick up Mila's birthday present.

It's a secret.

ANYWAY.

My thought was that if they sleep at mom's house, I can get up early and get going with my day rather quickly. Like 6-7am.

With them home, I feel like after breakfast, getting cleaned up, dressed, it's like mid-morning already.

And then it's request after request after request after that.

So.

If I can get in a solid 6 hours by lunchtime?

That would be amazing.

I can then stop over to my mom's to eat lunch and pick up the girls and try to enjoy the afternoon with them, while juggling work/emails.

We got home around 2pm and it was honestly just a shit show after that.

It's nearly impossible to get any work done with the girls home.

1. They are loud - whether they are playing, fighting, whatever, it's just freaking loud!
2. They request everything every God Damned 5 minutes. Water. Chips. Grapes. Strawberries. WITH SUGAR. Cereal. No milk. WITH MILK. 
3. I actually want to play with them when they are being cute. Distraction Central.

It's crazy.

Steve also got home and did more work outside.

So it was just a long fucking day.

First time watching the live action Aladdin! Super cute!