Thursday, March 12 we kept our original flights from Colorado Springs to Cedar Rapids. We had planned to be in Iowa for a short day and a half to pack up our suitcases for our Mexican Riveria cruise with Melissa and family that was to take off March 15 from LA. On March 11 we decided to cancel the cruise due to the coronavirus starting up in the United States. We officially called and canceled March 12 and later the cruise line canceled our trip anyway. After the canceled cruise we had debated about staying longer in COS so Don could work from his USAB office, but decided we wanted to get to Iowa in case travel became problematic. Wise decision! By the time we flew the short flight from Colorado Springs and landed in Denver the USAB office closed down and all the March Madness/Final Four games and activities had been canceled.
So on to Iowa for our Social Distancing!!
Social Distancing Week 1: March 13 - March 21
We arrived home realizing we should start distancing, but the climate hadn't taken it to be very serious yet. Saturday we met Judy, Jim, Darrel and Janet in Kalona to eat out at Tuscan Moon for Janet's birthday. It was a fun evening to celebrate Janet, but now we realize that we should have started our social distancing from the time we arrived home in Iowa. We had Judy come up for a steak dinner on her birthday on March 17 (I just didn't want her to be alone on her birthday and we had already been with her on Saturday so we thought it was worth the risk). Those two interactions were the only ones we had except for a trip to the grocery store and library. The library closed the day after we visited and picked up lots of books.
Our week in photo review:
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| An Iowan welcome home! |
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| Trying to cancel my Global Entry interview in LA since not going there. |
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| Cleaning and decorating for Easter |
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| Sleep in and enjoy a late breakfast. |
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| My morning place for Bible Study and quiet time. |
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| Daily walk using our wonderful walking trails near our house. |
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| We managed to get 1/2 yard raked and I started planning a new flower garden. |
Social Distancing Week 2: March 22 - March 28
Life has changed fast and drastically this week - restaurants, gyms, some stores, library, schools (they've been closed since spring break and extended now), churches, and more have closed down. We made a trip to the grocery store - most have a "senior shopping" hour designated and we stocked up again on meat and fresh produce. By Saturday we have reached the 14 day quarantine so we headed to the family farm to spend Saturday with dad and Judy. I took meals for the day, we played cards, cleaned, and I enjoyed a long walk with my sister.
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| Church online |
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| After spring break Melissa is back to work! |
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| Walking the trail near our family farm. |
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| Pepper and 99 |
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| IC has been out of toilet paper, but Judy found some in Washington! |
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| Facetiming with grandsons |
Social Distancing Week 3: March 29 - April 4
The routine continues! We borrowed my dad's pickup and we continued on the yard - especially the back yard under those messy weeping willow trees. I finished cleaning up the flower gardens and helped with the mowing/mulching of the leaves and picking up the sticks under the trees. We continue to walk the trails around our house and two deer crossed in front of us the other day. We now have a drive through coronavirus testing area in our neighborhood as our doctor's office has been designated as one of those places complete with two tents on the drive. Don has been busy at work in his office and spends most of the time on conference calls or zoom/google with his workmates. They are working on eLearning coaching classes. Extra time in the kitchen this week resulted in a double batch of ham balls and homemade cinnamon rolls.
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| Enjoyed some sunny days for outside work. |
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| Two deer on our walking path. |
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| The neighborhood Mercy office is now a COVID 19 testing sight. |
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| Don working in his office. |
Social Distancing Week 4: April 5 - April 11
A
month ago we flew home to Iowa from our Colorado home. It seems like we’ve been isolated much longer
than that! The highlight this week was
driving to Cedar Rapids to wish our grandson, Owen, a happy 11th
birthday. From a appropriately social
distance we wished him well, dropped off his present and blew kisses. Gas was $1.19 when we filled up this
week. And a new experience – grocery
shopping online!!
SOCIAL DISTANCING WEEK 5 - April 12 - 18
This week began with Easter services online with my dad and sister joining us
for “church” and dinner. We woke up two
mornings to snow! We are SO ready for
warm spring weather. I tackled cleaning out the kids’ arts/crafts drawers and
games. I decided it was time to sew
several masks and thanks to instructions via YouTube I did get that
accomplished. None of the produce was
included in my grocery pickup, so I headed to the store to buy those
items. We finished the week visiting my dad at the farm.
SOCIAL DISTANCING WEEK 6 - April 19 -25
SOCIAL DISTANCING WEEK 6 –
The routine continues as Don works from the home office and I enjoyed the
spring weather mowing the lawn and tending the flower gardens. The true excitement this week was the Michael Jordan
special, The Last Dance and the broadcast of the Olympic Gold Medal
Classics. My excitement was the installation of a new washer and dryer, a lovely card from a CO friend, and continued use of the walking trails.
SOCIAL DISTANCING WEEK 7 - April 26 - May 2
This week began with
our 7th week of online church.
The BEST surprise happened Tuesday when Melissa and the boys made a
donut (freshly made by them) delivery to our house. We haven’t seen them in person such such a
LONG time. We’ll be happy when we can go
back to hugs. The week ended by
celebrating our 12 year old in Indiana with several FaceTime sessions. He used birthday money for a Pop a Shot,
which will keep those three boys entertained.
We watched geese and goslings near our walking trail this week and Don
continues to grill most evenings
SOCIAL DISTANCING WEEK 8 - May 3 - 9
The week began with beautiful Sunday weather so
we explored some new walking trails in Coralville complete with a DQ drive
through. I explored a new skill of
playing chess with a grandson in Indiana online and celebrated Brent’s birthday
via FaceTime. One of our first carry out
meals was a pizza from Pagliai’s this week.
Then I spent a few days buying
and potting my flowerpots.
Memorial Day weekend (see next blog post)
