The World Has Stopped

The World is hurting right now. Not just Washington, not just Tri Cities, or even just America. It truly is the entire world. The world has been infected with a virus called COVID-19 or Coronavirus. It is a disease caused by a virus strain that began spreading to people in December 2019 in China. It spread quickly there and first hit America in Seattle due to travelers. It's all over the world now. Some places it's worse than here. Little is known about the new respiratory virus. Many have died from it. Originally thought to effect the elderly there are more and more cases of people in their 30s even getting it. Due to the rapid spread of the virus it has caused everything to shut down. Schools, universities, churches, temples, businesses, restaurants, museums, sports...even the NCAA March Madness games came to a complete halt. Cancellations of all sports (my girls were both sad to have barely started their tennis seasons and then told it was over), concerts, cruises, and everything else worldwide. Many businesses are laying people off because they have to close or shorten hours. Some companies are able to continue to work with employees working from home. The government has started a "Stay home, Stay healthy" (quarantine) order. We need to stay home unless necessary to go out for things like groceries. Even then we are asked to practice social distancing of 6 feet or more. Grocery store shelves are bare. Toilet paper, sanitizing wipes, hand sanitizers, and cleaning products were some of the first to go and stores have a hard time keeping them stocked. Flour, yeast, meat, produce, and frozen meals were cleaned out just prior to the shut down. Stores are still open but when things get restocked they don't last for long. There are lines outside Costco in the mornings just so people can get a pack of toilet paper. And stores have even put limits on how much you can buy! Many stores have buy online and pickup outside the store to minimize contact with other people. 

The last day of school was March 16th. I talked with the kids about a schedule for us at home and continuing with some education. We created a schedule of when we'd have meals, academics, exercise, music and free time. They've done a pretty good job at following the time schedule. We need it or they'd just want to play and I would be trying to get the to do something educational. It works that they know when to do reading, writing, math, P.E., and music. I work in free time with time to use electronics. 

Jaime works less hours but he does work. He and his assistant principal take turns being at the school for food distribution. He does lots of video meetings, phone calls, and emails from home to reduce his time spent working outside the home. I am so grateful that he still gets a full pay while not being at the school. So many have had to file for unemployment. We truly are blessed. We were able to get quite a bit of food to add to our already stored food. I haven't had to go to the store since the ordered "shut in." Jaime has made a couple stops to a store to grab something while he's already out for work but he's good to always wash and try to keep his distance from others. 

Due to the quick spread of the virus, there's always new updates on what is projected to come. The most recent says that it'll get to where almost 27 people die per day. Getting around to 81,000 deaths in the U.S. peaking in mid-April and not getting any better till August. Our kids won't be going back to school this year. I pray that school will resume in August or September. 

We've had to cancel a few trips already. We've booked a trip to Europe with friends in September but that's not 100% going to happen now I think. Everything is on hold currently.