Coronavirius - day whatever

I've never really been one to sit still. As a child I loved and would go to every camp my parents would send me to. I think one year I went to 5 basketball camps (Millsaps, Mississippi College, St. Andrews, Jackson Academy and NC State if memory serves me correctly). It wasn't that I didn't enjoy home....I enjoyed my parents, my older sister, watching TV, video games, etc. It's just I never really sat still much.

The first big decision I ever made for myself was where I would go to college. I applied to 7 schools with only one of them being in my home state and only a couple within a short drive. My top two choices were both 12 hours away and I finally settled on a mid-sized school in the middle of a cornfield.

Miami University was a wonderful school to attend - one with amazing teachers, a perfect campus and a lot of truly great friends. To give you an understanding of my love for Miami, I've done some college recruiting for them after I graduated. One key trait I always make sure to talk about to high school students is the study abroad program at Miami. I was fortunate enough to travel to China, South Korea, Japan and Hawaii during a summer abroad program that is and will always be one of my most favorite things I have ever done.

Not that I had many choices out of college, but I ended up accepting a job even farther away from my home state and going to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Much like the transition to college, I didn't know a single person when I moved up to Minnesota. Now I am forever thankful for that decision because without going up to Minnesota I wouldn't have met my wife.

M and I have loved traveling and are lucky enough to have gone both to place far away (Spain, England, France, etc) and close by (my friends make fun of my love of going to random Midwest cities to check out the BBQ and minor league baseball). This spring break was going to be our next great adventure - we had booked flights / hotels / train tickets to visit Paris and Switzerland partly to visit a college friend (one from the study abroad program mentioned in the 3rd paragraph) who lives abroad permanently.

Spring break was canceled this year because of the Coronavirus pandemic that has been spreading across the United States. It wasn't the only thing canceled....here is a quick timeline of a very strange week:

Friday, March 6th - M and I got a babysitter so we could go out to eat and go see a comedian (Iliza) we really like. It was a fun night.

Saturday, March 7th - we took the kids to LegoLand at Easton - overall we found it to be a little disappointing

Sunday, March 8th - we organized a playdate with Julie's best friend.

Monday, March 9th - we canceled our trip to Europe. That was a running conversation topic the previous 3 days, and we finally made the call that we didn't want to be stuck in Europe if the Coronavirus got worse. M and I talked about possibly booking another Spring Break trip to Utah or Tampa or some place within driving distance. We thankfully didn't book anything

Tuesday, March 10th - nothing big happened - just a normal day at work

Wednesday, March 11th - I went to my weekly basketball game and during that game the following 3 things happened: 1) Trump canceled flights to Europe, which made our decision on Monday irrelevant 2) Rudy Gobert (one my favorite basketball players) tested positive for the Coronavirus right before the Jazz / Thunder game was about to start 3) The Nba season was canceled. All of this happened during the 2 hour time period.

Thursday, March 12th - The NCAA tournament was canceled. It is amazing to me that this went from something I would have never even considered to something that barely surprised me. Also, Governor DeWine canceled school for 3 weeks. At this point we have all realized how serious this has become.

So in a week we went from going to a crowded comedy show to everything being canceled  / postponed. Since that time we have used brand new phrases like "social distancing." M and I have done a pretty good job of limiting exposure to everyone and an adequate job of managing working from home (we are both are still employed) while taking care of two kids. I know it is overused, but it has just been crazy. Restaurants have been forced to close dine in options and currently only have takeout available. Every day we get a new state and federal update on what is being closed and how the coronavirius is impacting our daily life. Through this all I have been asked to do something that isn't familiar to me - to sit still.

So here I am sitting. Not moving. Not planning a trip or a ballgame (all sports are canceled) to see. Not even planning a date night for M because we don't feel comfortable having a babysitter watch the kids....and even if we did there is no place to go. I would like to say that this sitting still has made me into an uber productive person, but the three pictures I got for my birthday are still not hung and my Dad's taxes are still not completed. I have learned to be a little bit less frenetic. There is no where to go, so I can sleep in and go on long bike rides with my two children. I can spend time with my family without much outside pressure (you know minus the work that I need to do during te week). I can watch movies - pretty much every night we have family movie night with Tarzan, Frozen, The Parent Trap, etc. I can try out new recipes - I made chicken fried rice and I might be wondering why this wasn't a staple during my college years.

Things aren't perfect - I still can get distracted with the news (yesterday Dr. Fauci predicted between 100,000 and 200,000 people will die in the United States). I also can be short with M or my children.  I have periodically just shut down and gone to bed for a few hours just to try and recharge. I am not making as much progress with work as I wish I could. 

Still I move on. Still we go through this. There is no real end to this post besides just writing my thoughts down on a time in my life where I am just sitting still.