On a Lighter Note...

Amazon is no longer providing overnight deliveries for basic things. Maybe it is for more vital supplies?  I don't know.

Here is the thing.  When we order something, if we are willing to not have it shipped overnight, we can check a tab for delayed shipping and earn $1 of Kindle currency.

Usually.

Now, because ten million people are ordering a hundred million things from Amazon, they have bumped that up to $3 of Kindle currency.

So every time we order something, and are willing to wait for it, I get $3 of Kindle money to play with.

Be still my heart!

It is so exciting!!

I love Gerald Durrell, a (now deceased) man who was an animal nut and wrote many, many books about animals, his life, and his zoo in Jersey (off the coast of Britain.)

He. Writes. So. Well.  Like crazy well.  Like, wow.  He is amazing, and hilarious.

His books cost $10 on Kindle.

I just can't handle it.  That is so much.  I'm so cheap.  

But, Kindle currency is like free money, right?  So yes, I am acquiring Durrell books slowly as my delayed shipping money shows up in my Kindle account.

Joy.

Delight.

Ecstasy.

Monday, March 30th

It is weird how hard it is to remember what day of the week it is.  The regular cadence of our lives has been entirely disrupted and the days slide by without a great deal of change.

We are doing fine.  Naomi has had an illness with a bad headache and fatigue, but it is just a virus, not THE virus.

Being home is mostly our normal and the weather gave us a few lovely days, so we were outside running around, firmly not interacting with our wonderful neighbors who have a newborn and an elderly individual in their household.  Because, social distancing.

I keep praying fervently that God will give wisdom to the leaders of our country, our state, our county.  These are difficult times, as many people are off work and yet if we open everything back up, the coronavirus will spread like crazy.

I believe our leaders are wise to continue quarantining and social distancing, but certainly the economic impact is profound.

New York City is scary. Of course, it is the kind of place where a very contagious virus will spread easily.  So many people in a relatively small area. I pray our country can rally alongside NYC and give the city's personnel the respirators and other support necessary.

I have read more than one article about how idiotic the spring break kids were in Florida.  Masses of them went down to Florida to party and of course they spread coronavirus.

While I shake my head slightly, I am not surprised at all.  I have been a cautious soul for as long as I can remember, and even in my university days, I was not a risk taker.

To me, the idea of going to some unknown city and getting crazy drunk around a whole bunch of people I don't know is just so insanely RISKY that I can't imagine doing it myself. But tens of thousands of young men and women do just that. They are risk takers.  If a woman is willing to get drunk repeatedly around a bunch of unknown males -- thus taking the chance of being raped -- is she really likely to worry very much about an invisible virus that mostly harms older people?

No.

Though on that note, a newborn died in Chicago yesterday of COVID-19.  So horrible.

But yes, I don't expect young people to be very wise.  I know plenty of older people aren't taking this very seriously either.  If you scroll back a few posts of my own, you'll see I blew it off a month plus ago when I had no idea how bad this was going to get.

So yeah, lots of people don't get it and aren't going to get it, how awful this is. Or they are just casual people and risk takers.

Lord, have mercy on our country and our leaders and our people. Give us all wisdom.

Furnace Fixed!

The part came today and Kevin fixed the furnace.  Hooray!  We weren't suffering too much since we had space heaters here and there, but this is way better.

I am thankful the furnace didn't bug out in the midst of a real cold snap.

Yesterday I ran around like a nut (entirely at home) in a decluttering frenzy.  I organized all the fabric and yarn and moved things around in our storage room.  It looks so much better that when Kevin went in there, he didn't notice anything different.

Ha ha ha!

Seriously, that is funny to me.  It does look a lot better but it's just a storage room.

On a more serious note, a friend's uncle has coronavirus and is in a hospital nearby. I know plenty of people are sick and dying but somehow it seems more real. This man is MY AGE, which is also rather unnerving.

We continue to quarantine diligently.  

Many years ago, I read a book called The Hot Zone by Robert Preston.  It is a true story about disease in general and an Ebola variant (eventually named Ebola Reston) which landed on American shores in the late 1980's. The Ebola that we are more aware of hits people; thankfully, Ebola Reston turned out only to be a problem for primates.  It could have been a catastrophe if it had affected humans because it showed up here in primates and it took a long time to figure out it was an Ebola variant.  So yeah, it could have been bad.

I do remember the book talking about how Ebola is actually somewhat self containing because people get so sick, so fast, that quarantining is easier.  It is horrible but by the time someone is contagious, that person is OBVIOUSLY sick so people know to take care.

HIV is at the opposite end of the spectrum in some ways. People get infected and are contagious and might go YEARS before displaying any symptoms at all.  It is a horrible disease, a killer. The only reason the entire planet hasn't succumbed to HIV (well, that's an exaggeration, but you know what I mean) is that it doesn't transmit that easily.  It is tied into sexual relations and drug use almost completely.

Enter coronavirus. I am not an expert at all but I totally see the problem. It is a killer, for SOME people. It is easily transmitted through sneezing and coughing and snot.  And for many people, it causes basically no symptoms.

We could have coronavirus and not know it.  People sometimes test positive and have NO symptoms at all.  But they are contagious.  And then there is that segment of the population which for whatever reason is very susceptible, and those folks are in the hospital with double pneumonia. Some of them are dying. Old people are struggling, and those with preexisting conditions.  But some young, healthy people are dying also.  Of course, the older people matter tremendously.  I'm just saying this thing is a vicious killer of almost everyone. (Thankfully, children have been almost completely spared, which is helpful as a mom.)

I have been praying for wisdom for our leaders.  I am also thinking about how this is the first time in my lifetime that I've dealt with something like this. I was blase about Ebola a few years ago. We had a few cases that crossed to the U.S.A. but it was stamped out quickly.

Back in the Middle Ages, the Black Death (bubonic plague) tore across Europe, decimating people by the millions. Literally.  But in our day and age, probably the closest we have come to something like this was the Spanish Flu 100 years ago. Which obviously isn't my lifetime.

Now we have much improved medical knowledge but people are still dying by the hundreds from this thing. And the worst is probably to come.

It is scary.

But I have Jesus.

I have Jesus.

The kids and I were talking about the crucifixion today.  One interesting aspect of having 9 children is having adult children who have studied apologetics and little kids who are still learning about the basics of the faith.  We talked again about how Jesus died for us, for our sins. A horrible death, sacrificially endured for our sakes.

Last night, I was caught by the following verse:

Romans 8:3 New International Version (NIV)

3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[a] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[b] 

I never thought of it this way before but I think what this verse is saying is that the Law of God (all his instruction about how to live) COULD save us except that we are sinful people.  We all of us fail to live out God's laws.  Some of us are better than others at obeying the Lord's call in mind and body but we all fall WAY SHORT.  

I am a sinner and I am saved by grace.  Jesus saved me.

I am not really scared of coronavirus.  But realistically, this is a huge thing happening and I could get it and I could have a major problem with it.  I don't think I will but I COULD.

And I could die.  I mean, eventually I WILL die.  

I really don't want to die right now because of Kevin and the kids and all my loved ones.  (My dad has told me more than once that I'm not allowed to die before he is, because parents shouldn't outlive their children.  I agree.)

But when I do die, I am saved by the blood of Christ and I will go to be with the Lord in Heaven.  That helps me manage my anxiety during these crazy days.

My prayer is that all of you who are reading this blog turn to the Lord during this time for help.  If you don't know Jesus as Savior and are interested in more information, shoot me a comment.  

Blessings on you all!

Coronavirus Quarantine

Most of us have been home all week. Kevin makes occasional forays out to the stores.  We aren't losing our minds. Actually, though this is a terrible thing (the coronavirus), we are so far enjoying it.  Or I am, anyway.

I love being home. The last few weeks before everything locked down, I was running around a lot.  It was tiring.  When I am gone a lot, it is hard to stay on top of things at home. 

Of course I wish this wasn't happening.  I'm just trying to find silver linings.

Most of the cloud is dark, though. So many people sick.  I mean, most people get it and recover without too much trouble, but those hit with pneumonia from the coronavirus are getting hit hard, poor souls.

Yesterday, the governor of Ohio ordered all non essential businesses to close, so Naomi is off work for the next few weeks.  Thankfully, she is not dependent on her paycheck for survival but lots of people aren't so fortunate. 

I am praying for the world, for our country, for our LEADERS.  Hard decisions are having to be made.  Realistically, some people are really going to suffer financially. They are going to lose businesses and struggle to pay for basic necessities.  I am glad I don't have to make these hard calls on what to close, what kind of government assistance to provide, and so on.

Obviously if coronavirus spreads unchecked and tens of thousands of people die, that would be terrible.  I think the quarantining has to happen, it is just that it isn't easy for most people.

Oh, we did have one minor hiccup in our house.  The central heating is out.  We had a power blip a few days ago and Kevin thinks it knocked out our house fan. The heat pump is still working but the fan won't send the heat anywhere, so yes...

We have space heaters and the weather isn't too bitter, so we'll be fine.  Amazon is so overwhelmed that it apparently isn't providing overnight shipping anymore, which is totally understandable. So a necessary part for the fan will be here, we hope, on Thursday.  Until then, electric blankets and space heaters will keep us warm.

Lord, please bless the medical staff of hospitals across the world.

Lord, please give wisdom to the leaders making hard decisions.

Lord, please bless people who are sick.  Please bring them to healing.

Amen.

  

Lots of Pictures of our Family

Playing Uno

Doing challenging puzzles

Lydia, all dressed up

Me with a hot pack on my achy neck.

Lydia cut the hair of all 4 children here.  She cut the boys' hair short, Rose less so.

Green palachintas for St. Patrick's Day

Another "after the haircuts" picture. All three of us were shorn by Lydia. She did a great job!

Cute Rose when she got up this morning. She is not asleep, just resting.

Coronavirus

I have officially changed my stance on coronavirus. It is indeed a huge deal.

Not personally for us, almost certainly.  Kevin and I are 49 and 50, respectively. Our children are 20 and under.  If we get it, we'll almost certainly have mild cases.

BUT Italy is an example of how quickly this thing spreads.  They are at the point where they don't have enough medical support for the very ill.  It is hitting the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions. Some of those people are going to die because they don't have the medical infrastructure to take care of all these people.  And Italy had a decent medical system.

So yeah...

Very sad.

Ohio is shutting down in a lot of ways.  Schools are closed for 3 weeks. Colleges are closed for two weeks at least -- or to put it more accurately, everything is changing to online learning.

I keep expecting the base where Kevin and I work to announce that everyone should start telecommuting if possible.

It is truly a surreal situation.  Grocery stores are wiped out of toilet paper, of all things.  Kevin got to Sam's before they ran out and we got two giant packs.  For us, that's just par for the course. We have 11 people in the house. No, we are not hoarding :-).

For us, this is just a bump in the road.  Many people will suffer far more. Kevin's paycheck won't stop coming and if it did, we have emergency funds.  Some people don't.

The government is having to make hard decisions.  But I think they are right that we need to quarantine and try to slow this thing down.  Because again, if the hospitals get overloaded with cases, lots of people will die when in an ordinary situation, they would live.

Part of the challenge of our current day is that we have the medical capability to help a lot of people so it isn't a question of having the technology, but having the availability.  When the bubonic plague swept through the world back in the Middle Ages, people just died in droves.  Medical care was nearly nonexistent and a lot of what was done was actually counter productive.

Now we CAN save people if we have the machines and the medical personnel. But when lots and lots and lots of people are sick...

For us, this just means staying home a lot the next 3 weeks and I'm fine with that. Or I should say, staying home a lot for as long as it takes.  We are used to being home and feel very comfortable with it.  I am a stay at home mom so I can take care of our kids as usual. For single income and single parent homes, this could be really tough.

So I am praying for wisdom for our leaders and God's hand of compassion on our world.

Yep, its a big deal.

Thankful It Is Friday

Whew, I survived the week!

I knew it was going to be strenuous with so many medical appointments. But we made it through.

Monday, I took Isaac to see a geneticist.  He is so tall and so thin that his BMI falls in 1st percentile.  He is ridiculously skinny.

Good news it that a heart scan showed it is fine.  He has some characteristics of Marfan's Syndome, which is a genetic disease, but given that his heart is fine, he almost certainly doesn't have it. But we're still running a DNA test just to make absolutely sure.

Wednesday I had a standard mammogram.  This was no big deal at all but it was early.  Running off at 7:15 a.m. for mammogram meant that the whole day felt busy and exhausting. But still, thankful for good medical care.  The lady who did the mammogram is pregnant with her 5th child, but her 4th child is 12. We talked a fair amount about big family life, plus the fun of having a baby when she has 4 teens and tweens.

Today, I took Joseph in to see and orthopedic surgeon about his scoliosis.  The good news is that it is mild (only 16 degree curve) so they won't do anything but watch it. It probably isn't ever going to be a problem. The ortho did note that Joseph hunches forward a lot, and said that it was because his muscles in his legs haven't grown as fast as his bones. This means super tight hamstrings, which pulls him into a hunched position. It should improve as his growth slows, but in the meantime I am going to work on some stretches with him.

Yes, I am thankful it is Friday.