birthday

Happy Birthday Little Man!

Posted by Lisa Eirene

I can’t believe my little baby is a FOUR YEAR OLD!

He’s gotten so big and so vocal and so smart. He talks up a storm. He has opinions. He has ideas. He’s creative and sweet and has a big heart. And during this tough time that none of us know how to navigate, when mommy was struggling and getting emotional about the stress of our new realities—my big boy came over and said “Mommy? Are you ok? Can I give you hugs and kisses?”

His birthday party was cancelled. He doesn’t understand why the library and the park is closed or why he can’t have a play date with his friends. But we tried our best to make his birthday weekend special and fun. Lots of outdoor time. A hike in the deserted woods. Long walks in our neighborhood. Bike rides.

Sunday we all slept in a bit (which was good because I don’t sleep much these days, just lay away at night with anxiety). We had breakfast and then let Logan open his first present. A helicopter with a volcano and car. Perfect! He loved it.

Then we spent the morning spacing out Facetime calls to the family and opening cards and presents.

Thankful for technology! So we can at least SEE our family. After Logan’s nap we opened the rest of the presents and had cake.

Logan loved it. He got a bunch of presents and he loved the cake and all the Batman stuff! πŸ™‚ Then outside for some sunshine. He rode his bike for a bit and then back inside for some coloring time (Uncle Andy got him a coloring book of reptiles and a regular book about Hawaii geckos!).

One of Logan’s good friends sent him a video singing happy birthday and we FaceTimed with some more family. <3 It was a good day.

Staying Home

Posted by Lisa Eirene

Wow, life sure got kind of crazy and scary all of a sudden, huh?

I’ve been monitoring the covid-19 situation since Seattle because the epicenter in Kirkland was minutes from where my best friend lives and of course it spread to Seattle, where my family was. My 98 year old grandma lives in a nursing home in Seattle, too, so that of course is on my mind. Thankfully they have shut down all visitation.

I have basically been home all weekend “social distancing“. No gym. No swimming. I went to the grocery store at 8pm Saturday night to avoid crowds and just get normal essentials.

I already had a decent supply of stuff in my pantry to get us through a few weeks if need be. Having grown up with grandparents who grew up during the Depression that mentality definitely got ingrained in me. Always Be Prepared. You just never know.

And amidst all of this, it snowed!

My work has mandated a work from home (for those that can) until further notice policy, which is good news. And Michael’s work did it a few days before mine. We are both lucky that we have that option. A lot of people don’t and that is absolutely heartbreaking. I am so devastated for the people whose lives are going to be ruined by this crisis (lost jobs, lost wages, lost everything…).

Work is weird. I work in a place that serves the public and some departments are considered “essential” so it makes it hard planning on whether or not to close. I am glad my specific job can be done 90% from home (and I already worked from home once a week so I had everything set up and ready–a lot of people are scrambling now to try and get it going on short notice).

Portland is shutting down most things. Libraries and a lot of businesses are closed.

It’s been really hard not getting sucked in the social media loop and getting more and more anxious. And getting angry at people not takin this seriously and going out to bars and restaurants and clubs…seeing people smashed into a club in Nashville and New Orleans over the weekend made me really angry and scared.

I am considered one of the people who need to be careful. I have asthma. I also have a history of pneumonia. I was hospitalized 20 years ago with pneumonia and almost died, so it is a very scary thing for me.

Saturday I did weights and a kettlebell workout and then ran on the treadmill in our basement gym. Thankful to have that option! It wasn’t the best workout but it was better than no workout.

Sunday afternoon we went for a hike in Mary S. Young Park in West Linn. We’ve never been before and it’s a fantastic park with lots of dog-friendly and kid-friendly trails. It was the PERFECT remedy to being cooped up in the house all weekend.

I’ve cancelled Logan’s Batman Birthday party for next weekend. It was both an easy and a hard decision to take. I am bummed out and disappointed on behalf of Logan but my hope is that we can just post-pone it a few months and then have it then. πŸ™

Things are scary right now. We all need to be careful and STAY HOME. Protect our neighbors. Protect our loved ones that have compromised health. And stay SANE!