Here we are in our fifth week of social distancing and we are still in a routine. It has been okay. I saw a quote, not sure who to attribute it to or if I’m remembering it correctly, but it was something along the lines of: “We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat.” This is so accurate. I don’t take it for granted that we have been very lucky during this situation. We still (as far as we are aware) do not know anyone who has gotten sick. To this end, we are doing our part and staying home.

We did venture out to the grocery store. It has been two weeks since our last shop. Our store was well-stocked and we were able to get everything that we wanted, including a huge bag of flour. We are trying to last another two weeks. Although the store was stocked and not very crowded, it was a different experience. This time, about 50-60% of people wore masks and actively practiced social distancing.

Among the people who were not wearing masks, some went out of their way to come close to us, closer than people would have under pre-virus circumstances. I couldn’t help but feel this was antagonistic. On the same day, many people were protesting the “stay at home” orders, including hundreds in Denver. I felt this growing sentiment of not just people wanting to do their own thing, but an aggression towards those who feel differently. It made me want to get home quickly.

I’m proud to say that a side-effect of the virus has been the way we use food in our household. We have been cooking every meal at home and really eating all of the leftovers. Food waste used to be a big problem for us, but we are using everything. I can’t say that we are eating healthier, as this week included homemade pizza, baking a cake, curry night with fried pompadums, and gnocchi with bolognase sauce.

Dan received an order of goodies from The British Food Depot and I got to try a Wagon Wheel. Wagon Wheels are similar to Moon Pies, but smaller and tastier. I love British snack food!

We started in on a new bag of coffee from Boca Java, my favorite roaster. I’m sharing because the bag has a funny and appropriate label. Also, Boca Java recently suffered a terrible loss when a fire destroyed their roasting facility. They are struggling to get back on their feet. It’s enough that we are all dealing with the virus, but a fire on top of that is a huge setback.

Cooking wasn’t our only project: Dan turned our gorgeous Timothy Oulton light pendant, into a floor light. Dan added the base. It is too heavy to hang, but having it on the floor is actually a great addition to our living room. We also took part in the third Timothy Oulton Los Angeles Lock Down event, where we were treated to a preview of new products.

We went on many walks, always sporting our bank robber bandana masks. Yesterday, cows congregated at the fence near our house, so we went to visit them.

We celebrated Earth Day this week and if there is one positive result of Covid-19, it is in many places the environment is healing. It seems to be healing in ways that simply wouldn’t have happened if we had not been forced to change our behavior.

The weather has been beautiful, but since our garden is still just dirt, we have been staying inside. I read a ton and Dan played video games. We Skyped with the kids. We watched more Schitt’s Creek, currently on season 3. We did a double-movie Saturday with Guy Richie’s The Gentlemen (great, worth watching, very funny) and The Impractical Joker’s Movie. We are huge fans of The Impractical Jokers, but the movie is a stinker. They have a few challenges like on their show, which are amusing, but it also has a strange storyline, which was totally unnecessary.

As I mentioned before, we are lucky and grateful for everything that we have, but that doesn’t mean that we are not allowed to feeling disappointment. If Covid-19 hadn’t happened, we would be in Las Vegas right now. This is actually the first time in Dan’s career that he has missed the NAB trade show and I have gone with him every year, since we have been together. When it was cold this winter, I was dreaming of our April trip, especially sunbathing poolside with umbrella drinks. I was looking forward to having the Chinese Chicken Salad at Chin-Chin and hanging out with my friend Cath. I know it’s just a trip to Vegas and we’ve been to Vegas a million times, but it is a disappointment. In light of that, here are some of my favorite pictures from previous Vegas trips, including our Aria Wedding.

And as usual, I will end with a picture of our two fur-babies. Now that we are always home, I’m not sure how they will handle it when we are finally allowed to start traveling again!