Life Lately – Some Time in the Year 2020

I had created and titled this post last week and had planned on talking about what has basically become our “new normal” (hate the phrase but no other way I know to phrase it) for the past several months. For a while things weren’t too much different then they were a week ago, a month ago, or three months ago, other than we have settled into this routine. Work has been much the same. The house looks much the same. The routine is much the same. The weather is the same (gotta love Seattle this time of year…eye rolling). And I was going to talk about what that look like for us:

Weekdays:

• Bryan wakes up at 6 am and rolls out of bed and heads straight to work.
• Reese usually wakes up between 6 am and 7:30 am so that is when I wake up too.
• Reese knocks on the office door between 7:15 am and 7:40 am to get in a shared bowl of cereal with her daddy before Bryan’s 7:45 am daily meeting.
• We get ready, brush teeth, get dressed, vacuum the play area downstairs, make coffee.
• Reese and I go for a short stroll or play outside while we wait for Lottie and the nanny to arrive usually around 8:30 am.
• I greet nanny, discuss the girls, and then head up to my torture chamber (office).
• Bryan and I work upstairs, 18″ apart elbow to elbow, from about 8:45 am until 3 pm. We usually go downstairs to get lunch while the girls are napping. If it is nice outside we each try to eat or get outside briefly to get some fresh air.
• Around 3 pm, one or both of us might work out. I have to make sure the girls are either outside or occupied if I want to escape the house and go for a run or do a cardio warm-up outside. Otherwise, we can work upstairs because hey, we are already in that room. Yippee!
• At 4:15 pm, we relieve the nanny and usually chat and hang out for a bit, sometimes go for a toddler-paced walk around the block.
• Dinner around 6:30 pm, Reese’s bedtime routine starts around 7:30 pm, and she is now not falling asleep until between 8:30 – 9 pm, with one of us in the room with her.
• We crash on the couch for an hour or so before heading up to bed ourselves.

Weekends:

• Not too much different. Reese wakes up at about the same time and I get up with her.
• Saturdays are still pancake mornings and she somehow knows they are.
• Sunday mornings are now Safeway pickup order mornings in the car where we also grab donuts from Safeway and a Starbucks coffee as a treat.
• We try to get outside when the weather is good; long walks, runs, bike rides, swimming in the backyard, etc.
• We still have been doing weekend movie nights with dinner. We’ve watched most of the Disney movies and many of the Pixar movies already.

That’s all good and dandy and what a good routine…

HOWEVER, our nanny dropped a big one on us last Friday in telling us that she is going to take three weeks off, unpaid. We essentially told her she couldn’t do that to us, that she has three paid days she can use but three weeks?!? What were we supposed to do? Both Bryan and Sarah’s work has been stressful and chaotic. Both companies are in their own sorts of jeopardy. I’m the only one that could possibly take this time and I also was feeling a need for a break from work. Adding to that, my company qualifies for the FFCRA which would allow me to get paid 2/3 my salary for up to 6 hours per day, for several weeks if I so needed. After explaining to HR our situation and getting approval on whether this qualifies for this leave, then breaking the news to my supervisor, I’m full on ready to commit to watching the girls full-time for the next three weeks. I’m looking forward to. I’m ready for a break from work, even to just be eager to go back and appreciate work in the aftermath of this all.

So begins our “new normal” for these three weeks…now that I am a full week in. I have enjoyed stepping away from work and definitely the torture chamber this week. I like playing with the girls and doing things with them and for them. This week has continued to be on and off nice and miserable. We’ve made the best of both weather conditions. When it’s nice out, Reese and I have been walking to Sarah’s in the double stroller to get Lottie, and doing drop offs the same way. When it’s not nice out, we still go pick up Lottie but in the car. We’ve been able to swim one day, took a bath one day, went to the park twice, done a lot of puzzles, dancing, snacks, play-doh, obstacle courses coloring, and trains. We’ve gone on many walks. There have only been a few moments that have been stressful, when the girls aren’t sharing and acting up. For the most part, they have been pretty great and definitely a great reprieve from work.

But there hasn’t been a reprieve from work. This is the final week before our submission of the Catskills project to DEP. I’ve still been expected to do what I would normally be doing. Which means that I have had to have my phone on me more than I would like to field questions via chat messages or phone calls. I’ve worked straight through the girl’s nap times and I have worked until 11 pm after Reese has gone to bed the past two nights. I’m over all of that for sure. I have had ZERO time to do anything else. A part of me feels like super mom and a part of me just wants to go nap. I’m definitely ready for the weekend and hoping maybe to get a few work related items done this week so next week is not so stressful.

We have another happy hour tonight with our current “family” and another weekend of meh weather to get through. Maybe we will get a break like we did last weekend and get nice enough weather to go for another long bike ride or dip our feet in the lake. We had a great weekend last weekend with a 24 mile round trip bike ride to Juanita Beach Park and back, a long walk through the Arboretum, picking up our wine, and this week we were able to grill burgers outside once and picked up poke bowls to enjoy along the Sound waterfront one night.

Chelsea