Well, here we are. Another week of home confinement. I don't know how y'all are working things at your house, but, everyday, after I get a shower, I put on some non-pajama type clothing, do something to this ever-growing mop on my head, and put a little Clinique fresh neutral 03 on my face. I find that I'm more productive if I do these things. I've tried to find, at least, one big productive thing to do, each day, on top of the usual cooking, reading, puzzles, treadmill, phone calls. I said I was going to clean the baseboards and plantations shutters at the pace of one room a day. So far, I've done one room. Yesterday, I paired the socks in the laundry basket where all the separated socks go to wait and see if their mates will show back up. That was big fun, so I needed another project for today.

Davis is the only one around here considered essential, so he's still out doing his job and I decided this would be a good day for Carson and me to clean out his storage room off the garage. It's where all the man stuff goes. The fishing things, paint supplies, shovels, axes, hardware, power tools, extension cords. We were on a quest to put some order into the place, while Carson entertained me with his predicted Davis response in his best Davis voice, "Baby, I knew where to find everything just like it was- now I can't find anything." Not to mention the endless string of "Did you throw away that (fill in the blank)?" which is to come in the next few months whenever he can't find something.

We got into trying to organize the hardware section. It must be in the man handbook that you must keep countless paper bags and jars and pill bottles full of random screws and such. I'm not sure what that's about, but if it's the means by which a man is measured, Davis is quite a man. The only thing to rival his nail/screw/bolt collection was his impressive work rag stockpile. I did find a welcomed surprise of a package of face masks in our expansive poison section, which I had no idea was so vast and so deadly. We worked our way over to the car maintenance department and organized it, but the can of Dollar General brake fluid had me concerned that he might be plotting some sort of watered-down store brand brake failure "accident" for me. I may want to mark the levels on those poison bottles, too, just to be sure and he bears watching with that disturbing supply of absorbent crime scene "work rags." You know, these are some tense times being shut up with the same people, day after day.

Carson and I had a lot of laughs working on the storage room. I've enjoyed having him here with us so much even if he is costing us $100 a day in groceries. Some nights, he'll ask us if we want to play cards or dominos. In what other circumstances would he possibly be content to be at home playing dominos with his parents at night?

I couldn't help but think about when he was a little dude- about 4 or 5 years old. We'd just moved in this house and he'd ask me to lie with him for a while after we'd read the Bible and said bedtime prayers. I remember lying there next to him and thinking of all the things I needed to be doing. At the time, I had two young kids and a lot more to do around the house than I do now. After a few minutes of stretching out next to my little man in his dinosaur pajamas, I'd try to slide out of the bed quietly- hoping he wouldn't notice. Invariably, I'd hear his little voice in the dark say, "Mama, stay with me a little longer." Sometimes, the sound was more than I could resist and I'd get back on the bed with him. Other times, I'd tell him I had to get up and do this or that or such and such. As he grew older and more independent, many times, I'd go back to those nights in my mind and remember them with regret. Wishing I'd stayed a little longer with him. That sweet time was so brief and I should have lingered there. I think about that now while I've got him back for what seems like a bonus time- time we could've never anticipated having together right in the middle of his college years. Maybe we can all look at this time as a chance to get back some of what we regret wasting.

I'm really not having a difficult time with this yet. I'm usually not one to stay home more than one day at a time. Two days max and then I'm usually going nuts. I'm always looking for something to do or someone to make lunch plans with, so I can see this getting more distressing as it lingers for a long time. We're all experiencing some weird feelings and situations. There are the big, obvious struggles that we all pray for- the people who are really sick, the healthcare workers, and those with overwhelming financial problems. But, aside from those, there are also new grandparents who haven't held their grandbabies yet. Brides who don't know what to do about their wedding dates. Birthdays that are going uncelebrated. Business owners who can't please everyone. Families burying loved ones without a proper send-off. Parents who don't know how to teach the new math. Graduates who are missing their grand finale. This thing has seeped into a lot of nooks and crannies that we never anticipated.

Our hands are really tied in helping each other through these situations- in our traditional ways, at least. We can't do our usual hands-on, face to face things that we usually do to support each other. This strange time will require us to think outside the box and get creative in showing our love and friendship. This is all new and I'm sure we'll rise to the challenge in finding new ways to do what we do best.

Just think of how happy we'll be when they finally let all the cows out of the barn. We're one day closer to that day. Until then, be safe!

Much love,