Looking Back at March

When I wrote this post for February, I thought the big things in March would be the boys' birthdays (beginning and end of the month) and Matt changing to working four 10 hour shifts instead of five 8 hour shifts.  And those were the big news items for about a week.  THEN Corona hit.  It was March 9th when I first asked Matt how concerned I should be.  March 10th when I did a semi-grocery stock-up (and bought TP before the US went crazy for it) and by March 13th school was closed going forward.

It is mind blowing how fast life changed in just day to day in March.  How we closed out the month is nowhere near how life was at the beginning.  BUT we still had two birthdays to celebrate (one before quarantine and one in it) and Matt did have his work schedule changed!  It is very nice to have one less day a week he is at the hospital, potentially being exposed to who know what.  (He works in radiation therapy, not directly with Corona patients.)  He's progressed to the point where he leaves all his scrubs in the basement and showers as soon as he's home.  I'm very glad he's in this job and not general x-ray where he started his career! 

March's often seem to standout.  In 2012 it was the month I was recovering from my first foot surgery while we got through our first adoption papers and planned our trip to Europe.  It was also 70° most of that month which I strongly remember and always hope for a repeat of.

In 2018, March was consumed by getting the surprise call for Sam and the rest of the month was adjusting to a new baby.

In 2019, we spent most of March sick, Luke missing 5 straight days of school, everyone puking (separate incidences) and just feeling blah.

In 2020, it was Corona.

March tends to be memorable!

Looking back:
1 year ago: Dingle
2 years ago: Things That Make Me Feel Like Me (written in Sam's first couple weeks of life)

3 years ago: Puzzles (seems relevant for all the love puzzles have gotten on the internet lately)  
4 years ago: A Major Improvement to our Pantry (Cupboard) (been contemplating finally finishing this project over quarantine)
5 years ago: Covering Books with Fabric (also been contemplating this one again) 
6 years ago: IKEA
7 years ago: Making Room for Baby & Some Other Stuff (in which I write about making room for a hypothetical baby as the baby who made us parents was alive but we didn't know it yet).

8 years ago: Q: Now That You're Adopting You're Going to Get Pregnant (I'd just like to point out that everyone who told us this was very very wrong)

1) We were getting ready to host family dinner on March 1st and I had to warn my sisters that there was still snow on the ground and their kids might need boots for the wet yard.  Remember how a month ago we could still have people over?
2) Sam told me he put away his shoes.  This is not what I had in mind.
3) Spring is coming!
4) Our first bike ride of the year!  Remember when we could be around people?
5) Sunrise after school drop-off, remember when kids went to school?
6) Luke and Sam reading together before school!  This was approximately 7:30 in the morning, an hour I now prefer for them both to be asleep!
7) Balloons to celebrate their birthdays!
8) Making Luke's favorite caramel ice cream to use up some whole milk AND give him a treat since his birthday would be during quarantine.  Except we forgot to eat it on his birthday.
9) I had an appointment with my rheumatologist a few days before our "stay at home" order went into place.  So many precautions to leave the house!  (I was also stopping at Target on the way home, this was more for that.)
10) Week two and I finally found time to work - at 7:15am, after getting up before Matt left, working out, showering, and STILL starting this early. 
11) Getting in my first run!  Mentally, it felt so good to leave the house, did not feel good on the muscles.
12) Taking a walk/scooter ride on another nice day.  Much harder to navigate 6 foot distances with a stroller and scooter than just myself running!
13) Having the porch as a space for quiet reading when Sam is napping and Luke is doing YouTube drawing videos on my computer has been so helpful.
14) Finishing a movie while eating breakfast.  I gotta take my quiet time where I can get it these days!
15) Daffodils SO CLOSE to blooming!  We really need a little more nice (non rainy, above 40°) weather to get our flower beds cleaned up.
16) A quarantine birthday meant a little more screen time than he would have had otherwise.  We keep telling him 100 pin Wii bowling is so much more fun (and infinitely cleaner) than actual bowling!



Books finished: 16!  Got out of my quarantine reading slump!
Miles ran: 2!  I ran!  It was very painful but I ran!
Currently watching: Not much, Matt and I watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Sunday evenings and I'm trying to stay caught up on Grey's when I work in the early hours before my kids are awake.  Everyone talking about all the things they are binging while on quarantine either don't have kids or have much older kids...
Most read post this month: Quick Lit - March and Why Do You Use Social Media?
Luke's current favorite song: Shut Up and Dance, I don't even know where he hears this but he really likes that it has the forbidden "shut up" in it.


Who knows what April is going to bring?  Definitely Easter, even though we'll very likely be celebrating entirely at home.  Hopefully some warmer weather, flowers blooming, lots of reading, opening windows, and getting some projects done!

I hope you are staying healthy and sane!