Bills, Stress, worry of the unknown…. all effects this Corona virus pandemic is having on me. As if it wasn’t bad enough to have to panic over a deadly virus, I must be out of work with Bills piling up on me!! Me and so many Others have to suffer as a result of this virus. Mentally and physically, the stress is truly inhumane.
Frequency: Commonplace
Peace through the Storm
So far my family has lost 3 members, for the most part everyone is staying safe as possible. Major change to work life.
StayingHome
I can’t go where I want to go or do anything that I want to do. Everyone is staying home. I left my home to stay with other family as my spouse and I weren’t getting along too well. I had health issues prior to the virus and I did not want to stay with someone in and out of the house. I am not worried because I know that God will handle everything.
#avoidandrecover
I want to go too fast-food restaurants but I’m not sure I can because the person preparing the food could have been infected with the coronavirus. I sometimes wonder if there is ever going to be a cure for the coronavirus because there are just so many cases. Many doctors and firefighters and other people trying to help people avoid and recover from the coronavirus.
#JustADayAtATime
Coronavirus has made me gain a lot of patience and helped me have more spare time to bond with my kids. My whole life I’ve worked. Its helped me take things day by day. It’s a challenge as I have my own business. I’m a stylist and I have had customers all week but not any last week. its made me appreciate the things that were once there like going out to eat. It has showed me how serious life is. I’ve gotten a lot of rest…which is rare! Many people around me look at it bad but I see it as a chance to get closer to God.
Keeping Faith, Adapting and Balancing
The CORVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the route of my familys daily activities. In order to keep our family and community safe from the coronavirus, weve had to be receptive and adapt. Im a single working mom with three children (1, 5, and 8) and Im an MBA graduate student. Initially, the lifestyle changes were very overwhelming and challenging. In the beginning stages of the pandemic, my family experienced a death in the family. There was concern for the funeral arrangements due to the coronavirus. On the day of the funeral, the executive order of ten individuals or less was not mandated. However, there were still modifications to the arrangements for public safety. Our family opted not to host a repast to gather and fellowship, instead to-go dinners were provided to all that attended the funeral. It was an odd feeling to not stay for a traditional repast to celebrate the life of our loved one while consoling family and friends.Weeks prior, an announcement was made that schools for grades K-12 were suspended until further notice. As a working mom, childcare is a necessity to be able to work and provide for my family. My 1-year olds daycare opened their facility to grade school kids that were misplaced due to school closures. This was truly a blessing, but a couple of weeks later the daycare made an announcement that they were closing their doors to keep the staff and children safe until further notice. In order to keep working, I had to send my two oldest kids to Georgia to be with my mom. My 1 year old was able to stay with her dad during the day while he teleworked from home. During this time, my University announced campus closures and the transition to online classes.After two weeks of submitting a request to telework from home, it was approved! Even though my children were in good hands, I was eager to return them home and to able to help them with distance learning school. Then again, I had no idea how challenging it would be to telework with two children attending live classes twice a day, attend to my 1 year old, and attend a demanding online graduate class. Not knowing what to expect, the first week was extremely unorganized and challenging. There were missed assignments, I got caught up with telework and forgot to log one child into live class, lunch was served late, house was a mess, etc. We have since established a routine and balance to this new way of living, but it is still a challenging process. Nevertheless, Im blessed Im still able to work and provide for my family.Another adjustment to our lifestyle is how we attend worship service. We now attend worship services and bible study via Facebook live. I really miss attending church with my family and worshiping with my church family.It also stressful going to the grocery store not being able to find necessities for the family like toiletries and having a limitation on buying meats and produce. I cant leave the children at home alone, so I must take them with me to the grocery store. We all wear mask and the trips are quick, but I dont like taking them into crowded spaces. Over the past weeks, I have slowly seen improvement with challenge of finding necessities. Even though there has been many changes, challenges and struggles adapting to the impacts of the CORVID-19 pandemic, there are some positives. For instance, Im able to spend more quality time with my family. Instead of waking up early to get myself and three kids ready for work and school, I wake up early to make breakfast. Instead of rushing home from work and school to cook dinner, we can take walks together in the evening after having an early dinner to get out of being in the house all day. I also noticed a savings from not having to commute to work and school, also from not eating out and less entertainment activities. Also, a mini family vacation was planned for the spring and summer, which had to be cancelled. Sadly, those mini vacations were something we looked forward to attending for a while. Society and my family crave returning to their life of normalcy before the pandemic of CORVID-19, and it will happened in due time. However, as I watch the news, I hear concern about the upcoming forecast of a very active hurricane season. So, I just take one day at a time, pray, stand fast in faith, and count my blessings.
Life Interrupted
Well my husband was temporarily laid off and we were applying for unemployment and have had many worries about money but we are grateful to be healthy, we are staying home so we will will stay healthy.
A Sad Situation But God is In Control
I can’t work. I was furloughed off of both jobs. I basically have don’t any income. I have no applied for unemployment because people have said it was too hectic and a waste. I don’t like standing in food lines. It’s been an entire change. Cant go to work, you can’t see your grandkids. I miss my friends! Everyone is tense but I’m learning to cope and live with things I thought I needed like hair and nails. There are people doing worse. I’m doing my best to help out my neighbors. Someone at my church had the virus and she said it was no joke. She almost died. This made me so paranoid! But I’m trying to remain positive and wear my mask if I have to leave my house. I had dental work that I wasn’t able to get finished. I paid them over 3,000. Horrible timing. I had a prepaid trip for March that was cancelled
Worst. Spring. Break. Ever.
Friday, March 13, 2020. The rumors are flying. Ironically, it’s the students who tell me that school is cancelled. It hit the Twitter feed and spread like wildfire. Seriously, the students told me a good five minutes before the announcement came over the loudspeaker. I’ve been on lockdown at home since March 13, 2020, when we were told by our administration to grab what we needed to work from home and leave campus. I haven’t been back. The transition to online learning has been fairly smooth for me, as our school was part of a green initiative and I already posted all assignments on Google Classroom. I’ve used less than a case of paper per year for three years, which I think is pretty good. I guess I’m lucky. I’m not here alone. My nephew, an actor, was rehearsing for a cruise gig when the world stopped. Rather than go back to New York, he opted to join me here and wait out the virus. So luckily, I’m not sitting here staring at the walls and worrying. And he’s a health nut, so we’ve gone keto. I’ve managed to lose 8 pounds so far. And since I’ve discovered InstaCart I really have almost no reason to leave the house. My car is currently getting three weeks to a gallon, so that’s good. The garbage collector left a flyer about AA, but he’s always been a bit judgmental. But I miss my school. I miss having someplace to go every day. I miss saying good morning to Ms Evans. I miss Renée calling me Mr. Cantstandyou (Seinfeld has been off the air for how long?) I miss my students greeting me with Bonjour, Monsieur every day. I miss lunch with my colleagues. I even miss my hall duty (ok, that one might be a stretch). But I do miss speaking French with my colleague who had duty with me. I really shouldn’t complain, all thing considered. I have a job, a roof over my head, health insurance, food in the refrigerator, money in the bank, toilet paper. I’m healthy, my friends and family are all doing well. Things could be so much worse.I just have to learn to not worry about things I can’t control. I worry about my students. I worry about my sister, who is a nurse. I worry about my brother, who is a first responder. I worry about my mother, who is of a certain age (she’d kill me if I gave her age here). I worry about my neighbors. I live in a 55+ community and apparently we had our first Coronavirus death today. I worry about the people who are protesting to open the state even though it makes absolutely no sense to do so until we have adequate testing in place. I worry that there’s going to be a second surge. I mean, I get it. Put your trust in the Lord, if that’s your thing. But my philosophy along those lines has always been Trust in the Lord and keep rowing toward shore. In other words, it’s great to have faith but putting oneself into harm’s way and then crying Jesus, take the wheel! seems a bit presumptuous. I guess my philosophy will have to be Trust in the Lord and wash your hands. And stop touching your face.So, I guess I’ll close now. Time to work on our third jigsaw puzzle. My nephew had a puzzle with him and put it together the first day he was here. We tried to buy more, but apparently others had the same idea. Walmart, Target, Amazon, all had empty shelves or 5 week waits Luckily, my mom, who lives in Georgia, loves puzzles and sent us a bunch of them to help pass the time. I hate puzzles. I’m colorblind, so puzzles are really challenging for me. If I manage to find 10 pieces in a 350 piece puzzle, I’m pleased with my accomplishment. In conclusion, I guess the greatest impact of the corona virus on my life is that it has taught me to be patient. When the Lord wants you to learn patience, He doesn’t hit you with his magic wand and say Be patient. He puts you in a position where you have to learn patience. Or not learn it. Peace.
#necessities
Covid 19 has impacted my family financially. Im extremely careful on how I spend money, Im prioritizing what bills to pay. At this point, credit scores isnt important, but my family being feed is.