March 25, 2020

“Sheltering in Place”

So let me first say that I hope all our friends and family who may be reading this blog are staying safe and healthy. Trace and I are doing fine here in Texas. As of today, our county has about 24 cases of confirmed people with the COVID-19 virus.

Trace continues to work from home. But I got informed yesterday, that as of 29 Mar 2020 I will be “on furlough” from Magnolia. We were getting paid last week and this week for the hours that we were scheduled to work. But I figured this would not last forever. Chip and Jo may be rich, but they couldn’t possibly keep paying folks with no revenue coming in. Thankfully, this will not really impact us too bad financially, as I was mostly working to keep myself busy. My heart goes out to the countless folks who have been put out of work and cannot afford to be without a paycheck.

Needless to say, Trace and I are more concerned for our son, Will who is in New York City. He has been working from home for about three weeks now and so far is doing ok. But the virus spread is so bad there. He is doing the right things and he is young and healthy, but I can’t help but worry about him more than I worry about Trace and me.

So, how am I handling this “Shelter in Place”? Most of you know that I am not one to just sit around. I need to be doing something. Since we are allowed to go to parks and such, as long as we keep our distance from everyone, Trace and I have been going to one of the local parks daily (weather permitting). Like yesterday, it was sunny and the temp was in the low 80’s. So I was able to get in a couple of miles race walking. Trace also walked a couple of miles albeit not quite as fast as I did. We’re also taking drives whenever we can. Below are some pictures of the Texas Bluebonnets that are in bloom now all over the place. They are really pretty.

They’re everywhere!!

More Texas Bluebonnets!
They say they are a wildflower but I’m thinking they may really be a weed!

I am also doing jigsaw puzzles. Hey I gotta do something!! Below is my latest masterpiece…all 1000 pieces worth!

You may also be wondering how all of this virus stuff will be affecting our home build. Well according to our builder, home construction is being permitted to go forward (thank God!) He finally got the results back from the soil test and as I write this the engineers are working out the plan for our foundation. Then our builder will have to get permits from city of Waco (which he says they are still issuing) and then hopefully by next week, we will be breaking ground. Say Amen and Hallelujah!!