I've done a pretty terrible job keeping a day to day record during this unique time. Perhaps because each day feels so much like the last that I can hardly believe ten weeks have already passed since the initial stay at home order was issued. As a general rule, we've all been perfectly content staying home and doing our own thing. The kids only occasionally mention how nice it would be to see friends, and they've gotten along SO well. Matthew and I were recently talking about how cliche our loving, peaceful home has been. I honestly never thought real families actually got along this well, had this little contention, and were legitimately this happy. We've been doing consistent, meaningful family scripture study and prayer, and the kids have all been reading their personal scriptures daily. We've certainly gained a testimony that when you really do live a Gospel centered life, you really do get the blessings.
Perhaps another reason we've been so happy is because we're getting so much done. Deciding to get a puppy gave us a hard deadline to get at least part of the yard cleaned up and we've been working hard outside most evenings. We've been preparing the side yard for a dog run, as well as working on garden beds. We have shoveled a lot of rock. I've also been making face masks galore, both to sell and give away, and Matthew has been focusing on practicing his archery skills for his September elk hunt. We have broken social distancing protocols a couple of times to go shoot arrows in Jeb's back yard, but most of the time, it's just us.
Matthew loves having all his High Council and stake Young Men's meetings on line and hopes at least some of them continue to be teleconferences. Hyrum has had a couple of ward young men's meetings online and has liked them well enough, though they are not great substitutes for the real thing. I've participated in a couple of online Relief Society meetings, but am not really into them. It's hard to hear and I struggle staying focused. We have found taking the Sacrament at home to be a special experience, and it certainly is convenient, but as a general rule I think we're all looking forward to when regular church services and activities resume.
Matthew has gone into work a handful of times, but for the most part has been working from the guest room full time. It's gotten harder and harder to be productive and he is ready to get back to his lab. Sandia is looking to keep quite a lot of people telecommuting and Matthew hopes he'll be able to work on base three days a week and then work from home one day a week. He's going back on the 4/10 schedule starting next week once school is over.
Beto continues to go out most days for inspections and fog jobs, so the shut down doesn't seem to be affecting them too much, which is a blessing. New Mexico still has rising case numbers in some parts of the state, but the governor is beginning to slowly open businesses at 25% capacity in most areas. Face masks are mandatory in all public spaces and it's unclear still if schools will actually open up in a normal fashion in August. I think the hardest part of all of this for me is that we really just don't know what the future holds. I can't plan. It's definitely a good exercise in living in the moment.
Coronavirus Stats
World: 4.89M cases 323,000 deaths
US: 1.56M cases 93,358 deaths
New Mexico: 6,192 cases 276 deaths
unemployment rate is at 14.7% with 36 million people having filed for unemployment benefits
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