It's been awhile since I've done a Five Things post so I'll do a quick one today. It's your lucky day! 😜
1. Let's just get it out: I'm disheartened and worried about what's happening in our country and in the world right now. These are things that I believe are part of much bigger things to come, good, bad (mostly bad, to be honest), and ultimately, glorious. I've been trying to mentally and physically prepare over the last several years for things like this, but it's still a bit of a shock that it's all actually happening, with more (I believe) to come. I'm anxious about that. But not overly so (most of the time), because there is peace in preparation, and there is ultimate peace in the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Him and in Heavenly Father I put all of my trust. Nothing will happen that they won't let happen. It's all part of a bigger plan. They win in the end. And in the end it's going to be awesome! But still...I mourn for what was and I yearn for a return to normalcy. Especially on my kids' behalf.
2. I'm sad that Pier 1 is closing its doors for good. I love that store and have gotten many good things there over the years. I'm really going to miss it. 😞
3. Like so many other people, our vacation plans this year have all been scuttled: April vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia; end-of-the-school-year trip to Iowa at the end of June; and most disappointingly for me, a ten-day trip to England (ENGLAND! FINALLY!) in August to celebrate my 40th birthday. I was really looking forward to that and I've been so disappointed that it's not going to happen. We'll still go to the Cape this summer, and I'm planning a little getaway to Nantucket for my birthday, with plans for England on hold until hopefully next year. The bright side is that we've saved a lot of money from not taking these vacations, so we're putting some of that money into an emergency prep thing that I've been wanting for years: a whole-house generator for when the power goes out. I have a feeling we'll be glad we got it, but hopefully it won't be something that gets used too much. After living through a tornado last summer and having the power out for over a day, with the knowledge that power outages can be much longer, I feel good that our home will be protected.
4. I didn't think many people would want to rent the Cape house this summer because of everything going on, but the house has booked up pretty quickly for the second half of June and all of August. I'm pleasantly surprised. We've always stayed at the house for the month of July but we may not go for the whole month this year. There won't be fireworks at the beach (or anywhere) on the 4th, the boys' camp at the museum is cancelled, and I'm not sure yet how the Inflatable Park will be operating or if the boys' ninja gym on the Cape will be up and running. At our actual house we have a pool and central air, plus the boys' activities that we paid for that they missed out on in the spring might start up again in July, so this might be the summer when we stay home more. Plus I've grown rather attached to my house (anyone else have a bit of Stockholm syndrome going on?) and I have a vegetable garden to take care of this year. But we'll definitely still go to the Cape and to the beach for at least a few weeks. Hopefully things will continue to open up and stay opened. Even if they don't, there's not much that beats the fresh sea breezes and the healing power of the ocean for me.
5. My last "thing" for today is to voice my support for pretty much completely reopening the economy and trying to get back to normal as much as we can, with phased limits in place as is currently being done. Let people take care of their own health and take the proper precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Let the elderly and the most vulnerable take the biggest precautions and stay home the most. Why should we all continue to suffer? It's not helping the collective good when the economy is getting shattered. Let everyone else live their lives as conscientiously and normally as they can. Let this virus run its course, even though the course will probably continue to not be an easy one. Hand sanitizer, people not touching their faces, and even the mask-wearing will go a long way in curbing the spread. No more of this hiding away. We've done that and it probably helped. Now it's summer and it's time to get out there and be smart and be active and let Vitamin D do its thing and get the economy going again and get people back to work and back to real life. Let school re-open in the fall. I'm tired of pandering to this da&* virus that has a 98%+ survival rate.
And that's how I feel about that! 😤
