Hey Everyone - checking back in. I for one will be SO happy when this month is over. Even more happy when this ordeal is over and we can get back to a new normal.
It happened - just like we expected. Emily was laid off from her job as a barista. We were supposed to go down to Austin to see her next weekend, but cancelled a few weeks ago. So she was going to come home and see us instead. She told us she is not going to do that now because of how much she has been around people - with her job. She said she wouldn't be able to live with it if she made us sick. She also told us she was putting a new "Emily ordinance" into effect. We are not allowed out of the house anymore.
Not that we are venturing out anyway. Dallas county is under the shelter at home mandate. Quick pick up trips to the grocery and walking the dogs is all we are doing. I'm not even going to the post office to mail orders anymore. I am scheduling pick ups instead. Em has filed for unemployment and is looking into working for a delivery app called Favor again. It is kind of like Grub Hub or Door Dash, but not limited to just food pick up and delivery. Not thrilled with the idea of her doing this - but I'm also not sure what else she will be able to find that would limit her exposure. We will help her out financially as much as we can - but can't for an extended period of time.
Ian and Kylie are both working from home now. Kylie is a special education teacher has google classroom going. Ian works for a defense contractor and surprisingly was told to work from home. He has to log into the secure server and just make sure things are secure on our end. Everyone is getting a bit stir crazy. Me probably the least because I am used to working from home - but I do miss my trips to the post office and running errands.
To top all of that off I had a very sad and difficult situation with my etsy shop. I had an elderly lady contact me wanting to know where her order was. She ordered from me in September of 2018. Apparently she just "found" or rediscovered the thank you note and my business card that I send with every order. She was convinced she had placed the order in December and I never sent her baby blanket. It didn't matter what I said to her or how many times I showed her a screen shot of the order she did place, she didn't believe me. Eventually she started to contradict herself. It became very apparent she was suffering from some type of memory issue. This went on over the course of a week. I finally had to just ask her to stop contacting me. There wasn't anything more I could say or do to get her to understand or believe it. It broke my heart and I felt so guilty. Ian's Mom died of vascular dementia and his sister suffering from Alzheimers right now, so I do understand the situation.
Then I found out one of my sisters was diagnosed with terminal cancer last summer. No one bothered to let me know until she went into hospice. (family dynamics are not great) That really really really hurt. She passed away on Monday.
We haven't cancelled our trip yet. I guess I am holding onto hope - but I also realize the reality of the situation is leaning towards us not being able to go. It is what it is. Trying to remember how fortunate we are that Ian and Kylie still have their jobs. We are able to help Emily out for a while. So far we are all healthy. Nothing else matters.