Love In A Time Of Corona

So maybe all of my hard work has been cancelled for the next three months. And maybe lots of my brides are rescheduling for July, which is a humid disaster of a time to host an outdoor party. And definitely this whole pandemic is a real heartbreaking calamity but if you were looking for something positive to focus on, humans are restoring my faith in each other lately.
Look at this big outpouring of creativity and kindness and humor and positivity. Have you seen the videos? The balcony dancing, the cities singing, the new Italian suppertime so everyone can eat their meal together in their own apartments. Have you seen the wonderful ways folks are making their people laugh and the creative ways they're celebrating birthdays? People are gardening and riding bikes and playing tic-tac-toe on windows with dry erase markers.
People are sticking their wedding plans to The Man and having extra special tiny weddings and people are cooking elaborate meals and dusting off old hobbies and unexpectedly, spending much less time on screens. I've been longing for this day. Without the deadly virus of course. That part really is awful.

Brett's boss has been "exposed" to the virus so any minute now I reckon we'll be called by the CDC for testing. Ah another day in paradise. Have I mentioned the singing Italians?
I love having Brett home during the day and the Big Guy loves working from home. He never wants to go back. He loves sitting on the deck with me and the pups during his lunch break. I love running up behind him at his desk to scare him or hug his hairy neck.
We also love being able to walk the girls in the pretty morning sunbeams instead of in the evening when the trees block out that lovely evening light. I've been doing lots of yard work while Brett rebuilds our front steps. Last night I cooked a decadent onion pasta dish for supper. It took two precious hours and I had the precious time to do it.

Financially, this is a disaster. Emotionally, this is all quite worrisome. But physically, in real life, this is what it's all about! If we could add friends and family it would be perfect. Long, chatty lunches followed by naps. Ah another day in paradise.
I'm writing this all down now before we or anyone we love gets sick. I will not have positive feelings then and I will need to remember life's juicy bits. I will likely panic. If my folks or Olivia get sick I will be inconsolable until they recover. I'm actually a bit scared.

But I'm also delighted by people making the best of things. I wish people were always this thoughtful.

 Photos by Adas Vasiliauskas

Brett Works From Home: Days 2-6

Last Friday Brett brought his work materials home and setup an office in our dining room. I decided I would suppress my urges and not bother him while he worked. But the joke was on me because right away I noticed Brett's tremendous ability to focus regardless of what's going on around him.
So, I stayed out of his way... and each day created a new character.

Cancelled

It seems quite trite to write down my Coronavirus thoughts. This is all very strange and interesting and that hateful part of me has enjoyed scoffing at people's "inspiring" and "informative" thoughts on the topic. I'm getting emails from every irrelevant company in the country, letting me know how they plan to handle the outbreak and I'm just not sure why they think anyone is interested. I'm wondering if people feel they need to make a statement about Coronavirus just because everyone else is. Admittedly, I did dance around it in my most recent Lux Instagram post because I thought that ignoring it completely, like I wanted to do, would make me seem oblivious or insensitive, neither of which would look good for business.

You know what else is not good for business? A global virus outbreak. Everything has been cancelled through April except for one of my brides who has chosen to get married with her top 12 friends present and still wants some floral decor. I'm a free and poor woman until my May brides have to make the call. I really do feel quite sad for the folks having to decide whether or not to go to their own weddings. I was so crappin' excited to get married, calling it off when it was just a week away would have completely crushed me. Hayden and Jenny have cancelled their wedding (they're now having a tiny ceremony in two weeks and a reception in November) and two extremely exciting concerts that I had a mental countdown to get to, have been postponed. But enough about me.

Brett's big test in April has been cancelled so now he's lost his incentive to maintain his study schedule. He will have to wait until October to take it again. As of next week, he will be "working from home" which I have no intention of allowing. He will play with me and the dogs, and we will drink our coffee together on our new front porch and he can tinker in the garage. Maybe, if it's raining, I'll let him work for a few hours. I have waited for such extenuating circumstances that Brett would be trapped at home with me during nice weather and healthy constitutions and finally, five years in, it has arrived.

Sure, I have some Corona concerns but I'm trying this new thing where I just don't think about things that worry me. It works approximately half of the time. I'm avoiding large gatherings and washing my hands and as someone who effectively lives in a quarantined state, not all that much is so different.  I'm tickled by my friends who have cabin fever after three days at home. I withhold my advice as a professionally isolated member of society because it takes years to master the inner-zen required for a peaceful quarantine. They just won't understand.

All I have for you at this time is this picture of the living room, post deep-clean. I've got that Spring-Weather-Redecorating sensation in the tips of my fingers and have lots of new ideas and projects for the house. It's a shame I'll have no income until Summertime. I want to buy unnecessary furniture.

One Month

It's Olivia's one month birthday. To celebrate, we did some documenting.

And a few extras....

February

Sometimes, when one big thing happens at the start of the month, you don't really notice much else in the coming weeks because gosh that one thing was huge ... and so tiny and so cute. But a week into this month lil Liv arrived and the rest has been a swirling vortex of tiny diapers and sleepless nights.
Not for most of us mind you. She's already bigger and older looking which is exciting and heartbreaking at the same time. I crappin' love this baby.

Other February moments worth noting are less than noteworthy. Brett has switched from late night studying to a 5am wake up call to study before work. Sometimes I get up with him, my disposition forgotten, and by 7:30am I'm totally pooped and have to go back to bed. I wait for him to leave for work before I crawl back under the big squishy blankets.

(He's also started on putting in some dining room shelves. It's been tricky because our house is comically crooked. I had the same troubles last year when I made our narcissistic family portrait wall.)

Where was I? Ah yes, Brett's been getting up early. Popples Union dances around town cracking his whip and one-liners. He loves hanging out with baby Olivia and has taken to calling me "Number 2." This is due to my birth order and not bathroom humor. He likes to pretend he loves Ellen most and told me I was "born number 2." He laughs loudly at this and then scampers off to make phone calls.
Big Mama has been dividing her time between Grandpa Bob and Ell-ivia. She has lots to do most days and ends her week by helping me with my weddings. I love having her with me because she is always outraged about some aspect of these weddings and it makes me laugh every time.

Here is a list of things that make her mad:
-Bridesmaids that wear the same pajamas while they get ready.
-Late rental deliveries.
-Lengthy "get-ready" timelines for the bridal party.
-Weddings that take up the whole day.
-A particular potty-mouthed bride.
-Non-traditional wedding cakes.
-Bridesmaids drinking champagne in the morning.
-Groomsmen drinking at all before the wedding.
-And she does not like to be rushed.

This past weekend's wedding forced me to acknowledge just how thankful I am to have Mom and Brett (and often times Pops!) helping me with the weddings. We had a particularly tight setup time and I got overwhelmed and snappy and stressed and they both kept calm and ready for my next barking orders. Brett stays up late to drive me to the teardowns (and does the bulk of that whole job) even though it's his Saturday night and he's sleepy.

Olivia had her first Family Dinner which really just means that she got passed around for a few hours. Buddy gets quite jealous when Dad holds her.

Speaking of Budds, he had his cancerous lumps removed and had to wear a t-shirt for a few weeks to keep him from licking his stitches. The t-shirts made his legs look extra skinny so we would laugh at him and he didn't like it. His stitches were removed last week and he's finally back to feeling groovy.

I came across this photo of Brett that I took when we first started dating and was shocked to see him with such short hair. I forgot he ever looked like that. He said he would cut his hair after he passes his test. The test is in April BUT he's just gotten to the point where he can tie it all back when he needs to so he's feeling rejuvenated about the long hair. Can't wait to see what happens.

In an annoying turn of events, LeeLee has the magic touch with Olivia and can soothe the fussiest of moments with his happy smile and gentle coo. Their sleep system works like this: Ellen sleeps from 7 to midnight while Lee cuddles with Liv. Then they switch and Lee drifts off to slumberland while Ellen stays alert, hearing every tiny grunt and squeal. Some nights, thing go awry during the midnight to 5am shift that Ellen works and neither she or Olivia are at peace. Sometimes the fussing goes on for hours and Lee will wake up to the racket, come downstairs, take little Liv in his arms, and she immediately goes to sleep. 

Makes Ellen furious.