March

It started out like any month. We did our work stuffs, cooked supper, and went to sleep like it was any other day. We reveled in the changing weather, enjoying coffee on the porch a few times and getting one wee little sunburn. We even had Ellie and Caroline over for Homemade Pizza night. And then it all happened at once. A viral outbreak.

We carried on and Mom and I setup what would be our last Spring wedding for the year. This poor bride had her guest-list sliced in half overnight. Two bridesmaids didn't even show up! The nerve. And then there was a week of not knowing what will happen. More and more friends started working from home, stores sold out of toilet paper, and newscasters began their dramatic displays.

The Last Centerpiece

And then case numbers started to climb. States went on lockdown, businesses began to close, and my Spring brides postponed one after the next. While I delight in not working, this wasn't quite how I had foreseen my Spring going. People everywhere were out of work. Brett's company scared everyone by talking about furloughing some workers. I only knew "furlough" to be a prison noun so initially I was quite concerned. 

My last Olivia visit. 

Mom and Dad are breaking quarantine rules because they just can't stay away. 

In the meantime, the azaleas bloomed and the dogwoods popped open, just like my schedule. I decided I was ready for Brett to work from home too and I had to wait a whole week for his stubborn company to agree to it. He setup camp in the dining room and that first week we were just delighted. He had his lunch break on the back deck, took afternoon jogs with the pups, and piped up with thoughts and witty comments throughout the day. It was all just the greatest. 

Week Two of quarantine was much less exciting because I got grumpy about him having to actually work even though I've been considering this "play time." Turns out you have to communicate your thoughts with your spouse or else you get snippy and moody and he's oblivious and preoccupied with making a living because you will no longer be contributing financially to the family. Last week was our first experience with consistent bickering and we've found it interesting and worth delving into mental exploration about it in-between matches. Certainly Brett and I disagree about things here and there but we don't really fight, and a bicker spat lasts less than 30-seconds. It typically goes like this:

"Move your leg, you're on my side."

"I am not!"

"You are too!"

And then we shove each other and giggle and then it's over. 

Usually only one fuse is short at a time, so Long Fuse acts as the shaman and helps Short Fuse work out their feelings. But gosh, when both fuses are short... oof.  We came to some interesting conclusions about "The Bickers" and now we're all better. I think we're nailing this marriage thing. 

Similarly, Grace and Pip have also been expecting Brett to entertain them because when Dad is home, we play. That's always been the rule. So really, this is all Brett's fault. 

March also brought us to an important mattress realization. Brett left town for a few nights for Hayden's bachelor weekend in Asheville. For fun I slept on his side of the bed and only noticed when he came home and I went back to my side, that my back felt significantly better while he was out of town. (See, it IS all Brett's fault.) So we switched sides for awhile to help my back and in turn, his started to hurt. There's something funny about my side! 

It was time for a new mattress. We did lots of research and picked one out and ordered it and waited. 

As many mattresses do these days, this one would arrive in a box on our porch, so a few days later when a suspiciously small box from the mattress company arrived, we threw our bed out to make room for what we figured would explode out of the box and make it impossible to move furniture. You see, we upgraded to a California King mattress, which if you don't know, is slightly less wide than a normal King but has an extra four inches of length. Theoretically, Brett's feet would finally have a landing pad at night. So we lugged out our Queen mattress and box spring and frame, for we couldn't use these things anymore. Finally, with the room cleared, we crowded around the box, sliced through that tape, and discovered that they had mailed us some "free with your purchase" really big pillows. 

So we slept on the floor for three nights. 

While this actually made both of our backs feel much better, we're boney people so we didn't sleep too well and think that the bad sleep played a big part in my bad mood. 

The mattress has since arrived and Brett's feet still hang over the end. 

We've spent most of our time lately working on house projects and this has been satisfying, exhausting, and ticklish. Not knowing how long quarantine will last, and being in one of the few states that hasn't issued an official lockdown, I'm very interested to see how things progress as more folks get antsy and nervous and agitated. Myself included.