Covid-19, Day 20

Monday, March 30, 2020

Gills first day of school. Similar to Jonas' experience last week. Confusion, mayhem, chaos. Hoping tomorrow is better. Ramping Gill up is way more time consuming and hands on than it was in Jonas, who is 2 years his senior after all.

Ed had a 4 hour conference call followed by an hour and a half conference call. I had a few phone conversations and a lot of desk work. The kids would not join us on our walk, which we took at 4:30. Ed and I hunted Pokemon and took photos for this weekend's photo scavenger hunt challenge.

About 6 years ago, Ed planted and espaliered 3 pear trees on the west side of our house. He manually pollinates them, and this year, for the very first time, he got a bloom!

I went out to the grocery for a few more supplies, many cool ranch doritos which I've been craving, and Fresca, which I REALLY crave.

Ed made steaks for dinner and we added special intentions to our grace.

In the news:

• 784,716 cases worldwide, 37,639 deaths, 165,370 recovered
• 1031 cases in Missouri, 13 deaths, 15,645 tested
• 368 cases in Kansas, 8 deaths
• 4,025 cases in Louisiana, 185 deaths, 1,158 hospitalized
• 163,807 cases in the US, 3,008 deaths
• Trump extends social distance guidelines through 4/30
• Dr. Fauci (NIH Director) warned that we could see millions infected with 100,000+ deaths
• FDA approves a 5-minute COVID19 test
• Coronavirus can travel from bats to human lungs
• Moscow in Russia is now practicing social distancing
• Dow Jones closed at 22,333

covid-19, Day 19

Sunday, March 29, 2020

I started this day by watching CBS Sunday morning and thinking of my mom. In far-away Atlanta, Desi does the same, and we text. 

Gill's friend, Declan came over for a walk around the neighborhood with Gill. I had them both wash their hands and sent them off with things to occupy their hands so that they would not touch. They had pocket Purell and wipes and headed out to collect photos for a virtual scavenger hunt. When they returned, they washed their hands and stayed outside. I hate it, but I think these visits will have to end. 

Declan and Gill go hunting / walking with staffs

Gill finds a clue: the shortcut

10:30 a.m. brought another round of Coffee Girls, and online girl group of friends. Ed went to the grocery store and it took an extra 20 minutes to disinfect everything he brought home. 

Jonas, Gill and I spent some time outside raking the last of the leaves and picking up the last of the gumballs. I vacuumed both cars and did more laundry. We moved a piece of furniture up 2 flights of stairs to Gill's room, another sure-to-fail effort at helping him keep his room clean. 

Gill starts school tomorrow; I know he really would prefer to go in person. He really misses people. 

I worked a bit tonight to make up for some distracted work last Thursday. As the sun was setting, I found this in Gill's room:

Door knob beauty

In the news;

• 721,817 cases worldwide, 33,968 deaths, 151, 204 recoveries
• 142,328 cases in the United States, 44k more than Italy (2nd)
• 903 cases in Missouri, 12 deaths
• 319 cases in Kansas, 6 deaths

Covid-19, Day 18

Saturday, March 28, 2020

So, this is how my day started:

Crepe (gouda cheese, brussel sprouts, eggs) made by Chef Ed

The weather was beautiful today with a high of 72 and wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour. Yep. That's right. So the sun lured people out, but the wind made things difficult.

I was working on the blog today at the bar in the kitchen. Jonas noticed and asked me what I was doing. When I explained that the blog goes all the way back to his birth, he was very intrigued and read several early entries. He was embarrassed by the stories about poop and nursing.

Jonas reading this blog; had to sneak the
picture as he did not want me to take it. 

We went to Shawnee Mission Park today, and it was busy. Things I learned at SM Park:

1. We don't really know how to social distance yet
2. Especially with dogs and bikes
3. Cyclists do not know to announce themselves on busy trails when passing
4. People in Johnson County are very white
5. SM Park has a beach

Gill posing with the Blue Gill;
that's the wind giving his hair such height!

Jonas loving the wind on Shawnee Mission Lake

A highlight of our visit was getting to walk the trail with Aimee and Amelia, though conversation was difficult. See wind, physical distancing, dogs, and bicycles above.

Came home and worked on bee hives (Ed), laundry (Shelly), picking up the many sticks dropped by the river birch (all but Gill), unloading dishwasher (Gill and Jonas), loading dishwasher (Ed), planting flowers (me), changing bed sheets (me).

I took Jonas to Swope Park so that he could fly a kite with Emmett. They did not do a great job of PD (physical distancing). *sigh* It's probably too much to ask. I did make him use hand sanitizer and wash hands before and after.

Things I learned at Swope Park:

1. Social distancing is lot easier with wide open spaces
2. It's a great day to fly a kite

Can you see the kite?

In the news:

• 662.073 cases worldwide, 30,780 deaths, 139,426 recovered
• 838 cases in Missouri, 10 deaths, patients tested 12,385
• 261 cases in Kansas, 5 deaths

Covid-19, Day 17

Friday, March 27, 2020

I did not blog "same day" so forgive me for the lack of "news" and brevity.

Work in the morning, then a family walk after lunch. We walked in our neighborhood and hunted Pokemon. We found the abominable snowman along with some new Pokemon.

Gill poses under the trolley trail bridge

Family Pic with neighborhood Covid Snowman

Ed and I worked until close to 6 and then I made myself a snack on the patio, then cooked fish for Ed. I can't remember what the kids ate. They never eat what we eat and it is beginning to drive me nuts.  It was the first night in a while that we didn't eat dinner together. 

Chips, guac, and a margarita

Later in the evening, we spoke with Eli who was visiting Dexter. I was saddened to learn that Jennifer, Eli's mom, did not want to let Eli visit his father (per court-ordered visitation) because of the virus. But Dexter has been very careful with cleaning and has been staying home, except to work but only 3 days per week. So he persisted and she gave in, which relieved us all.

Gill (upper left) and Eli visit via Facebook

Gill plays the violin for Eli and Uncle Dexter; 

Dex played the fiddle for us. 

In the news:

• Dow Jones closes at 21,363
• The United States now has more Covid-19 than any other country in the world
• I took a break from reading the news today

Covid-19, Day 16: First Day of School

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Ed starts almost every breakfast with these. I love how bright green they get when you steam them. He cooks them with a bit of bacon and eats them with eggs.

Freshly steamed brussel sprouts

I'm watching Jonas attend his first online class. It is so entertaining! The kids haven't seen each other for two weeks (exactly two weeks) and they are hyper. Most of them have gaming headsets on with a boom mic. Jonas does not have a camera and doesn't want one, but we have ordered it nevertheless. I hope he's learning something.

Jonas attends his first online class

If Jonas looks frustrated, it's because he was. The teacher did not have a microphone and the kids (50 had signed on) were out of control, all talking at once despite instructions to mute all mics at the beginning of class. I think it will take a few days for them to work out their energy and settle down to this new learning mechanism. Noteworthy to mention that he completed his science assignment before 8:30 am.

Gill is still sleeping. His classes will resume next Monday. Not sure why it is so delayed.

This guy lives right above my monitor. We have ants in our "office" so I'm keeping him around to do his job.

Ocho, my 8-legged co-worker

I went down a rabbit hole on genealogy. It started with an email from ancestry.com which indicated that several "buddy" sites would be free during the stay-at-home order. One of them was a military site with records based in St. Louis. I submitted a request for my father's navy records, and was trying to submit one for my grandfather but encountered some challenges. Apparently, there was a tragic fire in the 1970's that destroyed 80% of the military records during the period of his service. Dexter asked that I request the records for one of our ancestors, Alcin Vidrine, who served in the Civil War. He was captured in Illinois and it took him a year to walk home. This caused me to turn to my ancestry tree to add Alcin. I followed threads leading to his parents: Antoine Vidrine and Josephine Ortego. From there, I discovered that our family is linked to many other trees that show a common ancestor, Jean-Baptiste Pierre Lapaise de Védrines, who emigrated from southwest France. His ancestors had moved from Massif in south Central France to the southwestern region of Agen. There was a chateau in the family, which was later sold. It was, and is still, a winery.

Chateau Doisy-Védrines Winery

But I digress. Back to Jean-Baptiste. He was an officer with the Royal French Navy, and sailed to the North American territory (current-day U.S.) in 1743. He was stationed in Illinois and married his commander's daughter, Elizabeth Tisserand de Monchervaux in 1758. When Jean-Baptiste retired in 1763, he and Elizabeth sailed down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, settling at Point Coupee Post. Eight years later, they moved near Bayou Courtableu north of Washington, La. Since they were in Spanish territory, the spelling of their name was changed to Vidrine. We are the descendents of Jean-Baptiste and Elizabeth's son Etienne Vidrine (dit Lapaise) and his wife, Victoire Soileau. Together, they had 14 children!

Needless to say, it took many hours to travel down that rabbit hole. So I pulled myself out to tend to the kids, clean the kitchen, etc.

Turning to news of the day. So this guy, Mike Parson. There are two major cities in Missouri. Both mayors of those two cities have issued a stay-at-home order, but this has not been reinforced at the state level. In fact, the governor (at the press conference photographed below) encouraged people to rely on personal responsibility. Yes, I understand that we have rural areas that might not need a stay-at-home order, but I was hoping for greater clarity from our top level state leadership. Something similar is happening in Texas. The mayors formed a coalition and created their own framework because the governor refused to act, saying it was a local matter. The coalition covered more than 70% of the state. I find this phenomena very, very interesting. We are experiencing such a fractured system of government right now.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R)

In Kansas City, a group of business and civic leaders gathered to solve the testing issue. It's near-to-impossible to get tested locally due to the dearth of tests. They got on the phone, figured out who made the tests and discovered that one of manufacturers had 50,000 tests sitting in a warehouse in San Jose. They bought those tests, shipped them to Kansas City, partnered with local hospitals and labs, and will deploy them shortly.

Another local group of business and civic leaders created a pool of donations (aiming to equal $10 million) and have issued a call for requests to area nonprofits who provide basic needs / food & shelter relief to area residents.

Watching people solve problems bigger than they are, work together to create solutions that are unique and innovative (see above), create acts of kindness that are relevant and truly helpful (the restaurants that provide free lunch for laid-off waitstaff, the thousands of people sewing re-usable face masks that have filters) and show patience + concern for others has been one of the unexpected joys in this ordeal.

In the news:

• 492,603 cases, 22,184 deaths, 119, 918 recovered
• 356 cases in Missouri, 8 deaths
• 128 cases in Kansas, 3 deaths
• Dow Jones closes at 21,188
• $2 trillion relief plan passed unanimously by the Senate that will:
• One-time direct payments of $1,200 for individuals and $2,400 for families
• Increase in unemployment benefits
• $500 billion in loans or investments 
• $25 billion to airlines and $4 billion for cargo carriers
• $17 billion in loans for businesses critical to maintaining national security
• $117 billion in hospitals and veteran healthcare
• $16 billion for stockpile of medical supplies
• $350 billion in loans to small business
• Tax credit for retaining employees
• Group health plan required to provide preventive services related to Covid-19
• Delay in payroll tax for employers
• Bar employees or executives who made at least $425k last year from getting a raise
• Stop Pres, VP, heads of Exec Depts, members of Congress + their families from receiving emergency taxpayer relief. 
• Suspend federal student loan repayment until 9/30 without interest accrual

Covid-19, Day 15: Avocado Ground Hog's Day

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Started the day with more avocado toast.

Avocado toast with fresh basil, tomatoes, and Everything But the Bagel seasoning

Next, I attended an AFPKC Google Meetup where we discussed cancelled events: how everyone is handling it (transferring sponsorships to operating, hosting virtual events). It was a sobering glimpse into how nonprofits are being impacted by this pandemic.

The afternoon weather was beautiful, sunny and 71. I had to oust the boys and making them play outside. They ended up having fun with each, walking around with staffs, which were really just mop handles. I worked a full day and at 5:30 joined a Facebook live group hosted by my friend Aimee to discuss Tiger King.

At the end of the day, we had dinner with the kids which is a happy circumstance of this pandemic, more quality evening time with our kids. (Note that I said evening time. During the day we tend to ignore them, except to help with lunch, as we are both working, and that feels a little sad.)

Nacho average dinner (note my margarita)

After dinner, Ed and I went for a walk in the neighborhood and hunted Pokemon. A special bonus was seeing the filming of a rap music video under a pedestrian bridge near our house. We got our steps in today.

Rap video production

I've been watching the business news. Our top local companies, Sprint, AMC, Kansas City Life Insurance, Waddell & Reed, Hostess, they are losing their shirts. The top loss, a REIT company (real estate investment trust) lost 75% of their value. Here's the graph I learned all of this from:

See the one company experiencing considerable growth? Guess what that is. Payday loan company. Makes me sick. 

In the news:

• 441,187 cases worldwide, 19,784 deaths, 111,933 recovered
• China has the largest number of cases but Italy has the largest number of deaths
• 225 cases in Missouri, 5 deaths (30 in KC)
• 98 cases in Kansas, 2 deaths (both in KC metro)
• 1,795 cases in Louisiana, 65 deaths, most in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes
• Prince Charles tests positive for Covid-19

Covid-19, Day 14: Stay-at-home order starts

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Today is our first official "stay-at-home" day as ordered by Kansas City's Mayor, Quinton Lucas, though we've been living according to these new rules for the past 10 days or so.

It's overcast and dreary right now. It rained all night, though I never heard it. See previous post about Kansas City rain. Started my day with avocado toast.

Avocado toast with fried egg and purple basil

It's been tough getting Gill motivated. Jonas is dressed and ready to go, already reading a book. We want to take a family walk this morning, but Gill says he's too tired to get out of bed. I suspect that the weather is getting him down.

Jonas and I went for a bike ride around 8:45. Biking in the cold makes your hands really cold. Jonas, who has already learned this, wore mittens. We hunted a few Pokemon, spun some stops and 1 gym, rode up and down the large hill, and then went home because we were starving.

Later in the morning, Ed had the kids sign on to their online classrooms, and there were things for them to do. Gill had fun with the ABCYA site, which embeds learning in video games.

Gill on the Chromebook, learning grammar ABCYA

I  went to Costco over lunch. I had not been out of the neighborhood since Friday. Though I was looking forward to the outing, it was awkward and uncomfortable to be out. I used wipes for the cart and only touched product that I purchased. The checker scanned my card and I held my receipt up for the door guy. There were lines on the floor showing people where to stand so that they could maintain a safe distance. Once I got home, I had to wipe all of the product I purchased with a bleach solution. The plastic egg container was particularly difficult so I just laid it in the sink and blasted it with the bleach solution.

This afternoon, Jonas attended Capoeira via Zoom meeting. Ed cast it onto the TV from his phone.

I had a brief but fun Facebook group gathering with Aimee and Susan. I discovered filters and accidentally took some pictures.

An alien (me), Aime, and Susan

We ate dinner together and then Ed and I watched 3 episodes of Tiger King; we are stunned by the characters in that documentary.

In the news:

• 392,780 cases worldwide, 17,159 deaths, 102,980 recovered
• Spain had 550 deaths yesterday - the greatest number in one day so far. They have reserved an ice rink for a morgue as they will run out of room. 
• 183 cases in Missouri, 3 deaths
• 82 cases in Kansas, 2 deaths
• 1200 cases in Louisiana
• Dow Jones closed at 18,584

Covid-19, Day 13: First Day of HomeSchool

Monday, March 23, 2020

Monday, 3/23/20

In addition to personal hygiene, going outside, and chores, here's what I asked the kids to do today:

Assignment #1: Move Like Me

1) Pick an animal
2) Research its movements
3) Replicate (copy) its movements using your body, nothing more
4) Video your results
5) Share

Assignment #2: Today in History

1) Tell Alexa good morning
2) Ask her what happened today in history
3) Listen to the full Wikipedia story
4) Report out to the adults, using any of the following:
a. Write a paragraph
b. Write a haiku
c. Google slides
d. Draw a picture
e. Using things from the house, set up a scene and take a photo
f. Verbal report
g. Write a song about it (lyrics only or lyrics + music)
h. Make a Lego construction about it and explain

They did none of these things. I thought they were fun assignments and am really disappointed. How to motive them? I will have to figure out a different strategy for tomorrow.

Ed and I worked all day. Then we had dinner together. Then we watched TV. They watched Adventure Time; I watched Tiger King.

In the news:

• 351,731 cases worldwide, 15,374 deaths, 100,430 recovered
• 106 cases in Missouri (16 in our county), 3 deaths
• 64 cases in Kansas, 2 deaths
• Dow Jones closes at 18,717

Covid-19, Day 12: Rainy Sunday

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Rain in Kansas City is weird. Sometimes (though rarely) it can be a downpour, coming fast and creating real harm in the form of flash floods. Though the flash flood rains typically occur in the spring, that's not what is happening right now. The rain today is so gentle that you really don't even hear it. If you're inside looking out, you have to squint to see it. Even then, you ask yourself, "is that rain or are my windows just really dirty?"

We are having a true Sunday. Ed is playing jazz on the Brennan, happy as a clam to be cooking in the kitchen. He is "cooking for the week" which is what two working parents with young kids have to do to survive the week. With nightly activities and homework, we are hard pressed to create a meal quickly. Though he knows in his head that we will all be home together this week, and there are no nightly activities, and that we can wander into the kitchen at 3pm to put something in the crockpot of even on the stove, he is still cooking today. Old habits, as they say.

Later in the day, Ed needed short nails for his beehive construction, so we took a walk to Sutherlands 2 blocks away. Here's some of what we encountered on our walk:

Covid-19 poster on telephone pole

Lewer's forsythia

In other boring news, I cleaned out the vintage desk I bought a few years back for Gill. He was using it for storage, not for work. Ed was adamant that we could not get rid of it right now because no one would take it. Turns out, there's a run on desks as well as toilet paper. Our neighbors, the Johnsons, were putting together a home office for their girls and gladly took it off our hands. They are the ones that told us that you cannot find desks in stores right now. (My Facebook prediction that "desk components are the new toilet paper"  has come true.) We wiped it down and helped deliver it. Here's a photo of Daniella, set up and ready to go.

Daniella at her "new" desk

Gill had a violin lesson today using Zoom. We had to tune the violin ourselves, which was a mini-lesson for me. The Zoom software often flattens sound, so the teacher is asking us to look for a way to "preserve original sound" which is an option on the mobile version, but we cannot find it on the desktop version. Gill really enjoys violin and I think he's rather good at it! (no bias, i'm sure)

After violin, we played Exploding Kittens which is a very funny, if somewhat perverse, card game. The boys love it.

Gill's hand in Exploding Kittens

In the news:

• 328,275 confirmed cases worldwide; 14,366 deaths (more than 1/3 of those in Italy)
• 55 confirmed cases in Kansas; 2 deaths
• 90 confirmed cases in Missouri; 3 deaths

Covid-19, Day 11: Census 2020

Saturday, March 21, 2020

The boys are falling into line. I could not be more surprised. Gill was sincerely upset when Jonas beat him to emptying the dishwasher. The both got dressed, brushed their teeth (well, maybe just Jonas), and reported to breakfast, the requested Cream of Wheat, sweetened with brown sugar. We listened (on Alexa) to the history lesson of the day: Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight. Makes me recall the Jimmy Steward move, Spirit of St. Louis, and the stow-a-way fly.

After a few more chores, we moved on to civics, completing the US Census survey. We used the opportunity to do a mini-civics lesson. Ed explained that the Census is constitutionally mandated, then went into an explanation of our governmental structure. The take-away was that our US Representatives are determined based on census data.

To provide other historical context for the census, I printed the 1870 Census for Edward Vogt (4 years old in Cincinnati, born to Prussian parents, great-great uncle to our Ed) and the 1930 Census for Benjamin Dupre (36 years old inVille Platte, born to Louisiana natives, great grandfather to Shelly). We reviewed the information recorded (age, relationship, income, occupation, own/rent, birthplace, language, etc) and prepared to compare to the 2020 Census.

Gill eagerly ripped open the envelope; we had pen in hand and were prepared to start writing, but there were only two pages (in several languages) enclosed! The US Government was instructing us to access a webpage and complete the survey online, which we did, in turns, on Jonas' computer. The questions were not nearly as comprehensive as the ones in the 1870 and 1930 censuses, asking only for name, race, residential info, and relationship to each other. No questions about occupation, income, language, etc. It was interesting to note the great variety of options for relationship, including same-sex marriage, and unmarried but living together status. The gender options were binary, though I'm betting that the 2030 Census might allow for more gender / self-identification options. We'll see. Our boys might be completing their own census survey 10 years from now.

Gill opens the 2020 Census envelope

Jonas starts our 2020 Census entry on his computer

It's a beautiful, sunny but cold day here. Ed finished his bee hives.

Ed's bee hives

I connected with a Aimee, Tracy, and Susan on a Facebook group that we're calling Coffee Talk. It was so awesome to connect with them.

Aimee, Susan, me, and Tracy (photo cred: Susan)

We had dinner together as a family. After we ate, but before we left the table, there was this: https://youtu.be/AfzwbvTKMZU

I found a new contributor to this blog. In his typical efficient style, Ed is "documenting" our Covid-19 experience with daily tweets. I will include them in the "news" section of these journal entries.

In the news:

• 297,090 Covid19 cases worldwide, 12,755 deaths
• 15,000 Covid19 cases in the US, 200 deaths
• 73 Covid19 cases in Missouri, 3 deaths
• Kenny Rogers dies

This is what the world is starting to look like:

From the BBC World News 3.21.2020

Covid-19, Day 10: Home Office

Friday, March 20, 2020

Finally! The sun has come out. After a very breezy night, it's now cold.

Yesterday, I worked from home. It's hard to do that. I keep getting distracted with social media and news and kids and house chores and, and, and.... My goal for next week is to be more focused, and help the kids understand when they can interrupt work (a fire, gushing blood) and for what purpose (NOT to settle a dispute or renew their screen time).

Home Office. Three stations: me, Jonas, Ed

Ed took the day off due to working last weekend in preparation for the vacation we did not have. He worked on his bee hive, which he built from scratch. The boys were outside for some of the day, and Declan (Gill's friend) came over for a couple of hours. We are so used to having him over that when his dad texted, I just replied yes. Declan was in a camp all last week, and his mom is still going to work at an area hospital. I'm not sure that it was the right decision to let the boys play. I did have them wash their hands, but they constantly touch their faces so it's almost meaningless. And they share screens, though there was a lot of outdoor play. We will have to make different decisions going forward.

Gill and Jonas have continued to be more helpful around the house than usual.

Gill empties the dishwasher

In the News:

• Italy's death toll surpasses China's
• Missouri: 47 cases and 1 death (7 in Kansas City + 3 more in Jackson County and 3 in Cass County)
• Kansas: 34 cases and 1 death (16 in Johnson County)
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 19,173.98
• G-7 world summit is held via videoconference

Covid-19, Day 9: An Anniversary

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Today, Ed and I have been married for 15 years.

It was a warm day outside. The kids and I took a 5 block walk to a nearby faculty member's home; she is also a donor and we took a thank you note and some Girl Scout cookies to her. We stopped by McClains on the way home and bought danish.

The backyard still had leaves so I set to raking and bagging. There is quite a bit of mud in the shady part of the yard and the boys are constantly track it in so I put down grass seed and hay. At least the hay will stop the mud, and hopefully we'll get some more green in the yard. Ed brought me pansies back from Soil Service so I filled our front planters with purple, white and periwinkle pansies.

Around 5:30, we started cooking dinner. Ed and Jonas worked on homemade pumpkin ravioli and Gill and I made brownies. Ed and I took turns charcoaling pork chops (with Jack Miller sauce), broccoli rabe, and okra.

Gill makes brownies

Jonas & Ed make ravioli

Though it's our 15th anniversary, we didn't get each other gifts or even a card. I can't believe it, but I actually prefer it. Life seems so complicated right now, and what really matters is the time spent together.
As we sat at the table with the kids for dinner, I couldn't help but think of this day 15 years ago when our home was filled with family and friends, many of whom are gone too soon: Mom, Bill, and Judy. I miss them all.

Me & Ed on 3/19/2015

Tonight's family dinner 

Yes, that's a Zelda shirt.