State of Emergency

This past weekend, Georgia declared a state of national emergency until April 21. Honestly, this didn’t come as much of a surprise to any of us. Georgia has been very proactive to stop the spread of COVID-19, and while declaring a state of emergency might seem a bit drastic, I can’t say it bothers me. Georgia has put medical professionals at the forefront of managing this pandemic, and in doing so they’ve been able to keep their case numbers quite low compared to other places that have has a more laissez-faire approach to handling this outbreak.

Not naming any names, of course.

In preparation for this state of emergency, last week I went to the grocery store several days in a row stocking up on frozen vegetables, fruits, and non-perishable protein sources like beans. We luckily have a large stockpile of fish from last year’s frozen food order, plus I happened to place an Amazon order for tofu not that long ago. We are just fine in the food department.

Sean is still going in to work a few days a week – his office worked out a schedule so they aren’t all crammed into their tiny office at once – but I’m back to fully remote work for the time being. I’m also at a slightly higher risk for COVID-19 (asthma, anemia, and a few other things) so I don’t see myself leaving the house even to grocery shop anytime soon. We ran into some fun yesterday when I sent Sean to the store with a very simple list – olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, salt, and AA batteries – and he returned with no vegetable oil and the smallest package of butter I’ve ever seen. Not nearly enough to make the delicious cupcakes I was planning.

It’s time he learned. Grocery shopping overseas is quite an adventure. Even when there isn’t a global medical crisis on our hands.

So far to pass the time – aside from working – I’ve made soft pretzels and chocolate chip cookies, and I’m just getting started. We also dusted off the Wii and I’ve been royally destroying Sean at Mario Party since Saturday. I’ve read a book and a half, listened to my favorite podcasts, and spent a ton of time playing with the animals. They are all – Dottie included – loving having us home even more than normal.

I guess what I’m getting at is in spite of everything we are both doing just fine. I am, however, curious to see how my sanity degrades over this period of isolation. Will I forget how to shower and wear pants? Will I dive headfirst into the world of Wii games from 10 years ago and never resurface? Will I burn out my Kitchen Aid stand mixer as I bake myself into a food coma?

Apparently, like with most things, only time will tell.