The strangeness continues.


My last trip to the gym was last Wednesday. Thursday and Friday I was too busy being glued to the TV to run across the street to get a workout in. By Saturday I thought it best to avoid the gym. You can see my gym’s parking lot from our house, and over the past five days I’ve watched the crowds there get smaller each day. I have a friend who is a workout fiend and I still saw her car over there yesterday.

Doesn’t matter anymore, as all gyms have closed down as of this morning. We have a bench, some weights, and a treadmill in the basement, so I can still do some modified workouts. I can’t run much anymore, though, so I fear not having access to the elliptical machines will mean some of the 10 pounds I’ve lost since Christmas will return.

I do most of my podcast listening at the gym, so I’ve fallen behind. It’s been very odd to listen to podcasts that were recorded last Monday and Tuesday, when the market was beginning to crater and everything else was still hypothetical. They are a reminder of how quickly events spiraled and how long a week can feel.


I’ve been listening to the new bulletins on the BBC World Service a lot. I enjoy their more neutral, relaxed approach to the news. The BBC is also good for getting a broader perspective, as they often place developments in Europe ahead of the latest US news.

Last night I was listening to a bulletin and L walked through the room, heard voices coming out of my iPad but saw a black screen, and gave me a strange look. When the news summary ended she asked, “How does that work?” I explained that it was a radio broadcast that I was streaming. “Oh, I thought the news was just on TV.”

My mind was blown.


As I shared yesterday, C had an ortho appointment. We drove up to the office, walked in, she went to the computer to check in and the ladies at the desk asked if they could help us. Which they never do. “Uh oh,” I thought.

I told them C had an appointment and they apologized and said they had cancelled all visits, I should have received a call. I didn’t remember my phone ringing but as we re-booked I checked. Nope, no call, no voice mails.

As we left we tried to pull up the Panera menu to place a carry-out order, but the site refused to load. In fact no website was working and my email wasn’t loading. I powered my phone off, let it sit for a moment, and powered back on. Once it came online up popped a voice mail the ortho office left an hour earlier. Crap.


It looks like all the Colorado resorts shut down for the season today, which should make it easier to get refunds for everything we reserved. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not all that important. But it is one less thing to stress about.


I think the girls are already bored. L knocked out almost all of her assignments for the week today. M is whining about not being able to see her friends. It has been hard not to share every new development with them. We try to be honest and help them to understand what is happening. But I am feeling bad when each day brings some new disappointment to share. Today I’m struggling with how to share the possibility that this may go on much longer than people are currently expecting. Wiping out spring break was disappointing enough. We have a very big trip scheduled for late July, and based on some charts I’m seeing, I’m starting to believe it is in real jeopardy. I don’t even want to mention that to the girls yet, but at some point we may have to share that possibility.