A New Way of Living

This quote came up on my Instagram feed yesterday. I don't know where or how it started, but I like it.  I'm trying to embrace this new mentality of being still.

My daughter and I have tried a new recipe each day this week.  I love to cook and bake, and I am grateful that she is humoring me by doing it with me.  Cooking for others is my love language.  I learned it well from my mother and grandmother.  We are making a list of things we can make for my mother-in-law so that she can stock her freezer with small meals for the coming days and weeks.  We are hoping we will be able to drop some food off to her next week since she doesn't drive and is dependent on others to get her groceries.

We are listening to music, watching favorite family movies, reading books, and playing games.  I am currently losing Connect Four 8-5 to my daughter.  I have plenty of time to make my comeback!  My son got a game for Christmas that we finally opened last night and started to play.  We found two unopened puzzles that we bought during a rainy week last summer so we're getting those out on an extra table in our dining room.

We are exercising.  I bought a membership for at-home workouts, but I'm thinking about ordering a small trampoline the kids and I can jump on throughout the day.  My son's strength and conditioning coach from school is sending weekly workouts for the kids to do with and without weights.  My husband continues to run or get on his bike, either the indoor trainer or a solo ride in the country.  I joke that I may come out of this 20-pounds lighter because I don't have unlimited snacks in the house and I'm actually taking time to exercise each day.

I am not meditating, but I am trying to remember to breathe deep and embrace this opportunity to be at home.  It is rare that we are all home together with no deadlines or events on the calendar.  This is a unique time in my children's lives, and I want to make the most of it.  Maybe someday we will look back on the spring of 2020 and say, "remember that year there was some virus going around and we all got to stay home and do nothing for weeks?"

I look forward to that time when this all is only a memory.