If there’s one silver lining to being quarantined in our house, it’s that it forced us to slow down. After all, there’s only so much we can do within the confines of these four walls. And I’m happy to report that my family made the best of it.
My husband baked bread (a rustic sourdough and a semolina) and homemade rice pudding. I whipped up some lentil soup and a chicken curry in our new Instant Pot, which is the absolute greatest invention since sliced bread by the way. Seriously, I thought my Crock-Pot was my saving grace, but it pales in comparison to the Instant Pot. I mean, slow-cooked meals served up in less than 30 minutes?! That’s ingenious people! But I digress…
We spent as much time as possible outdoors, playing ball and hopscotch, jumping rope, riding bikes, chasing each other, walking together, climbing trees. We even sat on our front stoop and prayed together in honor of Sunday’s National Day of Prayer. The weather was gorgeous: sun; blue skies; puffy clouds; fresh, clean, invigorating air. You could almost forget we’re living amid a pandemic.
Sunday afternoon/evening was my favorite part of the whole weekend. After agreeing that we MUST stop cooking and baking before we regain all the weight we lost over the past few months, my husband and I sat down (with a lovely glass of red—in my Game of Thrones wine glasses, of course!) at our kitchen table and played a game of Scrabble. And let me tell you, what a glorious refresher! Oh man, it felt so good to sit there together and mellow into nothingness. It was a great game, too, a close game, which is the best kind. (I won, of course, but I’ll try not to gloat! 😊) I love moments like that with my husband. They are rare but I’m glad we took advantage of this time to quiet things down and simply be. It reminded me of our early days together, when we were just two best friends living life to the fullest. Days I miss terribly. I know we’ll get back there someday, when our children are grown, but it’s wonderful to live in those shoes again, if only for a moment.
And then came family movie night, my second-favorite part of the weekend. Thanks to our friends over at Disney, we all snuggled down on the couch and watched the early released Frozen II. (Wait, let me rephrase that: My kids snuggled down with daddy; mommy snuggled down with a pillow, LOL. But that’s alright, we were altogether and that’s what counts.) I love Disney and I love Frozen. We saw it for the first time in the theater at Thanksgiving, but it tasted even better last night. Maybe because we were safe in our home. Maybe because it took my mind off the current chaos in the world. Maybe because I’m desperate for a happy ending. Whatever the reason, it filled me with joy and peace and made for a delightful finale to our beautiful weekend.
OK, OK, fine, last night’s new episode of Outlander (which my husband and I are obsessed with)—not to mention the fudge bars I housed while watching it—also may have had something to do with my happy mood, but that’s neither here nor there. In fact, forget I even mentioned it!
In all seriousness, this quiet weekend was exactly what the doctor ordered for me because today, Monday, and the start of our first full week of quarantine and home schooling, already feels overwhelming and daunting. But as my lovely friend and I agreed this morning: We are strong, and we will get through this incredibly tough time together.
And, hopefully, we’ll all be better off for having gone through it.