Spring, is that you?

I don’t think I’m alone when I say that these past two months have been super weird. The world as we know it has changed and priorities have shifted. In addition to slowly working on the future Airbnb suite upstairs, we have been working on other various projects throughout the building and sort of playing catch up. Anyone who is a homeowner can relate that there are usually multiple projects going on at the same time. Story of our lives.

We planted some gorgeous hydrangea bushes out front, our tulips have all bloomed and we have so many stargazer stalks starting to peek through the surface. If you remember, stargazers are my absolute favorite flower!

I was so excited to put the hydrangeas in the ground and out of their pots that I didn’t even take into account that it was only the beginning of April and not after Mother’s Day. Whoops! Live and learn for next year! We had a decent snow on April 17th and it killed the hydrangea blooms so we cut them back and are keeping our fingers crossed that they will come back next year. I guess we are still somewhat in the mindset of california planting where you can basically plant anything year round.

Easter was different this year as I’m sure it was for you too. We had an indoor egg hunt for our kids and it took them an entire hour to find all 100 of them up on the third floor! We watched church online which has become the norm. I can’t wait until we are able to congregate together as a church family and Atom & I can both get back to playing guitar and singing on the worship team.

Atom has started working on the full wall mural in our oldest son’s room. He has started sketching out the design that our son came up with and will be working on it little by little. It’s going to be spectacular and really capture what he loves. Here’s what the wall looked like when the base coat of pale yellow was added last week.

We busted open the rear roof hatch last week since the weather was nice and Atom built a new opening and extremely sturdy heavy duty ladder to get up to the back part of the roof. I think the “secret staircase” had more action in those couple days than it has had in nearly 100 years!

It is finally really starting to feel like spring and the trees all around town are in full bloom and are really a sight to see. I think I love spring as much as I do fall in this state! We have taken many walks/hikes as a family and even Paul Hewson has been out a few times now that he is used to his harness.

The basement has become a favorite space for all of us lately- we have been doing A LOT of rollerblading and playing games as well as working out as a family. It’s a fantastic stress reliever!

Our oldest son (age 12) spent many days using both of his 3D printers to make mask ear savers for my coworkers at the hospital. He truly has a servants heart and we are so proud of him. My coworkers were very grateful!

Speaking of work, I’m still working the frontlines in the fight against covid19. We are fortunate that our area of the country hasn’t been hit as hard unlike New York and other large cities. It is still stressful but we’re powering through. My family and friends have been so supportive and I have received a few care packages that brought tears to my eyes!

As if I am not already at the hospital enough when I’m working, I had to spend the night this past Monday/Tuesday as a patient. My body freaked out and decided to short circuit and knock my electrolyte levels critically out of whack which royally ticked off my already grumpy heart and earned me an overnight stay. It is weird being on the other side as a patient in my own hospital, but I will say there is no other place I’d rather be than in the extremely capable and compassionate hands of my incredible coworkers/friends. They truly are the best and I am blessed beyond words to have them in my life. I’ll spare you the gnarly photos of how bruised my arms are from the bazillion blood draws I had to constantly check my levels. I am feeling so much better and will have a lot more testing in my future (I have an amazing medical team) but that’s just how I roll and it’s all good. Not my first rodeo! I am thankful for a handful of days off to rest and let my body recover.

I hope y’all are staying well and safe!