All during the beginning part of 2020, we would hear rumblings on the news about this new virus called "COVID-19" or "Coronavirus." We weren't too worried about it, because it was clear over in China, and we had heard similar stuff in the past about the bird flu and Ebola, etc. It was interesting and concerning to hear about, but I didn't really think that it was really going to have any impact on my actual life.
As the weeks went on, it kept getting closer and closer and more and more serious. But still, we were thinking, well, what are they going to do?? We will wash our hands more often, sure, but it isn't like they can close the schools or anything, right? That would be ridiculous! Other countries had "locked down," but at least to me, it still seemed like something that wouldn't really impact in any significant way.
I was actually having a quick girls night out with a couple of friends, and we were at a restaurant getting a treat when the TV in the corner announced that Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz had tested positive for COVID.
Whoa.
The dominoes fell quickly after that. The NBA shut down, other sports, then international borders closed fast. My office and Preston's went to fully remote working. And yes. They closed down schools. I was shocked.
They told us that schools would be closed just for a couple of weeks before spring break. All our kids had access to computers, so it should have been not too big of a deal. It was SO HARD. All of the teachers were of course doing the best they could, but they all had different programs they were trying to use, and different ways of turning things in, and different ways of communicating (emails, zoom calls, etc.). It was pretty much chaos those first couple of weeks, with me trying to work from home while trying to get a 8th grader, a 6th grader and a 5th grader to do three different things at one time. And the kids were struggling too, soccer was cancelled for Dax and Cora, Young Women's and Young Men's and activity days stopped, Cora's school play of course was stopped, everything stopped. No more friends. No more extended family visits. They were not (and I was probably not) at their most patient, and there were struggles with schoolwork.
On top of all of that, we were supposed to go to Costa Rica for a much-needed and greatly anticipated Spring Break trip! The kids (not to mention ME) had been sooo excited for the big adventure of going to the beach and the jungle. We still were holding out hope for the first few days after things really shut down, but a few days before we were supposed to fly out, Costa Rica officially closed their borders. So sad! Luckily, we were able to get a refund from our hotels/airbnb, and got an airline credit for the airfare. But we were all really sad about missing our Costa Rican adventure.
The kids were troopers, but they were definitely dealing with a lot. Arden, especially, missed her friends so much. Teenagers need their friends! With no school in the morning and nothing else on the schedule, she started converting her schedule into that of a vampire. She was sleeping in VERY late, and staying up VERRRY late. Dax, of course, is still my morning person, and Cora fell somewhere in between. We had our issues, but we felt so glad that no one we knew was sick, and so thankful that my and Preston's jobs were not affected that much and that we were able to work from home.
In the midst of all of this craziness, more craziness happened. I was laying in bed one morning around 7:00am, and the doors to my bedroom started banging HARD. I thought it was a kid banging on my door, so I sat up so that I could see why the heck they were banging on my door so loudly so early in the morning and yell for them to stop. Then stuff started falling off my bookshelves and a picture fell off the wall. OHMYGOSH, its an EaRtHqUaKe!
I leaped out of bed and started running down the hall. I saw the chandelier in our entryway swinging as I ran by it. Arden met me halfway down the hall, screaming "MOOOM!". I grabbed her in a hug and yelled for Cora and Dax. Then the shaking stopped. Cora ran out of her room and joined me and Arden in our frightened huddle. I herded us towards Dax's room, where he was....just waking up wondering what all the screaming was about. Yup, he'd slept through the whole thing.
Preston was already downstairs, and he came up to check on everyone. I had just started breathing normally again, we were trying to explain to Dax that there had been an earthquake. Just then, things started shaking again! (not as hard, but still...) I yelled for the kids to run outside and we all started running down the stairs. But by the time we got to the front door, it was over. Just a little aftershock. No big deal. Ha!
My heart was going a mile a minute. I tried to calm everyone (including myself down), and told them that there would probably be a few more little aftershocks. We got some breakfast, but I had my shoes on with my jammies, just in case I had to run outside. I got the kids working on school stuff, and I was working on work stuff, trying to do normal things. Just then, a guy from work sent a message to our department saying that the government said that a stronger earthquake was coming and we should all get our cars out of our garages just in case. If I would have been thinking rationally, I would have realized that earthquakes cannot be predicted and figured out that this was not a real thing. However, I wasn't thinking rationally AT ALL, so I ran out to the car and pulled it into the driveway. While I was at it I started throwing some of our emergency supply boxes that are in the garage in there, just in case.
I went back in the house and sat down to work, and another aftershock hit. It felt pretty strong, and I jumped up and tried to get the kids to run outside with me, but it was over before anybody moved very far. But my heart rate was up again. I realized that I do NOT do well with the ground shaking unpredictably beneath my feet. I decided that I could not deal with it and let's get the heck out of dodge and go to the cabin. I quickly got the kids to pack up some stuff, while I threw a bunch of food together, and I got the dog and the cat packed up and Preston grabbed his stuff and we got in the car and drove to the lake.
Ahhhhhhh.
It was a super nice break for a few days. I kept getting messages from family and friends still along the Wasatch front that there were still aftershocks happening, so I was happy we had somewhere to run to. After a few days, we decided we better go back home, but I have never been so thankful for my peaceful cabin retreat.
We got home and unpacked....and were immediately hit with an aftershock. Preston thought this was hilarious...me, not so much.
I learned that earthquakes freak me out a lot more than pandemics do. I had nightmares about earthquakes, and would often find myself awake late at night thinking about what to do if another one hit right that moment.
Before the official start of spring break, it was announced that the school closures would stay in place longer than originally anticipated. But, hey, we could do another week or two, right? I even decided that we would do a socially-distanced vacation to Phoenix to an airbnb with a pool for spring break to try and take some of the sting away from the Costa Rica cancellation. But that is a post for another day.
