The Simple Life: Thankful Tuesday

Tuesday 24 March 2020

Thankful Tuesday - 216

Today feels hard, so I feel compelled to do an early thankful post to remind myself there is still so much to be grateful for.

First, a little message from the kids of the neighbourhood...
WASH YOU'RE HANDS! (It pained me to write that, and pains me to read it still)

Today I am thankful for:

1. Technology. With the social/physical distancing, we can't see family or friends, so we have been trying out different ways to reach out. Last weekend we had a family Zoom chat, and I have another one or two planned for tonight. My work also had a Zoom meeting this morning with 12 of us. Dom likes to video call Opa & Oma and Gramma & Grandpa, and yesterday we called Rebecca too! So thankful for the ability to stay in touch, but still follow rules!

2. Canadian Government. I am so thankful for everything the Canadian government is doing/has done so far. There are a lot of critics out there, but we need to learn to be grateful for what we have. We have a government that has our best interests as a top priority right now, and I feel that is special and rare. We could live somewhere where the top levels of government have denied there is an issue, spread false facts/fake news, and wants to LESSEN restrictions already!! Yikes... If you're interested in where different countries are at with the virus, this is an interactive site with info on the latest COVID cases. Very interesting!! Canada is doing pretty well so far, so hopefully everyone can just follow the rules and we can flatten this curve!
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

3. Generous People. A lady in my neighbourhood bought supplies and made some hand sanitizer. She decided to give it away for free, or by donation. We got the last bottle after not being able to track any down the last couple weeks! So kind.

Sorry... sanitAzer ;)

4. Intentionality. I alluded to it above, but it's interesting how in a time of crisis like this, particularly now, where we're instructed to isolate, I feel like I communicate more with some people. People are intentional about reaching out to each other instead of taking our freedom for granted. David and I are intentional about making time for each other instead of going with the flow day in and day out (though most days are still like this). The other night I bought some steak, and we put the kids to bed and made ourselves a steak dinner and opened a nice bottle of wine. I was saving it for our weekend in Osoyoos, but since that got cancelled we made a special date at home! It was really nice to sit and eat and talk together without interruptions.

5. Financial options. I emailed our bank to see what it would look like if we deferred our mortgage. After going back and forth, and talking to a few trusted people, David and I have decided to defer our mortgage for 6 months. The fact that the gov't and big banks even made this an option is amazing. In the end it doesn't change our amortization or payments much, and the pros far outweigh the cons. I think because David is self-employed, we didn't have to submit any proof of need or anything. It will all be finalized in around 5 business days, and it will take a huge load off of us.

6. Work from Home. So glad this is an option. This is what work looked like for me on Monday! (Okay, 20 minutes of work because it was a lot colder than it looked). I miss the Nespresso, but this beats my window-less office for sure.

Meetings look a little different now, but arguably better and more efficient!

7. Family Time & Less Diapers! I am appreciating all this family time while our kids are little. These years go fast, so we're being forced to slow down. Also, life is so much easier since Dom potty-trained himself. We're 4 days in and he has a 100% success rate, with zero prompting. Haaaaallelujah! Haaaaaallelujah!