thrive33

DIARIES

AUDRA PRILUCK

PORTER RANCH, CA

6/9/20

NO. 3

PORTER RANCH, CA

What day Is It Today?

That’s the question I hear the most often in our house. We don’t have a wall calendar, so the only way to find out for sure is to ask “Alexa” or Mommy. When the “safer at home” situation started back on March 12 (that’s our “day one” because it was the first day that school was cancelled), I started recording one-minute video diaries every night of me and the boys. Some days are good, some are bad, but for the most part, the days are a blur. April 30 is day 50.

During the past several weeks, we have paid more attention to nature. The sky is clearer. The birds gather in the same spots every afternoon on our fence. The squirrels love the peanuts that we throw outside every morning. We can hear the horn of a freight train that is miles away.

The kids rarely complain. I have a “quaran-teenager” who is perfectly happy spending every waking minute in his bedroom. My 13-year-old is an incredible artist (see picture) and loves jazz. On the other hand, our 8-year-old son has lots of energy, so we have to make sure he burns it!! Typically, he rides his bike on our street or does 5 “laps” on our staircase. He wakes up early on days we can sleep in and won’t wake up when he needs to be ready for his online classrooms. Murphy’s law.

My 8-year-old celebrated his half birthday on April 11. We had make do with what we had in the house. I pulled together a dessert plate of Girl Scout Thin Mints, sliced strawberries and whipped cream. It was such a special surprise (see picture). Six months ago, we had to evacuate from our house due to the Saddleridge Fire and celebrated his 8th birthday in a hotel room. Six months later, we aren’t allowed to LEAVE our house.

There are three things we have done as a family during this strange time that I cherish:

1) Dinner around 6:30pm every night.

2) Playing Super Mario Kart and constantly losing to my 13-year-old.

3) Finishing a 1000-piece puzzle of an Italian seaside village.

My husband purchased the puzzle at the very beginning, and it took us a month to finish. All of us contributed to the puzzle. We sat at the table at different times and on different days. But when we got to the final 10-15 pieces, we were all huddled around the dining room table, together, finishing the puzzle as a family (see picture). We plan to frame it and hang it.

I miss my friends a lot. I miss my parents more. Live video is “nice” but it’s simply not the same as being in person. Sigh, the hugs we will give each other when this is all over… will be epic.

Written by Audra Priluck in Porter Ranch, CA