Good News Thread

chanceM · March 22, 2020, 9:09pm

Okay, so the coronavirus situation sucks, but I thought it’d be nice to have a thread about some of the good things that have happened this week because I believe good things can come out of bad situations. I think the other coronavirus thread is great and I’ve taken part in that discussion, and there have been great conversations, but I thought I’d start another one with a different tone - maybe good things that have happened this week if you’ve stayed at home, some great things in the community and/or church, things like that.

If you think starting a separate thread is a bad idea, then feel free to merge this with the other or delete this one.

As for me, our family of my wife and I and our 4 kids have done more activities together as we’ve been stuck at home. We’ve done a few different lego competitions, played Life, and are currently involved in a multi-day game of Risk (Lord of the Rings Edition). We went on a little hike at Chandler Park in Tulsa. Because I’ve been working from home, I’ve been able to have little breaks to play with my kids during the day, and I’ve been able to go on a run outside during the day (which I don’t do very often because it gets light out so late and I don’t like running in the dark).

I do realize I’m blessed and that not everyone has had the week I had, and I still deal with the feelings of anxiety related to health and the economy, so it’s not all sunshine and roses. But I thought it’d be good to share what we’re thankful for and talk about good things happening in our families and communities.

scolemann · March 22, 2020, 10:01pm

I think I’m living a parllel life to yours. Working at home with wife and 4 kids and we’ve been working to keep everyone entertained (especially with the rain).

One of our sons was stuggling in 2nd grade and my wife used to be a 1st grade teacher, so now he’ll have her homeschooling him for the rest of the year, and that will be amazing for his growth, so that is one good thing that has come out of all this mess for us.

AdamM · March 22, 2020, 10:53pm

We’ve probably walked 8 miles as a family since last Monday, which is solid for 7,6, and 3 year olds tagging along. Definitely picked up the crafts. Our middle is especially crafty and she’s made 5 bracelets, and working on this yarn photo, it’ll probably be done a week from now based on a day’s worth of work.

The kids start school using Google Classroom tomorrow, so I’m excited to see how the teachers execute that.

SherlockOhms · March 22, 2020, 11:05pm

Since OSU is online for the rest of the semester, and I finally got told that I’m working from home until at least the 5th, I get to stay at home for another two weeks. My dad and I got new fishing licenses this Friday and we’re making plans to go golfing this week. I figure being out on a lake or a golf course is probably alright for social distancing.

Louis_Corso · March 22, 2020, 11:05pm

My wife is on day 7 of social distancing and I’m on day 3. So our levels are totally different. As a result while I wanted to sit around and watch UFC and movies all day yesterday she wanted to clean up some brush on our property line on our house we bought this year. So that’s done and today she sprayed the yard. I’ve been on puppy watch duty cause we got a puppy Thursday. Let’s just say she’s at the I’m going crazy point and I’m at the I’m really liking this stage.

Dribble · March 22, 2020, 11:08pm

I’m going to start playing NCAA ‘14 again!

DrCCowboy · March 22, 2020, 11:11pm

A few things, I suppose.

Some of my comedy writing buddies and I got together and are planning to release a free comedy anthology about the virus (to make people laugh and not be terrified) and I put nearly 10K words into my story, which is more than I’ve written for fun in probably three years.
My class is already online, so there is no disruption to my teaching schedule even when others are having problems there.
I live in a state where things aren’t that bad yet, so the fear level is muted at least for now.

OSUPSYCHO · March 22, 2020, 11:19pm

For anyone that is safe in their jobs and has the means I would recommend looking at picking up some stocks. After 9/11 many people made a lot of money in the stock market due to irrational fear in the market. I think we are seeing that again and there are some incredible bargains out there.

Dribble · March 22, 2020, 11:36pm

I’ve been buying a lot in the past week. I’m actually up but they are long term buys so I can deal with a dip.

RyanS · March 23, 2020, 12:28am

I did this as well. It’s currently 2028 and at OSU we’re currently on a 73 game win streak with 5 consecutive national titles.

Marmaduke57 · March 23, 2020, 2:58am

How many five recruits do you get a year?

RyanS · March 23, 2020, 5:31am

At this point at least 5 a year, probably like 6 or 7 on average.

lmand · March 23, 2020, 12:38pm

Lots of music at our house. I’m technically working from home, but I do communications for a church. All activities have stopped, so I’m just doing a simple bulletin for online service and a short weekly email.

My girls are distance learning. They have iPads from school so their teachers are giving instructional videos and assignments. None of this “don’t worry, I’ll catch you up” but we have adapted to it really well.

Lots and lots of music practice over here! I bought a nice keyboard. My girls downloaded the parts for their instruments for both grades to make practice fun, so viola/cello concerts every day!

Driveway party on Thursday. Neighbors pulled up some bag chairs in a wide circle and we laughed and had a couple of beers (6 feet apart, mind. A nurse is in our group.)

Recovering patio furniture. I bought a bolt of outdoor fabric a couple of years ago and never started this project because it’s overwhelming couch, love seat, 2 chairs & 2 ottomans. I said I’d cover 2 cushions a day. That’s 8 days worth of sewing! But I’ve done 2 days so far.

Art for all the little ones. Sidewalk chalk, videos from book illustrators, they have loved the time to draw!

Photography challenge: my youngest likes photography, so I’m using my online tutorials that I purchased to teach myself and am teaching her the tricks to make things look great!

My husband and I did several chores together which were fun and we’ve taken a lot of neighborhood walks. There’s been more time to just relax.

One more, it’s My oldest wanted to try out for cheerleader this year. Shes been taking tumble classes & we added a cheer workshop. Since classes are suspended along with the try out date, I’ve been stretching and prompting her to practice. Saturday we jumped on our trampoline to practice toe-touches. She did hers. I just tried because why not. She says mine are “great for a 40 year old lady, but just ok for kids her age.” I tried again as she climbed down. Then her eyes got big and she said, “wow, how did you do that?” Y’all I’m lucky my legs do that at all anymore. Yay for being able to move. And I still got it!

lmand · March 23, 2020, 9:50pm

Dance class online

lmand · March 23, 2020, 9:51pm

Painting a landscape after giving up on llama tutorial. Older daughter finished the llama. It’s harder than one might imagine!

Lilboots · March 23, 2020, 11:11pm

Youngest doing her TKD classes via zoom meeting.

chanceM · March 23, 2020, 11:40pm

My daughters are doing the same.

chanceM · March 23, 2020, 11:43pm

My wife and kids did some inspirational chalk on our driveway .

AdamM · March 27, 2020, 7:17pm

Today we saw some ducklings on our walk. The kids were ecstatic. I was surprised they didn’t swim away from the shore. Mama duck was bobbing for stuff.

AdamM · March 28, 2020, 8:49pm

The kids built a planter and we got some veggies for them to look after.