I received word today that the online classes I teach through a technology center are suspended until April 6th. This apparently means even if students submit work, I cannot grade their work or move them on to new units, etc. What I don't know is if I will still get paid in April or not. That is my only source of regular income; the rest of my income comes from my training business. All my classes are cancelled through April so I won't be getting any income there. 

At this moment, I just have to trust God to take care of us. I am thankful for the people who helped get us several cases of Tom's formula so I know we have enough for him for the next month or so. That's one big load off my shoulders. 

​Praying for us all as this crisis continues. 

Well, I found out yesterday that all classes through April will be cancelled. It's a bit scary and overwhelming, but I am trying to find some positives. 

Tom doesn't have to travel for a while. Since his cyst removal surgery last November, he's had to go with me every single time I've traveled because of the wound care. He was ready to spend some weekends at home and now we both get to. 

This will give me extra time to work on my de-cluttering project upstairs with the daycare toys. I've made tons of progress, but still have a ways to go. My goal is to finish by the end of March.

After my friend Christina posted last week about the cost of our feeding formula, we've been blessed with people sending us several cases. So that's at least one thing I won't have to worry about for a few weeks. I estimate we have enough for almost a month right now. 

This will hopefully be some downtime for me. The last few times that I thought I was going to have some downtime, Tom ended up in the hospital. So I'm praying he and I can just enjoy this time at home. 

Please pray for all of those affected by this. Pray for the health care workers, the retail workers, truck drivers, and the child care industry,  If you aren't aware of this, even though all schools in Oklahoma are closed, DHS is asking child care programs to stay open and take in extra children so people can continue to work. These people are all heroes. 

Well I missed doing my writing yesterday (both here and in my book). No good reason for it other than I was just really tired and not very motivated lol. It's only the second day I've missed this year so I'm not going to be too hard on myself. 

I ended up cancelling my classes for the rest of March yesterday. I think that contributed to my blah non-motivation feelings. I'm scared and worried because I am our main source of income. The only other income I will have coming in right now is from the online CDA classes I teach through a technology center, then we have Tom's social security income. That is not enough to live on for very long. I know we're not the only ones going through this and it's scary for a lot of people. I just pray for everyone affected. 

I am not one to get too freaked out about what's happening in the world; lots of things come and go. But this whole coronavirus thing is worrying me a little. I've had one class cancelled at the end of this month and expect that more will be cancelled as well. That's not good news for me because if I don't work, I don't get paid. 

I've had to remind myself a lot about Matthew 5:27:

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Have you ever said something to someone that came back to haunt you later? One thing that has stuck in my mind that I said years ago to a grieving friend who had lost a sibling: "I know exactly how you feel". I had lost my own brother a couple of years before that so I may have had some idea how that person felt. But now I realize that no one can understand exactly how another person is feeling. I've been pretty open about Tom and I's journey with his cancer. I've written about it online, I've answered questions from people, and just generally been an open book. This has opened me up to hearing some pretty thoughtless comments from people that either hurt my feelings or make me angry. I constantly have to remind myself that people just don't know what to say in these situations and are truly just trying to help. I wish I could tell you what the "Right thing" to say to people is; it would make all our lives so much easier. I can say this-think carefully about what you say before you say it. Sometimes if you're not sure what to say, the best thing to say is "I'm here.", "I'm praying", "I love you". Just be there for them. Let them know you're thinking about them. Let them know you're praying for them. Offer to do something to help-like bringing a meal or picking up medicine. Your presence and love means so much to those of us going through a tough time. More than anything, we just  need to know people care. 

One of my resolutions for this month was to work on creating classes everyday for my training business. The first one I focused on was one I had started back in December before Tom got hospitalized for a week. I am excited to report that I submitted the course for approval yesterday! Woohoo! 

My next project will be to finish a 4 hour class on art with children that I started on a while back and hadn't finished. I have a 2 hour version, but I wanted to do a 4 hour version as well. 

Setting these resolutions for myself is truly helping keep me on track! 

Today, let's think about who we admire and why. Some of the people I admire most are:

My friend Christina. She has a huge heart and would do anything for others. Then on top of that, she is an amazing child care provider and blogger. 

My BFF Brenda: She has carried on through something that no mother should ever have to live through (losing three daughters to a drunk driver). She has made hundreds of bowl cozies for us to sell to help with our expenses.

Tom: His strength and determination through his illness has helped keep me strong.

My parents: They have been married 55 years  and have been through the loss of a child. 

My grandmother: She took care of my grandfather for many years while he was ill and even now, she still lives on her own at the age of 97. 

There are so many more people I admire from near and far, there would be no way to list them all. 

Well, Week 10 was definitely not the best week I've had so far in 2020 as far as my resolutions. However, I'm still plugging along:

Water: Still drinking my water

Movement: Still moving 25 minutes a day 

Blood sugar/logging food: For the first time this year, I missed checking my blood sugar at one meal.

Working upstairs: I did work upstairs everyday I've been home. My friend came and hauled off the first load of stuff yesterday to her child care home. Still have a ways to go, but I'm making great progress!

Paperwork challenge: I missed working on the paperwork pile yesterday, but otherwise I've done it all the days I've been home.

Creating: I worked on the class I'm creating 5 of the 7 days in the last week

Veggies/fruit: Um......still working on that one

Blog and book: I've written in both everyday.