Wow, what a challenging couple of months. From canceling Alexis's 5th birthday celebration to starting school at home and not being able to see friends, there have been so many ups and downs in terms of parenting. I'm lucky to have already been accustomed to working at home, and last summer prepared me for working while Alexis isn't in school, but add in school work, a husband who's been home for several weeks (with pay, thankfully), and the inability to do our favorite out-of-the-house activities, and I've discovered a whole new world of frustrations.

So how have I been making the most of these weird times? A lot of caffeine...

I'm only half joking about that. My caffeine intake has doubled, at least, as I deal with a lot of stuff I'm not used to. Otherwise, I'm nearly constantly listening to music so that the background noise of an active household isn't super distracting when I'm trying to work. I'm still reading every night before bed, although there's not as much time during the day to do so. I finally caved and bought a bottle of wine, which has gone a lot faster than I anticipated. I've dedicated more time to my blog and have been having a lot of fun coming up with relevant content for what's going on as well as playing with my closet.

Mentally, I decided pretty early on that not only do I need to focus on the good in each day, but that I also have to do my best to put a little good into each day. Most importantly, I'm giving myself, my husband, and my daughter a little grace. None of us have experience navigating what's happening right now, and we're all allowed to feel uncertain and frustrated, just so long as we don't crawl in that head space and stay there.

I've also found that dessert makes everything a little bit more bearable, so I wanted to share this easy-peasy cool whip pie recipe that my mother-in-law shared with me.


Ingredients

• 9" No Bake Graham Cracker Crust
• 8 ounces Cool Whip
• 8 ounces Cream Cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 large can Pie Filling (in the flavor of your choice)