This morning I updated my website, my Facebook page, and emailed all my non-BLS students. All non-BLS classes are cancelled until May 4th. I went ahead and rescheduled them all to upcoming classes in May. I added some new classes in May. We are officially Staying at Home until May 4th other than essential errands or essential work.

John is obviously still working. He’s a FF/EMT. He has to work. I’m only teaching BLS classes so support essential staff needing certification. I did post if a layperson needs certification to continue working an essential job – childcare provider, workplace safety team – I will provide blended learning with a 1:1 skills session so we can meet the CDC 6′ social distancing recommendation. I can do 1 or 2 skills session per day depending upon requests.

This is scary. This means I’ll only have a handful of classes in April. I am ineligible for un-employment because I’ll still be training essential staff – BLS providers – and I’m self-employed. My income will drop by over 50%. We are all home. Our water bill will go up, our electric bill will go up. My grocery bill will go up since everyone is eating a lot. Okay, I’m cooking a lot – but my Mother In Law and Micaela come over for dinner almost every day and I’m really enjoying these family dinners. But I’m worried about how we’re going to pay our bills when I haven’t paid myself from my business in over 2 weeks.

I left the house only once. I volunteered to be a runner for the mask group. So I picked up supplies and masks at a volunteers house. I dropped those supplies off at a designated hub in Portsmouth. Picked up more completed masks and brought those, and the masks I’ve sewn, to a major hub in Dover for distribution. I heard later that on Friday 900 masks were delivered to 2 Jails, multiple nursing homes and several hospitals. I am amazed and awestruck that a small group I joined on Sunday or Monday has grown to over 1,000 local members and everyone is supporting our healthcare and other facilities so quickly. I am overwhelmed, but thankful for the amazing folks in our community.