It’s April 79th right? 44:04

Well, hello there. It's April the 79th. Welcome to the Jan Arden Podcast. How is everybody's month? I'm here with Caitlin Green, Adam Karsh. We are coming to you. We feel invigorated. We're feeling positive. As each day goes by, we know we're stepping closer to getting right back into the horrible people that we are. Ouch.

It's destroying the planet one brick at a time. No, hi guys. Oh, hello. That's such a... I love that warm intro. April the 79th, you know, like honestly, I can't believe that it's May. I actually cannot believe that we've made it through March and April. Those were the two longest months of my entire life. They felt like a whole damn year. Yeah. Yeah. It's...

Well, listen, people keep talking about, you know, this is going to take a year, year to the vaccine. We're hearing that 12-month period a lot. We're hearing that one-year thing a lot. And we've got eight months left. Yeah. I haven't been in my house for two months.

I mean, I also like the good news that came out of across the pond this week was that Oxford researchers at Oxford University. Yes. They said that they think they might actually have a shot at getting a vaccine out in September. Now, look, I don't know if that's pie-eyed, but I got to trust the people at Oxford to know what they're talking about. Well, they've done human trials. Exactly. Yeah.

Yeah. And the, I mean, God love the poor monkeys dealing with this stuff. God bless the animal testing in the world. It's, but you know, I'm not going to go there. I'm not going to go there. I'm going to be positive that they actually did not contract COVID after being exposed to it repeatedly. And to the point where they didn't think another human being would ever have, have that much exposure to COVID. And yet these, these cheerful chimps,

did not develop the virus. So hooray for them. It's great. And I've had a lot of people write to me on social, listeners to the morning show that I work on write to me and say, and I get why they're asking, but they're saying, how come it's going to take so long for a vaccine with all these smart people throughout the world? Why did it take so long to get an effing vaccine out? You tell us, Caitlin. Well, in my little pea brain, let me try to wrap my head around this. But basically, it's just that you have to go through

animal trials, then you have to go through all these controlled randomized trials, you have to go through tons of human trials, then you have to go into production. And there's a lot of effort to make sure that it's safe and to make sure that all these like randomized controlled trials are giving you real results instead of false results, because that can happen.

And, you know, I just think back on like, I know people, I know people who've had polio, like really the people who survived having polio. And I think back on that and what that vaccine meant to the world. And, you know, we can get it done. And I have faith that it's going to be coming up sooner than we think. And yeah, I'm cautiously optimistic about this Oxford researcher business.

Now, why do people say cautiously optimistic? Mostly because I don't want someone to come back and go, hey, remember when you said I don't want the correction police at my door? I don't need it. And they'll do it on social media. Oh, my God. The number of people who will say you said months ago. OK, I get it. So I'm just going to give the...

I read some article on somewhere. God only knows where everything, everything is just a blur to me now. Like, I don't know if it was Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit. I really don't know where I see these things, but that an Indian company is now producing that vaccine that they had started to develop in Oxford and they're making like millions of batches of it already. Now I don't know how much truth there is into that. And again,

Further to this, here's the ethical question. Is it something the government should force us to participate in? Or much like the anti-vaxxers, is it something that should be voluntary?

I haven't read enough about the impact that some people choosing not to take this vaccine might have on the general population. I don't know if it's going to be like the booster shots or, you know, that some people don't end up giving their kids vaccines. And but other people, when their children do receive the vaccines, they're still they're still safe. Right. So I don't know if it'll work like that or if it's the kind of thing where right away they want everybody to have it.

It's going to be a tough one. Like, I don't know how, I mean, I have, I know people like I have, you know, I have people close up like close to me who aren't a fan of vaccinations. And so I don't know what they're going to do. I mean, it certainly isn't me, but it's, it's a real, it is a real question of what the government will say. And also will the government, will the government in some countries charge you for this? I mean, that's the other thing.

Well, somebody has to pay for this vaccine. The government is being stretched in every direction known possible right now. Like, obviously, there's more people applying for unemployment insurance than has, I think, since the 40s. Yeah. But, you know, I...

I don't know. It's something obviously that I would pay for. If there's a lineup, I'm going to be in it for a vaccine. I am not fooling around. And you're looking at someone, I've never had a flu vaccine. I've never gone to the drugstore and gone. I remember...

When I was spending a lot of time in the States, I had a partner in the States. And I remember Walgreens had free flu shots all the time. And that was quite something in the States to go, is there something for free here that's with medicine? And you could. You could go into Walgreens and get a free flu shot. I never did that either. And my mom was never getting one of those, but my dad couldn't get it soon enough. And my dad was always the guy that was sick.

So maybe that's why, like he was sick even though he had the vaccine, you mean? Or like he... Well, no, he never got the flu, but I just, my dad was just one of those guys that was perpetually blowing his nose and had a hack. And, you know, he smoked for 40 years. He drank a bottle of rum every day for 30 years and he just wasn't well. And they talked so much about...

immune system being able to cope when you are exposed to this virus, you know, all these pre-existing conditions that heavily weigh into what your outcome is going to be.

Yeah. I mean, I think, go ahead. No, the tricky, the tricky, I know it's the same. It's the zoom issues. Like for everyone listening, we're on zoom. And I don't know if, if everyone at home, when they're zooming with their friends and family have this, where you all talk at the same time, nonstop drives me. Anyways, I think that it's, it's going to be tricky. Like I would happily pay. I would happily pay to have the vaccine. What about people that do not have? And that's what I was going to say.

that I want to make sure, I would hope that the government would set up some sort of a system where the people who need to receive the vaccination for free that want to receive it can. Absolutely. Like, heck, I'd pay for like, I'll pay for five.

Me too. I was just going to say that it's like buying somebody's coffee behind you. I would absolutely sign into any program that would benefit 10 people or whatever. And I think we will see that. I think we will see that kind of humanitarianism. I think we'll see that kind of

uh, philanthropic motion forward. I think you'll see people like Bill Gates, people like, um, Bezos. I think you will see these key guys that have stepped up in this. I mean, some people say it should be more, it should be more. Well, no, they're doing, they're, they're doing a lot. Yeah. And, um,

I think, um, who was it that just made all the respirators? Oh, Elon Musk. Yeah. So Elon, his, uh, they, they, they were building respirators and he just, he just delivered a whole bunch of those. Um,

So I think that's pretty cool that all his workshops or whatever. I guess Santa would call it a workshop. Other people other than Santa would call it a factory. Hey, do you guys know anyone who's had the virus? Yes. You do? Okay, Adam's shaking his head no. My one friend, Beth Tallman, I can say her name because she's been very vocal on social media. New York City. She got very sick end of February. Yeah.

just sicker than she's ever been in her life. She did not develop any respiratory issues. So at that time, guidelines were just starting in the middle of March. I think she had a hotline to call. She did not receive a test until after it was all over. She went to the Mount Sinai Hospital and was able to absolutely test positive for the coronavirus. Wow.

But that she had recovered. So she participated in an antibody program at Mount Sinai where they, you know, take your blood and your platelets or whatever and do all that. But she said her eyeballs hurt. She said she had lots of digestive problems, obviously fever.

but no respiratory, no weird cough. Yeah. She said, I knew that something major was going on. She said it just felt so weird. It's so different for, for every person. Like I know a few people who've had it and it's so different for every individual from, you know, losing your sense of taste and smell to just extreme exhaustion. You know, of course, breathing difficulties. Now they're talking about rashes that are popping up on people's hands and feet and gastrointestinal, all that stuff.

It's so different for everyone. And then I also know somebody who tested positive for antibodies and never once had a single symptom the whole time. Like, I mean, well, do you remember HIV AIDS, you know, back, back in the eighties when, when it started ravaging the world, uh, when the dust settled, they did see a lot of people that absolutely had the antibodies. They had, uh,

all the indicators of HIV and AIDS, but they never developed the disease. So that's why it made it difficult. So when you continue to go out there and have unprotected sex or yada, yada, yada, all the things that we found out after the fact, but I mean, look how far we've come with HIV and AIDS. People are actually being cured from having that virus in their bodies.

that people that have had it for 20 years never developed into AIDS, but are now free of that. And I just think that's wonderful. And that's the drugs. That's science, people. And science over everything, man, honestly. Well, you know, a little bit of both. I believe in positive thinking. I believe in the faith of God, whatever that is to you. I absolutely am a person filled with faith.

And I pray a lot. I can't say who I'm praying to, but I'm a person that's very mindful of prayer and of being positive and inviting that positivity into my life. And I don't care who wants to make fun of me or who wants to say, well, there's only one God. And until you accept that into your life, you will not be. I don't take any of that. I'm fair with you. Please be fair with me. Whatever your belief system is, I believe in something good.

And having said that, we're going to come back because we've got all kinds of fun things to talk about. Let's transition to people who aren't wearing pants during their Zooms. Let's transition to that, Caitlin. We'll be right back. You're listening to the Jan Arden Podcast. We'll be right back.

We promised you going into this segment that we would talk about being caught on a Zoom call or any kind of social media call that is video in nature. And this fella didn't have his pants on. I've seen it all over social media. I'm sure you guys have too, but oh my God, it's funny. You can literally see his wieners and beans and he's in like tidy, little tight job. He's not even in boxer shorts. He's in a little tight job.

He's in the tight kind. I guess they call it a banana hammock is what they call it. Okay. Is that what he was wearing? Cause this is the good morning America correspondent, right? Or is this a different one? Well, the guy I saw had a banana hammock on. So he had a dress shirt and a tie. No, he had a cardigan sweater, a dress shirt and a jacket. Okay.

And he just was sitting there and in the frame, how it was framed off, you could see him in like a tight speedo type underpant. What do you guys call that, Adam? Adam Weigh-In, what is that called? - Yeah, we need the perspective from a male. - A tighty whitey or what? - Tighty whiteys, you took the words right out of my mouth, tighty whiteys. - Well, they were colorful, like they were multicolored. And I was looking at his crotch, I'm not gonna lie.

Well, because it's funny because, okay, so Walmart has said that they are selling out of shirts more than they are pants because people are buying up shirts because they're just going pantsless or they're wearing sweatpants or soft pants, as I like to call them, on their Zooms and on their business meetings. And I don't know if it's the same guy because there have been a few of them now caught without their pants on, literally. And

It was a Good Morning America correspondent, and he was seen in the initial footage. And he had that little ticker, like what they have on CP24 news channels below, where it's all the words. And then when that was removed, you could see that from the top up, he was all business. And then from the top down, he was just bare legs.

Oh, God. He said that he was wearing gym shorts, but like who, I mean, of course, what else are you going to say? So I just think to myself, and then there was that hairdresser that was doing like a Zoom chat with a television station. And she was in her bathroom and she was talking about being a hairdresser. And in the background is her naked husband in the shower with his hair.

Wiener and beans just hanging out. Yes, absolutely. It was just in some shower in the background. You know, these are good times. These are exceptionally fun, great times. There is so many things going on. Imagine what has happened. Cause really this has been eight weeks of this now. Yeah. Our reality. I know in China, it started before Christmas. Um, but for us here, um,

This eight weeks has seemed like an eternity. Like I'm finally now, I don't know about you guys, but I finally am settling in to I'm not worrying as much.

I don't feel as anxious. It seems normal. So, hey, check marks there for adaptability and being resilient and being able to go with the flow. Hey, guys. Oh, absolutely. I remember I got I live in a condo building. And the first time we received an email saying that we had a case in our building, a probable case in our building. I was just so scared out of my wits to just even leave the front door.

And just received an email this week that we have a third probable case in the building. And we're still very cautious. I mean, thank God for all the cleaners and the staff, building staff we have who are PPE'd all the way up. But they come into work every day and clean the elevators and, you know, to take out the garbage and all that. And I remember at first I was so scared. And now it's like, okay, like, we'll just stay safe and keep on going. Yeah, it's...

But it just amazes me every day that my routine now is actually really calming. Like I always made my bed, but I'm finding that every day that I crawl into bed, like at the end of the day, I think, well, one day closer.

We're absolutely one day closer to solving this problem. We are looking at countries still continually working together on all of this. But I have, through all of this tragic stuff and through all of the

you know, the sad, heartbreaking stories that we're hearing of, you know, of couples that have been married, you know, for 50, 60, 70 years dying within the same week of each other and things that literally rip your heart out. On the other side of that, there was always a lot of joy to be had. And I hope people are not focusing all their time and intention on that grief. Like my mom always said, Jan, life is for the living. And

And she didn't mean it to disregard sadness or to completely overlook grief. She just knew that you had to incorporate that and still find joy because we are here and we are living our lives and we got to go forward and make the best of it. I mean, Adam's got kids. You can't be like, oh, woe is me and the world is all crap. And you know, your kids are looking at, cause they're having fun. They're not even going to remember this.

Yeah, well, and I also think that, you know, what happens too a lot of times with parents is they're under so much stress because you're teaching your kids from home all the time. You're taking on the role of teacher and you're working yourself. You're trying, and also everyone's job security, you feel that for real. And so you're probably actually trying to do more work than you should even. And it's all to say that what your kids probably really remember when

most is mom and dad feeling happy or how stressed were they? Or, you know, did we have laughs or did we play games? Like don't give yourself, cut yourself some slack on the algebra. Like, first of all, I don't know how much you guys accomplished as kids in the last two months of the school year, but for me, it was very little. Yeah. It was looking at the, it was looking out the window at the sunshine for sure. Totally. Like I'm like, these are not our peak performance months for kids anyways. And I think what kids most want is a happy, you know, set of parents at home.

Oh, for sure. Well, I think everyone will want to stick around for this. We have a really great guest coming up today, and she's absolutely no stranger to social media and certainly national television. Melissa Guerrero is one of the co-hosts on The Social, which is seen, actually you can see it every day. They've been doing, the girls have been doing the show from home.

they've been doing something very similar to zoom only it's way fancier because it's fancy national tv but you know they're they're out there every day and for me it's so great seeing familiar faces it's great seeing these um these shows whether it's ellen or kelly and ryan or you know any of these folks that have picked up and doing the shows from home i find it comforting anyway my

Melissa is, she's going to come and talk about teaching at home. So like you said, Kate, you know, what do you learn the last two months of school? Honestly, and I have friends who are parents and teachers, like, you know, they're a teacher and they're a mom. And they said, you know what, just cut yourself some slack. They're not just saying that as a parent, but as a teacher, they're like, you know, your kids will be fine. They'll get through it. And trust me, they weren't learning anything in June anyways. Yeah.

Well, if you're not already following Melissa Grello on Instagram in particular, at Melissa Grello, just the way it sounds, G-R-E-L-O, you're going to want to because even I am learning a little bit of French as she goes through her daily lessons with her little beautiful daughter Marquesa. But it really is so charming and so funny. And Melissa is going to walk us through the ups and the downs of

you know, what it's like trying to keep her daughter cheery and all that stuff. But anyway, stay tuned. We are going to be right back. Thanks, Caitlin, for coming along because I'm going to say goodbye to you now. Adam's going to stay around. But yeah, Melissa McGrela is coming up right after the break. So you're listening to the Jan Arden podcast.

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I'm so lucky today to have Melissa Grello with us. Melissa does a billion things, but you would all know her from the social. She's one of the co-hosts of the social television show on CTV. Weekdays at 1 p.m. live television, live television, Mel.

Like talk, talk to the people about live television just for like one second. How grueling is that five days a week? And this, this is season seven now.

We're in. It is grueling. I've done a lot of different things in television, but live, it is A, the most grueling, but B, boy, it just lights a fire under my butt. There's no better way than live for me to do television. It literally keeps me and I think the audience on the edge of their seats, which is precisely the way I like my television.

Well, you never know what's going to happen. And, you know, I think people need to understand it's not scripted. So when off the top of the show, when you're doing, you know, basically hot topics and things that is like, like pop culture and things like that, you don't know what everyone's going to say. Everyone talks to the producer separately. They know kind of what, what's coming up, but you don't know what they're going to say.

I'll let your audience in on this. We purposely keep each other in the dark about what our point of view is or what we want to argue for a particular topic. We will literally say at the morning meeting, save it for the show, save it for the show. And we shut each other down because you will destroy any spontaneity. If you know what's coming for you, you want to be nimble. You want to duck. You want to, you want to be able to give an uppercut back. I mean, I'll metaphorically, of

course. Yeah. When you want to verbally spar with someone or debate intellectual ideas, you don't want to know what's coming. You can guess what's coming, but you don't want to be that prepared because that's like boring TV if you ask me. And then the other, you know, interesting tidbit, if there's any lawyers watching is we share, you know, more or less our points of view with producers. Just, you know, we don't want to get sued.

over saying anything that we maybe shouldn't say. So there's a little bit of, there's a little bit of vetting, you know, they're like, Oh, you might not want to say that about president Trump in case blah, blah, blah. No, in case they come after us. But you're doing, you're doing an online version of the show now.

which I've heard through the grapevine is a little bit frustrating because of the time delay. But let me tell you this much, just from my point of view, I'm sitting out here in Southern Alberta in the trees. I was so thrilled to see the social, get back online, figure out the technology. I feel like this familiar, these friends, these people that have been coming into my home for six, seven years. And it has just done me a world of good. I make sure that I watch you guys every day.

Does it feel good to be back? Yeah. I mean, you know, we did first when you say online, I mean, you know, you know, sorry, back on TV. I mean, yes. I mean, up on the internet that you're doing an online version. Sorry. That, that was, I didn't mean to do that. It's not on the internet. It's on television. It's on CTV proper, but it's, it's the at home version, but it's so comforting to see you guys.

It's great to do because A, the technology allows for it and we miss the audience. We miss the

you know, we're television viewers too. And there's a real sense of comfort to see the people that you often will watch daily, especially, and even live in our case, talking about the stuff of the day, seeing them. And here's the thing, we're all kind of in the same boat, like we're stuck at home, you're stuck at home. And if we are able to sort of get the tech together, we are a show that we just talk about what Canada is talking about. And right now we're all

at home and we need talk and company and perspectives and maybe some levity and some good laughs more than ever. And so I am so thrilled that we're able to do this. I'm glad that CTV, we've got the infrastructure that allows us to do this. It's great for,

personally, my mental health to have a structure to my day, to be able to still reach out to Canada, to get some laughs because our viewers are just awesome and they're continuing to engage with us on social media. So we can give some sense of normalcy and predictability in an otherwise really wild time. So it's good for, I hope our viewers, but it's great for like us working too.

Yeah, in so many ways, how we're helping other people, I think we're finding when you do help other people, it does help you. So I totally get what you're saying. Not only are you providing a service for the country to hear the topics of the day, to hear other opinions, to get the latest news.

but you're also doing something that is saving you. I want to get right to something that I've been wanting to talk to you about. I've been watching, following you on Instagram for a long, long time, but your Instagram lately, the last six weeks for sure, has been everything to do with Marquesa, which is your daughter. And we love having that glimpse, A, inside everybody's houses. We feel like we're getting a look through the keyhole, but you're homeschooling Marquesa.

And Marquesa is a very headstrong, strong-willed person. And I remember you and I having just a casual chat last year just about, boy, she's putting her teachers through the paces. Like she's, you know, she's on it. Like she's got a mind of her own. She's got an ironclad will. Tell me how it's going for all the moms at home that are homeschooling right now. I think you're doing a really amazing job. It's amazing watching you guys.

Well, thank you so much. I have the benefit of a teaching degree and having been a teacher in my last life. As you know, I used to teach grade seven and eight. Sorry, I should have prefaced that. Yeah, no, that's okay. But you know, a lot of people do know that just, you know, regularly watching the show also. But so that is definitely giving me a leg up. Although I was not trained per se to be teaching little ones and certainly not a senior kindergartner like my daughter. And not your daughter. And you weren't trained to teach your daughter. That's a whole different...

That's a whole different game. It's a whole different game. And I'm getting a lot of insight now because as you were sharing when we chatted a few years ago or maybe last year about the challenges that I was having with her at school, she was being really defiant. She wasn't listening. She even went to the principal's office.

office? She was a junior kindergarten and she went to the principal's office? I was like, oh my God, that's it. I'm raising a delinquent. What is happening in my household? I was just floored because kids show you one face at home and then she was showing her teachers a very different face at school and I couldn't put it together. And the hammer came down at home and there were consequences and like,

losing your toys and all these things and it wasn't working and I'm as a fixer

I was like, what is happening here? Like I literally started to wonder was her whole academic career in jeopardy. So I'm happy to report that the insight I've gained now in this like very, very concentrated unending, unending time together during this lockdown is that she was likely bored.

And that is not to knock the teachers. What I'm realizing is that my daughter is, she's very intuitive. She's highly engaged. She's like a sponge. She's asking questions about things all the time. And she's also an only child. Do you think that has something to do with, I was just going to say, is that only child-ish? Because I had two brothers. So I was in the middle. And I know that you have siblings as well. So you've never navigated this. This is, and you don't, you and Ryan aren't having another child.

You might have a COVID baby. You might have a COVID baby. I'm thinking of having a baby just to have some company out here. I'm only 58. It's possible. It's been done older than 58. I'll tell you that. Janet Jackson. Damn it. So you feel like she just needed more stimulation more. Yeah. Yeah.

Definitely. There's only child syndrome, 110%. And my only experience really is having one, but I know that she's surrounded by adults all the time. And those adults are constantly at her beck and call and they're there to give her attention whenever she wants and needs it. So a being in a class with 27 other kids, um,

is very foreign to her because it's almost like the standing out and talking out and behaving is a way to be like, hello, over here, attention over here. So there's definitely that. But when I go back to the intellectual side of things, she's real sharp and she asks questions that just blow me away. So I realize now it's because she needs to be constantly being fed information and knowledge. She's soaking it up and she stays real engaged, does not misbehave. So

that's the revelation. It was, I think, out of boredom. Last 20 seconds or so here, Melissa, before we go to the next segment, what, what is, how is she feeling about this? Does she realize what's going on? Have you been honest? Like there's a pandemic? She knows what's going on and she loves being at home. Says she doesn't miss school for a second. She misses her friends and she misses her cousins. But outside of that, she's, she's dealing real well.

You're listening to the Jan Arden Podcast. My guest today is Melissa Grello. We're going to be right back. Don't go away. We're coming live to you from, well, we're not live. We pre-taped this. I'm not going to lie. Melissa Grello is my guest today. She's at her house. She is outside of Toronto. Is that exactly? Adam Karsh, our engineer, is somewhere in Toronto in his basement. I'm coming to you from Rocky View County, Toronto.

out in Southern Alberta, where we just had our first day of sun yesterday. We still have six inches of snow on the ground. I saw that it snowed for you guys, so I was kind of feeling better. Listen, we're just going to jump right in. We were talking about Melissa homeschooling her daughter Marquesa. Never mind she's homeschooling, but they're also doing French immersion, kind of. You guys are doing...

all of that stuff. Anyway, go on to Melissa Grello's Instagram. It's at Melissa Grello. Her stories are fascinating. If you've got kids at home, just go check it out because it's so funny and charming. And Marquesa really is rising to the occasion. She really looks like she's loving it. Oh,

Oh, I think the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Yes. We have no camera shyness issues. In fact, I'm usually ripping her away because she tries to camera bomb every edition of The Social as much as possible. So yeah, we have no shyness problems there and rising to the occasion. That's a very nice way of putting it, Jen Arden. It's very nice way of putting it.

Well, listen, we're going to stay with the family dynamic because we are all at home with our families. We're not used to doing 24-7. It is stressful on romantic relationships, I would imagine. You and Ryan have been together for 15 years? No. Almost. We're pushing that. Yeah, we'll be married 12 years this September, but close to 15 together. Okay.

And we know that stress impacts relationships. We know that. So there was a study done on Hurricane Hugo relationships. I don't know if everyone remembers Hurricane Hugo. And in countries hardest hit, the year after the hurricane saw higher marriage, divorce, and birth rates. In other words, times like these can make or break a relationship. So I'm just wondering, and you don't have to answer this,

because it is kind of personal. How are you and Ryan doing? Like, are you, obviously you're used to him going off to work. You're at work. You're a full-time, you know, downtown Toronto worker. How, how is this? You guys are on top of each other and you're, um, you know what? There are times that I wish we were. Ryan has been busier than ever at work. And so here's the deal. Why do you think that is?

So, you know, Ryan is a contractor. And so there are different rules, depending on the province you're in, about the nature of construction sites. And so one of his biggest clients right now is actually, what's the word, I guess, they produce poultry.

And so they are an essential service. But prior to the pandemic hitting, Ryan was doing all the fire coding because they needed to get all of the entire factory up to current codes when it comes to fire safety. So that's essential. And the food production industry is essential. Very essential. Right.

Ryan's work is essential because he needs to keep that place going and going safely. And he was deep in before the pandemic hit. And so he is working around the clock on this place. So he's out of the house. He's leaving the house. He's got to be on site, right? Yeah. He's out and construction is always, you know, out early, but the nature of the factory is that when they shut down Ryan's guys and he, they keep working. So I would like to,

see my husband once in a while during this pandemic. Currently, that's almost not happening. I'm not lying when I say this. I might see him for an hour or two a day. And so in our case, there is no marital stress. I'm a single parent effectively right now looking for my husband.

Certainly hoping that he comes around as early as possible to help me in the house. That is not causing us stress, however. In a weird way, it's giving us the most time apart than we've ever had. And as the saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder. That's not the answer I expected.

Really? No, I for some reason, I thought he was working from home and kind of overseeing these jobs. But I can see what you mean. Is there any concern on your end? Obviously, he's going to these sites. Are they doing masks? Obviously, they're doing some kind of social distancing. But, you know, he's coming home to you and your little girl every night. So what what does that look like?

So that is the biggest worry, I guess, on our plate. Um, so Ryan has been enacting really strict social distancing, physical distancing with regards to, um, the men that work on his teams. And so they, they get to sites at different times. They have staggered arrival times and what they have to work on that day. Ryan will already stock them with all their supplies for what they need to do for the day before they even get there. So no one is interacting like, Oh, you need more nails. I don't know. Uh,

Here you go. It's all set up so that all the men can work essentially independently of one another, which is a great thing. But Ryan does have to go do pickups, even though all the hardware stores are shut now and all his suppliers are shut, he can still do online. So he has to still interface with suppliers. But again, they themselves are interacting at a distance. So, you know, he knows what's on the line.

He's got a little daughter. He's got a wife. We have elderly parents. He knows what's on the line. And I do put full faith that he's taking all the precautions necessary. But to be honest, in our little bubble, he's the only loophole, right? He's the only potential chink in the armor right now, which is the only one going outside of the house. Now, is he doing the grocery shopping? We're doing online and it's contactless pickup.

Well, that's one thing I can't get out here in the country. I do have a little country store, though, that is quite hilarious. Like, I'm the only, usually I'm the only one in there, which is really super great. Everyone's really chill. They're like, hi, Jan. I went for the first time about a couple of weeks ago as things were progressing. I've been out of the house twice.

but I was the only person in there wearing a mask. Wow. Oh, wow. Did they look at you funny? Well, I think they thought I was robbing the place. They're like, hey, Jen, why do you have a mask on and black leather gloves? Just pick it up by bananas. So I know it's odd for them because it is small, but they are in their glory. I'm really happy for the family because, I mean, here's a feel-good story. Three months ago, they were going to shut their doors.

Wow. They were really struggling. The business was struggling. And now, you know, it's so bittersweet because obviously it's because of a very difficult time on a planet. But, you know, they are stocking their, they cannot keep things stocked up quickly enough. Wow. Amazing. Anyhow, I want to get to this question because it could be fairly lengthy on your end. So six weeks ago, basically, we went into this.

It all caught us off guard. Here we are, we're going along. It's a frigging pandemic. We got to go home. We got to lock down shelter in place. What is different about Melissa Grello from the six week ago, Melissa Grello to the one now, what insights do you feel like that you've gleaned from this experience as far as who you are, what you're, I'm not talking about priorities, but how do you feel changed now?

by what has happened and what are some of the little gems you found out about yourself? Oh, wow. That is a big question. I think like a lot of people, it does because you're forced to slow down. And I have always been a type A hustler. Really? Always like, you know, surprise. Yeah.

But I'm not the one to sit still for long. And in fact, when I get too comfortable, I get real restless. And it's like next, next, next, next. And there's certainly a lot of problems with that because you never get to sort of savor the little moments when you're always moving at Mach speed 10, right? Well, you've been doing your morning as well for the last few years, which gets you up at 3.30 in the morning. A lot of people already know that. But yeah, I just was wondering how...

Do you feel like you're growing exponentially? I don't want to say I'm growing. I actually am embracing the slowdown. I have not...

been this, when I say slow, it's like not having a calendar full and 10 places to go in a day. I mean, you certainly understand this really, really well. And that idea that you have a, when I, I don't have a blank calendar because of course I am still working a lot from home, but the forced idea that I have to stay

in one place is also mentally has made me really slow down and to savor and slow down and not have either an excuse or a reason or somewhere else to go or anything like that. This is it. And I think that at first that did cause me great anxiety. I'm not going to lie because it kind of feels like the walls are caving in on you. But when you start to settle in,

What I've really embraced from this is the slowdown. That was just never me, certainly not our culture. And then you get to see things differently when things are slower. I think that's the biggest thing, spending time with my daughter, besides my 11-week mat leave. I've never had this much time with my daughter. And it's not all roses, I ain't going to lie. It's not all roses. It is

hard. But I did early on on Instagram say this is a gift if we can look at it that way. There's a lot of hardships for a lot of people. And I know that. And I feel very lucky by comparison because I know a lot of people are not as lucky. In my case, to be able to just sit

with my daughter for hours on end. I mean, I just don't know when in my life or her life she'll ever get that again. And lastly is my parents. They are the demographic that this virus is ravaging. I was going to ask you about that. Yeah, they are. Your dad had some medical issues, I believe, a few years ago. Yeah. So how are you navigating that?

I'm very lucky that overall my parents are very healthy, but they are the demo. My mom's almost 80. My dad is almost 78. They're at the farm. They're very active. They are probably healthier than people half their age now, but they're the demo. And so we've missed them a lot. And that really puts into perspective that finality of life when you think of who's been getting hit the hardest and to feel a lucky that I still have them and that they're doing really well.

but it's really hard to stay away. But I know it's for their good. So if it's a few months, it's tough, but I'd rather them be here when this is over. For the long haul. Last 40 seconds of the show, I'm going to give it to you. What are some positive, just a positive message that you want to leave with people today? Just about what's about the future.

I think we're going to hopefully look at essential workers differently. I think when you look at people like personal care workers, people in long-term care facilities, people who are bagging your groceries or maybe not bagging your groceries, but they're there at the cash out, I hope we look at them with a whole new set of eyes. I hope their pay is

and wages start to reflect exactly how essential they are to our lives. I think we're going to have a newfound respect for nurses and doctors. And I think hopefully we're going to start to look at our neighbors with a little bit more warmth and compassion after having gone through something so traumatic, kind of together, apart but together. And I think that the people who have been at the really lowest end of the ladder in life have been the ones who've also been keeping us up. And I think hopefully that we've

We have all learned that. Listen, my guest today has been the amazing Melissa Grello. She is now a...

She's going to take on new students in the new year, 2021. So if you've got kids you want to throw her away. Listen, thank you so much, Mel, for doing this. Thank you. Stay safe. Lots of love to your family and to your folks from me. And thank you, Adam, for today as well. And you've been listening to the Jan Arden Podcast. And we will see you next time, kind of, sort of, in an audio, in your ear kind of a way. Toot-a-lee-doo. ♪

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