Sunday, April 5, 2020

Life: It Goes On - April 5

Because I'm a person that can sometimes go a whole weekend without leaving the house anyway, while I've been home this weekend, it's been easier to pretend that everything is perfectly normal. Except that part where the other people I live with never. leave. What's a girl who needs her alone time to do???

On the other hand, Thursday I started working from home. That will be my new normal for at least a month. Already I miss that routine. And the people. It was my last real chance to see other people. It's weird working from home.

Of course, the people I really miss are my people - my family, my besties, the people I hug. Friday afternoon, I happy hour'd via Zoom with my besties. We talked for two hours. I may have drank the better part of a bottle of wine. I felt so much better when we were done, so much lighter. Then Saturday, we "zoomed" with almost everyone on my side of the family. I got to see all of my brother's grandkids and hear them talk and see my great-niece walking (she just recently started). It's not the same as getting a hug but, for now, it helps.

Last Week I:

Listened To: I finished Tracy Chevalier's A Single Thread on Wednesday and don't have a new audiobook available right now so I've been bouncing around with different kinds of music. Without a commute, it's hard to listen to podcasts. I'm not sure how I'm going to listen to a book when my next library hold becomes available.

Watched: We're trying to avoid too much of the news. We want to be informed but not overwhelmed. So we leave the t.v. more than usual.

We also took advantage of the first weekend of free Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals; Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was available on YouTube. We watched for 45 minutes but couldn't take it any more; it was released straight to video when it came out and it showed. Next weekend is Jesus Christ Superstar; I'm really looking forward to that one!

Read: I'm struggling with The Book of V. I'm about half way through it but it's taken me most of the week and it's a short book. It may be a rare DNF for me. There are three stories within the book and I'm having a hard time getting into any of them. I'm not blaming the book; it's probably, more than ever, a case of wrong book, wrong time.

Made: Salads, beef stroganoff, enchiladas, Miss H's favorite goulash - we've been making good meals this week. One benefit of working from home is that I'll have an extra hour every day so I'm hoping to cook even more in the coming weeks.

Red Cedar Works - one of
fave small businesses!
Enjoyed: Miss H went into Lincoln this week and socially distance visited my parents. I wish I could have seen their faces when she surprised them! She came back with a little gift for me that my sister had sent to my parents' house (along with the rest of their order) to congratulate me on my new job. She calls these "conversation boxes" and this is now my second one.


This Week I’m: 

Planning: On finishing up 40 Bags in 40 Days this week. I'll definitely get my 40 bags out (although "out" is a bit of a misnomer since I can't get anything to Goodwills or shelters). I just haven't done a good job of hitting the area that needed it most, my basement. When the sun is shin gin, I don't want to be downstairs; when the sun isn't shining, I can't seem to get motivated. 

Thinking About: The two nurses in our family, and all of the other health care workers, who are on the front line of this thing.

Feeling: At the moment, I'm feeling eager to get past the last freeze. The Big Guy got worried that we wouldn't be able to get vegetable plants and flowers if we went to shelter in place so my kitchen table is now covered in plants. We cannot use the table but I'm going to be so happy when my yard is full of color come summer time.

Looking forward to: It's supposed to be almost 80 degrees on Tuesday so my friends and I are planning a social distancing appropriate dinner party. One of them has a really big patio so we can all stay far enough apart to be safe and we'll all bring our own meals. It will be very different (and so hard not to hug them!); but at least we'll be together.

Question of the week: Have any of you started making masks? I ordered material to make some and will give that a shot this week. BG has done a lot of research so we think we'll be able to make masks that will at least allow us to go out for short periods relatively safely.


8 comments:

  1. I love the conversation box! What a fabulous gift. And I'm sure your parents were thrilled with the visit. It's been crazy to go this long without seeing family. What really concerns me is my grandmother is isolated in her assisted living facility which of course is best but I worry what the isolation is doing to her mental state. She has dementia as it is and this can't be helping. We are skipping the garden this year as we didn't get plants in time and now I can't justify them. We don't have great natural lighting so buying them ahead of time isn't so much an option so I might have some gardening jealousy right now! I hope you have a wonderful week.

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  2. I'm so sorry to hear about your grandma; that would be rough on someone who probably needs more mental stimulation. I'm so glad my parents are still able to be in their home; not long ago, we began to think it was time to think of them moving into a retirement community but they are so much safer where they are at and still have the whole house and yard to move about in.

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  3. I love that version of Joseph. My son played Pharaoh in the stage production a few years back.
    I am tired of cooking. I know you like it. I usually do but I am tired of trying to make actual meals. The supply is not great where I am so I buy what is there and try to get everyone excited for it. Like tonight, quiche and sausage but no one is excited.

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    1. I've seen Joseph performed and enjoyed it; that one just didn't do it for me. We've been lucky in that, after the initial rush to stock up, we've been pretty lucky in that our grocery stores have been well supplied. I'd be hating this a whole lot more if I were in your situation and couldn't get things I wanted.

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  4. I'm so glad you will still be able to physically see and interact with your friends this week! Yay to big patios and warmer weather! I really hope you enjoy that. That is a thing to look forward to.

    I'm not much of a sewer. I've seen a few videos on how to fold bandannas etc. but it'll be a task to get it right. We have some leftover masks from a few years ago when we got the flu so we'll finish those off and figure out the rest! I can't wait to see yours.

    Have a safe and healthy week for you and yours!

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    1. And then we weren't able to get together that weekend. We FINALLY got to see friends this weekend but my parents are too nervous to have us come there so I haven't seen them in almost two months.

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  5. I started working from home last week too. Well, half the week. The other half I still have to go into the office. But even that was weird because it's only a skeleton crew in the office. And like you, at home, I suddenly have no alone time. My husband is working entirely home for the time being and, of course, my daughter is home as well. There is never a time when there isn't someone around. Unless I wake up very early. I'm glad you are able to connect with friends and family via Zoom. Mouse is taking her dance classes that way this month and will soon be meeting with her classmates every now and then through Google Classroom's platform.

    I ordered a few masks for our family via Etsy and my mom has mailed us down some material in the meantime. Hopefully it will arrive before I have to return to the office this week. My scarf does the trick, but it's so warm and awkward. I think the mask will be much more functional.

    I love the box idea! My cousin and her two girls did a similar visit to their grandparents recently--a social distance visit. If my mom lived closer, maybe we could do something like that. We are making due with phone calls and Facebook.

    I hope you stay safe and well, Lisa. Have a good week.

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    1. I went into the office last week for part of one day and in some ways it was good to do something that felt more like routine. But there were hardly any people in the office and traffic was so light so that you can never really feel like things are normal, can you?

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