2020 Project 365 – Week Thirteen

On Friday our governor issued a “Stay at Home” order effective Monday March 30^th, but as a support person for essential personnel my life will continue to be about the same as usual. And Dr. M’s life is pretty much the same too – forage for groceries and take care of his Pop. But I’ve noticed that I’m extra exhausted because I store all of my stress in my body and my goodness this Coronavirus situation is stressful. I’m also worried because I’ve never been much of a germophobe so all of these extra precautions feel unnatural and I’m not sure I even know what I’m doing. What I’m saying is, if we should happen to meet you might want to extend the 6-foot rule a little bit further just to be on the safe side.

Sunday, March 22^nd                                                         

I pulled out my Book of Common Prayer to do evening prayer & found these babies.

Monday, March 23^rd                        

Dr. M said that the grocery store might be out of a lot of things, but it was not out of asparagus!

Tuesday, March 24^th                                                          

No picture! (However, we made up for this fact by taking a bajillion the rest of the week.)

Wednesday, March 25^th                                                    

Socially distant walk.

Thursday, March 26^th     

Seen around the yard.

I gave blood that evening. It still amazes me every time I do it. I hate needles!

Friday, March 27^th                                                                   

I took a walk at work during lunch. It was a gorgeous day!

Dr. M has been feeding me very well!

Saturday, March 28^th                  

I had one of my childhood favorites for breakfast: PB&J & Bologna & Cheese sandwich. True confession: I had the same thing again for dinner. Ha!

Dr. M’s mother’s azalea is blooming!

The Roy came by for a visit.

Mood.

You may have noticed a lack of crochet this week. I did work on a couple of things yesterday, but my brain has been so scattered that I can’t seem to concentrate on much once I get home from work. I’ve tried to read some, but mainly I’ve been playing games on my iPad. It’s about all the bandwidth I’ve got right now. How are you coping with these strange times?

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Because you can never have too much Roy!

2020 Project 365 – Week Twelve

You thought last week was weird? This week said Hold My Beer! Although it was mostly weird for other people. I still went to work – the main difference being that I used a LOT more hand sanitizer. And I have to admit that I was feeling salty about it. I mean, if you ignore the reason for all this social distancing it’s an introvert’s dream!  I was reading all these tips for “what to do with your down time” and “how to not be bored” and “10 productive things you can do” and “you shouldn’t feel guilty for not doing anything” and thinking to myself in my most snarky voice, whatEVER. But I have spent a day and a half in my home, pretty much doing what I do every weekend, and I am now ready to go back to my office.

Simmering underneath all of this is the very real fear that we are just at the beginning of something terrible and what will life look like in a month, or 6 weeks, or a year? So many people who are dying, and the ones who get the virus and live may not return to full health. And all the economic ramifications. And there’s no baseball. It is all terrible and hard. And yet we still live our lives.

Sunday, March 15^th                                                        

Dr. M mowed for the first time this season and I went out to commemorate the occasion whereupon I found this lovely surprise!

Squirrel shenanigans

Monday, March 16^th                       

Spring doesn’t care about human illnesses.

I started a new project.

Tuesday, March 17^th                                                          

During these dire times I do have my priorities in order: I weighed various skirts & pants to see which one would be the optimal “weigh-in” outfit for today.

Dr. M went scavenging & found treasure!

And Ms. Pinky & Miss Rita were sprung from their bathtub prison!

Wednesday, March 18^th                                                    

Here is the ancestral phlox in its original setting (Dr. M’s dad’s yard). It used to cover the bank there, but this is the only patch that’s left. It’s where Dr. M got ours (that you can see in Monday’s picture). It has definitely grown from the tiny cutting that Dr. M brought home in a cup!

Steve Reed uses the Waterlogue app sometimes to paintify photos. I decided to download it myself & was playing around today.

Thursday, March 19^th     

A cautionary tale: when you’re buying the giant container of fat free Greek yogurt, make sure that it’s PLAIN and not vanilla, or you will have a very weird dinner. I was eating a sweet potato with black beans, onions, & bbq sauce & thought I’d put a dollop of Greek yogurt on it. I just about accused Dr. M of putting brown sugar on the potato before I figured out what was wrong.

Friday, March 20^th                                                                   

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Red-bellied Woodpecker. It can be a little rackety around here.

Date night! One of my favorite guilty pleasure movies (Battleship) and crochet.

Saturday, March 14^th                  

I spent most of the day outside – either on the deck or in our swing under the tree out back. It was a lovely day!

This kept popping up on my watch. As if I needed reminding. It’s been 15 years now, and I miss my mother every day - especially since I moved back home. She’s everywhere and nowhere. Love you Momcat.

I did church online this morning. You know, it seems somehow appropriate that all of this madness is happening during the season of Lent. I’m being forced to slow down and reflect. On the other hand, the internet is full of things to make us feel better about the human race. Here’s a link to something that made me smile. Do you have examples as well?

Wordless Wednesday

2020 Project 365 – Week Eleven

What a weird week! I’m writing my post on Sunday morning because our church service has been canceled. In addition to almost all large gatherings near & far. Including my beloved baseball and only slightly less beloved hockey. I hope that all of these preventive measures actually work - & I 100% think that they were necessary, but I also feel a little fatalistic about it all. As in, is it too little too late? Also, if these measures DO work, will there be a public outcry that they weren’t really necessary (because you can’t prove a negative)? It all kind of makes my head hurt, so I’ve mostly been reading and playing games on my iPad. (Note: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is so so good!)

Sunday, March 8^th                                                        

Finished! When I posted these pictures I said that I wasn’t sure where I would ever wear this thing, but then I wore it to work on Friday (with jeans & my Keds).

The moon!

Monday, March 9^th                       

We had stored Big Red, the mower, at Dr. M’s dad’s house & today he brought it home. It was a lovely day!

Tuesday, March 10^th                                                          

This is the only photo I have from today – a screen shot of the Gallup poll I was participating in. This question made me laugh because I work for the City of Hickory. But it’s true – I would encourage my friends & family to use our services! (The answer would have been the same for my last job at Old Hickory Tannery – you may recall the fantastic furniture they make).  

Wednesday, March 11^th                                                    

I had a bit of a rough morning. First of all, during an emergency bang cutting session, I cut the palm of my hand with the scissors. (Note: the bandage is overkill for the tiny cut, but I was trying to find something that would stay put. Do you know how hard it was to keep a bandage on that cut during all the multitudinous handwashing that was going on?) Then I had to go for mammogram #2 because they saw something on the first one (calcifications). I wasn’t super stressed because this is basically par for the course for me, but it was nice to find out right away that there’s nothing to worry about. I go back in 6 months.

Thursday, March 12^th     

The only picture from today is the pig candy that my friend sent me last week. It’s actually pretty good!

Friday, March 13^th                                                                   

Here I am in all my glory. I felt kind of ridiculous, which is sad because this is the kind of fashion that I always want to wear but am apparently too timid.

Our most recent veggie delivery. Yum!

I bought another pair of Feryl Designs earrings. She keeps having sales & I keep seeing things I “have” to have.

Saturday, March 14^th                  

We took lunch to Dr. M’s dad today. Then I did some cleaning while Dr. M went to get groceries. This is the toilet paper aisle at the Bi-Lo. I am so very confused about the TP situation. Then he came back & mowed. He didn’t mow this terribly cute grape hyacinth.

I really struggled about what to do about Dr. M’s dad. He’s almost 88 and diabetic, but otherwise in really good physical health. But he’s exactly the kind of person who could be adversely infected by a coronavirus carrier. But he really can’t live in isolation, nor would he understand why we weren’t visiting him. I just washed my hands a lot and tried not to get too close to him.

Now I’m off to do church online. What are you doing during these crazy days?

Wordless Wednesday