So I’m here, the weekend happened, and so far, we’re healthy. I truly hope all you and your loved ones are healthy too.

Fun fact about the weekend: For the first time I can ever remember, Maggie refused to go for a walk! Which is totally odd. I mean it was 8:30 in the morning and only her second walk of the day It’s pretty bad when the dog who loves walks refuses.

Wizard and I might have been using the whole walk thing to burn off our quarantine restless, LOL!

In writing news, I chased my tail for a few days, and then yesterday afternoon, I was so pissed, I may have written the scene that works out of sheer frustration. Sometimes, that’s what it takes to get past the noise in our heads, I guess.

And now I want to know you are doing. Even if you just answer with one or two words,  I sincerely want to hear for each of you to know if you’re doing okay so far. I’d also love to hear how your weekend went if you have the time and energy to share.

I’d say TGIF, but with so many people home on various levels of quarantines or “stay at home” orders, and the rest working in very high stress situations right now, I don’t know if it fits.

Hmm, maybe we should go with SHF “Stay Healthy Friday?” Or SFSF “Stay Financially Solvent Friday?” Or even SPF Not the sunscreen, but rather, “Stay Positive Friday.”

In any case, here we are and it’s time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine.

1. Writing sucked. Sorry, but it did. However, today I will defeat the suckage.
2. I put my shirt on backwards yesterday and realized it after I took Maggie out for a walk. In my defense, I’m an idiot
3. Yesterday I found a half can of chocolate frosting in the fridge. I also had graham crackers. You do the math, but here’s a hint: Today I’ll be ordering a bigger size of clothes, LOL. (I didn’t eat it all).
4. Wizard and I cooked up some food and took it to his mom on Wednesday. It’s downright weird to have to be so careful. All we did was hand off the food, make sure she was okay and leave. No touching, no hugging, heck I didn’t even set my purse down. She and her husband are older and have some health issues, and we exercised extreme caution. The thing is, this goes against my grain where we take care of family first and always, especially our moms. My mom has been gone for years, but Wizard’s mom is still with us and I want to keep her as long as possible. But we’re all struggling with these issues right now.
5. When Wizard and I were in the car, one of the radio stations was talking about a mayor in Italy. One of them was so furious at the citizens breaking the social distancing orders that he yelled in Italian something like (I’m going from memory): Go ahead, have your family barbecue. We will send the police over. We will send flamethrowers. I laughed so hard, I cried. Please understand, I know how bad it’s been in Italy and my heart breaks for them. But this mayor was done being nice, he was bringing out the flamethrowers. It just struck me as hilarious, which I’m sure either means I’m a little stressed, or just crazy

So that’s my week, now I’d love to hear five random things you’d like to share. I hope everyone has a safe and best-you-can-make-it-under-the-circumstances weekend.

Hi Guys, it’s me Maggie. Do you see? I’m Social Distancing.

My mom explained to me what it means, and how it’s super important right now. So on our walk, I sat down to let other people pass by at a safe distance. I was good at it too! But then…I saw one of my bestest friends ever–one of the really cool (human) girls who live across the street from me. I forgot all about social distancing and ran right up to her, and I kind of wiggled all of her in happiness.

I was real sorry when I realized my mistake.

But then Mom told me it’s okay, because doggies aren’t the sick ones, and that I made my bestest friend ever happy today which is an important job too, and I felt much better.

So I told you guys all my story because I want you all to know that I’m trying real hard to help make all humans feel better.

Sorry for the late post, I had both a website glitch and then a computer glitch. **Shrug** Not a big deal right now.

I’m reigning in my need to beg folks to comply with what medical authorities are asking us to do to slow the spread of Coronavirus. You all are smart and aware and don’t need to hear it from me. But a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who is doing their part, from staying home as much as possible to going to work in essential jobs. THANK YOU!

So…has anyone seen my concentration? I have totally lost my ability to focus. Now if anyone is looking for worry, I’ve got that in spades! Otherwise, this weekend was blah. We couldn’t see Turbo, but we got to Facetime with him and that was at least something. As for Wizard and I, we’re doing the best we can, but of course we have to shop and run essential errands.

So let’s talk about Staying Positive through this. Here’s what’s helping me:

1. Wizard. He’s keeping a stronger more positive attitude than me, and that’s making me strive to do the same. Find someone who supports being positive and strong during scary times.
2. Walking Maggie. Getting outside when the rain stops and just moving helps. Tons of people are out walking their dogs too, so we wave or say hello from a distance.
3. Chocolate covered graham crackers. I used the last of my chocolate to make them, and treating ourselves now is a good thing. No guilt people, we get through this, then we can go back to worrying about the little things.
4. Reading! I’m enjoying THE HUSBAND’S SECRET by Liane Moriarty right now. My audio book is boring and I’m not sure I can even finish it, so I won’t mention that one.
5. Remembering we’re all in this together and this, too, shall pass.

That’s all I have at the moment. How was your weekend and do you have any stay strong tips?

Whew, what a week. Anyone else mentally exhausted?

In any case, it’s time share five random things about our week:

1. I’ve gotten some writing done on Wednesday and Thursday despite the chaos.
2. I did a little online shopping since all the brick and mortar stores are closing down nearly as fast as TP is vanishing from store shelves. I’m hoping the one pair of jeans and three summer shirts will fit.
3. It’s been raining on and off for two weeks which is a lot for us. The upsides are that it’s stopping long enough to take Maggie for a walk. We needed it. It’s making everything green and pretty. And it appears the hills are absorbing the water better again after the massive forest fires which is great for a lot of reasons. So while it’s dreary, it’s also a good thing.
4. We have wine, coffee, a little chocolate, dog food and treats. What more could we want? Trick question, the answer is more chocolate!
5. And just because we all need a smile:

We are likely staying home this weekend for obvious reasons. Now it’s your turn to share five (or as much as you want) things about your week. And feel free to share how you’re feeling.

And guys, if anyone is emotionally struggling, PLEASE SPEAK UP. Fear or worry about this virus, along with the wildly differing reactions from flat out denial to overreacting panic that is putting strain on our supply chains, creates very real psychological stress. If you’re feeling it, know that you’re not alone.  Let’s all be here for each other, okay? 

It’s pretty crazy out there, isn’t it?

I went to FOUR FREAKING STORES yesterday and got enough, but not all I need. Fortunately, I keep a few things on hand in case of an earthquake like bottled water (not necessary for this virus–I’m fine with tap water), some toilet paper, rice, peanut butter, but still…this is like nothing I’ve seen. It really is a strange feeling to see so many completely empty shelves. Target had to rows of naked shelves where they normally have toilet paper and paper towels.

But you know what? It makes me grateful that I’ve grown up and raised my kids in a country where I can bitch because the store is out of my favorite brand of bread. Yesterday–there was no bread, no pasta, no rice, no eggs, only very expensive steak (I found one package of 2 small steaks for $18.00) but no ground meat and very little chicken. I kept my patience and sense of humor.

Let’s all cast a spell this hoarding hysteria will calm. It’s not helping.

My city is doing some prepared frozen meals for seniors, I’ve asked if they need volunteers and am waiting to hear from them. We can source enough food for ourselves and be fine, but some people simply can’t. Those are the ones I’m concerned about.

Deep breath, we’ll all get through this. The financial impact is very worrisome for so many people and businesses, but these are the times we find ourselves in so let’s just try to help one another.

Now onto books. I’m really enjoying Silver Jame’s Fighting For Elena! I’m about 3/4s of the way though and think I’ll finish it in the morning when I try to set aside at least 2o minutes of reading time.

What are you reading to take your mind of this world’s problems?

And lastly, here’s a picture of Turbo on the little three-wheeler we got him for his birthday. He’s playing with the horn noisemaker thing.

The weekend was mostly good.

We decided to go Sunday morning to celebrate Turbo’s birthday. We originally planned on Tuesday for his actual birthday, but it’s supposed to rain pretty heavy. Since Amazon wasn’t able to deliver Turbo’s gift on time, we headed out first thing Saturday morning to Target and got him a small Mickey Mouse three-wheeler. He really loved it, along with a little car and a stuffed turtle. After we left, Special K sent us a picture of Turbo napping with his new turtle I also took out some mini cupcakes. I want to say a huge Thank You to Special K for always letting me have my Grandma moments. She just asked if I could make a small cupcake, which made me remember I had a mini cupcake pan. The mini-size is much better suited to a toddler, and he still ate a full lunch an hour after his little cupcake.

If we do a bigger birthday celebration in April for several family birthdays including Turbo’s, then I’ll dust off my decorating skills on a special cake.

So that was the best part of the weekend.

The worst is seeing the darker side of people during Covid-19. Crazy. And I’m someone who took this virus seriously back in early January because I’m medically curious by nature and it caught my interest. So I had a pretty good understanding of why this virus could (not necessarily would) become a pandemic and cause serious issues. But hoarding TP, hand sanitizer and various other items isn’t a rational response and creates major supply chain problems for those who need it, as well as triggering more panic-buying. Fights broke out in stores of products like a bad reality show. Our Costco had a line wrapped around the entire building and had some issue that required a 911 response. I only know that all happened because Wizard went to the bank located in the same area and saw it. We weren’t crazy enough to go to Costco this weekend

Anyhow, after much discussion, Wizard and I decided to stop going to the gym for a while. We should have done that last week, but honestly, we go early in the morning when it’s theoretically cleaner and less crowded, so we didn’t think much about it. But when I was there Friday, the lightbulb went on. There are so many people who wrongly and foolishly believe that if they go to the gym while coming down with an illness, they can sweat it out. And those places our petri dishes for bacteria and viruses. We are not just concerned for ourselves, we also have a very sick relative, Wizard’s mother in deep in her 80’s and has lifelong asthma, and one of our neighbor’s is seriously ill–we don’t want to inadvertently spread the virus to them. And of course, we want to protect Turbo, who is barely 2 years old. Health and fitness goals are great, but they aren’t worth getting ourselves or anyone else sick. I’ll do my home exercises and walk Maggie.

The upside is I should have time to write!

So how was your weekend?