A pandemic bit of gratitude.

Thank you all for your kind words regarding the yard.  The possibilities that this yard offered was one of the many reasons that we chose this house a few years ago.  And yes, it IS a lot of work.  What you can't really see from the pictures in the last post is that the big bed - and the other beds have been neglected horribly.

And that's where the gratitude comes in - this pandemic, while definitely terrifying, has given me a chance to actually spend time out in the yard.  And the time to appreciate the beauty.

In the before time, I spent the majority of my time in the office.  Only able to do yard work and/or appreciate my peony or my roses on the weekend.  And really, who wants to spend their entire weekend doing yard work, chores and errands?  Not me.

In the now, I can spend an hour or two (or four) out in the yard getting things done (which, unfortunately means the house is a wreck!  At this point, I figure, I'll deal with the house on rainy days!) while the weather is nice - not hot or humid yet.  Which shifts my work hours a bit.  Sure, I may spend a morning laying out cardboard and mulch; but then I find myself spending the afternoon and late evening working past my normal "quitting" time.  And Saturday or Sunday means a few hours in the office by myself doing some tidying up (dealing with mail, etc. - basically stuff I can't do from home).

Today found me mulching a portion of one of the beds and I realized...I am actually enjoying this new work/life balance so much.  And this from someone who actually likes her job.  I am enjoying being able to take care of things around the house whenever rather than waiting for a weekend.

I am REALLY enjoying watching the peony's progress day by day.

I realize that I may be in the minority here - but fortunately for me, I'm here alone all day.  I am not having to supervise a child's education - or chase a toddler around the house while trying to work.  I am not having to deal with a spouse trying to have a conference call while I'm working, supervising school work and chase a toddler.

So while I still find myself in a blind panic when I have to venture into a store - wearing the face mask makes me more panicky than if I wasn't; is that just me? I wear it because I know I should but still - MORE panicky - I am able to see some of the benefits of this slowing down of life for me.

And while I'm ready to show this COVID-19 to the door ASAP; I'm also hoping that the standard business model will change drastically for most corporate offices.  We are seeing how beneficial our staying home is to the air quality - not to mention our wallets - our Shell bill just came in - it was only $50-ish versus $200 plus.  And then there is the flexibility to handle home issues when it is convenient for the employees; not confined to weekends and weather.

From my perspective, our company is continuing to chug along just fine with the majority of us working from home - the snags I have run into are few.  I'm hoping those running the companies are seeing this as a new benefit to offer employees and that they run with it.

You know what else I will be taking full advantage of even when this is all over?  Curbside delivery and home delivery.

That is AMAZING.

Yes, Amazon was all over the home delivery from the beginning.  But looking around at the various, local businesses that were able to switch over, seemingly seamlessly, is astounding.  Let's also hope that this practice continues after this pandemic is behind us.

All that being said, yes.  I have my down days.  I miss going to a restaurant.  I really miss having my favorite people over.  I miss having lunch with my favorite colleagues.  I miss...well, I miss ALL of it really.

But I'm finally able to enjoy my space - at my own pace.  My little slice of heaven - and that is a bit of gratitude that I have been able to wrench out of this nightmare that we are currently living.

Stay safe.  Wash your hands.  And look for the good bits where you can find them.  Virtual hugs to you all.

How to forget what's going on in the world...for a bit anyway.

My plan today was to take advantage of the nice weather and put down mulch in a couple of the badly neglected beds.  Tractor Supply to the rescue!

They are offering curbside/no contact service when you order online.  So, early this morning I ordered ten more bags of mulch and received the notification that it was ready for pick up.  When I got it home, The Husband unloaded it and scattered the bags around the areas that needed the mulch.

The very first area that I was ready to tackle first needed to have a VERY crowded hydrangea bush removed (I think whoever planted these items so close together; either didn't read the tags or didn't understand how big these things would get).  I knew it would be a job but I didn't expect it to be A JOB.

We toiled for hours to get that beast out of the ground - it didn't help to have the large camellia and the equally large other shrub right on top of us as we worked.  At some point, during this endeavor, The Husband remarked that at least this project was taking our minds off the pandemic - it's true, we were so focused on our task, we hadn't even thought about it or anything else for hours.

When I finally wrenched the final piece of the root ball out of the ground, I threw it down, glared at it, called it a bad name and said, "I won!"

The remains

Thanks to The Husband's brilliant idea of using a fulcrum to help lever that beast out of the ground.  If he hadn't thought of that, I'd still be out there wrestling with it.

Needless to say, this project exhausted me - and I know I'm going to feel it tomorrow - so the mulch will have to wait.

But since we are in the yard, let's see what is blooming, shall we?

I took most of these pictures a few days ago.  My peony is getting ready to burst into a riot of color.

Those rose bushes that I neglected to cut back this winter are overloaded but gorgeous.

That big bed in the back that I always mention - this is only half of it!

On Friday afternoon, I happened to look up from the computer and noticed that at least one of the peony buds had bloomed!  I raced outside with my clippers and brought one in to grace my "desk" and give me joy as I continued to work.

Yes, working in the yard can sometimes be exhausting but the fruits of your labor make it all worth while.

And when I do get back out to put down the mulch?  I will be VERY satisfied that the hydrangea bush is gone. 

Shortages on random things

Yes, we all know that any and all paper products or basic cleaning supplies are in short supply.

But here's a few random things that are also in short supply.

For the longest time, nail polish remover.  I couldn't find it anywhere.  Happily, I finally chanced upon a bottle; so I'm set in that department, for now.

My current search?  Leave in conditioner.  Yes, I can find leave in conditioner that comes in a spray bottle - this is not what I'm looking for.  I prefer a cream-type and the supplies are depleted EVERYWHERE.  Why?!  I can only surmise that the curly haired community - deprived of Ulta, are descending upon all available open retail outlets and sweeping the shelves clean.

I turned to Amazon - as one does.  Yes, there are some available...for a price.  One seller is selling a two pack of one of my (lesser) preferred brands for approximately $26 dollars.  People...this product retails for about $4 dollars at Target.  Can you say gouging?  I may have to report this seller to Amazon.

The other product I'm on the prowl for?  Dawn dish soap - the non-concentrated kind.  Explain to me exactly WHY dish soap cannot be found for love or money?  I'm fairly certain the majority of the population do not wash their dishes by hand.  Even *I* don't wash the majority of my dishes by hand; but I like to have it on hand for the occasional hand washing event.

And speaking of Amazon - I ordered a refrigerator replacement filter last week.  Yes, I understand that some orders are taking priority right now - and I'm fine with that.  But according to the tracking, this item has been "delayed in transit" since last week.  No other information than that.  Where is it?  If I don't receive it tomorrow, I will insist on a refund.  Which irritates - I'm supposed to stay home; hence the ordering from Amazon.  If it doesn't arrive, this will necessitate a trip to a big box store - which isn't stressful at all right now (insert sarcastic font here).

Since beginning this post, I have found my second favorite brand of leave in conditioner on Target's website - and have placed an order - of course, the brand is not available IN store so - finger's crossed that it actually shows up in the delivery.  We shall see.

In other news - as of this morning, North Carolina's Governor Cooper has extended our lock down until May 8th...for now.  A move that I actually applaud.  I think it's far too early to start easing restrictions. 

Where ever you are - stay safe and wash your hands.

A non-pandemic post full of randomness

First of all - thank you.  Right after I hit publish on the last post, I began to wonder - should I have mentioned that we had Easter together?  What if people don't understand that we went above and beyond to avoid any type of cross-contamination? 

I promise, we did.  Is this just where we are now?  Questioning every move we make?  Unfortunately, I think so.

Second, thank you Kari and Nicole for asking about the storms.  We are fine.

Luckily, I woke up extra early today because I went to bed extra early last night.  At any rate, around 5:15 am, my phone sent a Tornado Warning - Shelter in Place Now alert - had I not been awake, I would have slept through it - unless The Husband heard, and heeded, it (most likely not).  This meant that The Husband and I found ourselves hunkered down in the hallway for about 20 minutes.

This is when we discovered that this house was built with my proportions in mind.

We discovered that when I sat down on the floor with my back against one wall and my feet stretched out that I fit the width of the hallway perfectly.  I would have had him take a picture but 1) I was still on my first cup of coffee and not in a blogging frame of mind and 2) I just woke up and you don't need that kind of horror.  But it was pretty funny.

Once the warning was over, everything was fine.  We still had some rain and wind - which dissipated as the day went on - but it was an "eventful" start to the morning to say the least.

When I texted Man-Child later in the day - as his county was also included in the warning - he slept through the whole thing.  Like mother, like son, it seems.  It's a good thing a tornado DIDN'T touch down in his area.

Another thing I wanted to touch on - The Husband is currently cleaning out the freezer.  Apparently, at some point last night he put a bottle of chardonnay in the freezer because we didn't have an already cold bottle on hand.  And, unlike me, he is above putting ice in his wine... the snob.  Can you envision where this is going?

He then either, promptly forgot about it or fell asleep on the couch - I, of course, was already asleep and had no idea this had happened.

This evening he opened the very over-stuffed freezer and can you guess what he discovered?

If you guessed that the bottle exploded you get a gold star!

Because of his food hoarding tendencies (go ahead and search the blog using the term "hoard") that freezer has needed a good clean out for a long while now.  Which he has been avoiding. 

But with the explosion of glass and frozen wine every.single.item needed to be brought out, assessed, rinsed and either tossed or put back in - with the result of a nice, clean freezer and someone's eyes opened a little more about how wasteful hoarding can be.  I do agree that it is nice to have extra on hand - but, generally, he tends to go overboard.

In other news - I currently DESPISE the little ditty that my washing machine AND my dryer "sing" after every load is complete.  This is the result of listening to it every day, at least TWICE a day for who knows HOW long now,  since we are washing towels, clothes that went out into the public, etc. every day.  So much so that I am *this* close to digging out the manuals to figure out if I can disable that cheerful, little ditty.

Easter 2020 will be a memorable one...

Happy Easter!

I was fairly certain that Man-Child wouldn't come - as he has been adamant about not seeing us as he is terrified of the possibility of contaminating us.  And I was so sad about that.

But The Husband - and Man-Child's love of all traditions - lured him here; which made me happy.

And this was how we had dinner together.

We were SO happy to see him!

Yes, in the garage with a giant table between us; because our forecast called for rain, so we couldn't eat on the back patio.  He refused to come into the house and made me take his dishes using napkins.  He was hyper vigilant that we wouldn't come in contact with any possible germs.

And while it WAS great to lay eyes on him, to visit, etc.  It was sad that it came to this...Easter dinner in the garage.  On the plus side, at least I had cleaned out the garage a few months ago, so at least we weren't surrounded by junk...just garage stuff, which isn't exactly the ambiance I am looking for in a holiday dinner.

We made the most of it; but it was a bit melancholy...especially since there were no hugs or kisses.  And he stayed that far away (see above) from us the entire time and instead of coming over to spend the day, he came about an hour before dinner and left about an hour after.

So, yes Easter 2020 will certainly be memorable...but I'm thinking that next year we will be back to our original festivities, I hope.  But I will count this visit as a blessing because despite it all, we were together; and apart.

I have the time - but finding the words is hard right now

I keep trying to post...and then delete every single time.

Everything is so off kilter that trying to find words is...hard.

Suz's post today reminded me - thanks to the pandemic, Man-Child has been calling The Husband to figure out how to feed himself.  I have to admit, every time I hear The Husband explaining a recipe, I have to smile.

Man-Child has always wanted to learn how to cook things but never followed up on it.  Now he has to - and is discovering that it isn't as hard as he previously thought (says the woman who doesn't cook and really has no interest in learning now - although, based on a recent conversation via text with a friend, it appears I have picked up some knowledge via osmosis when I opined about why her baked macaroni and cheese isn't as creamy as she'd hoped - my opinion was later verified by The Husband).

Based on the same text conversation I found at least one reason that my working from home is fairly easy.  I'm here alone.  She, on the other hand, has two teenagers and a husband as her daily co-workers.  I don't have anyone here chewing loudly or doing other things to make me crazy...except on the weekends and...I'm not trying to work then.

I find myself tearing up at the most random things.  There is a local jewelry store that is running the MOST cheesy ad.  An ad that, in normal circumstances I would mock endlessly.  But now?  Now, every single time I hear this ad about how "everything is going to be okay!" I find tears in my eyes.

I know that, eventually everything will be "okay" or "normal" - but I ponder how things will be changed.  Because you and I both know, things WILL be different in the future.  How we conduct ourselves.  Our cleaning habits.  Our greeting habits.  And many other things - it will all be different.  How all that plays out remains to be seen.

In the interim, wash your hands.  Physically isolate.  And, most importantly, stay safe.  Sending virtual hugs to you all.  We'll get through this...somehow.

Things....because well, things

Things are wild right about now, aren't they?

We just had a Zoom call with Man-Child and while it was good to "see" him, it made me miss him even more.  And the people at Zoom must be loving this pandemic; considering how many people I see are "Zoom-ing" of late. 

Worst of all?  I hate to contemplate that this may be the only way that we can have Easter together.  Let's not talk of it.

I am continuing to try to work from home as much as possible BUT The Husband has decided to take two days off this week since his workload has lessened since they closed the bank lobbies and curtailed his various duties that required him to be and out and about.  He kept seeming to forget that I needed to be "working" during work hours - granted not all hours needed to be "worked" but the majority of them did...thus the term, "Working From Home" which basically translates into I need to be available during those hours.

His next day off is Thursday.  I'm thinking THAT will be a good day to go into the office for a tiny bit to do the actual stuff that I can't do from here.  Generally, there are only two other people on the floor, so I don't feel to icky about it.

It's forward thinking like this that keeps our marriage solid...and me from killing him.

As Naptimewriting noted, this is a generation-defining moment.  Without a doubt it is.  And I have been wondering what the outcome will be.  Will humanity become more compassionate?  Considering where we were and where some of us still seem to be (hoarding on purpose), I despair. But maybe, hopefully, humanity will surprise me. 

And I am finding that I am having waves of low, low, lows and then waves of hope and optimism, as people share the good that they are noticing during this very difficult time. 

I can't tell you how many times I've been moved to tears by news of teachers creating a parade through their students neighborhoods, etc.

I am also finding that people are blogging more (myself included, kind of) and commenting more.  This, I think, speaks to the connection to others that we are all craving due to the lack of physical presence - well, the physical presence of someone who isn't with us practically 24/7.

And then there's my hair.  Of course, it is.  Since this nightmare has begun I have found myself saving my favorite products - which give me better hair, I think - to using all the other products I've tried and deemed to be duds and lie languishing under the bathroom sink.  Waste not; want not...plus, who cares?  No one is going to see me...other than The Husband.  In the midst of these fluctuating hair days - thrown on top of a day that had me running my fingers through this mop more than normal (making me look like a Mad Scientist), The Husband randomly asked, "Are you ever going to wear your hair straight again?"

*sigh*

He claims to find me beautiful however I wear my hair - but I know he prefers it straight.  But, to be honest, this is a fight that I've pretty much left behind me...unless I cut my hair super short; which I know I won't because...maintenance.  I never have, and most likely won't any time soon, have my hair cut on a regular schedule.  (The *why* behind this eludes me constantly) This is the one area where I have thrown in the towel straightener, so to speak. 

Who knows, maybe I'll get bored enough to spend an hour on my hair...but I doubt it.  But I am eyeballing the trim work that needs painting and the weeds that need pulling.

Stealing pillows...

As we are in the throes of what appears to be a long haul - a little humor (albeit a bit macabre)...

Apparently, in addition to talking in my sleep on a nightly basis, I have taken up a new sleep-hobby.

Stealing pillows - violently yanking them right out from under The Husband's sleeping head, much to his utter dismay.

According to him, I thrash around a lot at night and sometimes knock one or more of my allotted three pillows to the floor.  And when that happens, I flounder about in my sleep until I "find" a pillow and then SNATCH it out from under him.

If he tries desperately to hang onto his pillow, he swears I growl at him, "GIVE it to me!"  And eventually he acquiesces for his own safety.

I must confess I collapse into uncontrollable giggles when he  informs me, very much aggrieved, of my crime the next morning.  He points out all of my nocturnal crimes the next morning, apparently thinking that will change my wayward behavior.  Unfortunately for him, this has yet to work and, I'm pretty sure it never will at this point.

I must also confess, that while typing the previous paragraph I had to stifle my giggles.

What does that say about me as a person?

At any rate, as The Husband was driving today he heard a news item reporting that a local 57 year old women beat her husband with a bat, no reason for why she did this was mentioned.  While relaying this information to me he added, that is very first thought upon hearing this horrific news was, "He just should have let her HAVE the pillows!!"

How we can help and stay connected

Swistle posted a very good question on Twitter the yesterday

I have had a question about whether anyone knows if hospitals can take/use donations of handmade masks, or if they can only take/use donations of the storebought/manufactured kind.

— Swistle Thistle 🐝 (@Swistle) March 21, 2020

And it was determined that, yes, homemade masks and gowns are being accepted and Joann's is behind this 100%.  Not only that, you can place an order online and choose curb-side pickup.  All you do is call the store when you arrive and they will bring your order to you.

If you are looking for a way to be of some assistance this might be something you can do.  I may order fabric and give it a shot although I am by no means a seamstress.  I will need to do it in the evenings or next weekend though.

Also, as we keep our distance from friends and family you can still connect.  The Husband and his extended family are currently on a Zoom video conference call.  You could also use Skype.  Both apps work for both android and iPhones.  In order to set up this call, a group email was sent out and they all agreed to chat at 3:00 pm today.  It currently sounds like there is a big party going on in the living room as they are laughing and talking over each other. 

I can't tell if it's because of The Husband's phone or if it's the app - but it seems to me that Skype is easier to use.  But I'm almost certain that it's The Husband's phone.

Stay safe, my friends.

Well...things are weird now, aren't they?

The whole world is just strange and scary right now.

Last Monday afternoon, my company sent everyone home to "practice" working from home.  Most of us actually have this ability thanks to our recent upgrade which gave almost all the employees at corporate laptops.  Prior to this, we were all tethered to our desks with clunky desktops.

Despite the fact that the "practice" afternoon went well, I was gobsmacked when we were informed on Tuesday that the majority of us would begin working from home on Wednesday.  I say gobsmacked because historically this company has never closed.  Also, historically, this company kind of lived in the Dark Ages.  But we are a new company, obviously.

But of course there were some hiccups on that first day.  First up, everyone started logging on to the VPN and it crashed.  For some this really isn't an issue, as they don't need the VPN - I do, of course.  It also became quite obvious that I have a real need to print.  This is something that I take for granted when in the office.  What's so frustrating about that is that I have a printer at home but IT has us so locked up that I can't access that printer.

So my choices are these:

1) Go to the office - which kind of defeats the whole purpose of working from home.  And, I've already had to this twice and have another trip planned for Monday to notarize some documents.  This is when I regret being a Notary - in order to notarize, I have to personally witness them signing the documents.  We are being careful to stay far apart and since the majority of personnel aren't in the office, I'm thinking it's fine.

2) Email the material to my personal email, go to the home computer and print - too many extra steps.  Not to mention, that I'm sure sending the material to my personal email is most likely against company policy.  But at this point, needs must, I suppose.

But, these are first world problems and we'll figure them out eventually.

On Day Two of working from home, The Husband had taken a vacation day.  We had planned to have a contractor come to give us some ideas and quotes.  They cancelled - which we totally understood given the state of things.  I have learned that having The Husband home while I'm trying to work is, generally, not a good idea.  That previous statement?  Understatement of the year.

Laundry has become an everyday activity of late.  Towels are being washed constantly and we are in need of some detergent soon.  

My friend two doors down texted me yesterday that she has had one kid after another taking turns throwing up every other day begging me to go out to see if I could find toilet paper.  As paper products are something I regularly keep stocked up; I was able to offer her a couple of rolls, as well as a box of tissues as all of our allergies are kicking up here in North Carolina.  And, of course, when I went in search of toilet paper there was none to be found.  

Which reminds me; have you seen this article?  Infuriating.  Quit hoarding people (not you, I know you aren't).  It's selfish. 

In other, random news, I discovered that working from home means that I can paint my nails at my desk table, with no one here to disapprove.  So I decided to try my hand at The Daily Connoisseur's DIY Freestyle French Manicure.  I am pretty pleased with the results.  Is it perfect?  No, but that's okay.  I have a decent manicure that didn't cost me a dime, as I already had the polish.  I was able to get the manicure while being socially isolated.  And I'm happy with it.

We are also *this* much closer to having the great door knob replacement project complete (we have slowly been replacing all the door knobs to keep from having to absorb the cost all at once).  The only hardware left to install is the front door.  I had hoped to have a new door to put the hardware on but since that *simple* project seems to be forever doomed, I will have The Husband install that hardware on the old ugly door tomorrow.  I am very pleased to have all the round, gold knobs gone.  We went with oil rubbed brass oval knobs, which I love!

Next up?  Replacing all the hinges!  The Husband can't wait!
(Yes, he can - although, he did admit that they really stand out against the white)

And in another random pivot, I received a text from my dear friend in Houston, checking up on us.  She is an office manager at MD Anderson.  As her job is very similar to mine, I sometimes forget that she actually works for a hospital...until today.  As our text conversation wandered on, she mentioned that she may be assigned as a screener at the hospital next week.  After asking her about it, they are planning to use office personnel as screener's to keep the nurses available for the front lines of this virus.  She is hoping that she won't be assigned because she is her parent's main caregiver and her spouse has asthma, not to mention she has high blood pressure - none of which is good if she were to become a carrier.

Other than all that above, today has been very quiet.  The Husband and I went for a drive this morning just to get out.  He cleaned up the back patio and prepped it for Spring usage and then we dined al fresco for lunch.  Now we are hunkered down for the evening, waiting to see what tomorrow will bring.

Well, this was a random post, wasn't it?  That's where we all are right now, at loose ends and random.  So I'll just hit publish and be done with this post.

Stay home.  Wash your hands.  Stay safe.  Sending virtual hugs to you all.