It's Not Real; Don't Panic

Soooooo, gave myself a temporary tattoo today.

That's the constellation Aquarius.  I am as Aquarius an Aquarian as I've ever come across.

Things Going On

I'd like to thank my Mama for passing on her love of puzzles to me.

Today is a desk day.  Which means balancing my checkbook, writing letters and cards, re-checking all kinds of notes that I've made for myself.

Board games, too.  A board games day.  I grew up playing them by myself, so this isn't new, either.  Mancala first, then probably Sorry.  And one of my favorite games --- maybe my very favorite --- ever, Joltz.

Checking In --- Thursday

I tried reading aloud to Tap yesterday.  Not a hit.

Thanks to "Austin City Limits" providing loads of episodes free, I've been jamming with my girl Brandi all afternoon.

 Tap and I took a walk this morning.  Sadly, this isn't what streets around here look like most of the time.  This is just a momentary break between traffic lights.

Back to It Tuesday

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*I still haven't decided which flavor to make.

Wash Day

No photo essay today.  I'm not sure why.  I didn't do any more or any less than those other days, the inspiration simply didn't strike.

My normal routine doesn't involve leaving the house very much, so this self-quarantine episode is not that different for me.  I will say that it does feel different somehow.  Maybe it's the back-of-my-head knowledge of why all this is happening.  

And I have started washing clothes by hand in the tub.  Laundromats are open, but I'm not going to risk it.

And Then Today. . .

  

Parts of Kim's Day

  

Rant

Well, I got to the end of a couple of things today.

I also got to the end of my rope with how people in Athens are acting.  How hard is it to understand the sentence "Don't leave your home"?  Can you not get it through your ridiculously thick skull that your freedom to go to a bar or party or get a mani/pedi needs to take a backseat to saving the lives of other people?

Evidently not.

The county commission enacted stay at home laws last night, and traffic outside my house hasn't slowed down an iota.  But people were all over the Internet griping about how the meeting was behind closed doors.  Hey, you insufferable moron, the doors were closed to keep the risk of infection and spread down.

JW

Just wondering if Twinnie Dear wants to trade the truck in for an Alpha Romeo Giulia.

Just wondering why there are so many cars on the road.  GO HOME.  STAY HOME.  I did curbside pick-up at the grocery last night, and on my way, noticed lots of cars in the Kohl's parking lot.  What is there at Kohl's that you need right now?  WHAT?!  

Just wondering what projects my fellow crafters may have finished so far.

Me, a shawl that had been in the works for a while.

And a pair of fluffy slouchy socks.  (At Christmas, I saw lots of this kind of socks called "Reading Socks.")

Just wondering if those of us who craft and those of us who read will weather self-quarantine better than those who don't.

Just wondering if anyone else is enjoying seeing the homes of television reporters and contributors who are broadcasting away from studios.

Just wondering if clothes can be washed by putting them, water and detergent in the bathtub and walking around in the tub to agitate them.  (Like Lucy and Ethel and the grapes.)

Life Here

(knock wood) I feel good today.  Let's hope all the messiness is behind me.

Hannah laid in a supply of groceries tonight, and Briton and his housemate have done the same.  Like all parents in this, my main concern is them.  Yes, they're grown people, but they're my babies.  Hannah's actually more concerned with keeping food and litter for her cats.  They're her babies.

Riley says the top of the cat tree is excellent for social distancing.

I'm picking up groceries tomorrow;  I hope a large enough supply to last a while.  I also have to grab some prescriptions from the drugstore, and maybe stop by the Little Library in the neighborhood, then back home.  By nature, I'm not troubled by being by myself, so the idea of self-quarantine isn't a horror.  Not saying that it won't become trying at some points, but I don't crave socializing the way a lot of people do.  

Wishing you comfort, both physical and emotional.  We need to be here for one another.  Knit on, read on, binge TV on, watch DVDs on, work puzzles on, name-your-chosen-pastime on.

Glad to Be Hungry

For the first time since last Thursday, I got hungry.  Not that I was willing to eat much, or get far from my BRAT diet, but I did get hungry.

Light

Sometime during the 16+ hours I slept overnight, my low-grade fever broke.  I'm still contagious for a bit, but I have been able to add applesauce to my diet of crackers.  I suppose "Immuno-compromised" fits me for a day or so yet, but there aren't any plans to get out and about.

UGA is closed for the next two weeks, the county schools for one.  My son doesn't have to go to work, as the county library is shut down. He went to the grocery store today and said that it was busy, but that everyone was being patient and chill and giving one another space.  This stomach bug, in that regard, has come at an opportune time: I don't need anything to stock my pantry or refrigerator.

Stay safe, stay sane out there.

Sick, But Not Like That

Stomach bug, not Coronavirus.  Now able to keep 2 or 3 crackers down at a time.  It's a process.

Aaarrgghh

Finished my jigsaw last night.  Can you spot the trouble?

Remember That?

Some time ago, I boasted about having bought a book of 400 writing prompts to use on the days I couldn't come up with a blog topic.  As my silence for the past several days shows, I did not follow through on that plan.  In my defense, I had moved it off the coffee table, so it was out of sight and out of. . .  You know.

I finally got to "Little Women" last night.  It's so very good.  Saoirse Ronan is a goddess in extremis at Chez Dean.  I read the book when I was young and just got a Little Women-adjacent book (thank you, Teabird for letting me know about it) to dive into.  Also, in case you haven't seen the movie, there are handknit shawls --- so now I want to knit shawls.  As if I haven't just finished one and am still working on another.

Mid-Week Update

Anxious moments Monday night and into yesterday morning, with the tornadoes in and around Nashville.  No family or friends impacted past loss of power, thankfully.  As far as here, just lots of rain.

Project-wise here, I am closing in on finishing one of my wraps.  Instead of stopping at the pattern's suggested length, and having the ends button together, I'm knitting until the yarn runs out, and will just cinch it with a shawl stick.

I'm on to my second jigsaw puzzle: a lioness and her two cubs.  I finished the Jim Henson biography (which was wonderful), and have moved to the autobiography of a former Manson Family member.  I binged all three seasons of "The United States of Tara."  Toni Collette is something to watch. 

Lies, Lies

I have had my phone lie to me several times in the last several days.  Using the Cookie Finder app, I scouted around for sites to buy Girl Scout cookies (yes, Tagalongs) and three times I drove to a place at the time the app said cookies would be available, and. . .  nothing.  No tables.  No girls with their badge-embellished sashes.

Then, all weekend, my plan was to go see "Little Women" today.  I checked and double-and triple-checked showtimes, and got up and ready for the 12:45 screening.  Only I got to the theater and found out there was no 12:45 showing, and that the theater didn't even open until 3:15.

So I just went downtown and voted early.  Something productive came of the day.

Whatever Happened to Dusting Powder?

When I was growing up, dusting power was a thing.  It was a Fancy World thing --- something you gave at Sunday School Christmas gift swap, or to the woman who took care of you in the summers.  The plastic canisters of powder were all kinds of pretty colors, with soft and fluffy puffs to match.  It just all seemed very grown-up.

Several years ago, I thought about dusting powders again, took to the Internet to find some, and got basically zilch.  But then I started thinking about another thing from my childhood: my mother's White Shoulders perfume.  It was the only perfume she ever had, so that was my Grown-Up-Woman-Smell.  (I am easily and powerfully triggered by scents.  Anybody else?)

Went to Amazon not too long ago to look for White Shoulders, and found not only the perfume

but, yes!  Dusting powder!

I got them both, screwing up my budget, but I'm happy and all smooth.

Back to the woman who kept me during the summers.  We (there were 3 or 4 of us every year) called her "Miss Mildred," and she was always either out working in her giant garden or sitting on the couch drinking coffee, smoking and watching soap operas.  I was the favorite, which meant that I was allowed to be inside when no one else could come in.  I got involved in "General Hospital" and "The Doctors" (with a young Tommy Lee Jones.)  I became good friends with Miss Mildred's teenage daughter Teresa, and she and I would play records and talk about Paul Revere and The Raiders or Tommy James and the Shondells or the Everly Brothers. We had to take a nap every day after lunch, and I think I was the only one who ever actually went to sleep.  I've never turned down an opportunity to get in a good nap.