Toilet Paper

I admit it, I have always been a fan of toilet paper and always had a little extra put away.  I never gave this much thought until the Great Toilet Paper Shortage of the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020.

Of course it makes sense.  Toilet Paper is a Great Necessity and although we can make do with different kinds of food and other essentials, there is truly no viable substitute for toilet paper.

People are staying home more so the paper we would normally use in stores and offices is sitting idle.  I see that there is beginning to be a little more in the stores - I guess folks have finally stored enough to last them for months.

I know I have!

Meditation

The Rebbetzin did a powerful guided meditation about standing at the bottom of a mountain and looking to your left and right and seeing not only your ancestors at Mt. Sinai but also the millions of their descendants right up to Anne Frank and Jerry Seinfield and your own grandmother. Millions of people throughout all of time, all there together.

I found this image deeply moving and powerful beyond belief.  In this incredibly disturbing time of Coronavirus and our cities being destroyed by protestors/thugs, I yearn for better days ahead.  A little guided meditation helps...

Tonya

Lots of people on Twitter and Facebook are asking "do you even KNOW anyone who has Covid-19?" 

Well up until yesterday I didn't and I still don't, really.  But yesterday I learned that this young woman, the daughter-in-law of someone we used to attend a former Temple with, passed away from the coronavirus.

Curiosity (morbid?) had me check her out on Facebook.  She was only 42 and was a Nurses' Assistant or perhaps a LPN.  She wanted to work with the elderly and had just got a new nursing job a few months ago.  She had only been married a few years and called her husband her "best friend". Her last post was only 3 weeks ago and she sounded happy.

I had *almost* convinced myself the virus was in the past, not so bad, maybe overblown.

Today, not so much.

Black Tops

 

My motto: One can never have too many black tops.  

I picked up two this week and am always on the look out for more.  They make dressing relatively easy and work well with jeans, leggings or skirts.  They make you look a little thinner or at least not conspiciously bigger. You can spend a little on them and still look well-off.  Best of all, they hide dirt and most stains.

I am a practical gal.  

GMorning, GNight

The sub title of this little book is "little pep talks for me and you".   I like that - the author says he's writing these "little pep talks" mostly for himself.

I'm in the mood to give myself little pep talks.  Can you blame me?  The world has been basically shut down for 2+ months and life is far from normal.  Social interaction has ground to a halt - no Temple services (except online), no Mah Jongg (I am sure I have forgotten how to play), no dinners out with friends, and a general feeling of "what can I do today?".

Here's a  good one from the book:

The world changes.
The ground shifts.
We still make plans.
We still find gifts.
GMorning.

Virtual Seder

Well, last night was a first, a virtual Seder with the Rabbi and with other members of the congregation.  It left a bit to be desired but was still beautiful.  Some things do not change, like the spilled wine on the beautiful matzo cover a friend made for me in 2012.  Luckily "Wine Out" did the trick.

As always, none of my dishes managed to be at the right temperature at the right time.  But our homemade soup and chopped liver were delicious.  Best of all the wine (only had one cup not four) made everything, even the many computer snafus, go down easier.

Chag Pesach Sameach!

A Different Kind of Diary

This is my new daily burden/chore/compulsion - checking the toll the Coronavirus has placed on my country and the world.  The biggest scary number is of course in red, New Deaths. As of last night some folks think we (the states and the world) may be stabilizing, that is, not getting worse. 

Because I can't find day-over-day totals, I am screen printing and saving every day's final totals. 

And praying of course.

On This Day in History

Just so I NEVER forget..... April 3, 2020

Gas price a mile from home was $1.73.

Self-distancing measures on the rise.

Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers (6ft) from each other.

Limited number of people inside stores, therefore, lineups outside the store doors.

Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed.

Parks, trails, entire cities locked up.

Entire sports seasons cancelled.

Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.

Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled.

Churches and temples are closed.

No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, now 10 or less.

Don't socialize with anyone outside of your home.

Children's outdoor play parks are closed. Schools are online.

We are to distance from each other.

Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.

Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.

Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer.

Shelves are bare.

Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE.

Government closes the border to all non-essential travel.

Fines are established for breaking the rules.

Stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.

Press conferences daily from the President. Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths.

Government incentives to stay home.

Barely anyone on the roads.

People wearing masks and gloves outside.

Essential service workers are terrified to go to work.

Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020. One day I will see this post and remember that life is precious and not to take the things I dearly love for granted. We have so much! I'm thankful and grateful.

My Coronavirus Plan

It's a scary time, even for those who have seen lots of other scary times in our lives.  This time seems like a different kind of scary, mainly I think because everyone is so affected, if not physically (hopefully), at least financially and "lifestyle" wise.

Every day I wake up and check that hubby and me are still 1) not feverish 2) not coughing and 3) breathing normally.  I take my vitamins, especially tons of vitamin C, along with zinc and silver spray.  I eat eggs everyday for protein and other good stuff.  We stay inside except for trips to the grocery and mailbox.  As of yesterday, we started wearing masks (from hubby's woodworking projects) and latex gloves to the store. 

Home activities: cleaning with alcohol based homemade cleaners, watching the news (mostly bad), Trump's Coronavirus task force briefings, Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Peace

When it comes to Big Decisions, I defer to this adage. Like a recent decision to rebalance our finances, made not only because of the scary unknown that is the Coronavirus Pandemic, but also because we are getting older and have a shorter window to make up losses.

We have ridden the stock market's ups and downs for 35 years.  Hubby says we are ahead of where we'd be had we only invested in CD's but I am not so sure.  Whatever we may have gained in actual dollars, I weigh against the worry and daily monitoring of a fickle market. I am definitely a "sure thing" kind of girl.

I welcome the new peace in my life, no matter how expensive it may be.