No news is good news

   We are in early March as I write this and people are losing their minds over the corona virus. Don't get me wrong, it's a sort of flu on steroids and people are dying from it. It's also spreading like wildfire. The media, however, seems to be treating it like a zombie apocalypse. Regrettably, I am guilty of watching the evening news frequently. This dangerous behavior puts me at risk for the dreaded "intelligent questions" from the offspring.
    Has it been a slow news year? I wouldn't have thought so although it's hard to tell in this age of saturation. Whatever small shred of news there is will be reported upon ad nauseam. It regrettably becomes inescapable and seeps into the schools. I now have to deal with the junior grapevine. The questions invariably come at night before bed, when brains are tired and time is short, of course. I hear mostly about video games but also about classmates and sometimes the news. Favorite topics include nightmare inducing weather events and deadly diseases.
    It's up to mom, as usual, to try to answer the questions that come. I used to think that someone who has her face in a screen every chance she gets would be pretty oblivious. Regrettably for me, she picks up on more than I expect. It's not that I wish she was dumber, I wish I was smarter since I often don't know how to answer her. "Should I be afraid of the corona virus?" "Are ghosts real?" "Do we get tornadoes in New Jersey?" "Am I crazy?!" 'How should I know?!' doesn't cut it with some people. Damn. Google, take me away!
   I try to be as honest as I can, frequently forget to look up things I promise to research, and fake the rest. It's a fine line between stalling before bed tactics and genuine questions I don't want to miss. I am one of the first lines of defense against misinformation in addition to my eight million other jobs as mom. O Goody, another important job! There goes the neighborhood. Remember all those "What to Expect" books that new parents always seem to be reading? I could sum it up in about two sentences. Guess your ass off. Hope for the best.
 

Happy New Year??

   I was asked to shovel my sad ass out of bed at stupid o'clock in the morning to get my mom to the hospital for a procedure to reduce chronic pain she's been dealing with for years. God bless her, I don't know how she does it. She's had this procedure done before and it didn't work. She wanted to try it again with a new doctor but when she got there, she changed her mind. I can't say I blame her. She's a pretty savvy consumer and just wasn't happy with how she was treated. It's December of 2020, or level 12 of Jumanji, if you will. I'm a little afraid of January.

    There's an incredible amount of pressure on 2021 not to be a colossal shit show. I can only hope for some sort of new treatment mom hasn't tried that will finally work. She's really been through the gamut of what's out there. It gets understandably depressing after a while. The romance of a New Year won't last long. 

    A new president is a bright spot for me, I have to admit. I will have to keep mum about this to a lot of my friends who were disappointed in November. We, as a family took a major economic hit over the last 3 years so I could use someone who didn't bankrupt a casino! A president, love him or hate him, is not a king. Things will not magically improve on January 22. It will take time. I'm inclined to go from optimism to how about things just not get worse? 

   2021 is going to require a lot more patience than I currently have. It would seem my only option is to keep my horizons short. This is an age old struggle for me but I'm not giving up. If I'm going to survive a Master's program, I won't have a choice. There is a ton of work ahead of me and it looks pretty intimidating from here. It would be helpful to remember that I am not obligated to pull off everything by myself. Asking for help before I get myself overwhelmed would be refreshing. 

   A decent job would also be a nice change but let's not get crazy. I still need to figure out doing what, exactly. I'll settle for something part time and for now, I may be stuck with substitute teaching, assuming there is any. My best bet is to be grateful for what we've got. Welcome 2021, behave yourself. None of us want to know if rock bottom has a basement.

We're in this together - and we Hates it!

   Happy weird November, dear reader. I am struggling to scrape up the motivation to go exercise again. The holidays are quickly approaching, as retailers are constantly reminding me. That means a lot of egg nog, cookies and wine are heading this way. Yay carbohydrates! My martial arts contract is paid for so you would think that would be motivation enough. It's hard to shut up that Jenny Craig voice in your head if you haven't paid in advance. I think I could use to see more humans. That is incredibly wierd for me since it's around this time of year that I Really Hate my fellow man. 

   The pandemic is to blame. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Last year, I was happily/annoyedly shopping in crowded stores and generally seeing a lot of people out everywhere. I never thought I would miss it! I also hosted Thanksgiving for my family the last 2 years and now it looks like that is going to get cut down by a lot this year, too.  I love the smell of a turkey cooking in my house. The problem is since there are only three of us, a whole turkey doesn't make sense. 

   I'm choosing not to think too far ahead for Christmas this year, either. My goal is to handle decorations, cookies and gifts enough for my daughter. I have no idea how any of our usual traditions will happen, if at all, this year. I hope my nephew squeezes in a visit. The key to survival it seems, is to not look forward. God help me. 

   Then again, maybe I should be looking way forward, like six months worth. The weather alone should be better. We will probably still have the same issues to deal with as far as keeping our girl occupied. I admit I'm not all that thrilled with having to see my mom every Friday over her school break. I know Claire should see her grandmom though and someday she won't be able to. My mom also wants to feel like she's helping, too. Maybe I will have some sort of part time work by then and/or a Summer class. One can hope. 

I'm also hoping for a real vacation this coming summer, too. I admit I have no clue how that's going to play out. It looks like I'll go with the less stressful option. I'll take deal-with-what's-in-front-of-me for 200, Alex. Still.....

 Is it too early to start dreaming of summer?

The Dinosaur Blues Part 2

    Goodbye Old Bessie, I'll miss you. We had a good run together and I only had to replace your battery once. I'm guessing that six years is like 85 in phone years. It certainly felt like I was on "Antiques Roadshow" when we went on tour to various phone stores to see if you could be saved. Alas, it was not to be. The virus you somehow managed to acquire was too much for you. The infection cost us dearly. We lost photos, which was bad enough, but worse than that was the loss of contacts.
     Dinosaurs that we are, I still own an actual address book. The problem is that the information in it is as antiquated as my old phone. I can't say I was vigilant in maintaining the thing as time passed. I had to start somewhere to rebuild my list so I issued a "distress call" of sorts on Facebook. I explained the passing of "old Bessie" and asked those Facebook peeps that had my cell number to please shoot me a text so I could reestablish contact. Those that could and/or weren't relieved to be lost, kindly did send brief messages.
     The new phone, Hugh, is really nice but twice the size of the old one. I was used to fitting my old one in the front pocket of my jeans, now what? In addition to needing new chargers, I also am adjusting to new software, too. My texting app is different and occasionally Senior Google chooses to hide. It's easy to understand how we can get so attached to these things. Hugh is fast, responsive, and his screen is easy to read. I would have liked to stay physically attached to Hugh, though, so I won't lose him. Do I put him in my back pocket? What if I sat on him? I decided to look for a cross body bag that I could wear. Hugh's last name is Jazz.
    I had stopped using handbags because I know I have a mind like a steel sieve. If I put something down, there's a big risk it's going to be forgotten. Anything I can wear is bound to better my odds. Given how expensive Hugh was, I would say I have some skin in the game. Luckily, I found that I do already own one bag that works, although Hugh takes up every inch. It beats spending still more money on accessories. That was something that is never included or even mentioned at the store.
   Kids toys have print, albeit microscopic, on their packages that mention "batteries not included". Grownups toys don't include details like screen protectors, wall and car chargers, and basic cases. Has anyone ever just bought a phone? What was once considered a luxury is now a ubiquitous necessity. Very few people we know have "land lines". We still do. I am so old I still remember phone booths, dimes not included, sigh.