Return to the Simpler Times

Though this virus has become a real thing, there were and still are many unknowns.  That said we can only do as recommend by Dept. Of Health and CDC.

For example, if you are one who bought enough toilet paper to last you months, what were you thinking? Okay maybe you weren't thinking clear at the time. Now that the rest of us can't get our hands on a roll, how about you offer it up to neighbors, friends or family that are caught with their pants down so to speak???  Nor do we need to buy up bottled water, we all have plumbing which means you have water. I prefer my favorite bottled water but I'm not about to stand in line to buy it when my faucet is in working order. Relax with the over buying for everyone's sake. When you do shop be patient and appreciative of our Food employees. They are putting themselves at risk, working longer hours because of those who have panicked. Let them catch their breath, re stock and at minimum perhaps we can return to normal shopping as needed.

Think of your neighbors who maybe elderly, or those with compromised immune systems, those going through cancer treatments etc... Bob and I are in contact with two other homes near us and we have the agreement that if we plan on a grocery run, we let the other two homes know and we pick up stuff for them. We then keep a running tab on who owes us what and we square up every two weeks. Other than a need at the market, with Buster over 70 and my bad lungs, we're pretty much staying in and sticking to family that are doing the same. That may seem over kill to some,  and I don't worry if anyone doesn't understand. I know how my lungs feel on a good day, I think I'm worth not putting myself at risk.

When thinking about what to do with all this spare time, I looked back before the world got so busy, put itself at high speed all the time.  As kids we were good playing board games, cards, dolls, reading, watching movies and as a family sharing a night time television show.  We weren't all sitting with devices in our hands,  we were actually using them to be of help, doing chores and okay maybe hitting a sibling once or twice. 🤷

We could load up in our car and take a drive like we used to, we could go to the beach and take a walk in the fresh air. Heck my Dad would take us to the airport, park on the side of the road where planes were coming in to land  right over the car. It was thrilling for us kids and it didn't cost a thing other than the gas to drive there.
We played croquet in the yard, badminton, hopscotch. Sit with your kids and look at old photo albums, review those memories. These things are not extinct we just now choose to sit in front of a television or stare into our phones. 

Maybe while things are slow,  you can bake with your kids, do crafts, prepare meals together, have an ongoing jigsaw puzzle, deep clean our homes...whatever it is that we never have time to do because we always have our foot on the gas and full calendars.  Save some money, rather than spending money spend time. I never have enough time and now I do.

I hope to do all I've mentioned and more. I want to return to letter writing, people love to receive handwritten notes. More thought than an email or a text for sure. It says, I took the time to sit  down to let you know I was thinking about you, or better yet what you mean to me, rather than including it in a eulogy you won't hear.🤔  Work on unfinished projects, go through your closets and get rid of all those clothes that haven't fit you for years and give them to people who have no more than the clothes on their back. How many sweatshirts and coats to you have/need? Blankets, an extra few tucked away in closest that you haven't pulled out for years. There are many cold people on the streets at night. Myself I have lots of books, and I'm on a reading rampage currently and trying to pass them on to others.

Do you children a favor (insert emoji for first hand experience), go through those boxes of things you store and never get into. Clean out  your garage to where you can actually use them as intended. Get rid of stuff you haven't touched in years.. After the loss of loved ones, we are in no frame of mind to go through all of it and get rid of it because you didn't. Do it now....Get your files in order purge what you don't need. I have a big three wring notebook that holds information for every appliance we have, a page for paint colors in our home should we need to repaint etc... Have important files together such as banking, property, etc that  in the event something ever happen to you, your children know right where to go to get what they need. I have a list of monthly bills and of who provides us each service. Again, they, your children don't want to go through a million files to find the two or three important ones they would need right away.

This isn't meant to be a doomsday post, its just thoughts on things we could be doing rather than accomplishing nothing in this time of staying put. I really believe much good can come from this experience if we watch for it. My hope is we realize we don't have to go at full speed all the time, our calender's don't  have to be full at all times. We can actually return to the good old days of being in the presence of our families and building even stronger bonds. 

I have started journals of my youth up to now of things my kids or grands might enjoy reading one day when I'm gone. Things they never thought to ask, or I never shared. I so often have a question only my Mom or Dad could answer, one that I wish I had thought to ask them, and now I can't. Khloe was asking me questions about my youth during a recent sleep over. She wanted to know things I did for fun as a kid, what my fears were etc... I think the more they know the more they may listen to our advice when they realize we too had fun, fears heartbreaks, we once were children too! 

We can still help restaurants during this time...buy gift cards to give as gifts or to use when things are back to normal....that word seems so useless nowadays...What exactly is normal?

I just purged a lot of thoughts.....in hope something may be helpful to you and yours💓😻 

Wash your hands often after opening your mail, packages, groceries...you don't need sanitizers, soap and water are the best way to rid yourself of unwanted germs, and sheeish, stop touching your face! I never realized how much I do that until this all started.  SMH

Stay well, follow the rules, we can do this!
This is what echos from my heart today.... 💋