COVID-19 quarantine

CFFC: Paper and Books Memorabilia

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The theme of Cee;s Fun Foto Challenge this week is books and paper. When I looked up my photos in this category, I found memorabilia (personal and historical), such as the following:

At the Overlord Museum at Omaha Beach in Normandy, France

I don’t think this display is really made of paper, but it’s meant to look like the pages of a book. This display describing the history of the hotel and the findings of Howard Cater was in the lobby of the Sofitel Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor, Egypt.

In our local newspaper, The Daily Herald, there is a column on Sunday that I enjoy reading called “Grammar Moses.” Jim Baumann, Mr. Grammar Moses himself, writes about grammar and spelling gaffes, mistakes, and clarification of usage of particular words or phrases sent in by readers. How often have we all seen a sign like this one?

Cards Against Humanity is a sort of nasty card game that is also hilarious (if you like this sort of thing), which I’d never heard of before until our son-in-law introduced it to us. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, seek out this game if you are not prepared for truly sick and twisted humor! Every once in a while, I get in the mood for it, and then I ask my son-in-law if we can play it next time we go over to their house…

Books and coloring books were my solace and salvation during the pandemic quarantine, in the spring of last year.

I did some original artwork during those months too.

SYW: On Trust, Grudges, and Controlling Emotions

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M is for Monday and also for Melanie, who has a new set of questions for Share Your World!

SHAREYOURWORLDSTARHANDS

QUESTIONS:

Is it necessary to trust someone you like?  (friends, acquaintances or co-workers with whom you have no familial ties)
I don’t know if I could like someone really untrustworthy. On the other hand, there are people who are likeable and friendly, but they can’t keep a secret. Everyone has flaws, and some people just can’t keep their mouths shut! If I had a friend or acquaintance like that, I wouldn’t confide in them about anything important. Especially at and about work – office gossip can cause serious trouble! At work, there were a lot of people that I liked – that is, I had no problem with them and they were fun to talk to in the lunch room or whatever – but not enough to really be friends with, to share confidences with.

Do you hold grudges?   What do you do when someone really irritates you?

How to manage a grudge

I don’t like to hold grudges but in fact I do, and it’s so stupid because I will probably never see any of those people again. The two people I have the strongest grudge against stabbed me in the back, and for no good reason. Other people I knew had similar complaints about these particular two individuals – they were not popular, but they were people I depended on for good reviews going forward in my career. I should stop being resentful toward them; after all, most other people didn’t like them anyway! The only other person I have a “grudge” against is a girl in high school who didn’t give me the recognition I thought she should have. This is silly really. No one remembers or cares anymore, but it hurt me that after the work I did for her, she didn’t even acknowledge it.

I don’t like to get really angry or irritated, because I tend to lose my temper and say or do something I later regret. After this happening several times when I was younger, I learned to wait before acting, so that I could calm down. I tend to back off nowadays when an argument gets really heated. Let’s keep the peace!! It’s hard though, when someone I am around a lot irritates me. I try to put that into perspective: I really care about this person, so I shouldn’t blow up at him or her. I wonder how people who live in the same household are getting along during this pandemic, having to be around family members they love, but are not used to spending most of their time with. There are things, though, that I can’t tolerate – rudeness or lack of consideration for others are the things that really get me angry.

What’s the most sensible thing you’ve heard someone say?
I hate this kind of question because I have a poor memory and can’t think of that most sensible thing! But I guess it’s what my husband always says, “Don’t let the little things get to you.” (I cleaned this up, using the word ‘things’ instead of the word he actually uses! 😉 )

Cliché, maybe, but it’s good advice.

Is crying a sign of weakness or strength in adults? 
I don’t think crying is a sign of weakness in anyone. I never have, and have never judged men, for example, for crying. Because they’ve been taught that’s not what manly men do, many men are ashamed to cry. But I think crying shows someone’s sensitivity – whether it be at the end of a movie with a poignant ending, when the person feels regret, or cries tears of happiness, or just feels homesickness. I like sensitive people. I am one, so I understand others who are sensitive.

People used to laugh at John Boehner (former Speaker of the House) because he would cry sometimes. I was no fan of Boehner, but I thought those judgmental people were mean. If you want to criticize someone, find a better reason than that!

Why crying at work is good for your health and career - Insider
Even presidents cry sometimes.

GRATITUDE SECTION  (Always Optional)

What small things were you grateful for this week?
We were told last week that we will be getting our Covid vaccinations in February – first dose on Feb. 5, the second in late February. I am grateful for that!

Last Photo of November

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Bushboy has a Last Photo challenge where he invites us to post the last photo we took that month. I took my last photograph in November at our most unusual Thanksgiving dinner! It was just the two of us, with the Thanksgiving meal delivered to us, just like every dinner is delivered to us since COVID-19 arrived on the scene. In the evening, though, we were able to talk and play games with part of our family via Zoom.

Dale at our forlorn Thanksgiving dinner. At least I tried to make it look nice with a fresh table cloth!

I sort of cheated…the actual last photo was of me sitting at this small table, but I didn’t actually take it – Dale did!

FDDA: A Day In My Life

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Today Fandango’s Dog Days of August theme is “your daily routine.” Do you follow a daily routine? Many of us are creatures of habit. We have routines that we follow, whether it’s the time we get up each day or go to bed, what we do during the day, or how we spend our time. For some, it can be disruptive if our routines are interrupted. Share a story, a poem, a photo, a drawing, some music, or whatever you wish to share about your daily routine.

I love to write haiku – it’s the most fun kind of poetry to write. So I went a bit overboard writing it, but here’s my

PANDEMIC ROUTINE HAIKU

OMG! Will it
Never be over? Five months
And no end in sight!

My routine is thus:
Get up whenever I wake,
Weigh myself, brew tea.

Eat a banana,
And a piece of cheese, sip tea,*
On my screened back porch.

*I no longer drink coffee.

If hubby is home
We eat omelets and toast
On our screened back porch

If hubby plays golf
It’s cereal and yogurt
With fruit for breakfast.

Eventually,
I get dressed and brush my teeth,
Then find things to do.

Housework? Clean kitchen,
Maybe do laundry again,
Turn on computer.

Creativity:
Ways to combat the sameness –
Read, paint, blog, research

I might watch TV,
But not for long – I get tired.
Get up, get ready!

Take walks on campus
What are ducks and swans up to?
No cygnets this year.

Swans and ducks at West Lake

Meet friends walking too –
We discuss pets, pandemic:
End in September?

Reading is something
I love to do and I have
Read so many books!

Play scrabble online,
Write a blog for all to read,
Entertain myself.

Social media?
Facebook entertains also –
Enjoy the humor!

Cute cat videos,
I laugh at anti-Trump memes,
See doings of friends.

Listen to music,
Think about playing piano…
But I never do.

I can’t motivate myself to play, but I don’t want to give up my piano!

My husband returns –
Time for a nap! Then we check
Mail, e-mail, and texts.

Dinner delivered
To us on Styrofoam trays;
Cookies for dessert.

At night we watch news –
Rachel Maddow, Lawrence too:
Trump’s latest scandals.

Get a laugh watching
Late Night With Stephen Colbert –
Laugh so we don’t cry.

Selfish people won’t
Wear masks, claiming it’s their right
What about duty?

Five months of finding
Creative things to do and
Hoping it ends soon!

Blogging Insights in Quarantine

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Dr. Tanya has a question she asks each week. This week, #27, it is: What are you doing to ‘repair’ (re-vamp or update) yourself and your blog during the lockdown? 

I haven’t really done anything to change or revamp my blog. I am probably blogging more now, but some days I don’t blog at all. One thing I’m making time for is reading other people’s posts, from pingbacks on other challenges but also from the Reader. I should do a lot more of this, I know.  People will respond more to me if I am commenting on their posts also. So some days when I am not inspired to post anything, I spend my blog time reading and commenting.

Also, I want to do more writing challenges on my blog, which is why I decided to start participating in this one! I love to write, but sometimes I can’t think of anything to write about, so these prompts are helpful.

We’ve been in quarantine since mid-March, and it is going to continue at least until the end of May, maybe longer! When it first started, I wrote down some things in my journal that I could do with my extra time, which I enumerate below with modifications (although I’m retired anyway, so my schedule hasn’t drastically changed. The main thing is that our senior community no longer has any activities, which I really enjoyed.):

1. Read more. – This is happening, although not a lot more. Since the book groups at the library that I belong to have been suspended, I’ve been doing more reading of books I acquired or had around the house, and just want to read. But now the book groups have gone virtual and I participated in my first Zoom book group this morning! So now I am reading the book for the next meeting. The library is choosing books we can download on Hoopla free of charge if we have a valid library card.

2. Do artwork. – Since my art classes have been suspended, I’ve had to motivate myself to do more artwork on my own.  I’ve done several drawings, and am working on a drawing of one of my grandcats, Freddie, on a dark background using colored pencils. I’ve done a practice drawing and have seen what I need to improve. I want to give the drawing to Freddie’s “parents” – our daughter & son-in-law. My son-in-law is an excellent artist too, and I think he will appreciate it very much, if it comes out well. I also wanted to do some painting, but can’t find my paints!

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Here is a drawing of a cat I did recently – it’s not Freddie, though!

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This is the style of drawing I want to do of Freddie. I also have been drawing a lot of swans, because we have two pairs of swans here and one of the pairs will be having cygnets soon! I want to photograph them, and draw them as well.

Besides my computer in our extra bedroom (where our TV is also), I have a desk in the kitchen, which has been used since we moved here as a dumping ground and storage for a variety of miscellaneous items. I want to clean up that desk and make it my art desk! My art stuff is all here in the room with TV & computers, but it is becoming impractical, because I have acquired more supplies and have a lot of finished pieces. So I want to transfer all those things to that desk and have convenient places to put everything. That means finding a place for everything else that is currently being stored there!

3. Work on travel photo books. – I finished my first Shutterfly photo book about Israel and received it in the mail last week! Now that I’ve done one, I can see where I can improve and also know better how the photos look on the page, so now I am working on a couple of others of recent trips.

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My Shutterfly photo book of our trip to Israel

4. Sort through and put away the things in boxes that we haven’t gotten around to going through in the eight months we’ve lived here.  – This is a project in progress. I’ve sorted the box of bathroom stuff and sorted everything into bins by category, with labels, for easy access.

Last weekend we had some warm days so we spent time in the garage going through boxes we hadn’t unpacked yet. Some stuff I threw away. Some stuff we put aside for my church’s huge rummage sale. The stuff we wanted to keep is now consolidated into one box plus one Trader Joe’s shopping bag – which is sitting in the living room! So now I have to put that stuff away.

5. Put up wall art. – I really need my husband’s help with this. I’m not good with hammering nails into the wall in the right places and putting the things up straight. I’ve been dropping a lot of hints, and he knows it and so far isn’t taking the bait!

6. Exercise as much as possible. I am being gentle with myself, because some days the weather is crappy so we don’t want to walk outside. If the weather is even halfway decent, we walk around the campus twice, which is two miles, and then go out again later if the weather is good. When we have to stay in, we have been recording the exercise classes given on our closed-circuit TV station by the fitness instructor here, and then replay them and follow along. That’s what we’ve done the last two days, but tomorrow I will go out walking again. I’m trying to be more consistent, as much as feasible during quarantine, in my exercise routines. I have to admit, though, I can’t wait until we can go back to the fitness center and the swimming pool!