Around Here - a Weekend Mostly at Home

We started Friday morning going to the grocery store for our major weekly shopping. 

We got all this and are now well stocked on everything we need for the coming week.

Saturday, Charly wanted a DVD of  Game of Thrones, Season 8, so went to a couple of nearby Walmarts.  At the second Walmart, we did not find the Game of Thrones DVD Charly was looking for, but he did find a DVD of another movie he had been wanting. There weren't many people at the stores and we were careful to keep socials distances, wipes things down and use hand sanitizer. We also found toilet paper at the second Walmart, just sitting on the shelf. I bought a 4-pack of TP just because I could!

Saturday evening, while watching a little TV, (Dateline - my current favorite)  I reorganized and straightened up my favorite cookbook. I put in section dividers and put stray recipes in page protectors and filed them in the proper section.  I love how neat and organized it is now.  

I guess being at home so much has put me in an organizational mood, because earlier in the week, I also took everything out of the kitchen pantry and reorganized that.  It feels cleaner and neater and it is much easier to find what I am looking for. 

I miss going to church every Sunday morning. Our chapel, which is only about a block from our home, always looks a little lonely when I walk past, but I am grateful for having church at home with my family.  

This beautiful song, Love One Another, was the song we listened to to open our home Sacrament Meeting. 

Master the Tempest is Raging ended our home meeting. This hymn has such a wonderful message of hope for this troubled and uncertain time. 

After our home church meeting, Charly and I went for a walk.  My daily walks have been getting me through this time.  I try to walk two miles with Charly and then two more miles by myself later in the day.   It does me so much good, both physically and mentally to get out in the fresh air and walk.  I have noticed that others out walking, even complete strangers, are friendly, smiling and calling out greetings, from an appropriate social distance, of course. 

As always, I am always grateful that I get to enjoy beautiful mountain views (even when its cloudy)...

...and vibrant early spring flowers coming up in our neighborhood. 

Another thing that I have been spending a lot of time doing, is indexing family history records at Familysearch.org  My usual monthly goal is to index 50 records every month, but this month, so far, I have indexed 146 records.  I will keep going. I am trying to do at least ten records every day. 

We had steaks for our Sunday dinner, along with rice, mashed potatoes and gravy, grilling beans and toasted French bread.  It was a great dinner to end the weekend with. 

Here is Utah, our county has just been put on a Stay Safe, Stay Home order.  Some more businesses are being closed and people are being asked not to travel far from home, and to make only essential trips to places like grocery stores.  We are thinking that Josh's job is included under "essential services" so, he will be able to keep going to work at his job (he works in a warehouse with lots of precautions and social distancing), while Charly and I continue working from home. It seems that most of these restrictions will go on the entire month of April.  

Finally, as we look forward to another week of "Stay Safe. Stay Home," "Lockdown," "Quarantine," "Shelter in Place," or whatever it is called in your location, I will close with this, a little bit of humor that is also true. 

Have a great week staying home, staying safe and staying well.

Favorites from Another Week at Home

Another week at home, but still many good things and much to be grateful for.  Join us over at Living to Tell the Story and link with Susanne and other bloggers to highlight the good things in your week. 

• Working from home - I will admit that working from home has some definite advantages, but I also feel that the work is never finished. I was grading papers until 9:30 some nights.  I will make some adjustments to my work-at-home schedule, to make it a little less daunting. Nevertheless, I am grateful to have a good job that allows me to work from home and keep our income stream flowing. 

• Senior hours at Costco - Oue local Costco now has "Senior Hours" from 8-9 a.m.. Every Tuesday and Thursday.  Charly and I went on Tuesday. 

The great thing about shopping during Senior Hours was that we were able to get some supplies that I was stressing about, including toilet paper.  

• A little more winter - Winter made one more pass at us this week. This was my front yard on Thursday morning.

I don't mind snow when it doesn't impact the roads.  The mountains got most of the snow in this storm, and that means we will have plenty of water next summer.  Besides, I thought the trees near my home looked particularly pretty covered in snow early Thursday. 

• Walking - I have been walking a lot during this time of COVID-19.  I have been walking between 2 and 4 miles most days and find it helps my mental outlook a lot and keeps my anxiety tamped down.  I have always loved to walk, and it has proven to be a true blessing at this time.  Added bonus - I have lost about four pounds of my "lose -ten-pounds" goal!

• 72-Hour Kits -After last week's earthquake here, I decided it was well past time that I update our 72-hour kits. This week, I ordered first-aid kits for 72-hour kits for all three of us - Charly, Josh and I. I also got some new flashlights for the kits at Costco. 

• Healthy eating - Although I frequently cook dinner for the family, I have been cooking even more this week.  Charly has helped as well, and he made some delicious spaghetti one night this week.  This was last night's dinner - slow cooker chicken and vegetables served over rice. It was quite tasty and healthy, since we also had a green salad on the side. 

• Spring indoors - We got another pot of tulip bulbs which are flowering now - bringing a touch of spring indoors.  We will be planting these bulbs near our front door next fall so we can enjoy tulips again next spring. 

• More time to read - While I have been online grading and communicating to student more than eight hours a day during the past week,  I have also taken more time to read.  Currently, I am reading two books - one non-fiction and this very interesting page-turner The Broken Girls.  It is a combination of a ghost story and murder mystery, and I am really enjoying it.

• A little treat - I call this a Cherry Vanilla Coke/Diet Root Beer Latte.  It is simply my two favorite sodas mixed with half and half and oat milk. Trust me, it is good!

The First Weekend of Spring 2020

Friday, after completing some teacher training, answering student emails and grading assignments that had been turned in, we finished up the cleaning.  My sweet husband always helps with the cleaning.  Here he is vacuuming our back patio on Friday.

Saturday morning, we went to two different Costco stores hoping to get some more TP.  We found several things we wanted to get, but no TP.  We have enough for a couple of weeks, but I never like to run low.  We plan to go back during "Senior Citizen Hours" Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  

I have been trying to stay active by walking both with Charly and by myself. I have enjoyed all the new spring flowers making their appearance along my route.  

Sunday morning, we had Sacrament Meeting at home.  This was what we listened to for the opening hymn of our at-home service - I Feel My Savior's Love. This beautiful hymn, Come, Come Ye Saints, one of my personal favorites, was our closing hymn.

Later in the day, I indexed divorce records from Oregon, 1961. While I indexed, I listened to an online church service from the church my blog friend, Kathy over at Looking at Life Through My Bifocals attends.  I enjoyed  the sermons by Pastor Ritter on Psalm 54.  

Josh provided dinner on Sunday. He had previously purchased this chili mix which I made, along with cornbread muffins.  It was delicious.

Later, I found some Pillsbury cookie dough in the freezer, so I un-thawed it and baked some sugar cookies.  

Sunday night, Charly and I watched Little Women on Masterpiece on PBS.  It was a nice way to end the weekend.

Friday Fave Five for an Interesting Week

Interesting is probably an understatement for the way this past week has been, but that doesn't mean there haven't been lots of blessings - some pretty significant, so lets link up with Susanne and other bloggers over at Living To Tell the Story and get started on the gratitude.  

Earthquake! Yes, we had quite a moderately strong earthquake at 7:09 Wednesday morning.  We felt it at our home (Josh was at work) and were quite shaken up to say the least.  It was especially unnerving at this time when we are already living with the Coronavirus emergency. There was some damage several miles to the north and west of us, and a few families were displaced from their homes, but there were no deaths or injuries. Our home and belongings were fine, and it was a wake-up call to update the 72-hour kits and always be prepared because earthquakes and other kinds of emergencies can happen any time. 

Homework! After a faculty meeting on Monday (where proper social distancing was observed) we were told that we can work from home during school dismissal, putting lessons online and grading student work. 

The halls at the high school were eerily empty. Interestingly, our empty high school is now providing emergency housing for those displaced from their homes damaged in this week's earthquake.

I have spent many hours this week creating and posting online lessons to keep students learning,  A few students have done the assignments and I have been grading their work, answering questions and sending messages and instructions.  I am grateful that we have the ability to work from home through an online learning platform. Canvas is the platform our district uses most.  I am grateful that both Charly and I have jobs that allow us to work from home during this pandemic emergency.

Supplies! - Some things have been in short supply everywhere lately, but I have been able to find most everything I need over the past few days by making several trips to different stores. Today, I saw a man in the customer service line at Walmart returning toilet paper, so hopefully panic buying and hoarding are on the way out.

Spring! The first day of spring was rainy around here.  The mountains got more snow, but all the ski resorts are now closed due to COVID-19.  The spring snow and rain is a blessing though because that means we will have plenty of water for the rest of the year. 

There have been plenty of other signs of spring, like birds in budding trees, new leaves, and bright, delicate spring flowers.  I do love spring and thank God for this lovely season!  

Charly decided to bring spring indoors by buying some tulips in a pot which are now gracing our dining room table.

Finished! Charly finished and submitted both our Federal and state taxes today!  Yea! What a big job to finally have complete! Charly also did Josh's taxes, and Josh watched to learn how to do his own - maybe next year.  We also completed our 2020 Census tonight. Feels good to have these important things finished.

Josh!  During this crisis, this guy has been amazing. He has been helpful and upbeat.  He has kept up with his studies online and has even taken on extra hours at work. I am so grateful that the place he works (Sherwin Williams paint warehouse) hasn't closed. I am grateful that Josh is here with us right now so I don't have to worry about another family member far away.  

Time! Even though I have been spending a number of hours each day working from home, this Coronavirus crisis has given me the ability to slow down, accomplish more, and do more things that I want to do every day.  Charly and I have been reading more - both alone and together, we watched a movie (and plan more) and I have done more indexing this week than any other week in recent memory.  That part of this crazy time has been really nice.  

Connection! Even though we are all "social distancing" these days, in the past week or so, I have received sweet texts and emails from many family members and friends.  I have also made phone calls to elderly family and friends who aren't online. I love that in this time of crisis, so many are reaching out to check on others and say "I care!"  

As I tried to decide what my final thought for this post should be, this scripture came to mind. It seems most appropriate for this very interesting week. Have a good weekend. Stay well and safe!  

A Good Weekend in Crazy Times

We started Saturday by going to Walmart for a few grocery items.  The place was busy, but really not a lot more than usual on a Saturday morning.  Shelves were depleted, but we found everything we needed.  This is an old image of the Walmart near our home from the internet.  We did not have snow this weekend. 

Later we went to another store looking for Emergen-C, but there was none to be had. I noticed that it is also completely unavailable even at Amazon.  Josh had ask for some White Castle sliders, and we did find some of those for him, so apparently White Castle sliders are not being hoarded.  Good to know, right?! ;-)

When we went to Walmart, one of the reasons was to get fertilizer for the lawn at our old house, which we are now renting as an income property.  This is a picture of the house from the summer before last when we lived there.  We are trying to keep up the yard, but if we ever sell it, both yard and house will need some work.  Right now, it is proving to be quite a good investment property, and is appreciating nicely in value. I would never want to move back to this neighborhood, so we will rent this house out for a few years, let it continue to appreciate, and then sell it.  At any rate,  the lawn has now had it's spring dose of weed and feed.

Saturday, we also took all the chocolate Easter bunnies I have been collecting over the past few weeks, to the drop-off point for the service project to create and distribute Easter baskets to kids at the local women's shelter.   I was able to collect a lot of bunnies - two boxes worth. That should help fill quite a few Easter baskets.

It just so happens that the "drop-off point" was Charly's aunt's home. This is because Charly's aunt's daughter,  (Charly's cousin) is directing the service project.  It is such a great service project to make Easter just a little brighter for kids who are in a family crisis. We dropped off the bunnies and had a little visit with Charly's elderly aunt, who lost her husband last summer.  Don't worry, we just chatted from across the room and maintained good social distance with no hugs or handshakes.  

Saturday was such a beautiful day.  It was cloudy with sprinkles in the morning, but warm and breezy in the afternoon. 

I took a nice walk in the afternoon.I enjoyed the afternoon walk so much, I took another walk after dinner. 

There was no regular church on Sunday due to COVID 19. I do miss going to church.

We did have sacrament meeting (church service) at home in our living room this morning.  It was a sweet experience.  Charly presided.  We prayed together and had the sacrament (communion) then listened to a message from President Nelson (the leader of our world-wide church).  We then read scriptures and did out Come Follow Me Study.  Our opening hymn was The Spirit of God, and a beautiful version of Amazing Grace was our closing hymn.  Truly, we felt the truth of the scripture, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." ~Matthew 18:20

One thing I just started doing as part of my Come Follow Me study each week is selecting one scripture I want to memorize or become more familiar with, printing it on a 3x5 card and taping it to the refrigerator door in the kitchen.  I am hoping this will help me remember scripture verses that are especially relevant to me.  

After our home church and scripture study, I spent some time getting Easter packages ready for my grandchildren...

...and also my niece's daughter.  

I also have two grandchildren with birthdays this month, so I got birthday cards and gifts ready as well. I then went to the post office.  It was closed, but I used the self-serve kiosks to buy postage for the packages, and got them in the mail.  Even though I am early for both Easter and birthdays, with all the uncertainty regarding COVID 19,  I wanted to get everything in the mail right away.

Later in the afternoon, Charly and I went for a walk together around our neighborhood.  We saw another couple from our church congregation out walking and we greeted each other pleasantly in passing, at an appropriate social distance.  I enjoyed the early spring flowers which are just coming out now,  like these bright little daffodils.  

Back home, we had a tasty dinner of orange chicken, ginger soy stir fry with ramen noodles and chicken flavored rice.  

Tonight, our plan is to watch this movie, The Fighting Preacher, which I have heard good things about. It is based on a true historical story and I have heard it has a positive, uplifting message.