Turkey Week

I’m sitting here with my coffee and peanut butter toast thinking about this coming week. I was supposed to get breakfast with friends today, but one of them was sick, which made me think about the pandemic. 

So many people are putting these pandemic restrictions on their lives as personal attacks, because of the vitrial from the right. I’m so sorry to witness such cult-like behavior, because unless something changes, we’re doomed to lather, rinse and repeat for many years.

What’s missing is collectively we don’t “know each other” any more. I believe that most people are basically good, but just like the cult, their basic instincts have been used against them. Logic and reason will no longer work to discuss things with them.

Mostly, I fear what will happen should the infection come into our home. With two kids who live here and have contact with the public because of their jobs, the odds are not in our favor. We are trying our extreme best, believe me. Eunice and to a lesser extent, me (at 67, just yesterday) are at risk. I’m usually the one to go grocery shopping and pretty much every other time someone I meet is doing something dumb (see personal attack, above). None of these people are my friends, my friends all “get” it. These are just people out and about, probably now buying up hoards of toilet paper and paper towels to satisfy some inner urge. But, I am extremely careful, with all kinds of precautions, but perhaps I need a face shield. Maybe I should be adding that. Someone was arrested this weekend for “breathing heavily” (assult) on a peaceful protester.

So, it’s turkey week, and I’ve got some cleaning to do in order to make room on the dining room table. Julia’s boyfriend has been staying with us these last few months, so he’s an addition to the family now. Because of all I have to do around here, I opted to do a couple of family favorite meal items, but the basics we are getting from a local restaurant, I pick it up tomorrow and reheat on Thursday. Both kids have work that day, so the meal will probably be late in the day for us.

This makes me think of the time we had kitchen remodeling going on in one year and I cooked everything, including pie, on the barbeque grill. Boy, I was focused that year. Plus, I guess, since Matt was in scouts and I was going to show everyone that anything can be done with what’s at hand. Now days, I just want simple.

Looking ahead, Christmas will probably be subdued. Julia wants the walls in her room redone, she’s tired of the wall-paper after 24 years. I remember when we steamed off the green crap so long ago. For today, I’m going to try to get the tree up in the corner of the living room.

Beyond that, we are still trying to sell Mom’s house in Minnesota, the closing fell apart last week, so we don’t know where that’s going just yet. The buyer’s loan provider is not working out. My sister, Mary, wants me to come back to live in Minnesota. I’m not sure I can get the accent back :-). Still, we have so many things wrong with our existing house, I “get” where Dad was coming from so long ago, he didn’t want to fix anything anymore. Maybe I should build an off-grid tiny house on a trailer and work things that way.

My todo list still remains long, I’m still a caregiver for Eunice, wishing she would get better faster, I so much want to go for walks in the neighborhood with her. We do have some trees finally turning colors, just like my MN family had 5-6 weeks ago. 

We are otherwise healthy, Eunice’s skin/suture problems from her foot surgery are done, just have to practice more walking. My ribs are much better, the collar bone is healing, but it will take more time. I am slowly getting my stamina back, not doing anything for 3 months is crap, but then as we age, I think we all know this.