It’s been awhile so I wanted to give an update from here in Texas.  I’ve collected pictures from the last couple of weeks to share all at once, so although its a bit of a hodge podge I will try to keep it in order.

First I wanted to mention that Cori and I recently attended a special farmers market.  The event was sponsored by a local food bank and they had a wholesaler come with a truck full of vegetables that were ordered ahead of time online.  The prices were great and we wanted to support the food bank, so since they talked quite a bit about safety and social distancing we decided to give it a try.  When we pulled up the line was already pretty long but we were happy to see most people were wearing masks and initially trying to social distance.  The problem was that they didn’t have anyone calling out the names of the orders that were filled so people kept walking up to see if the bags had their names written on them.  The disorganization was seriously making me itchy and both of us had a hard time not just jumping in, but eventually our bag was done and we were able to leave.  The food was good and the prices were terrific but hopefully for the next event they will have a better system for distributing.

Speaking of masks and social distancing as things start to open up, I reached out to someone in the medical industry to talk through my concerns.  Rather than taking my information from a bunch of politicians I decided to trust a medical expert with what is essentially a medical problem.  My question was “Is it time to start relaxing some?” and the answer was “not yet”.  The reason why surprised me though, and I thought I would share it here.  The concern of the person I spoke to wasn’t so much about people dying (this happens), but about the death itself.  It is a long and painful affair for most people, and worse, they are alone when it happens.  Instead of being surrounded by loved ones, because of social distancing people are dying alone, and to the person I talked to that was the worst part of it.  This perspective was one I hadn’t really thought about and convinced me that social distancing and wearing a mask was a relatively small price to pay for sparing someone a painful death away from loved ones.  Just my two cents.

We have been going more places though, and with the help of Kelly and Bill purchased something for Cori and Greg.  As you know Hobie passed away a few weeks ago and the four of us wanted to do something for them.  It took some effort with social distancing but we were able to purchase a memorial and have it engraved.  We picked it up from the artist and put our money in cash under a rock, which was sort of funny, but totally safe.  I loved the way it turned out and really appreciated the job they did.

 

 

Mother’s Day was next and that was a hard day for me.  I am often away from my family on Mother’s Day but would have loved to have been with my daughter for HER first mothers day.  We skyped and I got to speak to all three of my kids which is one bonus for me of Covid.  Two of them work in restaurants and usually work a double on Mother’s Day but they were home and we were able to talk together. And my oldest sent me one of my all time favorite presents, a Oliver blanket that says Best Grandma Ever.  Made me cry.

 

Speaking of social media we finally got to try Zoom and we all got together for a family chat. It was super fun and thanks to my youngest daughter for getting us organized.  Lee put it up on our TV screen which was great as I could actually see their faces.

 

The next couple of weeks were crazy busy with work because we were put on a big project.  That was great because these are uncertain times and it’s always good to be working on something high profile.  It was long days though and it was pretty intense so I was thrilled when the three day Memorial day weekend occurred.  Unfortunately we all decided there wasn’t much we could do outside that would allow for social distancing so we are all staying close to home base and waiting it out.  The small town near us is on the river and the tubing crowds have been heavy all week.  The out of towners are not wearing masks or social distancing so it’s best to just stay away.  I was super impressed by how many businesses just closed down for the weekend to protect their employees but some need the revenue desperately.  I appreciate that they are trying to keep their employees safe as best they can, but wonder how many folks will end up getting sick from this one weekend.

Staying in place really isn’t that awful especially with friends like Cori and Greg.  My main complaint is I still can’t get a haircut and after seeing the new story about the people in Missouri, I feel like I need to continue waiting on that.  Texas hit their peak on May 15th, so we want to wait at least two weeks before doing anything that requires close contact.  On the plus side staying home is definitely helping us save money and we are putting some more money in savings.  That’s good because next week I will find out if I am one of the people being laid off.  A major restructure in our company is happening next week and it’s hard to tell who will be on the final list.  I feel I have done everything I can to show I am a person worth keeping but being relatively new and having a newer boss I just don’t have total confidence.  Whatever happens will definitely determine what our next steps our, so all plans are in jello until then.

In the meantime we continue to stay safe as best we can and keep saving just in case.  Take care everyone and hopefully talk soon.

 

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