Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Here in Wisconsin we are officially under a "safer at home" order. It's exactly the same as a "shelter in place" order but apparently our governor thought "safer at home" sounded less threatening. I went out yesterday to run errands (groceries, pick up dry cleaning) so I guess I'm good. My husband's a doctor so needless to say he's still going to work. At least the weather's nice today for my State-Approved Singular Daily Walk.

Jackie wrote: "Here in Wisconsin we are officially under a "safer at home" order. It's exactly the same as a "shelter in place" order but apparently our governor thought "safer at home" sounded less threatening. ..."

State-Approved Singular Daily Walk... LOOOOVE IT. So Orwellian, though that would be Party-Approved I guess.

My wife and I take a daily walk around our neighborhood. I swear more people are taking walks in our neighborhood than ever. She and I walk a lot, but there are a lot of people we don't recognize from our usual walks. Even our next door neighbor who we've NEVER seen take a walk in the 5 years we've lived there has started to do it. I guess being cooped up all day is getting to us all. It was raining the other day so we were really disappointed because it's not like we could go to the mall or a store and walk around while staying dry.

I saw about 6 people playing volleyball on the street yesterday. While they were all about 6 feet apart, they were all touching the same volleyball. So all I can say is I hope they were all from the same household.

Four weeks and counting. At least I am not bored with all the farmwork and garden stuff to do. But it would be nice to see someone face to face. And I need groceries now. I thot I was doing good having 4 weeks worth at home but running out of fresh stuff. Ah well, Bite the bullet. But I do think about a few things; Starbucks, getting my haircut, shopping and hugs.

I just had my first Zoom meeting on my computer!!! First face I have seen in almost 2 weeks, although I can hear my neighbors upstairs and down moving around in their houses.

We're 'allowed' to still do outdoor exercise so my husband and I walked over some baked goods to my in-laws. We were quite the sight, with our arms full of muffins, containers of cinnamon apples etc lol. A county sheriffs car passed us and I did get a bit nervous, but we were 'delivering food to the elderly' so I had my excuse ready LOL.

My mother-in-law did Shipt for the first time today and I was able to tack on gallons of milk to her order, picked them up this afternoon from her house. That's all we need for at least two weeks so I'm feeling ok with staying at home. I did lysol the milk containers on my back porch before bringing them in though :p

Hubby heard from his boss yesterday and no work at all this week sigh.... supposedly he's supposed to get in 30 hours from home next week so we're not bothering with filing for unemployment, for this week. Not getting a paycheck is going to suck next week, but hopefully it's just for the one week, and hey our government is going to send us all money so it's all good ha :p :)

In wonderful news, the state of Wisconsin is allowing at least some breweries to be counted as 'Essential' businesses (because of course beer is essential in WI). It's curbside pick up only, but hey we'll take it. More than wanting beer, we just want to help our favorite places keep the lights on. We bought a digital gift card from them too in the hopes that it carries them through this.

I received some good news 2 weeks ago. I had entered a local music store’s FaceBook contest to win one of 40 ukuleles and I won one! I was finally able to pick it up yesterday (our retail stores are still closed) and am starting to play it today. I took lessons with a uke from the library back in the fall but had held off on buying one. So glad I waited! By the end of April, when our stay at home order ends, I should be fairly proficient!

Yay Pam! I asked for one for Christmas’s, and now being in lockdown have finally had some time to start playing. It’s so much fun!

Pam wrote: "I received some good news 2 weeks ago. I had entered a local music store’s FaceBook contest to win one of 40 ukuleles and I won one! I was finally able to pick it up yesterday (our retail stores ar..."

Fun!

Pam wrote: "I received some good news 2 weeks ago. I had entered a local music store’s FaceBook contest to win one of 40 ukuleles and I won one! I was finally able to pick it up yesterday (our retail stores ar..."

That sounds like so much fun!

Six and a half weeks. Going crazy even tho there is lots to do around here, it would be nice to talk to a real person. Well I broke out yesterday. I really needed to get to the hardware or garden store. I mean I raise fruit and vegetables for a living. It's my work right? Well a local store had all their flower and veggie starts on racks in the parking lot, so people didn't have to be close together, and u could pay outside. Well I wore a mask and gloves and went. I quickly bought 150 dollars worth of stuff i needed. It was the mental break I needed. But I still feel like I did something wrong. But man, it felt sooo good.

Ann, it sounds like you followed the rules, and supported a business! I think that's a win all the way around.

Ann wrote: "Six and a half weeks. Going crazy even tho there is lots to do around here, it would be nice to talk to a real person. Well I broke out yesterday. I really needed to get to the hardware or garden s..."

Our stay at home order got extended for 3 more weeks, til May 1st. 3/4 weeks down, 3 to go, and then things will be re-evaluated again. Greenhouses aren't allowed to open, though they've been trying to get an exemption, and big stores that were selling flowers/gardening stuff up to now, (Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart etc), have to shut down those departments, along with furniture, paint, flooring etc., starting today.

Our numbers are really climbing now so I understand the additional restrictions, but friends/family are completely melting down over not being able to buy flowers and such right now. Not quite sure why, since it's really too early to plant yet anyways (we're still getting down below freezing at night). We have starter veggie plants going, but we bring them in at night, (from seed that we bought earlier).

Think people's emotions are just running high right now and this is giving them something to focus on/direct their anger and frustration at. Starting today we're also not allowed to go to family/friends houses at all. We're watching a friend's rabbit/bunnies and she wants to pick them up this weekend, and I'm like you're going to be on youtube being arrested with bunnies falling out of your pockets LOL :)

We found out a few days ago the retirement community my husband's grandparents live at now have confirmed cases. It's really starting to pick up steam in our area, up till now it's been mostly on the other side of the state but it's now coming this way sigh....

Ya, here they closed greenhouses but it didnt last. Too many agriculturalists depend on them. So they reopened with restrictions. I was proud to see all the plants out in the parking lot and one way lines and lots of masked people to help. Only saw one other couple and they were masked also.

Oh yeah, weather is ok for spinach, lettuce, peas, onions and cruciferous here. I started my seed for Cauliflower and cabbage etc... but the slugs got my first planting quite a bit. They shouldn't have because they are covered with remay. I have a third planting ready to go, but needed a second planting to fill the gap. They had them just the right size. Also needed a few things for the senior center pea patch which I hadn't counted on. And then bird seed. When I planned on four weeks of isolation I bought stuff for me and the dogs. Never thought of the wild birds and they are pissed. Tomorrow they will be happy.

I’ve heard that some communities are restricting sales of certain items at box stores like Target and Lowe’s. Not here, though. My neighbor told me he’s been going to Lowe’s twice a day! He’s so bored. I wanted to tell him that he’s contributing to the problem, but I didn’t. I haven’t been anywhere except one trip to Walgreens and my PO Box. Our daughter has been doing the grocery shopping. My son-in-law in Iowa sent us some home-made masks that a friend of his made. I’m very grateful since there have been none available in stores for months!

The neighbors have been shopping for me and that is grand. But you know how it is? You want to go yourself and get all the extras you impulse buy. And how important is chocolate and chips? But I am eating what I have and doing good with an occasional fresh veg and fruit pick up by my neighbors. But the garden store is different. Six weeks without seeing flowers is killer. Worse than no chocolate.

Pam wrote: "I’ve heard that some communities are restricting sales of certain items at box stores like Target and Lowe’s. Not here, though. My neighbor told me he’s been going to Lowe’s twice a day! He’s so bo..."

All of MI now has those restrictions, starting today. Our govenor made the updated announcement on Thursday at 3pm and there were reports of stores completely overrun with people within the hour, trying to get paint and the other things listed as a non-essential/department closing :/ With as many cases now being reported, so many people put themselves at risk by running out- crazy! Our big local grocery store chain is Meijer, (very similar to Walmart), and they released to the media a couple days ago that at least 3 of their stores have confirmed employees. One is 20 minutes away from me. Husband's grandparents retirement community is less than 15 away from us, that has cases, and is in complete lock-down now.

We've hunkered down pretty tight over the last few weeks, I've only gone out to get groceries twice and I went to a local place that I was able to place my order online and just walk into the store a few steps, to their pick-up desk. It's a store that caters more towards businesses and sells a lot of bulk. I'm now working through my 50lb bag of bread flour LOL. I've gained 6lbs already since this whole thing has started ugh....

I’ve only gone out for groceries once in the last two weeks. I’m definitely feeling the tension and restlessness. My husband and I live in a tiny one bedroom apartment so both of us working at home has been a treat

I broke down and bought a Nintendo Switch so I’m hoping that gets here ASAP. I was very tempted to try and get some sort of flowers last weekend but I know it’s going to be below freezing here and there.

Laura wrote: "I’ve only gone out for groceries once in the last two weeks. I’m definitely feeling the tension and restlessness. My husband and I live in a tiny one bedroom apartment so both of us working at home..."

Oh yikes, I'd go crazy if my husband wasn't outside most of the time working on our house renovations, lol. We live in a 150 year old house that needs to be completely re-done. We bought it as a long time investment with a lot of sweat equity factored in :)

Kids are getting bored and I miss going to the library! Didn't realize how much it was a part of my life, until it closed sigh...

I went out for groceries a couple times earlier on but now have started ordering for pickup outside the store. It works if you can order 5 days ahead and if you are flexible about what you get. Also some smaller grocery stores will let you call and order a few things, then come over and they will bring the bag out to you.

As far as essential stores being open or closed, I am wondering about big stores like Target and Walmart. They sell groceries and have pharmacies, so they have to be open, but I suppose people could just browse the rest of the store for clothes, toys, etc. (unless they block that off, but I think that would be hard.)

My husband and I live in a small house, one bedroom plus study. (Which means if one of us gets sick, there's nowhere to isolate, I figure it would be too late at that point anyway and we'd both have to suffer.) We have gotten some privacy from the fact that we tend to sleep different hours, which was always the case. Also lately one of us may be on a Zoom call with a group for an hour at a time. And when the weather is nice, I can get out walking and listen to an audiobook.

Our targets and walmarts are allowed to be open but have to block off anything but groceries and pharmacy. For some of them it isnt worth it and they close.

Our supermarkets that sell clothes and household goods are still selling them along with groceries. The number of customers are limited, so as some go out, others are allowed in. Seems to be working ok and although we are standing 2 meters apart queuing to go in, people are still talking to each other.

Laura wrote: "I’ve only gone out for groceries once in the last two weeks. I’m definitely feeling the tension and restlessness. My husband and I live in a tiny one bedroom apartment so both of us working at home..."

Have fun with your new switch! My fav games are Breath of the Wild for the feeling of exploration and Animal Crossing, which I have been playing practically nonstop because I'm addicted it's so chill. :)

Jackie wrote: "Laura wrote: "I’ve only gone out for groceries once in the last two weeks. I’m definitely feeling the tension and restlessness. My husband and I live in a tiny one bedroom apartment so both of us w..."

I may or may not have bought it just for the Animal Crossing 😂

But a friend also recommended Breath of the Wild and I’m pretty excited to play that the class Nintendo games. I just really want it to release an N64 pack with Diddy Kong Racing. Oh the nostalgia!

My daughter just decided to spend all of her money she had saved up in her bank account and bought a Switch, along with Animal Crossing and one of the Pokémon games. They’re sending the games, but not the Switch as they are out of stock. Poor bugger. 😂

Oh no! Poor Spider... those games will just taunt her haha.

I've been playing Mario Party on our switch 😂 I thought about getting Animal Crossing, but $60 just seems a bit much for a game that I'm not sure I'll enjoy.

Just listened to a streaming concert that Andrea Bocelli did from Milan, for Easter. Really beautiful, and I bet it is on Utube if you like that sort of concert.

I’ve been listening to a lot of live music shows on FB and Instagram! I have one friend who has been doing a show every 3-4 days. It’s been great! I’ve also been working on my genealogy research. One of my new DNA matches, who lives in Ukraine, contacted me and we’ve been emailing each other the last few days. I’m excited to meet a Ukrainian cousin and hope that he will be able to help me solve the mystery of one of my East European family lines!

Pam wrote: "I’ve been listening to a lot of live music shows on FB and Instagram! I have one friend who has been doing a show every 3-4 days. It’s been great! I’ve also been working on my genealogy research. O..."
Way cool. I was doing my genealogy which led to Germany. A relative there had already down German ancestry and sent me the family tree. It went back to 1653 and saved me a lot of work.

I'm really loving the artists embracing live stream concerts or short sets right now on social media. It's a nice kind of community building thing. One of my favorite radio stations to stream of WWOZ out of New Orleans and they always have like a 5 minute long "here's who's playing tonight in New Orleans" calendar, but now they're directing you to their website to find out what New Orleans connected artists are having live streams tonight. I'm also loving that with no live sports, networks are re-airing classic games. My brothers, father, and I will text about these names we haven't thought of in a decade and relive the moments.

And on an very happy personal note... despite all the worries with the state shutting down, we were able to list our house two weeks ago, and got an offer on it days later! We just signed contracts on Friday. It worked out amazingly. It was certainly nerve racking because we would have to scrub everything with Lysol after every showing, but we survived. So now the countdown is on to June when we move to our new house and leave this one!

That's wonderful news about the house, Steve!

Glad to hear your good news news Steve!

We had snow flurries most of the day yesterday! It was too warm to stick on the roads but I took an enjoyable walk with my 3 year old grandson. He loved it!

Great news Steve!!

Well I'm going into battle this morning-heading to the grocery store, LOL. I placed an online order so I just have to walk in a few steps to the pick-up desk, so very little interaction/breathing other people's air :p We've done this a couple times already and it's worked well, but the whole thing is stressful and exhausting. When I get home I'll spend almost an hour disinfecting everything, washing clothes/showering etc. I also put in a larger order, which is a logistics hassle, but this will get us through the next 2.5 weeks, which is when our current stay-at-home order expires. Hopefully by that time things will be looking a bit more hopeful!

ZeeJane wrote: "Great news Steve!!

Well I'm going into battle this morning-heading to the grocery store, LOL. I placed an online order so I just have to walk in a few steps to the pick-up desk, so very little int..."

Here's hoping you get everything you ordered! We're having such a ridiculous time with "substitutions" and "sorry, we don't have that in stock" at the last minute. Yesterday's Walmart order went okay except we couldn't order a few things we needed online and they somehow accidentally gave us someone else's tater tots? Not going to complain about free tots, though.

My mom said her local supermarket didn't have American cheese at the deli so they substituted it with Muenster. Uh... Not quite equivalent!

Walmart has been awful with their stock. I started with them and there would be so many things out of stock that I would have to do a regular shopping trip at Kroger anyway. I’m trying Kroger pick up next time. Here’s hoping it will allow me to just stick to pick-up-only.

The biggest thing I’ve struggled with is my oat milk. I run out way faster than my planned grocery trips. I really need to just brave making my own...

We are both retired so there is very little change for us. My Cajun hubby is 65 and I am 58 with weakened immune system so that puts us in the high risk for getting COVID 19. I do all the shopping, so I only am shopping on Thursday mornings, geared with N95 mask and medical/food grade gloves, on the hours the grocery stores set aside for seniors and persons with disabilities and/or weakened immune systems.

Cheryl, where are you living? I'm from Louisiana -- Cajun country!

Emily wrote: "Cheryl, where are you living? I'm from Louisiana -- Cajun country!"

We are in San Angelo, Texas, but my Cajun hubby grew up (and we lived there for quite a few years) in the Morgan City and Bayou L'Ourse areas.

Where are you living now and where are you from in Louisiana?

ZeeJane wrote: "Great news Steve!!

Well I'm going into battle this morning-heading to the grocery store, LOL. I placed an online order so I just have to walk in a few steps to the pick-up desk, so very little int..."

Being in a car-intensive area, we can now order online, stay in our car and call or text or just hold our pickup number up to the car window. The employees of the store will put the groceries in our trunk. I had a couple weird substitutions this week but in general it is working ok. I just have to order about 5 days ahead which is a new thing for me. In the old world, I used to wonder about people who got deliveries or pickup, as I like to browse the store and touch things. I look forward to being able to do that again some day. The first couple weeks I did go to the store during "senior hours" but it was actually kind of busy and we had to use the self-checkout. I always have issues with that and need help anyway, so it was kind of slow and laborious. We think we are in the most dangerous time now so I switched to pickup. My daughter, who has a compromised immune system, has been able to get deliveries.

I think we will go through a time when many people will be out but those in the vulnerable categories will still have to be cautious. My daughter missed out on a lot of activities over the winter for cancer treatments. At the moment, she is doing ok, but as soon as she finished treatment in March, everything started shutting down, and she will probably be confined for a long time. She is very social, so at least there is online contact. And I am concerned that is she needs more treatments, she will have to return to the clinic or hospital, which is a bad place to be these days.

ZeeJane wrote: "Great news Steve!!

Well I'm going into battle this morning-heading to the grocery store, LOL. I placed an online order so I just have to walk in a few steps to the pick-up desk, so very little int..."

I work at a pediatricians office and feel much safer at work than at the grocery store. We control who comes into the office, no one with a fever, cough or shortness of breath, unlike being among others in the store.

Hubby's boss called a couple days ago and their small company was able to get part of the federal stimulus small business loan/grant program, yay! So as of yesterday my husband is back on the clock, working from home for the time being. And, they had to backdate everything a week, so we're getting a paycheck today-the first in over a month!!! Every employee does have to take a pay cut for the rest of the year as part of the deal but we get a paycheck every week now AND our health insurance benefits continue, which were going to end at the end of this month. So freakin' happy right now! I wasn't expecting a paycheck for at least 3-4 more weeks so I'm looking at the deposit and it feels like a million dollars, lol. So many things to catch up on now ugh, lol.

And I'm going to try Instacart for the first time today, found out they deliver to us, (even though we're in a more rural area), and they shop at Aldi, which is my go-to grocery store! There's fees/a tip but even with this, matched with Aldi low prices it's still going to be cheaper than the other store I've been using through our stay-at-home order. And they bring it to my house :)

And then our governor did a press conference yesterday and was cautiously optimistic, but she said we'll most likely have to extend our stay-at-home order, which is set to expire next Friday, for at least a little bit longer, (would be second extension). People are going to completely freak out if that happens, so much anger right now on social media etc. But, my family is taking the virus pretty seriously and we won't be resuming normal routines for a long time anyways, so if it's extended or not extended it's not really going to matter for us at this time. But, my son's 12th birthday is on May 16 and I'd be so happy if the stay-at-home was modified by then, so we could invite his best friend and his family over for a cookout/cake. Keeping fingers crossed!

ZeeJane, I'm so happy for all of your good news! My husband is a CPA and he's been helping people from all over the country get access to these loans... it's been so gratifying to see all of our friends who own businesses get access to these funds.

Our governor is cautiously optimistic too, and announced that he expects to start allowing elective surgeries and medical practices to start back up again in early May. We have a huge healthcare sector in my town, so that will mean a lot for the folks around here. We've already had school cancelled for the rest of the year, so I don't have to go into work until August, but we are still doing remote learning, so I'm getting to see my kids in virtual class every day. I can't lie.. it's been pretty nice to wake up and get a workout in before school starts at 9 haha.

ZeeJane, that's so exciting! I know how fortunate I am that my husband and I are both able to work from home. Potential layoffs are always in the back of my mind with my job. Even though I work for a mental health non-profit, we're not immune and our associate director got let go at the beginning of this. Luckily, I'm revenue-producing since I'm a therapist so I'm hoping I'll be safe to ride it out.

Emily, what workouts do you do? I desperately need to get into a fitness routine.

I just started running. I decided a few weeks ago that I would set a goal to run a half marathon next year (we have a local one that my boss organizes). So I downloaded the Couch to 5K app and have been using that as my guide. It's been really good for my mental health and sanity lol.

Emily wrote: "I just started running. I decided a few weeks ago that I would set a goal to run a half marathon next year (we have a local one that my boss organizes). So I downloaded the Couch to 5K app and have..."

Awesome goal!! I highly recommend Hal Higdon's training plans once you get into full training mode for the half: https://www.halhigdon.com/training/ha... (He has an app and programs you can pay for, but he also has free programs on his site). They're very beginner friendly and as a former college cross country runner, I think they're well constructed physiologically. He has other distances, too, including the 5K, but I know a lot of people have had success with Couch to 5K as a program.

I've done 5 halfs. I was hoping to work myself back into shape for one in the fall but then, you know...everything happened. I doubt we'll see major races this year sadly. I've been such a lump lately... I should start running again but it's frustrating (and frankly, embarrassing) to basically start from scratch on something I did well a decade ago!

ZeeJane wrote: "Hubby's boss called a couple days ago and their small company was able to get part of the federal stimulus small business loan/grant program, yay! So as of yesterday my husband is back on the clock..."

Great News!!!!!

And I'm going to try Instacart for the first time today
I did Instacart for the first time this week. It took a few days to get my order, but at least it was only 3 days, not 3 weeks like last time. I had so much fun with my shopper. They will text you as they are shopping to let you know if something is out of stock or if they want to use a different product. My shopper was sending me pictures of the half empty shelves and what was available as he was going through the aisles. Lots of LOL's. They are working so hard!! And I scored just about everything I ordered including Nyquil and 2 ROLLS OF TOILET PAPER!!!!!!!!!!

After 5 weeks I went grocery shopping this morning WAY early. No one there. Two grocery carts and 700 dollars later I can eat again. Sometimes I think shopping therapy is important for mental health. Especially since Amazon told me chocolate was not a high need item?

Amazon is clearly wrong.