The Virus Diary: Fri-Yay!

 

Its Friday, December 11th...there are only 20 more days left to this wretched year.  Many of us see Friday and call it Fri-Yay because it's the start of the weekend.  Of course this does not apply to those who work the weekends.   And these days, I'm not sure the weekends are worth celebrating.  Don't the days blur into each?  How do we know what day it is anyway?  (So my alarm doesn't go off on the weekends, but maybe it should?)

I am taking Fridays off in December. (Hence the Yay!)  Why?  Because I have too many vacation days left and I need to use up as many as I can or lose them.  Of course this time of year is busy for me professionally as well as personally, so I'm trying to balance it all out.  I know I will check into my office email probably sometime today.  I checked my email last weekend too (on Saturday) because I knew things would be crazy and I couldn't check in on Friday.  (I was at the Jersey shore doing some things with my parents.)  Sure enough, there were 70 or so emails in one day.  And then there were another 40 on Monday.  So I will be checking because I don't want Monday to hit me any harder in the face than it usually would.  (And it usually hits pretty hard.)

So how is my vacation day stacking up?  Perhaps I slept in?  You should know me better than that! I was actually awake BEFORE 3 a.m.!  It wasn't planned that way.  I woke up to the sounds of some music (hubby was awake and I think while scrolling through something on his phone this just happened; as it does all too often for us).  I tried to get back to sleep, but it just didn't work.  (Sigh.)  So I climbed out of bed around 3:30 and after doing a few things upstairs (like checking email), went downstairs, turned on the tv and did some stationary biking (actually portable exercise bike pedals) and watched Mom  reruns (because that's what I do).  Of course by 5 a.m. I was starting to get tired and wanted to climb back into bed, but that wasn't possible because it is Friday and that's grocery day.  I resolve to take a nap sometime today, but I wouldn't take any bets on that if I were you.

Hubby and I hit the grocery store right before opening (6 a.m.) and did our shopping.  I was surprised (and THRILLED) to find Lysol disinfectant spray in the cleaning aisle.  I hadn't seen that since...well I can't remember when, but it was definitely pre-pandemic! (A few weeks ago I bought a can of the Wish brand because I hadn't seen any disinfectant spray in any store since the beginning of this craziness and I figured I'd have it on hand just in case.)  I bought ONE can as well as one container of Clorox wipes since they had them.  I don't hoard, but I do like to have on hand.  With that and all the other items we bought (more meat than usual because they had most of what I was looking for), my bill was higher than usually (probably one of the highest I've ever had).  So much so that the lady in the line behind me (who we see every week and speak to even though I don't know her name) said that the amount was the same as her very first paycheck back in 1979.  (Gulp.)

Hubby and I have this shopping thing down pretty pat and even with difficult with produce bags we managed to get in and out in 35 minutes. (There has got to be a better way to bag up your produce!  Those plastic baggies just will NOT open and it takes more time trying to do that than it does to pick out the onions and place them in the bag!)  This gave us enough time to drop off groceries at my aunt's house in town doubling back to the physician's office where hubby was to have his quarterly lab work.  We got there way too early and sat in the car until five minutes before the hour.  Hubby went in and had to wait, but at least he was in the warm office, which I was in the cold car.  However, he was less comfortable than I because an older man (older than us) came in NOT WEARING A MASK!    How can you walk into a medical facility and NOT wear one during a pandemic.  Hubby overheard him tell the receptionist (behind the plastic barrier) that he didn't need one.  She told him the lab workers needed him to wear one and after some back and forth he took a disposable one from her and put it on, but not until AFTER he passed by my husband and sat nearby after he finally did don it.  Hubby knows his name (he heard the receptionist use his name) and I am tempted to call him by name (because I do have some local readers), but hubby told me it wasn't cool.  What isn't cool is NOT WEARING A MASK!   So I all I say is Mr. C***to...WEAR A FRICKIN' MASK!

We got home, unloaded the groceries, started a load of wash and still managed to see the Eye Opener at 8 (because you know I love CBS This Morning)  I have a lot planned for this "relaxing" vacation day.  More errands to run and some baking.

Yes, baking!  I'm going to try to make another batch of Almond Joy cookies. (Used this recipe on Tuesday night.)  My last batch was ok, but not very cookie like.  My son suggested I try instead to make them in a pan like bar cookies.  I think this might be a really good idea.  Now I just have to find the glass pan that I know that I have, but I don't know where I have it!  (This is a continual problem for me!  Sigh!)  I'm sure there will be a future blog post about the "joys" of making Almond Joy cookies as well as my traditional cinnamon sugar chocolate cookies which I make every Christmas since...well who the heck can remember when?  They are supposed to have eggs, but I use an egg replacer which kind of does the job, but they do sometimes end up flat and ugly.  However they are delicious.  If anyone has any suggestions on other egg replacers for cookies let me know soon because I'm baking!)

Then tonight I'll be listening in (again) to our high school's production of The War of The Worlds: The 1938 Radio Script.  Since this is a radio play, ANYONE ANYWHERE can listen.  (Yes, that means you.)  The pre-recorded show is "live" tonight at 7:30 p.m. and tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (all times are eastern standard) and only costs $5. (Yes, I'm doing a shameless plug:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/13TEIUmfvpaWsQUEoJL7Ez7M33hmQcWUSdc-h6hkJvXc/edit)  Turn off your lights and turn up your sound...be transported back to the days where radio was king.

As for that nap...maybe I'll get it.  Or not.  There's always next Friday...Yay!