DONE WITH QUARANTINE!!! I'M OUT OF HERE!!!

 Well, not out of here as quickly as you'd think...  I DO work from home.

BUT!!!!  I have a booster shot this afternoon and if all goes well, my bestie's birthday tomorrow.

I thought for sure my quarantine would last until Saturday but then was on a DUO call with Maddy last night and she asked how Bible study was. Ummmm ...  MOM!!!  IT'S DONE! and YAY!

and to think... If I'd only known a couple hours earlier I wouldn't have turned down a supper invite with a couple friends. sigh.  Oh well.  I got some sewing in last night and am ALMOST ready to show you what it looks like.

In the meanwhile... I finally got around to do my mid-month bills yesterday and when I got done with that I was feeling all powerful (poor but powerful) and started sorting off the many many things that got stacked on my desk in the last several months.  

There are days when I work remotely from my telecommuting desktop and don't see my office for weeks at a time.  And when I do, I wonder why I even work out there in the cold office off the garage.  SURE there's a heater, but it's downright cold until it warms things up.  and it contains a bulk of my fabric stash.  Sluggy knows that...  

So yesterday was THE day.  For at least making a start.

LOOK what I found!!!

An ice scraper wedding favor from a college friends wedding in 2004.  hmm..  I suppose that means more snow is coming.  I also just heard she's retiring after this school year.  We're too young for that!

I also found THIS in my mom's handwriting!

My mom sewed so many things but it must have been after I went to bed.  I don't remember her sewing during the days...  It was for my youngest sister and was SO cute on her!

I can't find a picture of her wearing it so here is the next best thing.  She's the youngest.  I'm the one on the far right holding up a book.

Anyway, back to work.  Have to figure out a few miracles before the end of the day IF I survive my booster...

Quarantine Day 4 (6?) Stir Crazy and Irish Colcannon recipe

 It snowed overnight.  Not by much, maybe an inch or so. If I FEEL like it, I'll go out and shovel a bit.  Or send one of the strapping young men in my house out, if I can pull them away from school or a Dune book.  Eh, I'd rather do it myself.

A recipe I found on a rebel canning group that I want to see if I can (can) do this weekend.

Irish Colcannon!!!

Yesterday was beautiful, 50s.  I went on a little excursion!!!!  As I left town, I passed Jen!  lol!  She actually lives in our house and has Covid.  I thought I'd seen her leave earlier...  Didn't know where she had gone, but I'm not in charge of her.  She must have felt awkward as we waved in passing so as soon as she got home, she texted me. "I just needed to get out of the house and drive around a little!"

and I totally got that!!!  That's why I was heading out too.  I went to the county health facility to pick up some free at home Covid tests.  They're the PCR type.  I pulled up into their parking lot and called them.  After a little questioning about who in my house is showing symptoms and do I really need 5, they brought them out and popped them in the back of my minivan as if I was picking up groceries.

easy peasy.  Then went back home where we made everyone spit into some vials.  Then after packaging them all back up, I went on another excursion and dropped them all off back at the closest UPS drop off.

It was great getting out!!  I even had my window down a few times when I wasn't on the interstate. 

ahhhhh

I stopped at the cemetery and visited with Robb a little.  I knew a cold snap was coming and this might be the last time til March I could come out and have a sit down visit.  Wow I miss him.

Then back home.

As of this week, it's been exactly 24 years since we moved into this house.  So many memories.  So many dents in the walls.

I'm looking forward to the weekend.  I've sent some pictures of the items I've sewn lately to the leader of ASG and will be participating this month!  I've missed several of the last months, I'm sure they're wondering if I've given up sewing. NOPE.  Just got too much life in the way at the moment.

My mild sore throat from yesterday turned into nothing. YAY!  I cleared my throat yesterday, thinking THIS IS IT!  But I sucked down a Halls before bed and all is fine today.  

I do need to crack my back tho.  I might pull out my little roller thingy and let it do the cracking for me.  The trick is to find a big enough spot on the floor to do it easily without anyone seeing me.  I guess I'll rearrange my room a little today too.  to make room...

On with life.  Enjoy your weekend!

Day 3 Quarantine - or is it day 5?

 I'm so confused by how to count the days of when the quarantine started.  The symptoms for Jen started on Saturday or Sunday but she took the home test on Sunday and it was positive.

And what does that mean for me?  She just needs to test 5 days after her symptoms are over, but what about the rest of us?  Do we still stay in quarantine for 2 weeks or until tested Negative twice?  Because we can actually start symptoms up to 2 weeks after being exposed to it, right?  Help me out folks!

Anyway, enough of stuff I can't control...  and on to OTHER things I can't control...

Work.  You never know when some crisis will rear it's ugly head and Covid has made it REALLY hopping.  Shoot - Covid got an appearance again.

I watched part of Nacho Libre with Leon last night.  Not sure if he's into it yet, as I had to pause it a few times to hear about a game that he really likes.  Although the "stretchy pants" part made him giggle.  He DOES love stretchy pants... It may take a few weeks of quarantine to finish it.  Shoot.

Yesterday I got into my sewing room and threaded up the machine for the last red skirt flounce.  And then got sidetracked with the reels from Facebook.  That can really gobble up time, huh?  And then I lost my sewing mojo...  The ASG American Sewing Guild monthly meeting is on Zoom this weekend!!  At least I can attend this time remotely!  I'm hoping that kicks my mojo into gear.  Maybe I'll do some pinning while attending the meeting... I'd like to have the first sample dress completely done by the time quarantine is over. shoot.

Last night I was at a loss as to what to make for supper.  I had 1/3rd of a pork loin left that needed to be used up, lots of carrots that I was going to can and tons of other stuff.  Fried pork cutlets again??  Ryan suggested stir fry with the pork, carrots, green peppers, etc. hmmm  ok!  I started cutting the meat and then Ryan and Dylan (his renter friend also quarantined with us) came in and helped with the peppers and onions.  I thought that maybe we needed twice the sauce and that was a mistake (Too much soy sauce?) but they still gobbled it up and liked it.  Leon even liked it most except the carrots so he left a little pile and picked through the rest for the meat.  I don't know HOW to get veggies into him unless I puree it up and hide it in stuff. hmmm

His mom has Covid too so he'll still be at our house for next week as well.

I've got a table set up in the living room of Robb's computer stuff.  Ryan has been pulling some things apart and putting together another computer as well as trying to get a laptop we found in the storage units working.  It works, but we don't know the password nor how to reinstall the operating system.  He'll figure it out... Or I'll ask Robb's old co-workers for help.  We'll see what he can do by this weekend or whenever we get out of house arrest (quarantine).

Most of the Christmas decor is down.  Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus glow molds got tucked into the garage yesterday morning and the leg lamp got moved behind the big butt chair in the living room.  The only thing left is our Christmas card swirls on the dining room pillar.  I'd never done that before but always wanted to.  It worked out SO slick with little clampy things I had purchased for Meri's grad party to keep all her prom dresses and play costumes on the mannequins.  I had a ton of them.  

I might keep the card pillar up for a while.  And maybe do the same thing with all the cards we got to memorialize Robb's passing for that anniversary.  I can't believe it's almost a month away!  That idea will probably get shot down but we'll see.

AGGGHH!!  I may need to go change.  I THOUGHT this 3/4 sleeved flannel shirt would be perfect today but I'm already overheating in it. sigh.  I just checked the house temp and it's the same as it's always been... So hot flash it is!

Isn't life unpredictable?

Thanks Covid...

Day 2 of quarantine - Distraction Techniques

 I made sugar free jello in cute little half pint jars this morning.  I'm getting addicted to them with some sugar free whipped topping that we still have leftover from the holidays.  Don't remember exactly which one...

Last night I was determined to find some cottage cheese that I was positive we had in the fridge and mix it with some sugar free whipped topping and maybe some jello mix, but all I found was cottage cheese that had expired in October and was frozen...  and a cottage cheese container with rotten rotel in it.

I think my next cleaning binge needs to be the fridge.

Maddy and Matthew stopped by last night for a couple At Home Covid tests that I had.  I waved to them, yelling "I love you!"

A church friend stopped by for some winter tires he had stored in my garage.  I'd pulled them out earlier and yelled "How are you"s from the porch.

My socially distanced life is HOPPING!

I'm sure I'll be calling out people walking past just for someone new to talk to soon.

Streaming everything is becoming old... Everything at the tip of my fingers and nothing to watch.  And since I had some rabbit ears sitting there collecting dust, I decided to see what's happening in the real world.  I mean, HOW would I get an accurate picture of what the weather will be if I'm hearing it from Facebook who has NO idea where my podunk little town is?  I want to hear it from our local news people and see the moving radar screen for MY area.

SO...  I hooked the rabbit ears up and suddenly got a feeling of being in a hotel with no clue what channels are what.  And why are there so many channels about shopping, skin care and solving old mysteries?

SO.. I went one step further and plugged in an old Tivo that I found stuck in Robb's closet.  It had a lifetime membership on it so really was just plug and partially play. 

It used to be Meri's when she was a pre-teen.  It has Aquamarine, Walking Dead episodes and the 70s version of The Poseidon Adventure recorded on it!!

 Of course, that's when I realized it needs a digital/analog converter box.  I ordered one on Ebay and it'll be here Monday.

Woohoo!  I so miss the built in TV guide from my Tivo years!  

I can't wait to speed past the commercials again!  They still haven't improved much...

Well, back to work.  Need to write code to zip up specific files today in a timely fashion before I get distracted again...