Social Distancing Diaries: Day 367

Dear Diary

What a contrast to a year ago! Remember the Facebook posts: “The Giant in Middletown has toilet paper!” “The Weis in Mount Joy has hand sanitizer!”

8:15am: I left the house for a quick drop off of artwork and a reading project at the Junior High. Then on to my dentist appointment. When I was 14 my front tooth was knocked out by a softball. The entire tooth was reinserted into the gum and I was told it could last me for 30 years. Apparently the tooth was listening because at the 30 year mark it gave up the ghost. I’ve been taking the leisurely route to getting an implant and I am finally on the home stretch. Two weeks from today I will be finished with the process and I will have a brand new front tooth! COVID Bonus: wearing a mask hides the fact of my missing front tooth! If you ever have to go without a front tooth, be sure to time it during a pandemic.

Sharp Shopper came through for us!

10:30am: Lily is feeling nostalgic for the early days of lockdown (words I never imagined uttering). Today she made herself a whipped coffee. Remember the whipped coffee fad from last spring? It explains why I have a massive jar of decaffeinated instant coffee in my cupboard. I can think of no other reason on earth why I would buy decaffeinated instant coffee, so whip it up, Baby!

What fads did your family fall victim to? Some of you are Tik Tok stars and you know it. We want you to fess up! Some of you are frantically still trying to keep the sourdough alive on your kitchen counter but you just. can’t. eat. any. more. bread. Perhaps you like-minded reformed bakers could form a Post-Sourdough Support Group. Listen to me: It is NOT a pet. You can let it go. It is a living thing but it lacks a nervous system, so it does not feel pain. I just Googled that.

10:30-12: I sewed. This is my happy place and now that my studio has been renovated it’s even better to spend time there. I’m making a patchwork comforter like a Grandma used to make. I’ve never made one before, which sounds a little incredible. I became nostalgic for Grandma’s blankets and decided to try my hand at it. We still have one blanket that Grandma made. Her’s looks way better than mine will!

12:30-1:00: I helped Eden with Biology. This should be enjoyable as I went to college to be a biology teacher. Overall I’m thankful that I have the training so I’m not scared off by cellular respiration or phospholipid bilayers. “Enjoyable” may not be the best description, but I am indeed grateful that I can help. Unlike her Web Development class last spring! There was no way on earth I could help her with that and it was traumatic for both of us!

Beats keep me sane. Sometimes I listen to something. Sometimes they just make the sound level in the house tolerable.

Later this evening the girls and I will be heading to Sharp Shopper, the discount grocery outlet. It’s hilarious how much they like to go to Sharp Shopper with me! After one trip this summer they were amazed that “Mom said ‘Yes’ to everything we asked for!” While that is a bit of an exaggeration, it’s much easier to say “Yes” to the snacks when they cost a fraction of the regular retail price. The tricky thing with Sharp Shopper is that you never know what they’ll have. And if you take a chance with a product you never tried before and you end up loving it, you probably won’t ever find it again. And if you think you’ll love it and buy a case of it, you realize the box it’s in is probably tastier than the product. And if you send your husband to Sharp Shopper he will text, call, or FaceTime you throughout the entire store, comparing quantities and prices of a bazillion different brands of granola bars, asking which ones you want and how many boxes. But alas, it’s so nice of him to go!

Grocery shopping sure has changed! A few weeks in to the pandemic there were new safety measures in place every time I went—plexiglass shields, one way directional signs, being directed to which check-out line is available, etc… It felt stressful just to food shop! I would go at 8am to avoid large crowds and I wouldn’t bring the kids with me to minimize their exposure. Then over the summer those safety measures began to melt away. Now it’s pretty much a free for all. I have no idea if my cart has been sanitized and most of the time the wipes container is empty. I’m so confused if I should load my groceries onto the belt as the person 6 feet in front of me is checking out or if I should wait to be directed to do so like the sign says! Some of the efforts seem really silly, like sanitizing the conveyor belt between customers, as if my box of pasta was infected. Meanwhile the credit card keypad gets touched customer after customer. Oy!

Like I said yesterday, 2020s Mantra: We’re all just doing our best!