Please tell me I’m not the only one who has done things because of Covid. I mean apart from the obvious mask wearing, psycho hand sanitizing, obsession with toilet paper, Lysol wiper of steering wheel, etc. I am referring to the things in recent history that don’t really make sense and can only be blamed on a pandemic.
Like for instance … my pantry obsession. After weeks of staying cooped up in our home, which thankfully I already liked, I happened upon an organizer on Instagram that lured me with her perfectly tidy and labeled pantries. I had always wanted a walk in pantry ( I dream BIG) and finally have one. Unfortunately the reality is that it ends up a dumping ground thanks to the door we can quickly close.
Side note.. several times as I wrote the above paragraph I mistyped panty for pantry. That would have given you quite a different picture, huh?
Anyway, back to my pantry.
I became focused on taming that bad boy and suddenly I had a new fixation apart from making my own Lysol wipes. As it turned out, other people must have had similar ideas coupled with the slow down of internet orders and I had to come to terms with the fact that this wasn’t going to be done in a week. I was shooting for June.
I’m happy to report my Pandemic Pantry is now complete!
I want to thank for my husband for footing the bill.
I want to thank my kids for stopping at Walmart several 100 times just so I could run in and see if they had the Better Homes and Gardens containers I was looking for.
I want to thank Jancee for her inspiration and creating a diversion for the sake of my sanity and that of my family that lives with me.
I want to thank The Container Store. I can’t wait to wander your aisles in person.
Covid is also to blame for us suddenly having a dog. I really don’t know how it’s a pandemic’s fault and if it wouldn’t have happened otherwise but I feel comfortable assigning it blame as it’s so out of step with our normal. I always said I would only have a dog if it didn’t pee, poop, chew, bite, or shed. In other words, it ain’t going to happen. Having said that I do consider myself a dog person. I grew up with them and realize what a blessing they can be. I also remember what a terror they were coupled with an experience with a roommate I had when her puppy peed over every square inch of the apartment we shared. That did it for my doggy desire.
While we live in a fairly respectable community in rural East Texas complete with a gate to give it an extra air of sophistication, across the street from said gate is quite a different story. The fellow who resides over there lives in a worn out trailer with no running water and has CD’s dangling from his trees to reflect the microwaves he’s convinced the government is trying to control him with. If you’re smart you’ll want to keep from moseying on over there unless you want to get shot.
On this particular pandemic day last week, there were four puppies wandering and playing outside his property. The puppies were obviously not being taken care of. Another man had stopped to pull over after he almost ran over them with his truck. Wayne stopped too and they wondered what to do about it. They both saw our interesting neighbor standing at the fence and felt comfortable enough to approach him about the matter. He had no interest in keeping the puppies, waved them off with a “do whatever you want with them”, and proceeded to share his conspiracy theories with his new audience. After giving him the proper time to vent his rants, the guys took their leave and Wayne called me up to come over and decide what to do.
Before I knew it and despite my huge hesitation, I was in the car holding him on my lap with his head resting on my shoulder with me praying he wouldn’t pee on me.
This little Pandemic Puppy acts like he knows I’m waiting for an excuse to send him on his way (in a humane way!) He’s responded to going potty outside. Lives comfortably on our screened in porch. Happily chews the puppy toys he’s given. Sheds minimally. Is happy go lucky. Found in a ditch, he’s perfectly content with any attention we give him. He’s used to drinking water puddles and eating the bugs he finds so his current life is pretty luxurious! We’ve named him Buddy. It’s not exactly original but maybe we needed something we recognize during a time almost unrecognizable to the one we had a few month ago. Maybe we just needed a Buddy.
Covid is also to blame for the copious amount of time spent in my kitchen cooking and baking because what else is there to do? I couldn’t really go anywhere other than the grocery store so it’s been all about food for most of us, right? If we didn’t before we now appreciate all the more the farmers, meat packing employees, supply chain, truck drivers, and grocery store workers. So it only makes sense that Covid made me sign up as a Consultant for Epicure.
Epicure is an MLM which I swore I’d never do after my short stint with Sunset Gourmet. I still don’t want to do it. My motivation came from wanting it’s food products. I had used some of it in Canada and stocked up on a few jars of spices before we left. It only recently came to the US and has been going and growing like crazy especially since Covid and everyone suddenly is home and cooking. My Consultant in Canada offered me the starting kit which was a STEAL and a no brainer to my pocket book. So now I’m sharing Epicure with friends here if they’re interested and everyone wins because everyone needs to eat and we’re all sick of eating the same thing. So there you go. Now I have a Covid side hustle. (a good one!)
We’ve also had our family Pandemic Pictures taken thanks to Covid. The only reason we were able to do this was because Will was home from school when normally he would be away. Usually by the time he gets home for the summer it’s so stinking hot outside that you don’t want your photo taken unless you’re going for the sweaty look. I’m thrilled we had this opportunity and super excited with the results. It represents a lot of changes for our little family
- Will enlisting with the Army National Guard and going through Basic Training for 10 weeks this summer. He starts his Junior Year of MLC in the fall, Lord-willing.
- Zanna finishing Halldorson Homeschool and off to LPS in the fall, Lord-willing.
- Me retiring from 15 years of homeschooling and having no idea what to do next (mid life crisis)
- Wayne and I becoming empty nesters
Yes, Covid is to blame for much more than the obvious sicknesses, economic shutdowns, and mortality rates. That’s the big stuff and we fervently pray that this scourge would be lifted as soon as possible. We continue to pray for our leaders that govern, those that are sick, the families of the dying, huge job loss, etc. But it’s changed and affected everyone in a million little and big ways, good and bad, with blessings and challenges.
Right now if there’s something you just can’t explain go ahead and blame Covid. Like when I thought I would bake sourdough bread and ended up throwing it away because pandemic or no pandemic, ain't nobody got time for that!!!
