Daily Ooo's: Monday, March 23

[faerywings]

Today's stress management technique is to relax the jaw. Take a deep breath, let it out slowly and drop your jaw. Now wiggle it a bit to the left and the right. Really relax it. Deep breath in and out.

Were you clenching your teeth? I was and didn't even realize it.

How was your "technical" weekend? I suppose you need to have a bit of a week to have an ending to it but "a weekend," it was.
I was in a funky mood yesterday. Just really "blah." I am sure that is going to come and go often.
I was mostly busy in the kitchen yesterday. I made the corned beef and the dog treats. Then the usual - laundry and such. My dogs seem "off" a bit too. W and Ray have had a bunch of accidents in the house over the last week or so. I guess that they aren't able to get out attention? Maybe they are nervous too, reading off our own stress? Anyone who has pets, have you noticed anything similar?

Gary asked the kids if they wanted to do anything after dinner last night, game or movie. I wasn't really up for a game but I am really happy that we played one anyway. We played Apples to Apples and Gary beat us by getting 21 green cards compared to Scott (12), me (11), and Cait (9).
We make up our own rules when we play games a lot of the time. You are supposed to win when you get 7 green cards but we just keep on going. There were many times that the kids were crying over their ridiculous answers.ound:

It snowed last night. I went to turn the porch light off and a bad word came out of my mouth.
Right now it is just a dusting but we might get little more as the day goes on. At least no one has to be out driving hehe!
My podiatrist is calling at some point today for a phone appt. Not sure what he can tell me other than to tightened the stretching boot and my how much.

no other plans than that!

 

[faerywings]

Oh, I forgot the most important part here, gratitudes:
-laughter!! That is something that costs nothing but has an amazing return on investment
- the O
-the rats, my goodness they are so fun to watch as they run around

Trudy- that's such a great challenge but I can't seem to think of any one specific person. There are so many I would want to talk to.
Leah is feeling a lot better and is at home with her mom. The TP score was only one roll, but one more than we had before. I usually buy the big packs as it is with 4 adults in the house so we have a decent amount but it is crazy how it psychologically gets to you that you could run out and it isn't like we don't have tissues or napkins. even old t-shirts ina pinch. :noidea:
Good for Costco not taking returns, I think BJs is doing the same.

jean- thank you so much for the recipe! I don't have pecans but plenty of walnuts to substitute. I have a really old tablet that was Gary's uncle's who passed away last year. It doesn't hold a charge for long but it might work? I will have to see what works.

Nancy- Oh wow, stories like this (the wake) are going to be everywhere- the spread is going so fast. My town's FB age had a huge tiff over the weekend because there was a positive case traced back to the HS play.
Are state parks still open, I thought that they were closed by now? We live near Waywayanda and Skylands/Ringwood Manors. If it ever warms up again that might be a good place to get a change of scenery. That is great that Luther is used to the rotine now.
As of last night, the kids still didn't have any definite plans for the remote classes.
OMG, that is soooo funny that your DH would make the kids race backward!!! I am dying! They should do that for me too, expert *I* end up going backward often which would defeat the purpose!!

Felis- bwuahahahahah!!!! :rofl: I am LMBO at your warning to Jean. We watch animal videos on the kids' phones after we are done eating very often. We were cracking up at the sounds that porcupines and koalas make. If you haven't heard them think about what sounds you *think* they make and then listen to them. we also get a kick out of hearing dogs "sing."
The one good thing that has seen is that the number of people who have signed up to foster dogs has increased. People have more time at home and foster programs usually supply food so this is a good thing, I hope that they all get adopted too.
I am happy that we were able to cheer you up too.

::grouphug

 

[nancyr]

good morning - it is rainy and cold. No walk for Luther. Both boys are working and in their separate rooms. So different. My DH is having to use my iPAD to as his does not seem to work. LOL. I was watching Downton but it is sad with killing off the main characters and then with the characters that are cruel seeming to get ahead it is depressing. Outlander was great and yet the author of the books was not pleased with one of the scenes. I can see her point. Interesting though to see her thought. Anyway I need something more uplifting so I turned to Disney. I am watching Star Girl. It is really good. Anyway Chris - Star Girl has a pet rat.

Chris I hope that soon Cait and Scott have their school sort out things. They should be able to figure this out. Glad you all play games that makes living so fun when you can laugh.

Hope everyone has a great day.

 

[BrightEyes]

Morning, gals... Had a long and deep sleep - 9 hours worth!!! Seems like that is the pattern for me now... a night with short sleep and waking way too early - then the next night sleeping for a long time. Guess it evens out over time.

Spent part of yesterday moving some of the clothes/coats/shoes back to the closets they had been in before I thought my cousin was moving here. Thank goodness she was not bringing furniture with her - so didn't empty that from the guest room. Only moved a small cabinet out and shifted the chest of drawers down on the wall. Now both are back where I had them before. Started sorting out files in the office into Year bins. Still need to sort through the file cabinets and get old year files out of there and the new year's file folders in place. Decided that I would sort through the Year bins later as I need to shred a lot of throw-away paper. It will be faster to sort out the year files then shred papers later. Ran out of steam before I finished with that so ended up in the recliner reading for a bit.

Decided that I need to prioritize what I fix for meals based on what is fresh now and needs to be eaten up before it goes bad (fresh fruit/veggies, milk, yogurt, etc). So even though I love the meat loaf... it will be in he freezer until a bit later. Time to fix the apple cobbler. Will use a mixture of Granny Smith and Fuji Apples for it. Have some hard boiled eggs so plan on fixing egg-salad sandwich today.

Chris, had to LOL over you taking the rats for a walk along with the dogs!!! Glad you were able to get out for a bit. SNOW!!! guess the storm that was here got over into your area. Hope it isn't too bad and the weather warms up so you can get outside soon. Even though the temps here should be warmer they are predicting high winds most of this week... so won't be sitting outside until they die down. Had to LOL over the idea of racing while walking backward. I would end up on the floor if I tried that.

Trudy... my poor brain couldn't think about who I would like to spend time talking with. It feels like it is skipping from one person to another to another.

Jean, that recipe sounds wonderful. May try it out later. No applesauce in the pantry. I used to substitute applesauce for the oil in zucchini bread. It really makes it nice and moist.

Nancy, so sorry to hear about the lady at the wake who is positive now. Keeping you and others in my thoughts and prayers that you will be okay.

Felis, nice that you have been enjoying watching the bird video. Yes, it can be soothing and lets you relax.

Time to go move sheets from the washer to the dryer... then I need to get dressed and grab something for breakfast.

 

[taxed4ever]

Morning O-zies! It will be a mixed back of weather today! Right now the sun is trying to come out from behind the clouds, but it will be raining for most of the week. Yes there is even possibility of snow :smow: Say it isn't so!! DH and I went for a nice long walk yesterday. We stopped down the hill from us to talk to some neighbours (staying 6ft away of course). There son is in quarantine with a cold or maybe the virus in Victoria and their daughter has moved back home to stay with them until this all blows over. So they are sad that they will not be able to see their son for quite some time! Everyone has been out in their yards getting them all tidy, so the neighbourhood looks pretty good! The kids are all taking turns using the cul de sac to play riding their bikes etc. It is cute to see them sharing! I should call my sisters today and see how they are all doing. I haven't talked to them in a while. Thanks to you all for liking my challenge for the party, it really is harder than it seems to think of one person to spend your day with LOL.

Chris - If you are having a tough time choosing who to spend your birthday with, then do a few pages, there is no rule saying you can only do one LOL. Clenching your teeth is something that I do too often and then I wonder why I have a headache :mmph: At that point I need to find my mouth guard and wear it while I am on the computer. Its funny how you don't even realize that you are doing it! Sounds like you are all having fun with the games etc. So wonderful that you are all laughing together as some are all alone and no one to share their time with! Heather gave me a suggestion to purchase the game Guess Who so that Mason and I could play that together over Face time, so I ordered it from Amazon and it should be here soon. That should be fun!

Nancy - sorry that the weather has changed for you also, it was so nice to be outside these past few days and get in lots of fresh air. Now it is cold and grey and we will all be stuck inside. :mmph: Yes there are a few episodes of Downton Abby that are not so nice, but it gets good again. I did not get to watch Outlander last night I will have to find it today and catch up. I will have to check out the Star Girl on Disney Plus.

Ok I have a call coming in so better skeedaddle :bolt: Have a great day everyone!

 

[bcgal00]

Good morning, ladies. It was a quiet wkend. I did some cleaning around the house, baked some banana bread, did a bit of scrapping and watched some shows with D.

Taz seems to sense/smell something when we're out. He is spending a long time sniffing at things, a lot more than usual. It was wonderful to go to the school field yesterday. There was a family there with their dog and we all kept our distance apart as the 2 dogs ran together for about 15 minutes. Taz really needed that exercise. It is a ghost town around here. When I'm out walking Taz I am not seeing more than 1 or no cars driving thru the neighborhood, maybe 1-3 people throughout our walk. They closed the tennis court yesterday, yellow tape and big covid19 signs up. Playground at the school is all taped off.

Jen and I went to see B for the afternoon. Jen disinfected the car, we showered, wore fresh clothes and sanitized our hands before we left the house and then before we got in the car, then before we opened Bs door, then we got B to sanitize with us as soon as we got in and then wiped down all her counters and doorknobs. We practiced elbow bumps as a form of a hug and had her laughing when we left as I gave her two bumps and said that was one hug and one kiss. So far we are all healthy. The caretakers are not coming into B's space much to limit exposure. We had a much needed fun afternoon of watching frozen II on the laptop and playing with Taz. We won't see B throughout the week but hopefully will get to say hi on the phone at some point. We'll see how things are next wk. D is staying in, not going out at all, so I will be the one to get groceries. Tomorrow morning seniors can go to Costco for an hour so I'll head over an hour early and hopefully not have to wait in line too long. If my back spasms too much I'll have to leave but I'll squat and lean on the cart so I think I'll be ok. I will bring groceries in thru the basement and will wipe them down before putting them away as to hopefully limit exposure to D. I sure hope the stores get more wipes in soon as we're going to run out soon.

I'm working (at home) transcribing if my bosses have telemedicine consults but not sure how busy that will be, I might be barely working or about half my usual workload. Guess time will tell. So far nothing has come today.

I'm still feeling drained and kind of shell shocked, as I'm sure everyone else is. I'm going to try pushing myself to keep busy, get out for walks with Taz and this afternoon Taz and I will start jogging again. I also think I'm going to find my weights and start doing a weight lifting routine too. I've been putting that off for months, having gotten out of the habit so now is the time to get back to it, keep my immune system healthy and doing something positive for my body.

So, that's me right now. Hope you all are healthy and finding ways to cope and enjoy this social isolation as best you can. Thank goodness for scrapping. It is such a good outlet for us.

Chris - family game time is a good activity, I'm going to see if D wants to play an online game later. We used to play online scrabble, I'll have to see if thats still around.

Nancy - I haven't seen Star Girl, I'll check that out. With the closing down production on movies/tv shows, after a month the reruns will start for everything so it'll be a good time to catch up on movies and shows that have been on my to-watch list but not gotten to. I'll be watching a lot of netflix.

Kay - I'm going thru pantry and freezer too, trying to use up the older items and figure out meals/recipes. By the time I finish this wk, my freezer and pantry will never have been so clean and organized. I went thru the old spices yesterday and tossed anything I haven't used in a year and now can see exactly what I have. Other than salt, pepper and vanilla, I am stocked up for now.

I'm going to get more coffee, work on a LO with the collab and keep checking to see if I get any work today.

 

[bcgal00]

Good morning Trudy....we cross posted. Sounds like your neighborhood is practicing good social distancing. So is ours, we've got good neighbors here.

 

[taxed4ever]

I am back and ready to catch up with you all here! Listening to the news, it is of course not good and COVID19 is starting to really rear its ugly head here in Canada. Glad that Heather and the boys are doing well, but wish that Jonah was not out there still working! I really wish my DH wasn't either, but he says they are constantly sanitizing and washing their hands. He really doesn't have much contact with others, but the RCMP members are always out there where it is dangerous and he has to handle the evidence that they bring in.

Kay - How nice that you have gotten a good nights sleep, it is hard when it only happens every 2nd night though! I hope that you will be able to think of one person for the birthday challenge, if you have many ideas then write them down and draw a name from a hat LOL. I had a hard time with it too!

Felis - Too funny that you have spent so much time watching the bird! Nice that you find it very relaxing though! I am not looking forward to any more snow here, it is so pretty with the cherry and plum blossoms out, it will be sad to say goodbye to the sunshine and warm weather. I know that you love the snow though! Hope you have a nice evening and you get to have a good sleep during the night and not all through the day LOL.

Rae - Yup it is like a ghost town around here too, at least with the cars in the neighbourhood and the skies above us are very, very quiet too! I imagine that the pollution levels around the world will drop significantly. I guess this is the world doing a re-boot, perhaps it will prove to be a good thing in the long run. Hope that you can keep in touch with B! Sounds like your day with her was fun! I also made mini banana loaves yesterday for my DH to take in his lunches. Our parks are all closed too and soon some of the hiking trails will be I bet, people never stop going to the popular hiking spots, so that is why we are staying away from them. Glad that you have good nieghbours!!

Gratitudes for today...
I can work on my commissioned painting
I can keep in touch with family through Face Time
I have a great family here at the O!
Stay safe everyone! :wave:

 

[Kythe]

Her is a laugh for you all. I am not a baker. Never have been. That was my sister's forte, mine was sewing. Anyway for years I watched my mother bake bread and cinnamon rolls and did it with ease.

Hubby decided that I should learn how to make bread just in case.... lol So I drag out what I thought was my mother's recipe and had at it. The dough was ever so sticky so I added more flour to the dough. first mistake. then I set it to proof. That went well and it doubled in size. Yay me Next I rolled the dough out into a rectangle getting it as even as possible. So far looking good. Now I am madly trying to remember what the filling was that mom used. I am channeling her from above hard but she refuses to make contact! lol I merrily make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar and raisins and spread that on top.Big mistake number 2.

I rolled the dough and cut into pieces then places in the baking dish and set them to rise for a bit. They looked really good but after the baking I noticed that they were not browning and kinda flat. Okay they smelled good. The taste test. sigh, I realized after they were done that it is a mixture of butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins.



Anyone want some hockey pucks? Hubby says I should try again so that if things get even worse at least I will be able to make some sort of bread.. lol ya right. Try to find yeast now. ha ha I figure it would be a good time to go gluten free.


Stay safe and healthy. hugs.

 

[scrap-genie]

Somehow we slept really late today and everything seems a bit off timewise. It is gray and damp but slightly warmer. Doubt we go outside other than to fill the feeder. I was surprised yesterday that DH wanted us to get take out from our favorite place. That was nice as I got what is my favorite thing from them. Tonight it's back to the kitchen, but easy as I'm making chili again.

Felis, I love that you found peace in the albatross cam. That is the young bird you see. They have a link to more about the royal albatross in which it gives a number of weeks the chick is attended, but some months that it is alone except when a parent comes to feed it. Also is a link to it being fed on Saturday. A couple years ago we were caught up in watching a Great Horned Owl nest cam that had a lot of interesting drama. We spent LOTS of time watching. The albatross one though really could be meditation as you said. :biggrin:

Chris, thanks for stress management. My jaw was less tense than I expected but the shoulder one was spot on. Glad to share the recipe and hope it goes over as well as here. I swear we both got up earlier than usual yesterday partly because it was sunny but also knowing the bread was waiting for breakfast. Glad to hear Leah is feeling better! Ohio now has a stay home order, but it includes getting out for walks even in parks along with lots of other reasons to be out. It may be warmer for a bit this week so maybe you'll be out.

Nancy, guess with sports you are used to watching a lot of TV, so those shows must be filling a little of the gap. Hope you're seeing birds when out walking Luther.

Kay, know what you mean about prioritizing meals. We have fresh stuff that needs cooking and other things basically needing heating. Trying not to need groceries too often. You do so much work with organizing things and dealing with them, good for you, but don't get overworked.

Trudy, oh no, you and Chris both with the white stuff. We just barely did the other day but it didn't stay. Sorry the guys in the family have to keep working. We all are just trying to stay safe as best we can. Time scrapping and painting are good.

Rae, sounds like a really good time for B with you all. As you said, how good it is she's in a safer setting than the hospital. Jogging with Taz and being out with your camera should help lots.

Kythe, oh no, hockey puck rolls? What a shame, but you tell it as a cute story.

Gratitudes today...
DH even when he's goofy
You all at the O
and always the birds

 

[BrightEyes]

WE ARE ON SHELTER IN PLACE! Just watch the governor of New Mexico announce that the whole state is on essentially Shelter in Place with only essential workers/businesses exempt starting as 8 AM tomorrow. No more than 5 people in any group or gathering. Large families who have more than 5 that LIVE TOGETHER are okay while they are at home but should not go out anywhere in a group. Nor should other family members be visiting each other if that puts the numbers over 5. Trips to get groceries/meds/etc are allowed but all retail stores are to close. Banks, gas stations, food and drug stores may remain open. My hat is off to her for being pro-active as cases here are continuing to climb and now spreading to other counties in the state.

 

[felis]

Good morning girls!
I love the white world, and we enjoyed the snow a little bit at the afternoon, but beside this not much productive Monday. I tried new book, but nope it's not catch me... :cry:... my mind is not to stay in someone else's story, especially when this is book for hunt! Darn, the man on the book sale told me so much superlatives about this book, and somehow forgot to mention it started with hunting. Gross! I think now to give chance to short stories, as I have good collection from them too. Other thing in which spend hours and hours was to check and delete blur and repeated photos of my cats and flowers. Oh my, over 600 deleted to keep about 100 photos. If you are wondering why I procrastinate this so long. And I'm away even from the middle of this 'journey'.


Chris, you're not the only who switch between calm day and dark blue mood! :hug: Just keep doing what distract you from the negative thoughts! Sorry for the dogs accidents, you steam cleaning a carpet was in my head when I opened last cat litter bags, I'm not sure how away we are from 'accidents', but in the present situation it's something expected. At least mine play /understand p**/ at the yard when weather is good.

Nancy, I'm on the opposite side. Now I'm enjoying watch war movies, and as one of our famous actors said: "our grandparents are been invited to kill others, now government wants from us just to lie at our comfortable homes, so come on be strict!", nice view point that what happens now is not so scary than it could be. We have really good war series, so bad they don't have subtitles to share it here.

Kay, at some point it's comfort to have everything back they had been in before, especially if you are person of the habit! I watched few videos of people rearranging their rooms, switch furnitures from one room to another, or change the purpose of some room in fitness or art studio, just to have what to do quarantined.

Rae, it's so relieved that B is on safe! Who know what could happen to the old B in the present situation. My dad really enjoyed to the morning seniors hour at the groceries as he said now everything is faster, especially with the workers that follow to not slow down the line too long.

Trudy, in my county they already started to close the hiking trails as was reported that many people are move there after officers start to check the streets. Yes, it's very sad about all these flowers which was show up and now are under snow blanket, hope this to not damage them! You live in very cute place, I love picture you was share at instagram, before few days, now I completely can imagine your walk and the neighbourhood.

Kythe, such a cute story! I'm for try it again too! Practice makes perfection. It won't hurt also to do a little research for similar recipes online, maybe there will find the key.

Jean, I'm stalk to see a parent comes to feed the bird, but no luck. Will have to see the links you told me, thanks! The albatross become my favorite because the view behind him. At this situation at the world long sleep comes as a bonus to us. The positive side!

My gratitudes:
:becky: cup of coffee till watch snowing
:becky: two music videos from my favorite artists was posted yesterday
:becky: still have full shelf of books (no matter that I disliked half of them, in some moment I'll forced to finish it)
:becky: the O
:becky: cats always... umm, I count dogs here too.