How are you spending your time during quarantine?

[Mouseykins]

19 hours ago, Ennoshima said:

@Mouseykins

Gotta love the holes, you either fall over them or into them.  I don't mind it cause they're just having fun, but my ankles sure do. They love to play in the snow, so they're always getting their "frosty treat" during the winter, they can't really dig in the winter since the ground is frozen.. but once that thaws out, it's game time for them. We've tried to stop their digging, but they will dig up anything, and even around. Love when it rains, or as you mentioned, a sprinkler is running -- dozens of tiny pools for them, (and lots of mud for me to clean up!)

Thank you so much! I love gardening, but was put on hold. Not to bring down the mood -- but my father was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, and passed recently -- so many things were put off since I took care of him up until the final moment. I'm slowly starting to get back to my old self, and doing things I enjoy, it's what he would of wanted. 

We plan to go out this Friday and stock up the best we can -- we luckily go to a Military base one, and since civilians aren't allowed on due to the Virus, even if their partner is military, it's a bit more stocked up than the public stores. We have been doing public, but have been noticing it's a bit hard to buy what we need, so we'll be making the drive to our Military one to ensure we've got what we need for the month. We recently had to clean out some rooms here, we had a lot of stuff piled up, we're also HUGE procrastinators lol. The boyfriend usually paints, as I'm only 4 foot and 11 inches, so I can barely reach anything, and I'm rather clumsy anyway.  I love the idea of having a classroom in the house, I've always felt having set rooms for certain things help you liven the experience, and I also feel it helps you do what you're set out to do more/better mentally! I wish you all luck with the upcoming months, I know it has to be quite hectic.

All the holes are going to make it hard for the kids to play in the yard safely. I really don't want anyone spraining an ankle or breaking anything right now or really ever, but especially now since we'd like to avoid hospitals as much as possible right now. Every night I sweep the floor downstairs and I'm always picking up a pile of dirt. Like geeze dog keep it outside in the yard. Wipe your paws before you come in lol.

My condolences for your loss! I hope you can get back to gardening and other things you put on hold while caring for your Father. Grief is a process and it will take some time before you start getting back into all your interest. You will get there in time!

I hope you're able to get what you need when you go shopping.

I'm glad we're not the only huge procrastinators lol. I have two rooms upstairs that I need to literally gut out and clean. One has our bowflex in it which ironically has never been used and now we can't use it because part of that room got taken up by the bathroom reno. I'm going to see if maybe we move it around or angle it differently if it can be utilized. If not then that room is going to be for our youngest. The other room is our junk room and right now it's a disorganized mess to the point where I can't even go into the room lol. The entire doorway is blocked by stuff lol. That room leads to the attic and is way too small for a bedroom or my office. So I'm wanting to transform it into our classroom. The walls in there will probably end up being purple or blue. I want a calming color since my oldest sometimes has anxiety when doing her schoolwork. I want to get a large bulletin board for the wall. I probably won't get a large whiteboard since we have the easel, but who knows, I may get a medium sized one. Then just decorate the room and have a few shelves on the wall for our schoolbooks. Depending on how long it takes for this virus to be dealt with I'm looking to possibly home school my middle child as well. But with her I want to do a teacher led-approach instead of me creating lessons and assigning her the work. I basically want her ready so that say by February next year if there's a vaccine or something, then we'd feel safe in letting her return to school. As of now if they were to open the school back up, she would be staying home. I don't necessarily need a classroom but I'd like to have a space that's specifically for learning so there are less distractions. I have big plans!!

18 hours ago, jellysundae said:

Yeah computers are really unappreciative of beverage sharing, aren't they! I discovered that with a glass of wine years ago.

Interesting with the hole-digging! Having lived with that jack russell and a husky for 4 years and neither of them was a digger I think I got off lightly! Well, the husky used to dig but only with his NOSE! Wat??  He'd come in with a pile of dirt on the top of his snout and then try to look like he didn't know what we were talking about when we said "you've been digging again, haven't you!" xD

I wonder what husky tendency that is... I mean when he got back in from a walk he'd ALWAYS put his foot into the water dish several times before drinking. Yum yum muddy water! Also no no muddy kitchen floor. >_< Figured that out though; a husky's natural environment being the frozen north and all that, they'll need to break ice on the surface of water before they can drink a lot of the time. But rooting in the dirt with your nose, but not digging with your paws? What's all that about!?

It's a dirt vampire!?! I've grown numerous citrus from pips, but they always get infested with scale

My avo in its bag is nicely condensed up there on the window ledge, so it's not drying out, let's just hope it's not preparing to rot instead.

@Ennoshima you're not bringing down the mood, please don't be afraid of that. You're going to help yourself deal with your grief with being able to get back into doing what you love though, and you're absolutely right that it's what he would have wanted.

I'm always nervous when my kiddos have drinks near my computer. My oldest had juice one day and spilled it. It splattered on my keyboard and she didn't say a thing. I went to my desk later and my keyboard was sticky.

That's funny with your Husky! I've never had one or really been around one so I couldn't even wager a guess as to what was with the nose digging. We had to get a special water system for Kai that has a filter in it or we'd be changing his water after every time he took a drink. The dirt and grass in his bowl each time was gross. Now the filter stops all that an he gets clean fresh water to drink from his fountain.

15 hours ago, epona1 said:

Huggs to @Ennoshima This topic is here to support everyone. Don't be afraid to share the good and the bad 

Very much so!!

14 hours ago, Ennoshima said:

@epona1

You're so sweet. 

I really appreciate the kindness from everyone here. 

I'm glad you're feeling welcome here!

[Ennoshima]

@Mouseykins

Aaaaaa, the dirt in the house. We have to sweep about twice, sometimes three times a day cause of this. We have to go to the Military hospitals here on and off for medication pick-up, and even that is enough to make me paranoid, even if they have a screening tent outside before you can enter. Who knows if someone just says they're fine so they can get in?  I also see so many people NOT doing even the simplest of things to avoid getting sick. (Touching their face, their masks, not using sanitizers when there's so many full dispensers around -- and just everything that is the complete opposite of what we should be doing, it drives me crazy)!

Thank you so much. He was everything to me, and my best friend. I'm thankful for everything we had, and what he's done for me throughout life. I was honored that he wanted me to care for him, even during hospice. He only allowed the nurse in when I felt it was needed, but other than that, he only wanted me there. My boyfriend was very supportive through it all, and I don't know if I would be able to handle it as well as I did/have if it wasn't for him!

I hope so too, and I hope we can actually go today. (If nothing stupid comes up -- of course). We REALLY need to get food, it's literally empty here except for some pasta and canned foods. Everything is honestly so crazy right now. 

We also have a junk room lol and good lord is it HORRID. I refuse to let any visitors into that room -- and it's not even cause we're intentionally hoarding it, it's just so much stuff that piled up while cleaning, and we just never got to actually donating or tossing it at the recycling/dump.  It's also to the point the door will not open unless forced. It'll have to wait even longer now, cause I ain't going during all this chaos. Calming colours is such a beautiful idea, my father did the same for me in a room that he made for study for me when I was home-schooled due to my extreme anxiety and other mental illnesses, he even did it for my bedroom! I think it's a really wonderful idea you're planning a schoolroom for your children, I do not trust schools, or anything at this moment until this virus is under control and there is something that prevents it enough, or can cure it before it gets bad. I was planning to return to College for Forensic Science, but I am holding that off until all this blows over. Sure, I could try to find something online, but I would rather be person-to-person because I have trouble learning unless I have someone fit with me, and personally show me/walk me through things. 

Deciding to sign up to the TDN Forums was honestly the best decision I've made in awhile. My social anxiety is barely active here, because I don't feel afraid engaging with anyone here. 

[jellysundae]

55 minutes ago, Ennoshima said:

Deciding to sign up to the TDN Forums was honestly the best decision I've made in awhile. My social anxiety is barely active here, because I don't feel afraid engaging with anyone here. 

Yay, we're not scary!

I have two junk rooms; one upstairs and one down, am I posh or what?? Both of them have empty floor space though...

MUST. PROCURE. MORE. JUNK.

[Ennoshima]

Just now, jellysundae said:

Yay, we're not scary!

I have two junk rooms; one upstairs and one down, am I posh or what?? Both of them have empty floor space though...

MUST. PROCURE. MORE. JUNK.

We did have one downstairs for AWHILE, but got around to it last year finally. Now it's just the upstairs one -- we try not to acknowledge much. 

I wish I could see the floor in the current one 

We literally banned each other from getting more stuff -- unless necessary.  

[Mouseykins]

10 hours ago, Ennoshima said:

@Mouseykins

Aaaaaa, the dirt in the house. We have to sweep about twice, sometimes three times a day cause of this. We have to go to the Military hospitals here on and off for medication pick-up, and even that is enough to make me paranoid, even if they have a screening tent outside before you can enter. Who knows if someone just says they're fine so they can get in?  I also see so many people NOT doing even the simplest of things to avoid getting sick. (Touching their face, their masks, not using sanitizers when there's so many full dispensers around -- and just everything that is the complete opposite of what we should be doing, it drives me crazy)!

Thank you so much. He was everything to me, and my best friend. I'm thankful for everything we had, and what he's done for me throughout life. I was honored that he wanted me to care for him, even during hospice. He only allowed the nurse in when I felt it was needed, but other than that, he only wanted me there. My boyfriend was very supportive through it all, and I don't know if I would be able to handle it as well as I did/have if it wasn't for him!

I hope so too, and I hope we can actually go today. (If nothing stupid comes up -- of course). We REALLY need to get food, it's literally empty here except for some pasta and canned foods. Everything is honestly so crazy right now. 

We also have a junk room lol and good lord is it HORRID. I refuse to let any visitors into that room -- and it's not even cause we're intentionally hoarding it, it's just so much stuff that piled up while cleaning, and we just never got to actually donating or tossing it at the recycling/dump.  It's also to the point the door will not open unless forced. It'll have to wait even longer now, cause I ain't going during all this chaos. Calming colours is such a beautiful idea, my father did the same for me in a room that he made for study for me when I was home-schooled due to my extreme anxiety and other mental illnesses, he even did it for my bedroom! I think it's a really wonderful idea you're planning a schoolroom for your children, I do not trust schools, or anything at this moment until this virus is under control and there is something that prevents it enough, or can cure it before it gets bad. I was planning to return to College for Forensic Science, but I am holding that off until all this blows over. Sure, I could try to find something online, but I would rather be person-to-person because I have trouble learning unless I have someone fit with me, and personally show me/walk me through things. 

Deciding to sign up to the TDN Forums was honestly the best decision I've made in awhile. My social anxiety is barely active here, because I don't feel afraid engaging with anyone here. 

I have a robot vacuum that I really need to run daily, but since it's usually a couple of days before a good sweeping, all of Kai's hair would be too much for it. Now that I've done the floors today, I'm charging my robot and running it tomorrow.

I've noticed a few things around here that people aren't doing. We're in an area that has 0 reported cases so I think people are just getting complacent. Just because non have been reported, doesn't mean none are here. We should still be cautious. People are going for runs and walks together and gathering outside in the neighbourhood once in a while. It's maybe 4 - 5 people that I noticed, but still stay home and keep your distance from others. I was in the grocery store a couple weeks ago in our small town and the meat department manager was talking to me and I was making an effort to keep a distance and he just walked right over to me. I always carry hand sanitizer with me and use it before and after entering a building. My hands are severely mad at me for doing so as I have eczema. Thankfully I'm not going out everyday though so my flare-ups have been few and far between.

That's special how you were able to be there for your Dad. Sounds like you have an amazing support system.

I normally refuse to let any visitors upstairs because it's always such a mess. We were able to keep my in-laws downstairs until we started working on the bathroom reno then they always wanted to see how it was coming along. It's still not finished, but we're slowly getting there. I have a habit of cleaning up the dining room, living room and kitchen and bringing anything that should be upstairs back upstairs and just leaving it on the floor somewhere, in a closet or sitting on something for me to go through and put away later. Well later never comes

Our basement is BAD!! We have bags and bags of recyclables that need to be taken in. We were going to start doing that this summer but now with the virus we're left with our hoards a bit longer. I'm going to see if I can at least get rid of the bags of cardboard.

I'm hesitant about even letting my daughter go back to school in September if we still don't have a cure or vaccine for this virus. I may need to resort to homeschooling her if the schools are open until we have something to protect us from the virus.

Forensic Science would be awesome to take! Putting that on hold for now sounds like a good idea.

I'm so glad you're feeling welcome here and enjoying it! I'm usually a shy person but once I start typing I tend to over share lol.

9 hours ago, jellysundae said:

Yay, we're not scary!

I have two junk rooms; one upstairs and one down, am I posh or what?? Both of them have empty floor space though...

MUST. PROCURE. MORE. JUNK.

Both of mine are upstairs

One I was able to move around in but since the bathroom reno a lot of junk has been piled into there. The other one is our L-shaped room that's going to be come a classroom. That one is mostly occupied on the floor, an old mattress and box spring, an old couch and golf clubs that haven't been used in years since before my husband buggered up his shoulder. All those things take up room.

My Kinder-kid is a week and half behind in her distance learning. We have lots to do this weekend! Thankfully it's mostly math left and the math for this week is easy. No coloring that requires me to practically tape my child to her chair to get her to finish it. For some reason coloring is an activity she avoids when it comes to school work.

My oldest is grounded for 2 months for her graffiti inscriptions on a dresser. Since grounding her I've gotten more school work out of her this week than I have in all of April so far. Taking away some privileges has really made her want to do better with her studies. I decided on 2 months simply because she's 8 and knows not to write/draw or scratch writings into anything but paper. Here she's written on the walls, drawn on toys, painted toys with nail polish, drawn on the couch, scratched lines and names into her dresser. Hopefully not having certain luxuries like YouTube will have a lasting impression.

[Ennoshima]

@Mouseykins

I'll give a more detailed reply soon! I have some things to do today, but once I have free time -- I'll be able to chat! 

[Mouseykins]

It's nice out here today so more yard work and I may see about brushing Kai and using the de-shedding rake on him too. My husband is going in to get the internet hub for his parents and planning to take it out to them some time this week. So I'll have to get everything set up for them on their computer. Lots to do! We're planning on starting a garden as of a discussion this morning, so tomorrow we'll start some seeds.

[Ennoshima]

@Mouseykins

Hello! I'm home now -- finally. It's so hot out today, and ick lol

We have one of those two, but our boys shed so much -- and if it's not kept up with that lil thing will not work lol We'll sweep tomorrow cause we've been out all day running errands, and the heat is just too much. (We need to have our AC fixed, what a fantastic time for it to break). 

Our town doesn't have any cases either, so people are not listening to the measurements, but they really should. I cannot stand people in my space in general, but even more so now with this virus going around. We carry sanitizer with us at all times too -- and I'm also just a germaphobe. My eczema is always angry at me just from that, and now me even more overdoing it cause of the current situation. (My poor hands lol) People gathering up still, and just doing things that.. shouldn't be even done at this moment. I wish people would just listen, even if it's not affecting the current town -- it's still affecting the state, and the area(s) around our town, and it will probably eventually lead to a couple cases here. I'm going insane just with how they're acting. 

Most of my family is meh, but the ones who aren't were thankfully there. I was glad I could be there for him, we were always close, so I knew eventually would come a time I would need to do this.

 

No shame in things piling up -- things happen.  I know personally that things can pile up without the intention of doing so -- but even more so now because we're all trying to limit out outside exposure. Either way, we just try to avoid company seeing it -- if we even have any with what's going on.

I honestly think it's a good idea with holding off on sending your kids back to school, even when/if they do open up. I know I'll be doing that myself.

I've been into it since early teens, and been in classes since probably beginning of high school!

I am totally the same as I mentioned in the past replies, but once I get to typing, I don't stop, and I'll even bring up things not regarding the current topic too. (Gotta love my brain that just goes on and on and on). 

[Mouseykins]

It was warm out yesterday here too with a bit of a breeze. The breeze was making it challenging to rake the yard and clean up all of Kai's junk he dragged out and destroyed over the winter. Last night we got hit with a high wind and some rain. It's still really windy out, so we are staying inside. Much of the area I cleaned up yesterday has stuff in it again. I can't win LOL! Eventually one of us has to tackle the hedge and that'll probably be me so my Mr. doesn't irritate his hand too much. We hired someone last year to do it, but this year we can't afford to.

I'm trying to keep on top of the dirt. I'll clean and charge our robot today and probably run it tonight. As far as I know our AC unit still works, it's just unplugged. We've had to leave it in our window for the past two years. The window that goes there is on a wood frame and somehow got exposed to moisture so the frame warped and no longer fits properly. So we insulate the AC unit in the fall as best we can and this year we covered the entire window and AC unit with plastic. The plastic alone did wonders! Instead of taking the plastic off this summer we're just taking the bottom portion off and rolling it up. This way on those chilly days we can roll down the plastic and tape it to the wall.

Right now we're using a foaming handsoap with Aloe Vera in it from LiveClean and I haven't had any flare-ups lately. In October I started having a minor flare-up and I call it minor because my hands normally got much worse then they were at that time. I went to my family doctor for a prescription cream Eucrisa that I heard about over TV ads and looking it up. It's safe for anyone 2+ years old and is steroid free. He wouldn't give it to me and instead accused me of having OCD behaviors because I told him from frequent handwashing, my hands get irritated. He basically dismissed my eczema and said to use lotion every time after washing my hands. That's not always possible. I'm not going to wash my hands, put lotion on and then make supper which usually involves touching some sort of food with my hands. I might as well just not wash my hands in the first place. Instead, he gave me a prescription for a steroid cream to use for the week. I took the paper and it went right into my shredder box! Luckily there was another doctor available and he had walk-ins. As soon as I explained my situation and what I wanted he looked Eucrisa up on his computer and made out the prescription for it. He only gave me one to see how it is and told me to come back when I needed a refill. I still haven't opened it!! I was expecting massive flare-ups that I usually get in the winter but none have happened! I've had one where I should have used it but crashed for the night before applying it. I wanted something on-hand in case I needed. Majority of the time my flare-ups occurred when I couldn't see my doctor and by the time I could, my flare-up was gone.

It's the out-of-sight, out-of-mind thing. If you can't see it regularly you just forget about it. Plus usually I'm so busy I hardly have time to keep my kitchen and the rest of the house clean. Eventually things will get done.

My daughter is going to not like me for a while when she finds out her friends are back at school and she's not so I'll have to get creative. There are times when she's been sick and I refused to let her go to school. In the winter I told her, buses weren't running so the school was closed. I'm sure she'll eventually understand it'll be because we love her and want to keep her healthy.

I've always loved Forensic Science and I found a couple of free online courses that I thought of taking for something to do.

Plus it helps that I can type fast too so before long I've already got a novel written before I realize it.

[Ennoshima]

@Mouseykins

There's not much breeze here, just extremely hot still. Aaaaa. I cannot stand it lol Though I know exactly how it feels to try cleaning up anything outdoors when there's a breeze, it just makes more of a mess than it's worth at that point.  We had two weeks of rain, and now nothing, and I want it to rain again just because I love the rain, and it also kinda helps with the heat here. 

I totally know the feeling of doctors dismissing things, I was told that about my PCOS for YEARS until someone finally took it seriously. I've also had issues with my other diagnosis getting thrown out the window, but I'm finding doctors/therapists that will actually listen to me, and know it's not just my "hormones" because of being a woman -- I seriously loathe that card they pull, and they do it quite frequently. I've been using a steroid based cream myself, but already forgot the name of it, I think it's the same one you got! It's so hard for me not to "overdo" washing my hands, or cleaning anything, but I at least can calm whenever it's irritated.  We're actually using the same hand soap! It was a pain to find, but we did end up getting lucky! 

It truly is, and it's not even cause we're slobs honestly. People get busy, things pile up, and half the time we don't even have the time to spare to clean it up. You're totally right it gets done eventually! Some people just choose to ignore the facts lol Sorry I got a lil ranty, but so many people don't get it like you and I do. 

Later on she will come to understand and appreciate it, I'm sure! It's better to be safe than sorry, and I wish other parents would follow what you're doing honestly. (I'm sure a few are, but some seem to be ignoring the seriousness of what's going on -- parents or not). My father was the same with me though, and would make up lil stories so I wouldn't question too much lol All in good meaning though.

If you still have the free course link(s) would you mind sending me them through a message? I'm having a difficult time finding anything free, and maybe I'm just overlooking, but it'd be nice for me to do something like that too while I wait til the times right to attend school again! Forensic Science is awesome, and there's so many sub-categories of it too!

I type super fast too! The boyfriend (and my father) always are shocked, and ask how I'm even capable of it -- even without looking at the keyboard. I would always just say it's a woman thing. 

[Mouseykins]

Normally in the summer we get high winds here that are 100+km/h so it's nothing new. This is kind of early for us to have a wind warning. I did manage to go outside this evening and get some yardwork done. My youngest started putting her jacket on and told Dad "I'm a go outside and play with my car." At that point I knew better let her out to play or deal with the tantrum that's going to follow. I got her dressed and let her outside to play. I sent her with her sisters and I followed a few minutes later after I changed to my outdoor clothes and grabbed a garbage bag. Ended up filling a 187L bag with Kai's trash, leaves and some dead grass. It rained last night and this morning, but by this evening it was dry. My oldest and my youngest helped bring dirt from a dirt pile to fill in one of Kai's holes so they were helping somewhat. I still have to fill in that hole a bit more but most of the work has been done for me. Kai is so tired now!!

That doctor that didn't listen to me, well for other reasons of him being an incompetent moron, we switched doctors. Our new doctor seems to be a lot better. He's just fresh out of med school. I think doctors pull those cards because it's convenient for them rather then investigating why a person is having these issues. I've had eczema for years and have dealt with it on my own without a diagnosis from anyone other then a pharmacist that that says it looked like eczema and pointed me in the direction of a lotion to try. I used to always use the Aveeno eczema care lotion but now I just use whatever LiveClean lotion we have. We use LiveClean products for just about everything. For our youngest that's what I used when she was a baby instead of the Johnson's stuff. Hand soap and body wash here was hard to come by for a while so when my Mr. went shopping and seen they had some he grabbed a couple bottles of each.

Having things being unclean and disorganized actually bothers me. The fact is I'm either busy or too lazy and don't feel like doing anything. Which usually leads to a massive clean with me being up almost all night prior to my in-laws coming for a visit. They usually have a habit of only calling the day before knowing the kids don't have school on the weekends and neither one of us are working so we're obviously free lol. It's also easier for me to clean at night anyways when the kiddos are asleep.

I may have them bookmarked, I'm not sure. I found them a while ago. I'll see if I can find it in my bookmarks or history for you. It was from an article I read about certain colleges and unis offering free courses. I'm sure if I look hard enough I'll find it. If/when I find them I'll message you in a PM.

Every time my husband needs things typed up for work related things or complaints. Even his statement for Long-term Disability. I typed that all up for him. He usually dictates what to put. I don't even really use the whole home row thing that we're all taught in school. I've developed my own way of typing over the years. I can even type with one hand too and I'm often pretty quick with just one hand too. I can type with both my left and right one-handed. Very helpful while holding a sleeping baby in your arms and you need to get work done or are chatting.

[Duma]

wow, one handed typing! It's not that I can't do that but not as fast and not blind! I've been drilled since I was 10 years old into the two handed, blinded, typing that I just can't any other way. I can type pretty fast too as long as it's with two hands.

I -should- clean the house and work some in the yard today as I have an extra free day and I strayed of my routine of cleaning on Saturday but I've started playing Guild Wars 2 since yesterday so I hope I can get myself to do those things lol.

Lately, because of the no school, my neighbor's girl and her friend come over to my place all the time to play and pet my cats and I want to be there since they're not the most gentle and my cats are still very scared of new people, situations and things or loud noises (read: Kids ) But it sometimes messes up my plans. I did manage to get them to move some of the gravel. They decided the pile would be their "tree-hut" and they wanted it bigger, so I told them they could move all the gravel in the yard onto the pile as long as it stayed on the root cloth. I gave them little containers and even though it's not much what they moved it's still useful. hahaha.

[Mouseykins]

For me it's mostly muscle memory when it comes to typing. At first typing one-handed was challenging but after 3 kiddos I've gotten used to it.

Tomorrow I have to clean off the dining room table and set up my in-laws' computer so that's ready to go for them. My Mr. is planning on bringing it out to them on Wednesday. Another week of lesson planning will need to be done. I've got to practice middle monkey's tricky words more often this week. Some of the newer ones she's struggling with. She's used to the constant repetition from at school. I might try to get out in the yard again and finish cleaning this side of the yard. Kai has the kids' old kiddie pool and he's been playing with it all winter. I'm debating if I want to let him keep playing with it or if I want to toss it over the fence for the upcoming dump run.

Did a little Amazon shopping tonight and ordered Kai some new toys for the yard and a tactical harness with packs for him. Being a working breed, he's going to be working on his walks, carrying water, a small first-aid kit and possibly other things I feel I need to bring along with us. Eventually my goal is to have him also pulling a wagon, but he needs to be a better walker before we can do that.

Every little bit helps Duma! I'm going to see if the girls can keep bringing me dirt so I can fill the holes. When they're all filled on this side I'll spread some grass seed and give it a water.

Tomorrow is one of my middle monkey's friends' birthday so she's making her a picture that I will take a picture of and message to her mum. My little girls is so sweet and thoughtful!

My oldest is expressing her hatred for this virus and being locked up in the house and yard. She misses being able to interact with people, plus her friends' party in March got cancelled and now her sisters' friends' party has been cancelled too.

[Ennoshima]

If I'm being honest -- today has been extremely awful for me. 

It's things I can't really go into detail on the forums for a number of reasons besides just personal turmoil stuff -- and I honestly just feel horrible at this moment.

I hope all of you are having a better day, and I'm really appreciative of everyone's kindness and warm welcoming here. The forums have become a safe place of sorts for me recently, and I can see it staying a place where I can take a breath and know I'm safe here. 

 

@Mouseykins I agree on them just pulling that card because it's easier, but I still really dislike they even do that. They're a doctor, it's their job, and it seems some only did it for the pay. I know it's a lil rude to say, but my mom has given her entire life dedicated to the medical field, and has always taken the time for her patients -- even if it got her written up. (Which is honestly really stupid). She's retired now, but she was such a good nurse, and even more. I feel like I'm going crazy a lot of the time because so many haven't taken the time to listen to me, and keep blowing it off. I am thankful I have found a few doctors for some of my issues.

I have to make a video call with one of my doctors from my hometown, since I am stranded in another state cause of the current pandemic and the restrictions. I am very nervous because I have anxiety with video calls and making calls on the phone as is, so I'll try to tomorrow with my boyfriend beside me. It's mostly just to chat how my current meds are working before they initiate a refill, and to see if I should be changed to something new, or high dosage, or keep the same. 

----

The mirror on my wall ended up falling cause of a mini earthquake loosening it a few days ago, I suppose, and that shattered and broke. My glasses semi broke today because I was in such a foggy state of mind, I didn't realize they were where I was about to sit. The boyfriend luckily repaired them enough so they're usable, and luckily the lenses didn't crack or anything -- still angry at myself for it because I can't do much of anything until I am back home.

We went out for food today because neither of us were in the mindset to be cooking, and I ended up dropping it as soon as I got in the door. Not much fell/got ruined, but it was still just the /current/ icing on the cake for the day so far. 

This got kinda venty, but it was really the only stuff I was able to share out of my day that wouldn't be too personal for the forums. 

[Mouseykins]

I'm sorry you're having a rough day today! I hope tomorrow will be a better day for you.

I'm glad you're finding the forums as a safe place! If you would like to you can reach out to me privately as well, I don't mind.

I hope your video call goes well tomorrow and you're able to get through it.

That's some rough events for your day. We've dropped food several times coming home, mostly do to being jumped on by a doggy and other times just sheer klutziness. It always sucks when that happens.

Chin up! Tomorrow is a brand new day!

_____

My day officially started at 4pm. Why? Well I was up until 9am and slept until 4pm. My youngest woke up at about 2am and she finally crashed shortly after 7am. I was waiting for an email from my daughter's teacher and decided to crash after I got it. I had a difficult time falling asleep and just about considered getting up and staying up for the day. But I didn't and decided to just stay with my youngest until she got up. Lately she hasn't been wanting to go down the stairs on her own so she will yell for Dad and start crying if he doesn't come before coming to me and waking me up, but I've already heard her so I'm usually getting up as most of the crying starts. She can go down the stairs herself and is just choosing not to. I could have left her by herself in my bed, but she normally wakes up scared and crying if no one is with her. Not the greatest way to start your day.

After getting up I wrote out my daughter's lesson plan for this week and we worked on some of her math from the other week. We have 3 more worksheets to finish up tonight and I'm hoping we can do them so I can put the book away in our completed box. Tomorrow morning her teacher or assistant teacher is calling to talk with her and myself, so we'll have to be up early for that phone call. Thursday there's no math assignment, the class is having a Google Meet where they'll be playing a math game with their teacher. It should be fun.

From all my raking in the yard yesterday I'm sore so it's nice to be having a lazy day.

[jellysundae]

@Ennoshima I'm so glad that us being here is able to provide a little bit of comfort for you. Also venting space!

 

I've made some oat bread! It looks purty.  :3 At times like this I really hate not having a camera!

This is the guy on Insta's version.

  Clicky for recipe

He put prunes, hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds in his; I didn't have dried fruit so I put walnuts, flaked almonds and pumpkin seeds, and some sage too as there was no sweet stuff in there, then topped it with more flaked almonds, sunflower and sesame seeds. It's just cooling now, it smells great... Let's hope it tastes good too. Potential risk of it being like cardboard as the large quantity of yoghurt in it wasn't Greek like he used, and is fat free...

*goes to get some*

Hey this is ok! Phew! ... Ah the joy of eating stuff with seeds on top though, especially whilst sat at a laptop...

 

[Ennoshima]

Today is also a lil hard for me, this month & date is a constant reminder of something in the past now -- but a hard decision I needed to make for me and the other party that was involved. Here's to hoping I can make it through the day in one piece, and one day this won't affect me as badly. 

My in-laws did stop by and drop off a shower chair for me -- we were having a hard time to find one that isn't too bulky and such for our shower, and since I have a few problems, it's hard for me to shower normally. It fits, and is perfect size for me! (I'm also like 4'10", but my legs are long and my torso is short, it's such a weird combo)!

I was able to set up my appointment for 1st of May (which is also my birthday), but I did it! All that's left is the video conference on that day. 

It happens so much to us too, pups or just clumsiness, but it really just was the icing for me yesterday. 

---

Small edit! 

@jellysundae

I'm really thankful for you all -- sometimes talking to others that aren't in my everyday life in person is easier. (There's no problems here IRL, but different opinions and such is never a bad thing). 

That bread looks amazing, and I'm totally saving the recipe!! 

Your variation also sounds absolutely amazing, might have to try it both ways.

[jellysundae]

7 minutes ago, Ennoshima said:

sometimes talking to others that aren't in my everyday life in person is easier. (There's no problems here IRL, but different opinions and such is never a bad thing). 

All the yes for this! People who are entirely uninvolved but aren't complete strangers can be sympathetic/empathetic without things becoming complicated. No baggage involved!

I recommend this bread! I'm gonna keep making it that's for sure!

I also recommend following that guy if you're on Instagram. I'd go so far as recommending signing up just to follow him, lol. Watching him doing things like tending to his baby goats, foraging for wild garlic, hatching baby chicks and cooking amazing stuff in the kitchen... really good for the soul right now!

[Ennoshima]

53 minutes ago, jellysundae said:

All the yes for this! People who are entirely uninvolved but aren't complete strangers can be sympathetic/empathetic without things becoming complicated. No baggage involved!

I recommend this bread! I'm gonna keep making it that's for sure!

I also recommend following that guy if you're on Instagram. I'd go so far as recommending signing up just to follow him, lol. Watching him doing things like tending to his baby goats, foraging for wild garlic, hatching baby chicks and cooking amazing stuff in the kitchen... really good for the soul right now!

Yes!! I didn't know how to fully explain it, but you did perfectly -- thank you!

Next trip out, I'll need to see if I can find the ingredients -- if everyone hasn't panic bought that stuff yet...

I have an IG! So I'll be sure to look him up and give a follow -- all of that sounds right up my ally, and it's indeed for the soul during these times!

[jellysundae]

50 minutes ago, Ennoshima said:

I didn't know how to fully explain it, but you did perfectly -- thank you!

I did? Awesome, lol. I struggle intensely with verbalising my thoughts because of the MS, so it's a miracle if I have success in that area!

50 minutes ago, Ennoshima said:

I have an IG! So I'll be sure to look him up and give a follow

DO ET!

Visit the English countryside vicariously! Now I'm just gonna sulk a bit as he hasn't done any stories today.

 

[Ennoshima]

1 hour ago, jellysundae said:

I did? Awesome, lol. I struggle intensely with verbalising my thoughts because of the MS, so it's a miracle if I have success in that area!

DO ET!

Visit the English countryside vicariously! Now I'm just gonna sulk a bit as he hasn't done any stories today.

 

I have trouble myself, so many times. I think mines just my brain is always too overactive and jumbled up. (Woo anxiety+other conditions)! I get my days where I can do it, but most of the time -- nope.

I have done the thing!! I'm not always active on IG, but that just means I'll have more to look at. 

[Mouseykins]

9 hours ago, Ennoshima said:

Today is also a lil hard for me, this month & date is a constant reminder of something in the past now -- but a hard decision I needed to make for me and the other party that was involved. Here's to hoping I can make it through the day in one piece, and one day this won't affect me as badly. 

My in-laws did stop by and drop off a shower chair for me -- we were having a hard time to find one that isn't too bulky and such for our shower, and since I have a few problems, it's hard for me to shower normally. It fits, and is perfect size for me! (I'm also like 4'10", but my legs are long and my torso is short, it's such a weird combo)!

I was able to set up my appointment for 1st of May (which is also my birthday), but I did it! All that's left is the video conference on that day. 

It happens so much to us too, pups or just clumsiness, but it really just was the icing for me yesterday. 

---

Small edit! 

@jellysundae

I'm really thankful for you all -- sometimes talking to others that aren't in my everyday life in person is easier. (There's no problems here IRL, but different opinions and such is never a bad thing). 

That bread looks amazing, and I'm totally saving the recipe!! 

Your variation also sounds absolutely amazing, might have to try it both ways.

I have a date in May that used to bother my a lot. I'd get really withdrawn for a good couple of weeks. But it's getting better now. I don't foresee that particular date being a problem. Like the saying goes, time heals all wounds. I know that sounds very cliche but I can't think of anything better right now. I'm tired tonight! Now Mother's Day this year and most years following this one is going to be rough. We lost Mouse the day before Mother's Day last year, so this will mark 1 year with out our sweet girl. I'm sure in time we'll be able to remember Mouse on this day without feeling so sad.

I have the opposite problem. I have short legs with a slightly longer torso and I'm about 5'4". I'm glad your in-laws were able to find something to help you out.

Happy Early Birthday to you!! Friday is my Mr. and I's 9th anniversary. Gosh I can't believe it's been so long! It sure doesn't feel like it's been 9 years. He's planning on making a nice supper for us. We have a fresh fillet of salmon in the freezer for the occasion. We had to freeze it because he got it on Saturday and that would be almost a week in the fridge. Not a good idea when it comes to raw meat like that, especially fish.

I find that too. If something is really bothering me I'll post about it on my blog and just the sheer fact of getting it out is helpful. Even if no one sees it or comments on it.

If today wasn't a better day than yesterday, I hope tomorrow will be!

9 hours ago, jellysundae said:

@Ennoshima I'm so glad that us being here is able to provide a little bit of comfort for you. Also venting space!

 

I've made some oat bread! It looks purty.  :3 At times like this I really hate not having a camera!

This is the guy on Insta's version.

  Clicky for recipe

He put prunes, hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds in his; I didn't have dried fruit so I put walnuts, flaked almonds and pumpkin seeds, and some sage too as there was no sweet stuff in there, then topped it with more flaked almonds, sunflower and sesame seeds. It's just cooling now, it smells great... Let's hope it tastes good too. Potential risk of it being like cardboard as the large quantity of yoghurt in it wasn't Greek like he used, and is fat free...

*goes to get some*

Hey this is ok! Phew! ... Ah the joy of eating stuff with seeds on top though, especially whilst sat at a laptop...

 

That looks yummy, though not too my tastes lol. I'm not a fan of nuts of any kind lol. I won't even put walnuts in banana bread. Just nope!

 

So I had an "Interesting" start to my day today. You all are going to laugh I'm sure!

I get up at 8am so I can have a chance to wake up and have some quiet "me" time before I had to wake up my middle monster. Today was phone call day, where one of her teachers was going to call anytime from 9am - 12pm so she had to be up. I look outside and I see Sir Kai Bosh has gotten a hold of my planters that were on our back deck. Thankfully I had nothing growing in them and they were just weeds from last year since I didn't plant anything in them. But he did destroy one of my good ones. There's dirt all over the back deck and it's a bit windy. A smart person would have left it for a non windy part of the day. But I wasn't that smart lol. I started cleaning it up and ended up getting some dirt in my face and in my eyes. Not much but a few particles that were enough to irritate my eyes for a bit. I get the dirt all cleaned up, my empty planters put into the shed and had to decide what to do with the two planters I filled with dirt. I had to put them somewhere that Kai couldn't get them. Solution: put them on the other side of the fence by the driveway. So that's what I did.

As I opened the gate, Kai just barrels out of the yard, nose to the ground. He COMPLETELY ignored me!! I called and called him, he didn't take his nose off the ground. So here I'm panicking, because he's a big boy and can outrun me if he really wants to. I quickly run back to the house and grab his collar and leash, as well as the first squeaky toy I saw on my way out. By the time I get out he's halfway down the block nose still on the ground taking in all the wonderful smells. I get somewhat close to him and he sees me with his collar and leash. I thought he would come to me, nope. Instead, he pranced off further down the sidewalk. He got to the house at the corner. I'm friends with the lady who lives there and know her kids. She has a fenced yard and a big dog, but not as big as Kai. At first I thought oh great I can put him in their yard and have him trapped so I can get his collar on. He turned directions and ran past their house. The lady opens her door and sees me on her lawn probably wondering what I'm doing. So I ask her to call him and she does. He runs right over to her and sits at her feet. She's in a wheelchair or else he would have flopped at her feet for belly rubs. I got close to Kai and he turns away. I grab him by the fluff on his butt and finally I can loop the leash around his neck so I can put the collar on him. Yay I have Kai caught! We talked for a couple minutes and Kai totally violated the 2m social distancing rules. But I'm not worried, they've been quarantined for more than 2 weeks and aren't sick right now. I finally get Kai in the direction of home and he's pulling on the leash. So I ended up having to lightly jog with him to get him moving. He cuts in front of me slightly and I just about flip over his back! I finally get him into the yard and a good scolding for running off.

I would hate to have this big guy out at my in-laws' acreage. He'd be halfway to town before he turned around. He would just keep his nose to the ground and continue wandering. I'm so glad he only made it to the end of the block before I was able to get him. I was really not looking forward to having to chase him all around town for who knows how long. Silly boy!

There's another story but my middle monster is bugging me relentlessly to play her reading game on my computer.

[Ennoshima]

@Mouseykins

There was a date in May that would make me feel the same, oddly. It's been years and it now no longer bothers me, but you're so right with time healing all wounds. A lot of cliche things hold truth in my opinion! I've gone through A LOT of trauma in my life unfortunately, so my healing processes tend to always take longer.  I'm sorry to hear Mouse passed around that time, and I hope within time things will get easier for you and your family! 

I wish my torso was a bit longer, I feel I look so awkward looking with it. It's also just hard to wear a lot of clothing without it looking weird as well lol What can ya do though? I've ended up accepting it, but still get irked about it at times. 

Today has been on and off, I'll be fine and then I'm not. (I know I have bipolar, but it's not really that affecting me -- it's just the current situation(s)).

Thank you, and happy early anniversary to you both! The boyfriend and I have been going strong for about 3-4 years now, we take things slow still since we've both been hurt in the past.

The longest was 15 years for me (combination of friendship+relationship), but one day he decided to just leave I was at work -- packed all his stuff and everything, never heard from him again. Found out he moved to another state completely to be with another, got married, and had kids.  Enough about that lil side story though -- I tend to overshare sometimes lol 

I LOVE salmon, and freezing it was the right thing to do! Sometimes we buy something a lil before we're going to use it, or something just comes up and we don't get to -- so we just freeze it. I haven't had salmon in so long, and now I wanna go out whenever we do again for shopping and pick some up. ...If there is any, as usual with anything lately. Always have to hope not everyone decided it was the next "big craze" to buy out. Apparently baking products here are now the new thing to overbuy. 

 

Your story honestly just made my day better.  I know all too well of a big ol dog running loose and not listening -- my boys have done it so many times. We had 5 at one point, and one day all 5 got loose.. and that's enough just from that bit of wording. 

[Mouseykins]

I want to have a little memorial for Mouse. So for that I have to clean her shelf and give everything a good dusting. I also want to finish her Photobook I started on Shutterfly a while ago. Even if I can't order it in time, we can still look at it together as a family. Our youngest still knows Mouse and hasn't forgotten her, so I want to keep Mouse's memory alive for all of us. It was unfortunate timing, but she was looking awful for a few days prior and wasn't eating. So we knew her time was running out. If she hadn't passed away that Thursday morning we would have made arrangements for Monday to bring her to the vet. The saddest part is she collapsed on the stairs. I would have much preferred if she was asleep and just drifted away. It would have been less traumatic for everyone and more peaceful.

My biggest issue with clothing is honestly pants. Either they're too tight and the right length or fit well in the waist but are a good few inches too long. I can't sew very well and normally I'd get my MIL to hem my pants for me but I don't like bugging her with it constantly. So I just roll up the bottoms of my jeans so I'm not stepping on them. My PJ pants I bought as a small and should have gone for an XS because they honestly fit like a medium to a large. They're so huge my husband could wear them! I've just been folding down the waistband so they fit better and I'm not pulling them up half my torso lol. That's honestly how big they are! Whoever sized them was very very mistaken! Oh well, they're comfy and eventually will wear out.

This whole pandemic situation is taking it's toll on just about everyone these days. My oldest has what I believe to be un-diagnosed anxiety and she's not sleeping very well and her eating habits are worse then they normally are.

I love salmon too and we had some smaller frozen fillets already in the freezer so the Mr. really didn't need to buy more but he wanted a nice fresh one. Most of the frozen ones you have to cook from frozen though. The fresh one will be defrosted and we'll probably bake it. Not entirely sure what is on the menu for Friday.

I'm glad I was able to make your day better! Oh gosh 5 Kai's running lose would be enough to make me crazy! The worst part about it yesterday is he had no identification on him or his dog license so he could have gotten me in some trouble had he wandered off further.

Now I'm being bugged to go outside and I really don't want to go outside.

[Ennoshima]

Oh jeez. I've been gone for a small bit. 

 

I had a part of our fuzzy family pass that way -- and I was blaming myself for a long time due to being in your shoes (the way it happened). Eventually I was able to think that the situation was what it was, and there's no way to change it, or even know it would of happened in that way. We have a small memorial area in our home for our passed pets, so I think it's a great idea for you and your family!!

I can totally understand those issues too! I'm also not the best at sewing, no matter how much I tried or attempted to practice. Things are weirdly sized for me for most of the same reasons, and probably just my height in general too.  I get lucky sometimes, but it's also the only reason I mostly only own sweats/leggings -- easily adjustable whether by tightening or rolling up a few times, or just magically fit just fine. 

It was crazy!! They luckily didn't run off far, and stopped at neighbors we knew a lil better than most, so it at least wasn't too embarrassing to catch 5 escaped big boys. 

We did some recycling today to make some extra money, since we had it laying around for a bit too long -- a way to clean up some of the house, and a way to get out for a bit where there isn't too many people and it's easy to keep distance, I suppose also a way to make some extra money while being cooped up and having weird hours for work, or just none at all.