THE LIGHTER SIDE CAFE MONDAY JUNE 15TH

Pam ~ I took the time to read the article that you posted the link for - and I agree it was very worthwhile!! Thanks for sharing that.

In the meantime, when I tried to come back here, I got an "Angry Bear" error on my screen and was really perplexed!  But I checked the Help menu and saw others were reporting the same thing. Thank goodness it is back online now.....

Sue I got the same 'angry bear'...rebooted the computer and was able to get back on.

Thanks for the reminder...I also read and enjoyed the article, Pam.

Judy...waving......

Hey all,

Good to "see" you here, Sue and Ann and waving to Pam! 

We are three "peas in a pod" regarding COVID-19. I cannot agree more with all of you. We've not been quarantining ourselves for months only to burst out on a social scene and get exposed to someone risking our health - possible even lives.  I don't get it.  I read a great New York Times article today about colleges and their unrealistic expectations that students will really be that careful about the virus.  I worry about that a lot.  Here's the article if you can read it.  Expecting Students to Play It Safe if Colleges Reopen Is a Fantasy nyti.ms/3dYxYzL   I found it so true and it's  been my worry.  College kids feel invincible and their brains are not really fully formed yet to realize the extent dangers to others even if they don't get the virus. They are so nonchalant and cavalier about it all out partying and drinking and congregating.  Faculty at our school are really worried about exposure because many of them are not "spring" chickens! As necessary as it may be financially to open, it's very scary from a health standpoint. 

Ann, good luck with Lula today.  Glad she seems better so far.  It is draining to have a pet ill.  :-( 

Sue, glad you followed your gut and played it out.  Very smart.  No one else will look out for us but ourselves.  I don't mean that negatively but you understand. 

Glad I did not see the "angry" bear today on this site! 

I'll check in soon. I made a salad from the WW site for lunch - Canellini beans, celery, lemon juice, evoo and tuna. It was very good! On my green budget it was 7 pts. Filling and I ended with a FF SF pudding for 2 pts.  Still have plenty left for dinner as bkfst was yogurt for 2 pts. I like that I get 30 pts a day on green.  Hello Fresh is arriving today.  Again, I must watch portions.  TTFN

Hi All ~ With the arrival of my new Rubbermaid set, I started cleaning out some of my kitchen cupboards, and then took everything off the counter tops and scrubbed and disinfected them really well.  I washed and dried all the new Rubbermaid (with red tops!) and they fit perfectly in the cupboard assigned to them. I discarded all the old ones that showed any signs of wear and also a stash of yogurt/cottage containers I had been hoarding.  Really opened up my cupboard, and all the new stuff looks so great.  While I was stripping down cupboards, I packed away my Keurig since I haven't used it in several years - and threw away all the pods - including boxes of pods that I had in a top cupboard over the pantry. So far I have filled two garbage bags today and will have more before I am all finished.  But everything is starting to sparkle and shine and I love it!!

I never got out for a walk today but maybe all the cleaning and up & down the step ladder will do me some good. DH just called and he is headed down to Southfield to work for a few hours, so I expect him a bit later this evening. I am still deciding on supper.  DH brought home some all-beef hot dogs (made from brisket) yesterday and also a container of coleslaw and we have some corn-on-the-cob, so it might be that kind of night.  I am also thawing and marinating some chicken breast tenders for one night - most likely with Pasta Roni Fettucini Alfredo.  I have leftover beef chuck roast in the fridge so we have several meals for this week all taken care of.  I think I will cook 2X the chicken tenders and have some on top of salad one night.Then there is always "pizza night" so we have to save room for that.

DH mentioned that he had talked to DBIL this morning and told him we had had a serious talk yesterday, and we were not going to the party.  He was SO relieved!  He said he never wanted to go and was only going because of us (who knew?).  DH had told me that DBIL has been faithfully using drive-thrus and wearing a mask, so I shouldn't be surprised. It seems the 100th birthday isn't actually until the 26th, so they talked about the three of us driving up to their place where they can greet us from their balcony and we can talk to them and send them love .... from a safe distance. We all agree that is a much better plan!!

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and feelings about the current pandemic. It seems we are all very much on the same page.  With all the 'marches' and protests on TV, it seems many have completely forgotten about the virus.  DH and I have not; we live with the awareness of it every day.  I am grateful that I am not stuck in the house (although that wasn't so bad as DH was here most of the time). I am appreciative that the weather is nice and I can get outdoors and walk.  I will be grateful for my haircut on Thursday. I truly enjoyed lunch with my VBF the other day and she was always going to be my first human contact outside of DH. She has also been self-isolating..... one of her grandsons is a Type I diabetic as well as Celiac .....so everyone in their family is very considerate of his health.  We carefully followed all the guidelines and I was pleased to find that we can do this!  DH and I purposely went to supper at Red Lobster at 4 p.m. to avoid any crowds - and that worked!!  We wore our masks, washed our hands, used hand sanitizer.  They provided single-use menus and paper napkins, all very much appreciated! The article that Pam gave us the link to provided some great information. I don't think anything new, but it confirmed what I already knew and reinforced the importance of taking necessary precautions.  The experts seem to all agree that we are going to be living with this virus for some time to come (which beats dying from it). 

Judy ~ You are so right ..... our well-being is strictly up to us.  No one is going to do it for us.  We watched a 60 minutes segment about the colleges reopening and how college students are by their very nature "social". There is a lot of concern about how that's all going to work. But, I guess it will be like everything else, and we'll have to find out.  

Ann ~ We're still hoping to hear some news about LuLa. 

Pam ~ Waving .....

Judy I hate to paint a gloomy picture, but I just can't see where college students will be 'careful' left to their own devices. They are away from home, living with their friends and 'stuff happens' even without the virus added in. Just my two cents worth.

That salad sounds delish, Judy. Didn't realize that you are doing green. I'm still true blue LOL...out of sheer laziness I like the fact that I don't need to use any 'gray matter'

Sue I am LOL'ing at your purchase of Rubbermaid! I switched all of mine out last year. I picked them up half price at BJ's as the boxes were dented!!!! I packed up the older ones that were still good and donated them. Mine have blue and black covers. The ones before were the red. It makes such a huge difference reaching in and finding the right size bowl and cover. I'm liking that and I know you will also.

Judy the ones I have are plastic as I can't handle the glass...too heavy...and yup, I'm a class KLUTZ!
I can also appreciate DH being uncomfortable making the trip to see DS DDIL baby and new home. I say 'follow your gut feeling' You will know when it feels right for YOU.

So far nothing from miss LuLa. She seems better and I'll take that.

Going for another walk with her...maybe this time we'll be lucky

Later.....

Good afternoon!

We were up and out early this morning. DH had a wound care appt. and I took the opportunity to walk in the little park near his doctor's office. I used to walk there every day when he was receiving hyperbaric treatments 2 years ago. His wound is healed, after only 4 months this time. He has one more visit in a month just to make sure all is well and the callus is not re-forming. I am urging him to go back to the podiatrist on a regular basis, as the podiatrist will be able to spot problems before they get serious enough for wound care. DH agrees, but then does nothing. I keep hoping for change, but know that is out of my control.

After his appt. we stopped at a grocery store nearby that we like. As usual, it wasn't crowded and we were able to get nearly everything on the list. I like to use 20 Mule Team borax powder as a laundry additive, as it keeps the whites very white and kills the odor in DH's sweaty gardening t-shirts. For some reason, it has disappeared along with Lysol spray and Clorox. Finally, we stopped at a favorite bbq spot and picked up lunch. We decided that will be our big meal for the day. I got ribs and chicken with coleslaw and DH got a shrimp poboy with sweet potato fries. We both had lots leftover, so dinner is covered.

I started laundry last evening, knowing that I would be gone this morning. I have re-booted and only have one load left to wash. Everything so far is folded and put away. I have a Senior Medicare Patrol webinar at 2:00 pm and Alzheimer's group at 4:00 via Zoom. I didn't have any takers when I asked about a Zoom meeting yesterday, but my supervisor said there is a new person, so I will take the opportunity to get to know that person. I also sent my condolences to 2 other group members whose mother they were caring for passed away yesterday. One of them is the husband of one of our hospice nurses.

DH and I started talking about a trip to MI today, thinking about how we would manage meals and bathroom stops, what disinfectant stuff we would need to bring, whether we would stop and visit relatives in Nebraska on the way home as we usually do, etc. The county where my DD3 lives has one of the highest CV counts in the state of MI, so her house would be pretty much the only place we would go in MI. The county in NE where my family lives has a very low CV case count right now, but the cousin we stay with is a hairdresser and has lots of social contact. We do have to stop for a night on the way there and the way back, whether or not we go to NE, too. We decided to wait and watch things for the next month or so before making a decision. We want to go before Madison starts kindergarten, Leah goes back to daycare and before the fall, when epidemiologists fear a new wave of CV will develop. I am leaning toward skipping NE altogether until next year.

Sue - I had to laugh about your new tupperware, because I am the same. I swear I don't know what happens to the lids, but after a while, I always have lids with no containers and containers with no lids. It's nice to start fresh every now and then.

Judy - That was a good article and I definitely agree with it.

Ann - I'm so glad to hear Ms. LuLa seems to be feeling better! I hope it was a passing thing.