Just an update...

My roommate's mother died at 3:15 a.m. The siblings had funeral preplanned so not as much for them to do. It will be back in the small town where they grew up. So my roommate is going to come home tomorrow then go to the small town on Tuesday.

So I guess I won't drag out any big projects. It's okay; I've got my church livestreams to occupy my time and of course the animals. Kitties had two terrible brawls last night, and today I found some dried drops of blood where they had fought.

I checked the girl and couldn't find any wounds, though she wouldn't let me really look thoroughly. The boy keeps hiding out in the daytime so I wonder if he got bitten or scratched by her. He did sleep with me last night though, so maybe tonight I can sneak and check him under the guise of petting.

When things settle down after the funeral, and in whatever ways possible until then, I think we need to do more hunting play with these cats, among possibly other strategies. The squirrels and birds are visible through the front window, and that may be ramping up their prey drives, which may lead to their attacking each other. And, of course, we've had lots of stress and they probably are picking up on that too.

Any tips on getting the little stinkers to get along would be welcome. We are already using pheromone spray, and brushing them with the same brush. Food rewards for good behavior are hard to administer, since the boy sometimes hides if you approach him too directly, and the girl has a dainty appetite and isn't food motivated.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Tatoulia
Well, at least you were half dressed. 😉
WTG! getting the trash out and getting in a little walking too.

Great plan to clear away "work" after you finish today.

Have fun planning your easter festivities. 😀

9:20am here and the fog has just finished clearing out.
Bright sunshine for the moment but solid gray clouds on the horizon.
So happy that it rained so nicely here, finally.
"April showers bring May weeds"

Last time I was at the grocery store I picked up a bag of Whoppers pastel colored malted milk balls.
I get to eat them on Sunday. ;D

Washed my 2 warmest coats and will stow them away now.
Still need the Winter blanket and comforter because over night it still dips down so cold.
This time of year is when I switch some Winter stuff out with some Spring/Summer stuff and I always feel that I have too much stuff to shuffle around.
But it all is needed in the proper seasons.

The sleeplessness is awful these days. I can commiserate, Tillie.

Our rain has passed and it's bright, sunny, and extremely windy today. I'll be working in the dining area on paperwork. Work paperwork.

I did take my garbage and recycling out last night and there was a brief lull in the rain so I walked a bit. I had pants, shoes, vest, coat and a pj top. So half dressed. I came home and showered and washed my hair.

My company is doing a lot for us right now. I'm so grateful. They sent an email a few days ago telling us to breathe and take a pause. They've been doing a lot to keep us together and healthy. Today there's some essay from one of the members of our board of directors but I haven't read it yet. In our photo contest last week I submitted a picture of my supervisor Miss Kitty. Other people had kids, dogs, cats and it was great fun.

My goal today is to work, then put the computer away at the end of the day. Clear all the work paperwork off of my table and shred the stuff that I have scanned and sent in for further processing. I need to make it less work-y in here. Plus I have come up with a way to celebrate Easter do I need my house looking better.

I have told my cleaning ladies they can come if healthy and if they can't make it for any reason, I will still pay them. I need them to know they can stay home.

Ok let's do our best today!!!

woke up at 3am.
now it's 4am and I am still awake.

The rain stopped about midnight and thick fog rolled in.
It's very foggy out there now.

Will try to sleep some more.

Sleep well Subclinical
Sleet! interesting Spring we are having this year.
So nice of you to make yourself available for Mr. Kitty to dry himself on. 😉

Been gently raining here for several hours now.
Garden is getting a good deep soaking. 😀

Heading to bed in a minute, but just wanted to let you know that we have sleet. And mr. kitty just came in and used me for a towel.

So nice to catch up with you Tatoulia 🙂

Happy hour online!
Cheers! 😀
LOL a naked man in the background HAHAHAHAHA ;D

Don't know what company but I LOVE them.
They are so wonderful.

Happy the cleaning Fairies are still able to come.
The maids are really suffering through this.
Some are afraid to travel on busses & trains to get to work and many clients are not using the services at this time.
Hoping they can easily get the financial aid and free food to help them through all this mess.

When Doug, the Veterinarian, noticed just how allergic I am to cats he asked me why do I have a cat?
I said life without a cat is just not worth living. ;p
Lucy the Vet tech agreed with me wholeheartedly.

Hello Everybody
Welcome to our new thread. 🙂

So Tatoulia
Did you ever get dressed today?
Did you get the trash out before sundown?
😉

Hi CriticalMass
You not being a dog person, I think you would be annoyed by the dog even if he were a one pound yappy chihuahua, LOL ;D

I'm glad Roommate will be in a nice area and can have her beloved dog with her.

You need to make a more solid plan as to how you will spend this alone time.
Don't stay up all night and be draggy all day.
Don't forget to eat properly and stay hydrated.
Don't make too big of a plan. Keep them simple and doable.
Spend time in the company of the Furbabies, they sense all our stress and worry.

Hi Subclinical
I just started the new thread and it was at the top so I thought it was visible. LOL 😉

I am very grateful your DH has work and heartbroken for him knowing so many others there don't.

Yes, maybe overcompensating by giving out more assignments is making the kids stressed.
Needs to be more balanced.
School, recess/exercise, free play without them falling too far behind in lessons?
This is all so new for all you who are Teachers.

I think just being online with you gives the children great comfort (((HUG)))

Made a short list of chores I should do today and managed to do them all.
Vacuumed, washed dishes, did some laundry and some other random type stuff.
Been dark and cloudy all day, no rain here.
Maybe it will rain later?
Think I have seen every movie on Netflix by now except kid & chick flicks.

Everybody keep doing what you have been doing to stay safe and healthy.
Remember that we are all here for each other and understand the emotional ups and downs.
Sometimes we need to rage against the world for a moment in order to regain our inner peace.
(((HUG)))

I went back and read the cross posts. Tillie I love cats too. They make such a difference in my life. Dogs and other animals too. I'm just a cat person through and through.

I know mom is grateful for her kitty right now. I miss her so much! Mom says she waits by the door for me, starting around 7 PM.

I am so thankful for my job. My company has set aside $500,000 for grants/donations to the fight against COVID19 and another $500,000 for employee-directed donations. They've also been sponsoring meals for health care workers. They match our charitable donations up to $1000 and I think they've increased it for any COVID19 related donations. For now I'm sticking with my shelter/soup kitchen. And sent a check today. I also ordered some supplies my animal rescue league put on their amazon wish list. Right now I'm not sure I'll be taking any of the extra charity time. But I'll keep my eyes open for opportunities. They also will give any employee under financial strain $5000-so if a spouse is out of work or a tenant stopped paying rent and the mortgage is due, those types of situations.

We now have Happy Hours on Fridays, which is nice. They've staggered who is on video camera and who is listening in and watching. Tmr is my video day. Last week someone had a very large piece of artwork that was a large painting of a very naked man. I will stage my background differently.

I know I am fortunate. I have been very glad to work for this company. It was a significant pay cut when I took this job (almost 50%) but i wanted a more stable life and I've gotten it.

Praying for the world. You all mean so much to me.

Hello everyone! I did laugh a bit when you said about husband now having two jobs. But that's very real to him and you. That's sweet that the kids wanted to stay with you!

I was better focused at work today. I've had a problem working. Each day feels ridiculous.

Garbage and recycling are out!!!

CM I bet there is a lot of compromising when you have a roommate. I've never had one, if you can believe it. Since leaving my house (at 23, so admittedly later than most-I had just completed my associates degree at night), I have lived alone. I have worked really hard to live alone. It suits me. And during this terrible time, I am grateful for it. That said, if they shut the whole city down, I'll move in with BF for a few weeks. But just to keep myself from going crazy.

I will hopefully see him tomorrow.

I will call mom now.

Tillie I love your rag idea. My cleaners use rags and there's something comforting about it. Right now they use only paper towels that I supply. They are cleaning all of their equipment before coming over and they put on fresh gloves while here. They will be here next Wednesday, God willing.

I don't know what we will do for Easter.

I didn't see this! Did you tell us about it?

CM, good luck on your alone time and I hope you feel spiritually renewed by the holidays.

Tatoulia, glad to know you are ok.

I survived another day of online school. Some classes were cancelled and some teachers couldn't show up because of the power outages. Apparently over 50,000 customers in our service area lost power. I only had a couple of kids out.

Two of my kids showed up early and when I told them we might cancel class if no one else showed up, they panicked. I told them I would be happy to stay with them and we could play the game from last week, or talk about anything they liked - even the book, but we weren't going to move forward with most of the class gone. Then I think they were a little dissapointed when the rest of the class showed up.

The kids are telling me we are giving them too much work. We are so concerned that they will fall behind, we may be overcompensating. I'm trying to find ways to ease off on mine.

Dh department went from 140 to 60 today. He still has a job. In fact, he now has two jobs.

Okay, so Tillie and I just cross posted on Phase 12, and not to be outdone, Tatoulia cross posted with both of us here!

I had been wondering if we were due for a new thread, and whether Tatoulia was okay.

Tillie, re your last post on Phase 12, I am so sorry things are rough. Wish he would stay home AND out of your hair, go sort his hoard if that's what floats his boat...

The "God won't give you more" idea is one lots of people struggle with; I have myself at times. Mother Teresa was quoted as saying she wished He didn't trust her so much! Relatable to me...

I'm glad roommate will be in a nice neighborhood where she's going, and can walk her dog without the unpredictability we have here. And without me bitching, LOL. I think I just need a break from the dog.

To be fair, he goes in her room and sleeps most of the days now that he's well past the crazy puppy stage. But he's just so huge in a small space when he does come out. (He was supposedly full grown at 41 lbs. 3-1/2" years ago; now he's 65 lbs and not fat just big.) And I wish she would make him go lie down at mealtimes instead of standing 6" from her creepy staring while she eats and constantly has to tell him No. To me it would be better to train a dog to respect human boundaries and then give him his own food after. But we're never going to see eye to eye on that.

Oh well. Enjoying it being just the cats, bunnies, and aquatic critters. And I can cook what I want, stay up, sleep on the comfy couch maybe, set my own schedule. And just chill.

Tulips and Hyacinths, how lovely and cheerful.

Your friend's kids will really enjoy your gift.

Make sure to get the garbage out before dark.

Glad you are rotating and washing your masks between uses.
That's the right way to do this.

Since I don't have many paper towels (stole them from Steven's garage) I have been using washcloth rags to wipe off/disinfect areas and wash them in hot water.
Have a load of them soaking right now.

Phase 14!!! Sorry I didn't notice this earlier. I am doing well! Bored but well. And frankly, if I'm bored it's my own fault!

I haven't gotten dressed today. Very rainy and raw. I bought tulips and hyacinths yesterday. I also mailed an Easter package to some friends' kids. I completely disinfected everything then wrapped in new plastic bag then sealed it up with instructions to the parents. Got it to the mailbox.

I have a few things to mail today but haven't gone out. I don't know why I'm so excited about getting my garbage out tonight but I am.

I am rotating my cloth masks and washing in between.

I am praying for peace and healing.

good night

Good Morning

Beautiful sunny warm day.
No clouds last night to filter the moonlight.
Woke up at 3:30am and couldn't fall back to sleep so got to enjoy the big moon a long time.

Keep checking the county page and so far the local county hospital has only had negative test results.
Except for groceries, pharmacies, necessary jobs and limited doctor appointments people are isolated at home.
Except for Steven who goes out and visits and generally screws around because he believes it's all a farce.

good night

Hello anybody

Got all the little ceiling dust bunnies all swept down.
Make microwave baked potato again.

Good Morning Everyone
"Clink!"

Hello Tatoulia
You are always in my thoughts and prayers (((HUG)))

Hello CriticalMass
Hope you are feeling at peace today (((HUG)))

Hello Subclinical
Best wishes for a glitch free school day (((HUG)))

Hello World, stay well 😀

Gently rained a little over night again.
Going to sweep the ceilings with the rag covered broom today.
Then see what else I may do.