A Lot Can Change in a Month

I don’t think I’ve ever written a catch-up post without random cat pictures sprinkled throughout, so here’s one of Tara to get things started. 

Tara

One thing (maybe the only thing?) that has been consistent over the past year and a half is how quickly things can change.  If you wait a month in between blog posts, what’s going on in your little corner of the world can drastically change.

I’m back to working from home.  We were back in the office for about a month.  Our official work from home started on August 9^th, but a few of us started working from home about a week before that.  We have mask requirements in place again, but there was about a week between those starting and when the CDC started recommending masks even for vaccinated people in areas with substantial or high spread.  Our county continues to have high spread and a lower vaccination rate than the rest of the state, so we’re fortunate to be able to work from again.

Charlie

Caroline is thrilled that I’m working from home again.  My work laptop seems to be her favorite thing in the world, so she’s back to spending her days on my desk. 

On my last day in the office, I discovered that I have a mask and dress that match perfectly.  I didn’t realize it until that morning when I was getting ready to leave, but I was pretty excited.  Lots of people commented on it.  One of my coworkers asked if I had a mask to match all of my dresses.  I don’t, but that would be pretty cool.  I still seem to be the only person at work embracing more colorful masks.  As one of my coworkers pointed out, though, I have a pink office, so no one should expect me to show up in a dull mask.  I still think that masks in cheery colors or patterns help make the best of a bad situation.

Our library system did a summer reading program.  You were given cards to fill out with time spent reading.  It was a check-off system, in 30-minute increments, and you turned the cards in when they were full to be entered in a drawing for prizes.  They had a program for kids; they got a free book every time they turned in a card, in addition to being entered in the drawing for prizes.  The adult program was just for the drawing at the end.  Each branch did a drawing and had prizes.  I won one of the prizes! 

I was so excited to win!  I know the picture isn’t the greatest, but my prize was a tote bag (great for taking books to and from the library), a tumbler, a book light, and a puzzle.  I’ve loved the library for as long as I can remember, and the only award I ever won in public school (before we started homes-schooling) was for reading, so I was very happy to win anything in a reading program.  Even as an adult. 

We’re currently enjoying some cooler weather, which is a nice change.  It’s still warm but not miserably hot.  We’ve been opening the windows in the mornings and evenings.  I love it when the weather is mild enough to do that.  I’ve seen a list of the 12 seasons of the Carolinas floating around the internet, and I’m not sure who started it, so I’m not sure who to link to.  Here’s a link to it, showing that we’re currently in False Fall.  I’m just glad we’re no longer at Hell’s Front Porch.  It’s one of the most accurate things I’ve ever seen about our weather, especially the various winters and springs. 

So how are things for you?  Are you working from home, or are you back in the office?  How many seasons do you have?  And which one are you in?

Not Much Has Changed

I can’t believe it has been over two months since the last time I blogged.  Not much has changed, really. 

North Carolina was supposed to have a phased reopening, but that was wishful thinking.  As soon as things started reopening, people started acting like the pandemic was over.  We also have a mask mandate, but it’s largely a joke.  So many places are blatantly refusing to enforce it.  My job is requiring masks.  Nick’s job isn’t.  We’re still staying home as much as possible, but when we do go out, most people aren’t wearing masks. 

So it comes as no surprise that NC is consistently on the list of places with quickly rising numbers.  I keep wondering what the number of deaths has to be for people to take it seriously and follow the rules.  It makes me nervous to think how high that number may have to be.

I’m still working from home, which Duke is very happy about.  He spends most of the day on a blanket next to my desk.  I did get to go into the office for a total of three days in June.  It was nice to see some of my coworkers again.  It was so strange, though, with everyone walking around in masks and standing so far apart from each other.  I don’t know if that will ever feel normal.  There are a few things going on at the office this month, but we’ve been told not to go in unless we’re directly involved them, or told by our supervisor to go in.  I’m not working on those things, so there aren’t any office days on the horizon for me.

So that’s pretty much it in pandemic news for us. Moving on to other things.  

Our gardenia bush bloomed!  It’s still very small, but the blooms were pretty. 

I have crocheted a lot of mask adapters!  A few people at work needed some for family members.  A few people Nick sees through work needed some.  I thought that was probably going to be the end of making mask adapters, but then the lab my sister works in started doing COVID-19 testing.  She asked me for mask adapters after one of the things she was using left bloody sores behind her ears.  The other option left her face bruised by the end of the day.  On a side note, that probably contributes to my total intolerance of people who refuse to wear a cloth mask for 45 minutes in the grocery store.  When the tests are coming in so fast that the folks working in the labs running the tests are wearing masks for so long that their faces are bruised and bloodied, the rest of us can suck it up a little.  Anyway, I quickly crocheted these two, and mailed them to her.  We wanted to test out the size before I made a lot of them.

They worked for her, and two of her coworkers asked about getting some.  So I  crocheted this batch and mailed them to her.

Then more of her coworkers saw them, and asked about getting some.  People were offering to pay for them.  I refuse to sell them, though.  It’s the one thing I can do to help during all of this, and it makes me feel better to do it.  So I got another small batch mailed.

By that time, more and more people were asking about getting one, so spent a day making them, and got this batch mailed.  So far this appears to be enough, but they’re going to let me know if they need more.  They sent me a very nice thank you letter, which was awesome. 

I made a sourdough bread starter.  For the bread machine, so I’m not sure how much that counts.  It took a little longer than the recipe said, so I gave it a few extra days.  The bread was delicious.  I made bread with it twice, and then totally forgot about feeding it for over two weeks.  We weren’t sure if it was alright to use after that, so I threw it out.  It has been so hot lately, we’re not really making much bread anyway, so I think I’m going to wait until it cools down some before I start another starter. 

So what have you been up to over the past few months?