Just a normal day

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We’re prepping for a move and getting our home ready to go on the market. There is a raging pandemic around us and let’s toss in some on-going health issues. It’s a tsunami of stress.

Yesterday I needed a “normal” day. One without excessive stress. Or deadlines. Or to-do lists. A day to feel normal (Is there such a thing these days?). For a while I was stumped. Nothing I do these days is normal. Hoping that some holiday cheer would go a long way we put up the tree and a few (very few) decorations. We turned on holiday tunes and hummed, sashayed and belted out a few. I made a pot of soup and that seemed to work.

As I’ve adjusted to the changes throughout the year, all activities I do to soothe myself are no longer practical. Yesterday even my Starbucks was closed. Yes that made me cranky. They reopened with limited hours and services today. I’m not sure what’s going on but it’s 2020 so it’s “anything can happen year.” (Does anyone remember that from the Mickey Mouse Club? Do you remember which day of the week it was?)

Here’s hoping you have an eventless week and find some cheer! In the meantime, empty boxes are beckoning me!

72 thoughts on “Just a normal day”

  2. I was a Mickey Mouse Club fan but don’t remember “Anything Can Happen Day” – I watched it in Canada, but it would have been the same show. I don’t remember what day it was on either … my memory either needs some parts deleted or some new RAM sticks added. 🙂 I guess I thought it was on everyday like “Romper Room” and “Captain Kangaroo” were.

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  3. Soup, some Christmas lights and belting out songs – it does help (I like Progresso creamy tomato with basil…and what mom called cheese toast which is slice of bread with cheddar cheese toasted in the broiler…not meaty enough for anyone else here…although Molly will take any left over cheese available )
    We just went out to forage for cat food…HRH has decided she hates what she loved/Chewy delivered ….back to the can she loved/hated a few months ago….sadly we keep a variety just in case…deliver is so risky when it’s cat food…
    The new house will be wonderful. It will be worth it!
    (If nothing more, it will be a different set of walls to look at during lockdown…and figuring out where all your stuff goes – wow – that’s entertainment…or what passes for it this year.)
    Wishing positive energy to warm and heal ( use as needed)

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    • Cats and their food, yikes! Right now we are in a rhythm but I’m noticing that Sasha isn’t excited about the breakfast food (which she loved a few months ago). I had gotten a note from Chewy to “order up” as delivery may take longer during the holidays so I did. Their taste changes right after a large delivery.

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      • We are worried about deliveries ( and the fact that we already tried to guess menu and ordered 2 shipments…neither being given a second glance…and a whole lot of “You are surely trying starve me to death..,so I will languish over here and simple fade away…” You know that routine…)
        So far so good with the “new” can she rejected a couple of months ago…beginning to feel like a cat grocery pantry…and wondering if she’s laughing all the way to the lake, uh large dog bowl of water…
        Hope all merry there

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  6. Oh my, Kate. A house move on top of everything else. ‘Busy’ will be your key word for a while! The fact your favourite Starbucks is acting erratic doesn’t help at all. Hoping this process of selling and moving goes well – in spite of this being one of the weirdest and scariest periods in our lifetimes.

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  7. Putting on a pot of soup or spaghetti sauce with meatballs is comforting to me. And I think lights on Christmas trees are calming, too. Your soup and the decorations seems to have worked to keep you anchored to what is familiar and give you a break in the “tsunami of stress.”
    Hang in there Kate. I’m hoping for a quick sale on your house and getting the buyers locked-in and a quick closing!

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    • I am too. Yesterday our governor put out more restrictions closing down many businesses until Jan. 4. Our numbers are going up exponentially so it was the right thing although I feel so badly for the small businesses that are hurting. So far they haven’t shut down real estate like they did in the spring. Truly if I had to do over, I would not have bought during this time but that’s in the rear view. I’m taking hope from the vaccine.

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    • Our local SB is closing sporadically and shortening hours. They are closed for the weekend. Not sure what the issue is. Maybe staffing but they are also making crazy decisions like having you pick up your pre-order through the drive-through which could take a half hour. Cold coffee is not a fav. Anyhow SB was my last morning routine that has been squashed. Maybe it is a good time to move.

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  10. Reaching for a normal day in such abnormal times took some courage! I’m glad you found a few things to just lift you out of the heaviness of the daily challenge we’re all living in. Everything is a greater challenge under pandemic restrictions!

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  12. Nourish body, mind and spirit for a while. Do whatever pleases you and makes you simply feel good. Let go of to do’s for tomorrow. Give a cat a hug and your hubby a bigger one. They are going through this too 💕

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    • It’s sporadic so I never know. They haven’t been closed since early in the pandemic so I have no idea what’s going on. Today the sign said they are adjusting their hours to 7 a.m. to noon. They had been open from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Maybe lack of staff? It’s been so busy it’s not a lack of customers.

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  16. Sorry you didn’t get your usual caffeine fix – that’s a problem. 🙂 Holiday decorations have helped my mood so much I’m trying to figure out which ones I could get away with leaving up. 🙂 My big smile of the day was a friend sending a photo of her grandson getting home yesterday from a year in Afghanistan and holding his son who turned one in the fall. Smiles all around which just couldn’t help but make others smile too.

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  17. Wishing you well, on the move. I just completed ours (mostly). I think I’m at that age, where nothing will surprise me regarding stress. I don’t handle stress well anymore. So I get to learn, I have chronic systolic heart failure. Great.

    We have a few days left in 2020, the only malady Alabama hasn’t had, is a blizzard. We’ve had two inland hurricanes this year. Reaching us 210 miles inland. I think I will dig a shelter underground, take my computers and hide out till 2021!

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  18. Hoping for all good things relative to the move – from packing to selling to moving to no nervous breakdowns! I have a hip replacement to look forward to in the new year (yes – in the midst of the pandemic) but have no choice. Well yes I do – I could look like Quasimodo lurching around in pain for a few more months but I can’t do it any longer. Thing is, whatever happens ahead of us is semi-controllable right now. Just keep smiling – keep dancing – keep singing and keep making soup!!

    Hugs, Pam

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    • I suppose I’d rather move than have a hip replacement! Fortunately my hips (and all my joints) are good. I had a bunion surgery about 10 years ago but everything else is good. Right now we turn the tree lights on to perk us up when we are feeling overwhelmed and it works. We have a lot going on in the next two weeks then I’m hoping that I’ll calm down. (Inside squirrel may take a nap!)

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  21. Our coffee bars are still shut as we are in tier 3 lockdown. But the leisure centre has been allowed to reopen so I could go for a swim this morning. We are expecting a house price crash here so now is the right time to downsize.

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  22. I love the holidays, but every year I forget how much more work Christmas adds. Especially when you have a kid. Even though there won’t be parties or cookie and ornament exchanges, you’ve gotta figure out a way to bring in the cheer and make it fun. This year, the work is hitting early because of potential shipping delays.

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    • I’ve been a bah humbug person for many years now although we do a tree and some level of decorations. When I was younger we had people in throughout the season. We haven’t done much of that for several years and this year we only did it for ourselves! We had reverted to sending money to the out of staters many years ago since shopping got more difficult (knowing what they were into or what they had). I got a notice from Chewy to order early and I did. Heaven knows no fury like that of a cat without their favorite foods! 😉

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  23. The pandemic certainly changed a lot for us. It didn’t take long to adjust to that new normal. A big NEW NORMAL! We had to!

    Each year, each month, each day really brings a new normal. We may not realize it for awhile. The pandemic was immediate.
    Don’t give up ….. complaining about it or about changes you might be feeling. Complaining is a good OLD NORMAL. May not do much good except make you feel good.

    What do I know??? My new normal: Giving advice and directions.
    My husband would say …. that is my old normal. 😉

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    • I wouldn’t recommend it. Unfortunately the house became available. We’ve been looking for a long time and ultimately decided we couldn’t pass it up. We were very naïve about how complicated and difficult it would be. It really sucks the energy out of you. We are hoping that they don’t shut down the real estate business before our home sells.

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