I had forgotten I wrote that post on Covid back in March. I left it as a draft to deal with our new reality. I first went on a frenzy of making masks for us and to donate. I had some left over cotton material from a quilting project I never finished that was perfect for the task. When I ran out of that a friend from Rotary who also had left over material from quilting projects, gave me an even larger amount of material. Altogether, I made about 150 of masks.
Over time I started noticing a lot of pain in my left thumb joint. I went to a doctor to see what the problem was. Turns out all the repetitive motion from sewing was causing some arthritis to act up. And for the first time in my life, the doctor gave me the answer I wanted to hear. He said there was a simple surgery that would solve the problem. My next questions was, and how long before the arthritis comes back? His answer NEVER! Most often whenever I go to a doctor with an issue the answer is much different. Well, you've got many issues and we don't know which of your problems is causing the pain, so we can't help you. But of course after I stopped sewing - the pain went away.
Lisa and Tim are evacuated from Kiev, Ukraine and move temporally to Albuquerque. This keeps me busy going back and forth to their rental in the Cherry Hills neighborhood. They have a swimming pool so they are able to exercise and keep the kids busy. We spend a lot of time with the grandkids.
After the mask episode was finished I was at loose ends trying to figure out how to spend my time. Making masks was a way to feel like I was doing my part to help us all get through the pandemic. My Rotary Club as well as every other club and group in New Mexico was closed down. A couple of us started talking about a way for us to meet on-line. About that time, Michael got the purchased version of Zoom so he could meet remotely with all the people in Ghana as well as meetings here at home. Several of us got the free version of Zoom - but your meetings can only be 40 minutes long. Michael sets up the Club's Rotary meeting and sends me an invite - I then send it out to everyone else in the Club. I have all the Club members email and phone information on my computer - Mike does not.
I still can't figure out what I can do to feel like I am doing something good. Rotary does a few projects - but my back and right shoulder are causing problems - I can't do the heavy lifting any more. One of the speakers at Rotary were two men who were going to offer a class on "Flourishing" to start in mid September. It was canceled. I was able to borrow the book "Authentic Happiness" that the class was based on from Cheryl and started reading it.
During this whole time - Mike and I are trying to figure out how to work around each other everyday! It seems no one can hear him on Zoom - so he talks really loud. I can't concentrate when he talks loud. We rearranged some areas of the house. Mike started using the craft room as his office - he can shut the door. I bought a noise machine. But something is still missing - we are not traveling! We are not taking photos and posting!
Where can we go? A family member suggests New York City. Their Covid 19 numbers have finally come down. The City was hit very hard and it took them months to get a handle on it. NM lists NY as a place a New Mexican could go to with out quarantining. NY feels the same about NM. I am a little leary of big cities - I am not excited about going to NYC. Friends in the past have raved about how beautiful the Finger Lakes area of NY is -Now that is something I can get excited about.
It's tough to find replacement activities when so many things are cancelled. I am pleased that several of my groups are meeting by zoom, so it's too bad that class didn't happen.
ReplyDeleteI find I am happier closed in than I thought I would be but every once in a while I go crazy.
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