Life Derailed

Everything has been out of whack. Our city is almost back to being fully operational, which is a good thing. The only real restrictions are for large gatherings. But that doesn’t mean things are back to normal. Of course, there are the usual “new normal” things, like wearing masks and such, but even those things are more or less “recommendations” here and not actual requirements. We’ve never really had a huge volume of COVID cases in our county to start with, so everyone is just being cautious but going about their business. No real fanatics here.

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My Pants Are Shrinking!

Over the past few months, like so many other people, I’ve been doing a lot of extra eating. Mostly stress eating. I’m sometimes careful with my food choices, but usually I don’t give a fig how much butter, sugar, carbohydrates and chemical preservatives are in the food. Hand me a bag of chips and that’s the last you’ll see of them. Give me a can of cashews, those babies will be gone. Dill pickles are devoured like candy. I guess you see the trend here – salt! It’s all about the salt.

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I’m In Over My Head

I’m a pretty tenacious person, especially when I really want something. I’m a firm believer that there is more than one way to skin a cat and I can almost always find a way to get something done. But, I do know when to call it quits, too. Some things just aren’t worth the time and energy.

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Of God and Kittens

Like so many other people these days, I’ve had a lot of heavy issues taking up space in my brain. Most are about survival, both physically and economically, and some are about discipline as it relates to staying focused and positive. Trying to be creative right now has certainly been a challenge for me. And avoiding the negative is downright impossible if you spend any time on social media.

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Reaping The Rewards of Quarantine

I don’t know how long it’s been for you folks, but here at Casa Baer we’ve going into our seventh week of self-isolation. According to our Governor and our Mayor, it looks like we’ve got at least two more to go before “we re-evaluate.” I’m hoping that by the second week of May we’ll be able to enter Phase I and start to see some movement toward “normal,” around here. What that means for my business remains to be seen, but I’m hopeful I’ll be able to welcome guests again in the near future. I’m hoping for June, but only time will tell. Right now I’m an innkeeper with nothing to keep.

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Research and Substitutions – Making The Most of What You’ve Got

Our local leaders advised us last week to try to stay home for just one entire week. Don’t go anywhere, including the grocery store. We were strongly encouraged to NOT go anywhere unless it was an absolute emergency. We were given a 2-day notice that law enforcement was going to be cracking down on folks just randomly out and about. I’m not really sure how they intended to actually police that, but I did my best to comply.

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I’ve Got Cats – They’re Multiplying

I’m not really a cat person. Never have been. There’s just something kind of creepy about cats. I think it’s their eyes. Or the way they think they own the world. I don’t know, I’ve just never felt a connection with a cat the way I have with dogs or horses or baby goats.

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Silver Linings

My husband and I are going into week 3 of semi-isolation. My husband’s employer mandated that the casino and hotel where he works shut completely down on March 16^th.  Since then he’s been back twice to finish up a couple of unfinished tasks, but the place is basically abandoned. Only the security crew has to stay on property during the shut down. The Baer House, too has been pretty darn quiet. We’re not on lock down, but nobody’s traveling. We have been getting daily cancellations since the second week of March. We currently have no reservations at the inn until the very first part of June.

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The P Is Silent

Words are weird. I’m not sure who originally decided how a word should be spelled, but sometimes I just shake my head. Seems like very few words are actually spelled like they should be. I’ve always been a pretty good speller and my grammar is probably better than average, but there are still those stupid words that jam me up every time. I stumble over words that end in le or el. Angel is not the same thing as angle. And you can’t rely on spell check to catch those mistakes.

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Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me

In my continuing pursuit of individual improvement this year, I’ve been going through shelves, drawers, closets, boxes, etc. and trying to determine what is essential in my life and what can be repurposed, regifted, or plain ole thrown away. I recently blogged about decluttering and I said that I had been unsuccessful in that endeavor. However, I actually have made some progress.

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