After an extended silence, I have decided to merge several of my old blogs in to one place. As many of you are undoubtedly doing, I have been mostly sequestered in my home for the last 14-ish days, and it looks increasingly like we’re in it for the long haul. Tonight I realized that I really need a place to vent my frustrations, share my joys, and keep myself busy so I don’t spend all my time eating all the food in the house. And trust me, there is a LOT of food in this house right now. What I don’t have as much of is toilet paper.

When did life become all about finding some damn toilet paper? Oh yeah, about 14 days ago when people decided they absolutely had to have 18 packs of the 18 roll Charmin club packs. I mean seriously, people, what the hell is wrong with y’all? I keep extra toilet paper around all the time, primarily because well … my mom always had a bunch, and there’s no telling when we’re going to have that last minute hurricane spin up out of nowhere, or a flood that keeps you from the store for a week or two. But I’ve never, in more than 51 years on this earth, seen so many people lose their minds over toilet paper. Y’all all need some counselling when this is all over, and I don’t mean from the COVID-19. I mean because y’all have clearly forgotten how to act like normal, empathetic human beings. I hope all y’all who bought enough toilet paper that your grandkids won’t need to buy any enjoy your spoils, primarily because most places won’t take that stuff back, and I know rent is due right about now.

Anyway …

If you look back over past posts (that are now being imported in to this blog), you will see that I have few interests. My husband. Our dog, The kids. Grandkids. Quilting. Sewing. A few other things, and not always in that order. I also have a job. In the oil industry. Because you know … it’s super stable and I have no qualms about being laid off for the third time in less than 10 years.

And really … if you aren’t fluent in sarcasm, this might not be the place for you. Because right now, I feel like there are four things keeping from completely losing my mind. My husband. Our dog. Quilting. And sarcastic humor. Because y’all, this COVID-19 business is NOT for the faint-hearted. Not. At. All.

We already discussed toilet paper. Let’s talk chicken. As in, it’s not easy to get any. It’s also difficult to get ground beef. And most groceries, because again, y’all done lost your minds. I’d be embarrassed, because you know, this makes us look like Greedy Americans. But I hear from my buddies in the UK, and other places, too, that they are experiencing the same thing. So I guess the reality is, there are a lot of greedy people who are only interested in looking out for themselves.

What I haven’t figured out, and really cannot understand, for the LIFE of me, is how, less than two months in to this whole mess, there was already a shortage in the US of medical supplies. They’ve been saying since mid-March that we don’t have enough face masks, enough gloves, or enough ventilators for all the sick people. To date, there have been about 246,000 cases in the US. Of those, a little more than 6,000 have died. Those are sobering numbers, aren’t they? Because six weeks ago, very few people knew what COVID-19 is, how it started, or even that they were in danger of getting sick. Families have been decimated by this disease, yet people still aren’t taking it seriously. Parents are taking their kids to the grocery store and letting them run around, just to “get out of the house.” People are throwing “isolation” and “COVID” parties, and inviting all their friends.

I guess we can just look at this as Darwinism in action. Because you know … why should anyone listen to the experts telling us how bad this is? People in Italy were pretty cocky, too. They’ve only had 115,000 people get this crap, but their death numbers are more than double ours – nearly 14,000 people in a country with a population of 60 million. Many of them have been elderly.

It’s terrifying, if you think about it. Because a lot of those people could still be alive today, if they’d just listened to experts telling them to STAY HOME.

When I was 15, I lived through Hurricane Alicia. I thought that was scary. It was NOTHING compared to what’s coming for us now. But people continue to flaunt their idiocy, and they’re dragging their kids along for the ride, and unwittingly, everyone with whom they come in to contact. Talk about bad parenting. We should be so lucky as for these kids to suddenly become latchkey kids! At least then they wouldn’t be out in public running around potentially spreading this crap.

And don’t give me the whole “single parent” crap. I was a single parent, too, and I would have found someone to keep an eye on my kids, or if they were old enough, left them at home for me to go out for groceries and essentials if this had happened back when they were little. Fortunately they’re grown now, so I don’t have to worry about this. But yeah, if you want to put it in blunt terms, I was a better parent. Prove me wrong. 😛

If you’ve made it this far, I’m glad you’re here. The theme of this blog might be a little less sweet and kind than it has been in the past, because frankly, I’m tired of life kicking me in the teeth all time. I will still post about quilting. And sewing. My dog. Maybe some cooking and even WW. But it’s going to be more me and less … well, not me. Strap in, Buttercup, it’s gonna be one hell of a ride.