COVID-19 and the Heebie-Jeebies

Finally!

Hey, everyone! How’s it hangin’? Since the pandemic has kicked in for what would appear to be a long time, I’ve been through a number of phases. After what seems like an eternity, I have finally picked up my socks and finished those and I’ve started on another pair of socks. In that respect I’m slowly returning to a normal state of mind.

Traveling buddies

Other aspects? I’ve got major wanderlust. So much so that I may be doing a road trip with my dogs. I don’t quite know where or when or if I’m going alone or with my husband – I just have the need to go. I understand that I’m probably trying to escape the insanity of what’s happening with the pandemic, and I’m aware that’s a physical impossibility, but it doesn’t stop the want. Call it cabin fever or stir crazy – I call it the heebie-jeebies (heebus-jeebus\ [ hee-bus-jee-bus ]: n. a malady known to afflict late middle-aged women riding out a pandemic; a condition of extreme nervousness caused by fear, worry, strain, etc.; the jitters; the willies (usually preceded by the)).

So where should I go?

In other news, I am awaiting some very expensive yarn to begin a sweater that may or may not be finished by winter, and my husband and I are trying to squeeze in another trip to – yup, you guessed it – Hawai’i.

Bar Knitting

You don’t have to drink to enjoy the view.

As many of you may already know, I have a local crafts Facebook group called “Colfax Stitch ‘n Bitch”.  In an attempt to increase participation, I added another meeting day to include the people who couldn’t manage Thursday evenings.  Sunday afternoons seemed a good thing.  I also wanted to change up the venue a bit and set up a poll with possible sites and threw in a red herring.  With my sense of humor being what it is, that was a given.  The red herring?  A local bar called The Red Frog that boasts the best mountain view that I’ve ever seen.  I haven’t been to that many bars, much less those that feature views, so, take my word for it.  It’s beautiful.  The Red Frog was chosen, so I posted it was, and quite a few people were excited about the event. There were some members who declined because it was a bar; I get it.  Otherwise, I thought I’d see a few new faces.

I like taking my bowl with me!

I showed up on time, made my way back to the patio and was surprised to see how busy it was.  In general.  The patio part of the bar is just that – open to the elements.  With only a roof, there’s no heating, no air conditioning.  You deal with what nature gives you.  It was 95 degrees F that day.  With the shade and a little breeze it was tolerable enough.  I saw the one remaining table available and I grabbed it up.

And there I sat for 30 minutes, knitting and drinking my virgin mango margarita.  It was delicious.  I expected someone to say something to me. A lively bar is not where you’d expect to find a middle-aged woman knitting, but all I got were some second glances and everyone went about their drinking and/or eating.  When a spot cleared up at the open viewing area, I quickly gathered up my gear, switched seats and continued to nurse my drink.

All-in-all, it wasn’t a bad time.  I rather liked it and intend to return either alone or with more people.  As for my group, I called them all wimps!  I may not have a group much longer….

Oh, God. It’s images like this that make me wish I could

look more like this poorly photoshopped pic again!

How Time Flies

It’s already been a year since my last mammogram, and here we are doing it again – which is a good thing.  I remember being astounded the first time I had one of these done that my body could be stretched and distorted in such a way.

All kidding aside, I think it’s very important for women to have this diagnostic performed regularly; you never know.  As far as procedures go, this is relatively painless and very fast.   As for those of you ladies who should be doing this but keep putting it off, stop that!  Don’t blow it off because it doesn’t run in the family, that your copay is too much, that you don’t have the time or you think the odds are in your favor.  Early detection is crucial to getting favorable results, i.e., to stomp cancer’s ass!

Now after saying all that, I hate having it done.  I really do.  But, I’d rather catch any anomalies before they become growths or tumors.  Ick.

So are you up to date?

52

What’s in the number 52? Looks innocent enough. However, when employed in statistics, it means that whatever you’re polling has a better than half rating; as a decibel measurement, it’s a whisper.  In 1952, the average cost of a home was $9,050.  Additionally, it’s the number of weeks in a year and the number of white keys on a piano.  To be terribly obscure, it’s also a significant number in the Mayan calendar.  We all know how important the Mayan calendar is in our daily lives. *cough*2012*cough, cough*

It’s also means that AARP has been sending you membership cards for the last two years; that you see your doctor twice a year instead of once a year; that you’ve had your colon probed at least once, and the mammograms are really starting to wrack up in number.  And because progressive lenses don’t work for you, you have bifocals and now you’re thinking of tri-focals.  It means you don’t especially know what YOLO means, nor do you care enough to Google it.  Ok…I looked it up.  You Only Live Once.  True enough, but are we saying it that much that it warrants an acronym?   

But, if you’re damned lucky, it means you’re 52 years old and in relatively good health.

Happy birthday to me!