DAY 79 MORE PROTESTS

Day 79 since I left the house.

After a sleepless night last night I think I will be having another sleepless night tonight.  Last night there was a peaceful protest that I sadly was not able to participate in and then most of the protesters left and a some folks from outside the City came and began looting and setting fires.  I watched it all via a Youtube livestream.  I was sad, mad and scared all at different times.   

Today there was a peaceful protest that ended at the curfew.  Now I am reading that there is a bit of looting going on.  My neighborhood so far has been skipped but it is not over.   

I had a good day video chatting with my niece and nephew and some friends.  I am watching a new show on Netflix Sweet Magnolia.  It is cute and like a network TV show you can watch all at once.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 78 FIRST DAY OF PROTESTS

Day 78 since I left the house.

Today was the first day of protests in my area.  They have been marching for hours.  I am writing this when they are still marching and I hope it doesn't dissolve into the looting and fires like it has in other cities.   We are known for our peaceful protests and our police force is known for it's calm and restraint.  In non-Covid-19 times there are protests every weekend.

Today I finally hung my Raggedy Ann and Andy figures that I got from a family friend.  I had to figure out how to hang one of them.  I think they look great.  They are on the wall entering my kitchen.

I finished watching a Netflix series After Life.  It is a dark comedy with Ricky Gervais.  I liked it but I like dark British humor.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 77 MY FLOWERS

Day 77 since I left the house.

With all the rain we have been getting, my flowers are going wild.  They look so good.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 76 OH, WHAT A MESS

Day 76 since I left the house.

Tonight I was taking out the trash. My one task takes me three steps out the garage door.  I am gloved, masked and I check to see if anyone is walking down the sidewalk or street before I venture out. 

I had extra space in my garbage can so I was looking around for items I can throw away from the garage.  I am using this time to clear stuff out since I have very little trash and recycling in my cans.  I was reaching for something and CRASH!  Down came a jar and it broke and the ingredients went all over the floor.  The liquid inside started oozing.  I ran for the paper towels (I already had on a rubber glove) and started sopping up the liquid.  It was a jar of sun dried tomatoes from Costco.

Luckily, it hit the floor and the glass mostly stayed in one place due to the label.  I quickly grabbed a plastic bag from a stash I had nearby and got the bulk of the jar and contents in the bag.  Then came the sopping up of the oil.  I used almost 1/4 of the roll of paper towels.  During C-19 that hurts!  Once I got the oil up.  I Googled how best to clean it up.  Luckily I had some leftover dish soap from one of my brother's camping trips down in my laundry area so I mixed that with hot water and scrubbed the area.  It worked.  Now I have to wait until it dries and then I can vacuum or sweep and get the rest of the glass shards up.  I think it will be okay.  Not what I had planned for my evening.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 75 OH THIS WEATHER

Day 75 since I left the house.

Okay, it is hot here.  I love hot weather, I do.  But the heat here is hard to take when there is no air conditioning and I am in lock down.  Yesterday I went looking for Lucky.  I couldn't find her anywhere; not on her beds, not in her cage, not on the deck.  She was downstairs on my bed in the cool air under the fan.  She had figured it out.  The upstairs gets hot but the downstairs is subterranean so it stays cool.  The only problem is it is hard to work down there because I would have to lay on the bed all day.  When you are sick that isn't bad but day after day, that gets old.

It has been hot for three days now.  About 90 degrees each day.  I brought up the fan and I had a fan already upstairs so I have air moving.  There is no breeze outside.  Poor Lucky just walks around panting. She is not a hot weather dog.  Happi used to love it.  Sunny is happy since he is a tropical bird.  As long as I keep the direct sun off him.  He sings and sings. 

I am just happy this short heat wave is over for now.   I can only take so much.  These houses are not made for this kind of weather.  Flat roofs are not ideal for 90-100 degree weather days. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 74 NEW CALENDAR ARRIVED

Day 74 since I left the house.

Last night I got my work done and then realized that one of my deadlines was not until Wednesday.  Oh, well, I got it done early. 

Today was Lucky's veterinary appointment.  The dog walker showed up on time and took her to the appointment.  The drop off is no contact and they come out to the car.  Then the vet calls me to find out what is wrong.  The vet ran some tests (blood and urine) and called me back.  He said she looked good.  He saw that she was licking and said she may have an allergy and may have an urinary infection.  We have to wait until tomorrow for the test results.  Meanwhile he gave her a shot of something that should calm down the itching and the urinary infection if she has one. The vet accidentally made the dog walker pay but I called and reversed the charge and put it on my charge card.  She was home in a few hours and fell right asleep. 

I did my presentation and it was okay.  That is the best I can say. 

I got a new calendar that I ordered and that is exciting.  Since C-19 I have been using a new system for organizing my life.  Since I mostly sit in the living room, I have a weekly calendar sitting on my fireplace.  It has a post-it system where you post post-its of different colors for different reasons.  Blue is for work, purple for fun things, etc.  It is a very visual calendar and is helpful for scheduling when I am on the phone.  I can quickly see my schedule.  I even schedule my deliveries and things I have to do like sending a card. 

I barbecued again tonight.  This time I put barbecue sauce on a vegan burger and it tasted good.  Next time I would put less since it took forever to clean the grill.  It was a good dinner of barbecue burger, potatoes from last night and salad.  Yum.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 73 WORKING ON A HOLIDAY

Day 73 since I left the house.

I worked for part of this Memorial Day.  I have a presentation and a project due tomorrow.  Either I had to work today or I had to cancel some of my other plans this weekend.  I wanted to participate in my other plans so I opted to work today.  My brother helped me figure out how to screen share in Zoom.

I rode 7 miles on my stationary bike after I sent Lucky off with the dog walker.  Then I ate my lunch and put out the cushions on the deck.  It is very hot today.  I saw the thermostat and it said 87 degrees.  Then I started to work on my presentation.

I had a drop by from my neighbor.  We talked about the neighborhood break-in last night.  Another neighbor had their home broken into at 4 am.  Since it was hot, they left their windows open and someone climbed up and in their window.  A laptop and phone were stolen.

Last night I had a dream about Happi. She was standing at my front door and I was petting her and telling her it was okay and I started to cry in my dream.  I woke up and I was crying.  I miss her so much.  It felt so real.

I made roasted potatoes and barbecued a vegan burger for dinner.  I ate on my upstairs deck in the cool breeze with Lucky staring at me waiting for a crumb to fall.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 72 EMERGENCY BINDER

Day 72 since I left the house.

I zoomed a lot today.  I had a catch up zoom with two friends.  I talk a lot with one of them but the other friend (who has watched my dogs in the past) I haven't caught up with in about two months.  We zoomed for almost 1.5 hours.

Then I had my weekly Sunday Funday zoom.  I am really making friends there.  They are a great group of people.

Then I had a phone call with my sister.  We had some stuff to take care of.  

I spent the rest of the day doing odds and ends.  I cleaned off the yoga mats I had all over the house so Happi could walk without sliding. I cleaned off the barbecue.  I worked more on my Emergency Binder.  I realized when C-19 came that I didn't have an Emergency Binder.  If something happened to me, would someone know that Lucky takes medicine?  How much?  What food does she like?  What biscuits?  What can't she eat?  What about Sunny?  Does anyone in my family know that he broke his foot?  These are all things that someone would need to know.  What about my home?  Are there things about my home someone should know?  My work?  Clients to contact if something should happen to me.

I decided to write these things down and put them in one place.  Okay, I got the idea from a movie/show (I can't remember) where the mother disappeared or didn't come home and the aunt went to the emergency binder to find out information.  What the kids like for lunch.  What time school starts.  It all sounds to organized and smart.  I thought I can do this easy.  It is all in my head.  I just have to write it down.  I won't even bother typing it, that takes too long and plus then I would have to retype to make changes.  If it is handwritten I just cross it out and write it again.  I can write it anywhere.  I don't want to have to type another thing these days.  I am in front of a computer a lot.

Then at the end of the day, I was watching TV when I got a text.  It was my friend T.  He and his husband were out for a walk and they wanted to come by and do a no-contact visit.  We visited for about 45 mins.  They were at the bottom of the stairs and I was at the top 10 feet apart.  It was nice to see them and their dog.  It was a nice surprise.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 71 ODDBALL

Day 71 since I left the house.

I participated in a book talk with my library and 94 people participated.  It was very interesting.  We discussed the book with the author of The Mountains Sing.  I started reading it but haven't finished it yet.  I like it so far.  Then I zoomed with my niece and nephew.  They really liked the photo postcard I sent them.

Tonight I watched a bunch of movies.  I watched  Blow the Man Down on Amazon, Finding Your Feet, and a Oddball on Disney+.  It was a movie night.

I liked Oddball a lot.  It was about a dog that finds a job helping out to save something.  It moved a long well and it was sophisticated enough for adults but entertaining for kids.  Who doesn't like a big furry dog?

I also liked Finding your Feet.  It was an Australian film with actors I recognized.  A woman finds herself reluctantly involved in a dance class.  I thought it was well acted and charming.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 70 CROSS STITCH

Day 70 since I left the house.

I have some cross stitch pieces of art that my mother did years ago.  I had them hanging in my garage.  No, it is not a weird place to hang them.  They were hanging over my utility sink in my laundry area.  I thought they would be cute there.  Today I was looking at them and thought they would look cute in my bathroom instead.  I took them down and hung another picture over my utility sink.

Now the cute cross stitch pictures are hanging in my bathroom.  I think they look pretty good where they are hung.  The colors match and they are cutesy bathroom scenes.

 I like them  and I guess that is all that matters.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 69 ZOOM BOOK TALK

Day 69 since I left the house.

 My neighbor invited me to a book talk on zoom.  It was about AIDS activism.  I had to another task at the same time and since the people couldn't see me, I listened while I did the other task.  Two birds one stone.

It is the Friday of a long weekend but I know I have to work so it won't be a long weekend for me.  I had a 4pm phone call with a client and he told me that when my contract ends in a month, we are done.  This is a client who keeps calling me back because their employees don't stay.  So I guess I will be back in about 11 months.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 68INTERVIEW PREP HELP

Day 68 since I left the house.

I have been helping my friend A get ready for an interview.  She had it today and I was real excited for her.  We practiced and went over interview questions.  I had her call me 15 minutes before so we could do last minute preparations and deep breathing to relax.  She seemed all ready.  She said she didn't think she did well but she said that after the first round and now she was interviewing for the second round.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 67 PAELLA

Day 67 since I left the house.

For days I have been dreaming of eating paella.  Last week I got some of the ingredients but I was short one of them; a red pepper.  This weekend my friend bought me a red pepper.  Now I had all the ingredients.

Today I made vegan paella.  It is so good. I put green and red peppers, zucchini, peas, tomatoes, and green beans. I have a big batch and it will last a few days.

I never thought I could make paella until I had it at a restaurant in Celebration, Florida. It was so good at this restaurant that I found a recipe.  I have made it a number of times and I love it so much. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 66 OLD EXERCISE DVD

Day 66 since I left the house.

Today I changed up my exercise program.  I found an old DVD.  It has a walking program on it.  Today I did the one mile program.  I used my exercise area in my garage.  The DVD has 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 mile walks on it.  I don't just walk but also use weights.  I kick, lift legs, etc.  I really worked up a little sweat.  I am going to try the 2 mile in a few days.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 65 SUNNY GOT A MANICURE

Day 65 since I left the house.

I went outside today and planted my herb garden.  I planted basil, chamomile, parsley and oregano.  Not completely my choice but they are interesting.  My gardener picked them up for me.  I think she got what was available.  I already have thyme and mint that survived from the previous two years.

 My friend and his son came by and took Sunny (my cockatiel) to the pet store to get his wings, nails and beak clipped.  Poor Sunny was having a hard time eating and preening because his beak was so long.  His nails were so long he was having a hard time on his perch.  Poor Sunny!  But he is all clipped now and much happier.  My friends are the best.  They also got my three bags of bird food.

I zoomed with my friends for a few minutes between picking up Sunny and deliveries and such.  It was a busy day.  Someone joked that birds can get a manicure but humans can't right now! 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 64 KNIVES OUT

Day 64 since I left the house.

I finally watched Knives Out.  I was told this was a good movie by my brother, mother, father, and other brother.  It was time to finally watch it.  I had it available but I have just been watching other things.  I really enjoyed this movie.  I found it moved along well and kept my attention even though I fell asleep during the last 25 minutes.  It was late and I was tired.  I should never start a movie at 10:15 pm.  I am going to watch the end of the movie tomorrow morning when I am wide awake.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 63 APRICOTS

Day 63 since I left the house.

I got my fruit and vegetable delivery this week.  I ordered some offbeat stuff because they were out of some of the regular items I get.  I decided to order apricots.  They have been delicious in the past so I thought I would try them again.  I hope once they ripen they are sweet and drippy.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 62 BRASS BELL

Day 62 since I left the house.

Every night my community goes outside and makes noise to celebrate the essential workers.  People bang pots and pans and yell and drum and set off fire crackers and blow horns.  I started out with a noise maker and then I got out my bell.  This bell is very special to me.  It was given to me by my friend Galen.  Galen passed away from AIDS in the 1990's.  He gave me a Christmas present right before he died.  It was to put under my Christmas tree.  He passed away before Christmas and I didn't open the package for years.  I couldn't.  I was so sad.   Finally the wrapping was falling off after being moved a few times and from age so I opened it.  It was a brass bell.  I now use that brass bell every night to ring for the essential workers of Covid-19.  From one pandemic to another pandemic.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 61 EXERCISE

Day 61 since I left the house.

My friend S and I started doing a partnership for exercise.  She was not exercising and neither was I.  I kept finding no time to do it.  Now that I have someone depending on me, I tend to do it.  Today at lunch time we both texted and started exercising.

I hopped on my bike and rode 6 miles.  She did yoga.  I was good to have someone to be accountable to.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 60 TELEPHONE CALL WITH DOCTOR

Day 60 since I left the house.

Today I finally had my telephone call with my doctor.  This is the first time I spoke with him since I had pneumonia back on March 20th.  Basically I am fine.  He agrees I should stay off the Orencia until things calm down.

He also agreed with me that it is possible that I had a false negative Covid 19 test.  He agrees that it is weird that my test returned in two days when everyone else's test at that time was coming back in 7 days (it was all over the news) and I was told the test would take many more days.  The fast tests did not arrive until weeks later at our hospital.  He also told me that the test I was given had a 48% fail rate.  That does not give me confidence.  Nothing can be done about it now but he wants me to take the antibody test.

The antibody tests that are out now in his opinion are useless. They have been giving false negatives and I don't want another one of those.  I hear a local research hospital is working on an antibody test that seems promising.  Once a good reliable test is ready I will take it and find out one way or the other.

Meanwhile I am staying inside for the future.  He says it is too dangerous for me to be outside.  People are not abiding by distancing and mask wearing and I have a history of getting everything that comes down the pike.  Since we don't know if I have had it and if I did have if I could get it again, it is too dangerous.  At some point I need to get back on my medicine and that will make me more susceptible.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 59 I CUT MY HAIR

Day 59 since I left the house.

I ordered vegan groceries!  I got a delivery date with Whole Foods finally.  I could order vegan butter, cheese, crackers, ice cream!,  and mac and cheese.  Yay!

Last night after I posted I cut my hair.  I couldn't take it anymore.  My hair was so long it was in my eyes and I could make a small ponytail.  Some people were shocked but back in the 90's when I was unemployed for about a year and I was poor and collecting food stamps, I used to cut my own hair.  It was a little easier because I had someone to do the back but I made due this time.  Who is going to see it??  I was hesitant at first because I haven't cut my own hair in almost 20 years.  But I made one cut and then I had to cut the rest.  It looks pretty good.  I sent a photo to some friends and they said they were impressed!  My aunt sent me a facebook live of a woman cutting her own hair and I swear we had a lot in common.  We both were talking to ourselves when we were doing it. 

I have a video chat with a friend tonight.  I am pretty excited to see her. 

The zoom went well.  We talked for 2.5 hours.  She thought my haircut looked good.  It is late now and I have to hit the hay!  We are going to meet up virtually to exercise on Wednesday.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 58 DEAD TO ME

Day 58 since I left the house.

 Happy Mother's Day! This is a video of the card I sent my mother.

 I have been watching Dead To Me.  It is a dark comedy.  I really got stuck watching it and watched 2 seasons over the weekend.  It was really good.

Poor Lucky licked her front legs so much that she was licking her fur off.  I called the vet but they could not attend to her so I put the cone on her head.  She stopped licking but she is not happy.

Hopefully this will stop the licking for good.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 57 GROCERIES ARRIVED

Day 57 since I left the house.

I got my second delivery of store bought food today.  Everything arrived but a bag of frozen broccoli.  I will be fine without the broccoli.  I stocked up on things like apple juice, sparking water, vegetable broth, apple sauce, and tomato sauce. 

The delivery was for today between 1pm - 5 pm.  I got a notification at 1:20pm saying the delivery was coming.  I got excited that it was coming early but then it didn't arrive.  I got a little nervous.  Two hours later I got another notification that the delivery would come in 45 min.  It was coming from far away and not from my local supermarket.  One hour later my groceries were dropped off.  It was so nice to have the items.  Since all of them are not going to be used for over a week, I put them all in the garage pantry or in the garage refrigerator/freezer to wait a week to use.  That way the coronavirus will be long gone by the time I go to use these items.  That is my system.  Rather than wiping things down, I just leave them alone for 3 (for plastic) days to 7 (for groceries) days by which time the virus will be dead.  Of course if I need something prior to those days, I will clean it.

I also got a box but I can't open it until tomorrow and I don't know what is inside it so it will be a surprise tomorrow.

Lucky is wearing a cone.  She has been licking her legs obsessively since yesterday. She kept me up all night with her licking so today I had to put the cone on to stop the licking. She is not happy.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 56 BLOG ANNIVERSARY

Day 56 since I left the house.

Happy 9th Year Anniversary of You Don't Look Sick - Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis Blog!!

Today was a surprise.  I got the day wrong that my gardener was coming to clear out my backyard.  This morning I got a surprise when I got a text saying she was on line at Home Depot trying to get bags to put the greens in.  She had no luck but when she got here she found some in my hallway going to the backyard that I didn't even know were there.  She must have put them there last time she was here.  Since I put them in the garage, I didn't think of looking in that location.  So that worked out!

This was a no contact gardening visit.  She arrived and I already had the compost bin outside and the door unlocked.  I said hello from the upstairs window and then she got right to work trimming the hedge in the front.  My delivery people and dog walker will be so happy.  Then she went inside my service worker entrance and went to the backyard.  She cleared out the jungle.

 She also bought me a tomato plant, some herbs and flowers.  She planted the tomato and the flowers.  I am going to plant the herbs tomorrow.  The backyard looks so great now.  I can't wait to move my table and chairs so I can sit out while I am quarantined.  It is such a great space and it was impossible to use it, it was such a jungle.  Even Lucky would not go anywhere but the little space on the slate.  She also only pooped and peed there too!  Today she was with the dog walker and when she came home she ran all around the yard and ran under the far away trees and made her mark right away.  She missed the yard.

Yes, you can see the bridge now.  And where the pond used to be.  Everything is so lush.

I also have an update on the claim with The-Insurance-Company-who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.  If you don't remember, I received a $355 bill in November 2019 for a doctor's appointment in 2018.  No bills prior to that.  Then I received a few bills in succession.  By December it was sent to collections.  I never had a bill go to collections that fast.  I was still trying to figure out what the bill was for and if I paid it already.  I don't know about you but I have to dig that stuff out of storage.  I tried to contact the doctor's office to no avail because then it was the holidays.  I kept being told it was because the doctor used the wrong code.  The doctor's office would not help me get it recoded.  Finally in February I got a nice person on the phone who explained to me that it was not a coding issue but that I used the wrong lab.  Well, that was not true.  I always used that lab; it was the lab at the hospital. Well, I had already asked for an appeal and was turned down so now I had to submit a grievance.  I was told it was a long shot but that I should considering I used the lab all the time.  So 30 days ago I submitted my grievance and today I heard back from them.  I won!  They are going to pay the claim.  (but I was warned this was a one time thing)  Woo hoo!  I was never going to pay it so I am glad they agreed to pay it.    Once I found out that collections bills from the hospital don't ruin your credit, I was going to dig in and never pay it.  I did the happy dance when I got the email that I won. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 55 ANNIVERSARY OF MOVING TO WEST COAST

Day 55 since I left the house.

I forgot to mention that two days ago was my anniversary of moving to the west coast.  I have been here for 29 years.  Wow!  Crazy!

I also forgot to mention that yesterday was the anniversary of Happi's birthday.  She would have been 15-1/2 years and it is the anniversary of when I adopted her.  I miss my baby so much.  Two nights ago Lucky slept in Happi's bed for the first time.  I didn't even put the two events together until today.

I have been coloring to relax. I got frustrated that I only had a few color pencils so I bought 120 colors of pencils. I also bought two other coloring books. One arrived today.

I made a new recipe today. White bean & Kale Bake.  Unfortunately I used the 4 cups of water and it took forever to cook. Next time I will use less water. I tasted it and it tasted awesome. It will be great tomorrow. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 54 DAY OF PHONE CALLS

Day 54 since I have left the house

Today I called to check and make sure my primary doctor IS my primary doctor.  First I checked the website of The-insurance-company-who-shall-not-be-named and sure enough I still had the new doctor.  I tried to change it back and the website would not let me.  I had to call them and make the change.  The lady was nice and changed it right away.  Then I asked about my appeal and she said I would get an answer next week.

I also called the water delivery company and tried to straighten that situation out.  Four weeks ago they delivered a case of bottled water instead of a 5 gallon bottle that fits on my machine.  I asked them to come back on my next delivery date and take it back and never deliver single bottles again. They ruin the environment, that is why I get 5 gallon bottles delivered!  The guy never showed up. Now it is another delivery date.  I want him to take it back and take my empty bottle.

I got a notice I may loose the internet again so I am writing this early just in case.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 53 NO INTERNET

Day 53 since I have left the house

The day was going along great until the afternoon when the internet went out.  It said it would be 15 minutes but it was closer to 10 hours.  UGH!  That is all I have to say.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 52 DIFFICULT DAY

Day 52 since I have left the house

This was a difficult day.  I can't really write about it now but it was a difficult day.  I have a ton of support helping me through it.   That is all I want to write today.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 51 TREASURES FOUND IN MY CABINETS

Day 51 since I have left the house

Last night I ate pasta for the first time since the quarantine.  I have been holding off for an emergency. Pasta is not my favorite but I was clearing out another cabinet and I found a big box of pasta with only about 1.5 inches of pasta in it.  I decided that was a waste of cabinet space so it needed to get eaten.  I went to my freezer where I had frozen sauce and some "meatballs" and voila dinner.  Probably also lunch at least two other times also. 

While I was in there I also found:

• a plastic bag with an entire box of Earl Grey tea.  Don't ask why there was an entire box of tea in a plastic bag.  The only thing I can think is the box got broken and someone put the tea bags in a plastic bag with the thought they would look in that spot for the tea at another time.  That did not happen.
• tons of partially opened bags of nuts.  All different varieties.  From pumpkin seeds to pistachios to walnuts to pecans.  I will not have to buy an nuts for a while.
• Spring roll wrappers, udon noodles, soba noodles, rice sticks all shoved in the back of a cabinet
• brownie mix
• Waffle mix from a posh store
• sweet potato au gratin mix
• Brown rice pasta, lasagna pasta, stelline pasta
• Taco shells
• Stuffing mix
• almond and ground corn meal (2 boxes)

I still have more shelves to go through.  I feel like the food Christmas has come.  Who knew I had so much stuff in those cabinets?  Quite honestly if you saw the size of my kitchen you would be shocked or impressed I had that much in there.  I do not have a pantry that is a whole room like some people I see on TV.  Imagine what I could store in a pantry room!!  I literally have three shelves in three cabinets.

More to clear out and have to eat.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 50 KENTUCKY TURTLE DAY

Day 50 since I have left the house

Today was supposed to be the 146th running of the Kentucky Derby.  I have been watching the Kentucky Derby since I was a little kid.  I have had Kentucky Derby dress up parties and made virgin Mint Juleps.  I have made a Derby hat.  When I lived in England I even went to a party and placed bets.  To say I am obsessed is an understatement.  So this year because of the quarantine, what to do?

In came the Kentucky Turtle Derby!  It was sponsored by a whiskey company and it was fun.  They had the real announcer from the Kentucky Derby (Larry Collmus) and the real bugler (Steve) from the Churchill Downs.  There was a big circle and they put the turtles in the middle.

Steve ready to go?

When a buzzer buzzed, the turtles started moving toward the outside of the circle.  It was much faster than I imagined.  The announcer made it seem like a nail biter.  I was told it took 8 minutes but it seemed faster.  In the end What the Turtleneck? was the winner with Galapo-Go! coming in a close second.  Rocket to Nowhere was in third for the trifecta.  

It was all great fun and I didn't feel like I missed the derby quite so much.  I think it is great that people are being inventive and thinking up creative ways to fill the void when our beloved events are not happening.  Who would have thought turtles?

Until tomorrow...

DAY 49 FIRST FOOD DELIVERY

Day 49 since I have left the house

I had my first food delivery today.  They showed up on time and were very nice.  I felt bad I could not tip them.

Not everything made it in the bags.  There was no chips, tortillas, and french fries.  But I did get five tomatoes when I asked for one.  I thought it was great except you don't know what will arrive until it arrives.

I have a bunch of cans of beans, some more bread and muffins, soymilk, and pickles.

Until tomorrow...