When every day is the same, you lose your sense of time.   Consequently, I almost forgot my youngest grandson’s birthday, May 4. It’s worse at the first of the month, when you don’t even know what month it is.  Luckily, my husband keeps a birthday calendar, and reminded me when he flipped it from April to May.

Planted flowers for the big container on our deck.  I just couldn’t wait, and Meijers had a great selection of annuals. But here’s the bad news.  Spent so much time outside that I inhaled too much tree pollen.  Woke up in the middle of the night with a stuffed up nose.  Trouble with spring allergies is that they scare you into thinking you’ve caught the coronavirus.   Now, the weatherman is predicting frost for the weekend.  I’ll have to cover the flowers with a sheet overnight.  The rule of thumb used to be: don’t plant annuals until after Mother’s Day.  I think that’s good advice.

Malls are opening this week, but why?  What’s there to buy when you aren’t going anywhere or seeing anyone.?  Here’s what they’re going to do in places like Macy’s and Stein Mart:  Everyone wears a mask. The bathroom and dressing rooms are closed.  You have to take your clothes home to try them on, and return them if they don’t fit.  Sounds like a lot of bother.  If there’s anything we’ve learned  during the lock down, it’s how few clothes a person really needs.  My closet is full of clothes that haven’t been worn in months.

This is four season weather.  In the side hallway:  wool hat, wool scarf, mittens.. Gardening gloves and winter gloves.  winter coat, winter jacket, spring coat, sweat jacket, raincoat.  And—I’ve worn all of them in one week’s time.  Weather has gone from 82 to 34  degrees in the past 7 days.

We’ve managed to keep our weight even.   In fact, my husband has lost five pounds.  Wish I could say the same.  We’re both at the far end of normal on body mass Index charts.   I can remember when I was borderline underweight.  That’s what retirement will do for you.  But it’s good at our age to have a little “extra,” in case we get sick.  That’s what they say, and I’m going to believe it because I want to.

More Netflix binging. This week started watching “Hollywood,” which is supposed to be the story of Rock Hudson.  The actor they’ve chosen to portray Rock is no way as handsome as he was. I think they could have done a better job of casting that part.

Today, our local paper ,has gone from 7 days a week to 5 days.   We still get the Indy Star every day, but on the Tuesdays and Sundays when we don’t get a local paper,  it isn’t delivered to our door.  I have to get up out of bed , put on a coat , and walk to the end of our driveway. to get the Indianapolis paper.   Well, that’s one way of keeping track of time.

We’ve changed to bar soap for washing our hands.  Ivory for me, Dove for my husband.  Now our hands are not red and itchy from scented, colored liquid soap. .But with all the extra scrubbing,  fingers are swelling, and my wedding ring is too tight.

Grocery shopping one day a week is a big job.  Our side by side refrigerator and freezer are packed to the brim. Wonder what people with big families are doing?  They would have to shop more often for milk, juice, eggs, meat, etc.  So far, haven’t had any problems with shortages except for canned cheese soup, cream of onion.  Plenty of cream of mushroom and plain tomato. available.  Didn’t realize how many people dislike mushrooms.

Never dreamed I would still be writing a Stay At Home Diary after seven weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Stay safe.  Hang in there.