Concentration...

Have you ever heard the song Anticipation by Carly Simon? The chorus goes something like, "Anticipation is keeping me waiting." I feel like that's how my sense of concentration has been lately.

I'm not sure why I'm having such a problem concentrating. I'm still able to go to work and very little in my daily routine has changed other than slathering on hand sanitizer and using disinfecting wipes several times a day, but I've been really struggling with concentrating on anything whether it's a project a work, writing, craft projects, or even just reading a book.

I don't know if it's the news of how quickly Covid-19 is spreading in general, or in my area in particular. Our local newspaper has reported that the virus is widely prevalent in the county I live in. I try to limit my news intake to just the evening news so it's not like I'm watching news reports about it 24/7.

I'm hoping my sense of concentration will kick back in soon so I can get more than a few words down on paper without it being such a struggle.

This I know for sure...

I've been doing a lot of stress baking lately. I like to bake in general, but seem to do more of it when I'm stressed out. In the past two weeks I've made honey corn muffins, popovers, sourdough pretzels, coconut sweet bread, coconut iced shortbread cookies, oatmeal yogurt pancakes, and two different kinds of bread.

Some of the muffins, pancakes, bread, and popovers went into the freezer for future use, but the pretzels, cookies, and sweet bread call my name every time I walk into the kitchen. I can ignore it for the most part, but when the evening comes, I've been eating a cookie or pretzel (or one of each). 

                                            (Coconut Iced Shortbread Cookies)

I've got to find a better way to deal with stress or I'm going to have to buy bigger pants by the time the worst of the pandemic is over.

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work in Progress): Last week's progress was negligible. I'm having a hard time concentrating. Hoping to get back on track this week.
 
Quote of the Week:  "Every day is a new beginning. Take a deep breath, smile, and start again." ~ Unknown  I'm repeating the quote from last week. Mainly because with everything that's going on, I think we can all use a deep breath and a smile.

What I'm Reading:  I'm reading "The Prince of Broadway" by Joanna Shupe. I started it on Monday evening and should finish it tonight. 

Random Thoughts: Not really so random - Please follow the advice of the experts and practice social distancing during this time. Even if you feel you're not at risk, you maybe one of the people who have it and are asymptomatic which could mean you are spreading it to each person you come in contact with without even being aware that you are doing so. 

Random Photo of the Week:

                    Wishing I could pull the covers over my head until things get better too.

During This Time...

During the pandemic, please stay home and self isolate or self quarantine if you can. I work in the financial services industry which is considered an essential business so I am only going out to work during the week and only going to the grocery store on Saturdays.

While I'm not overly worried about contracting Covid-19 (Coronavirus) myself, I am worried about getting it and bringing it home to my elderly mother.

Please stay safe and take any necessary precautionary measures to keep yourself and your loved ones virus free.

This I know for sure...

Happy Spring!

It's been a long winter. I'm glad spring is finally here.

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work in Progress):  Last week was a bust writing wise. Hoping to get back on track this week.

Quote of the Week:  "Every day is a new beginning. Take a deep breath, smile, and start again." ~ Unknown

What I'm Reading:  I just finished "Fatal Reckoning" by Marie Force last night. It's the fourteenth book in the Fatal Series.

Random Thoughts:  Please follow the recommendations of our federal and local governments. Be safe and try to avoid crowds and wash your hands as often as possible. Take special care of your elder loved ones and those with compromised immune systems. 

Random Photo of the Week:

  During this time, I want to be like Somebody and just hide under the blankets in my bed.

Prepared or Crazy?

I live in upstate NY. The first case of the Coronavirus was confirmed in my city last Wednesday. I feel like everyone in the city ran out to buy groceries and cleaning supplies.

The city where I live has a population of approximately 208,000 people. We have one, let me repeat that, One confirmed case. People are going crazy buying bottled water, toilet paper, meat, milk, toilet paper, paper towels, bread, and canned goods. This doesn't include hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, and liquid and bar soap. These last items have been in short supply for a couple of weeks even though we hadn't had a confirmed case in our area yet.

I went grocery shopping on Saturday as I normally do. I went to two different grocery stores and the shelves are practically bare. There was no hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, bar soap, bread, toilet paper, paper towels, canned tuna, and bottled water in either store. There was a very small supply of peanut butter, boxed cereal, milk and eggs in one store and the other store didn't have any of these items. Canned goods in general were in short supply in both stores with most of the shelves in both stores practically empty or completely empty.

I have a friend who works part-time at one of our larger grocery stores and she said she had a customer come through her line. Among other things, the customer purchased 20 cans of corn. Why does anyone need 20 cans of corn?

I also don't understand why people are buying bottled water. It's not like if you are infected and have to self quarantine, the city is going to shut off the water supply to your home.

Needless to say grocery shopping was interesting and I'm sure it will get harder and harder to get necessities such as bread and milk that people use on a regular basis in the next few weeks.

This I know for sure...

Today is Friday the 13th. I've never been superstitious. I've even owned two black cats. My first black cat was also the first cat I owned. Her name was Lilly. She was a rescue I adopted in my early twenties. Unfortunately, I don't have any digital photos of her.

My second black cat was Petey. My brother gave him to me as a gift. I'd always wanted a polydactyl cat and Petey had six toes on each of his paws.  You can see in the picture below how it looked like he had thumbs on his front feet.

Here's a photo of one of his back paws when he went out in the snow. The coin next to his footprint is a quarter. I set it next to his footprint for scale so you could see how big his feet were.

Petey passed away in 2017 from liver failure at the age of fourteen.

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work in Progress):  I sent out the second book in the series to beta readers so I'm waiting for their feedback on that. I also worked on the blurb for the second book, and am working on plotting or at least semi-plotting out the third book in the series.

Quote of the Week: "Let me listen to me, and not to them." ~ Gertrude Stein

What I'm Reading:  I started reading "Tails from the Deep" by Diane Vallere. It should be a quick read as it's only a novella with about 110 pages. 

Random Thoughts:  We had a beautiful sunny day on Monday with a high temperature of 66 degrees. Snow is being forecasted for the weekend. You can tell it's March in my area. Spring like one day and back to winter the next.

Random Photo of the Week:

                                Mrs. Green likes to peek out the curtains at you.

Is It Monday All Ready?

Monday snuck up on me so I thought I'd share a photo to make you smile as you start your week.

This I know for sure...

The official start of spring is only about two weeks away. Even though we've had a relatively mild winter, I'm really looking forward to spring.

One thing I'm not looking forward to is moving the clocks an hour ahead this weekend. I always feel exhausted the week that we change the clocks forward. I don't know if it's because I know I'm losing an hour of sleep or if it really does affect me physically. I do go to bed an hour earlier on Sunday night when we change the clocks forward to try and make up for it, but it doesn't seem to matter.

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work in Progress):  I didn't get a lot done last week. I had an appointment one day and was sick with a stomach bug for a couple of days. I'm hoping this week will be more productive.

Quote of the Week: "Work the plan or work for someone else." ~ Unknown

What I'm Reading:  I'm not reading a book right now. I've been looking at magazines that have been piling up for a couple of months now. I only have 4 left. 

Random Thoughts: I'm going to the library this Friday and I can't wait. I have loved going to the library since I was a young child and I still look forward to going now as much as I did then.

Random Photo of the Week:

Why Is This Book Popular?

Have you ever wanted to read a book because all your friends are talking about it, or it's all over social media or the news or in magazines? Then you finally read it and end up hating it?

That happened to me recently.  I didn't see a lot about the book on the news or in magazines. I saw a few things on social media about it. Friends had read it and raved over it. One read it with her book club of about 12 members and they all loved it.

I had put it on hold at our local library and was number 28 on the list out of 10 copies that were available through out our county's library system so it was going to be a while before I would be able to borrow a copy. My friend offered to loan me her copy so I took her up on her offer rather wait who knows how long to get it out of the library.

I couldn't wait to start the book. I sat down and started reading it the same night she dropped it off. At first I was like, meh, it's okay. It must get better after the first few chapters. Nope. I hated the main female character. She came across as judgemental and b*tchy.

I realize reading is very subjective because we all bring our own biases along with us when we read. That being said, I wanted to ask all those people who raved over the book if we were reading the same book because not one of them mentioned anything about the main female character being a less than sympathetic character.

Has this ever happened to you?