Pandemic Pondering

 I've done a lot of things this pandemic since the SIP started. 

I bought a springform pan with a bundt insert and tried to turn everything I cooked in to bundt form; banana bread, brownies, frittata, monkey bread, meatloaf-bundt. I saw an episode of Master Chef where they were making tarte tatin, and thought I'd try my hand at it. I tried it with puff pastry. I tried it with pie crust. I tried it with biscuit dough. I tried it with all kinds of fruit. Then I went back to my springform pan with the bundt insert and made cheesecakes, for a whole week. I've rewatched Lost, Buffy, Angel (I watched Buffy and Angel in order of airplay), Hawaii Five-0, all the Harry Potters, all the Godfathers, every Gordon Ramsay series, All the Star Wars (twice, both in order of release date and in order of episode number), all of Finding Bigfoot (a few times), House, Phinneas and Ferb, and a lot of more things that I can't remember now, but you get the point.  I gained back half of the weight I lost a few years ago. That sucks. I started running again, got a few months into it and the arthritis kicked in full force. I got to the point where I couldn't climb stairs without doing them one at a time. I turned 50. I had a few Old People medical problems that I had to get fixed. All this while making sure the kids were taken care of, fed, exercised, inspired, signed in at their online school, remembering to keep them bathed, making dinner every night; all that stuff.  I got to see and spend some quality time a few times with Captain Awesome. Each time I am reminded of how much I love him and how difficult being apart is/was.   I didn't dedicate as much time to Hula, which I regret. I think the stillness it brings me would have really helped me through all this. At the times when my body felt its worst, hula would have at least given me some peace, or at least a break. I did start regularly attending Hula Meditation class. It's slowly bringing me back to full aloha-strength. I lost my job 3 months into the SIP, and have been looking for a job since. It's been a bit of a struggle. We have what we need, and augment it with a food bag from the food bank every week or so. I am thankful that the Biden Bucks supplement my unemployment payments. I was able to complete a certificate from Cornell, and am currently working on a second.  My oldest graduated from college. I got to see some sisters and my parents. Yes, these are sucky times, but there are good things happening as well.

My circumstances are pretty much the same as a lot of us; a few details change here and there among us, but this year's been weird, hard and not a lot of fun for most of us. I am looking forward to life and times steadily improving as we all get vaccinated and keep wearing our masks for just a little bit longer. 

Anyhow there were two bandwagons I did not jump on. I did not watch Tiger King and I did not clean out every single closet, nook, cranny, box, and suitcase.  Until now. I started cleaning out, reducing, shredding, throwing away, reorganizing, etc.  I like throwing stuff away, and I have a whole lotta junk to do it with. Lucky me.

I was cleaning off my dresser, going through my jewelry box and I found this ring; the one in the middle. My Godmother gave it to me. We were at a family event at my sister's house in 2007. She said she was going through her jewelry and found something she wanted to give me. I asked her if she was sure about that. Wouldn't she want her kids to have her jewelry? She threw her head back and let out a loud long laugh. "No, you're fine," she said. "My kids are getting the good stuff."