September 2020

Hello Everyone. Yes I know. I hear you!! Unfortunately we are still in the thick of it. For the sake of our kids and our own sanity we are trying to adjust to our ‘New Normal”. I remember my mother telling me about how they came through the last war and how they had ration booklets. Letterkenny Donegal .She laughed when she told me that stockings where hard to come by so they used to paint their legs probably with pan stick foundation then use their eye liner to paint a line up the back of their legs. I miss her sorely but part of me is glad she isn’t around to see this worldly virus and to have the worry of her children living in the midst of it.What would she do? Exactly what I am have been doing since March. Staying busy sewing masks, helping our community.
We live on a park and these past few weeks the sanctions have been lifted. It was so delightful to hear the squeal of excitement from our local children on the swings and slides. The park district put up a sign saying that you play here at your own risk!!That kind of brings you back down to earth.
People have been going crazy trying to buy swimming pools with a little motor even blow up pools or hard plastic pools paying five times the price trying to find ways during this long summer to entertain their young children. We are fortunate to have our pool we bought when our son was two years old...He going on 22 yrs. old. My hubby threatens every year to get rid of it when he cannot get the ph. balance right! Little does he know I throw a bucket of shock treatment in it every now and then? Seriously they are a lot of work but looking out from my kitchen window to a body of blue water remembering fond memories with our kids and friends it’s so hard to picture our yard without it.Our daughter had friends over to swim and they said “.Its ok Mrs. Coleman Donald Trump said its ok we should drink Chlorine to kill the virus.” Yes we love our teens they have a wonderful sense of humor.
Anyways going back to our neighbors and friends and how they are coping and entertaining themselves. I see lots of volley ball nets in their front yards which double for tennis and badminton. Some have been taking music lessons, cooking, knitting, crocheting classes online. We even have exercise classes in parks just bring a chair or yoga mat water bottle and definitely a mask. No I am not teaching it much as I would like to but its great way to stay fit and we all need that human interaction in these trying times. Walking around our neighborhood the gardens look absouloutly beautiful. People have more time to plant and manicure their yards. Driving by the garden centers their car parks are full. They have signs up looking for staff. We are also trying to support our smaller owned business in any way we can. It’s also great to see neighbors volunteering to help not only at food pantries but to pick up their medications, groceries whatever they may need. Next I thought I would venture out to get my hair done. I called Shelley my beautiful Mexican hairdresser of 10 yrs. Our kids go to school together. I was nervous but desperate as I had a white line like a skunk down the middle of my cranium. I could have bought a box of color myself but she had put in so many highlight I didn’t want to mess it up. She was amazing. She took my temperature at the door sanitized my hands. Looking around I was happy to see she had totally boxed in each station with plastic glass dividers in accordance with CDC guidelines. She was masked up like our medical staff. Gone was her warm friendly, homely saloon. I felt like I was in twilight zone. Anyway she did my hair with clinical prestige then whispered in my ear….Jo sorry I forgot to tell you we cannot blow dry your hair. CDC rules but I can try to towel dry it. I laughed as she knows I have two Donegal parents with whom I have inherited that thick wild hair you just cannot towel dry. I was a little disappointed as it takes me hours to straighten it no matter how long or short it is but safety first.
 Fast forward 4 weeks later yes!!! Shelley can now blow dry my unruly mop of hair. Many thank Shelley. So appreciate her. Just want to give you ladies a heads up bring two masks if you’re having your hair colored it can be quite tricky. Who knows I may venture out to get my nails done!
We are all in this together. It’s changed our lives but doesn’t have to change who we are. Look around you there is a lot of folk’s worse of. Check out your community there is other ways to volunteer your time with no person to person contact or drop of items to food banks. I am still sewing FREE masks with my friend, neighbor Janet. If you need some you know where to find me. May God Bless us All.