Friday 01/21/22 in Lady Loves the Ocean

Brrrr… We are still in the deep freeze this morning. Temps are still below zero and I am so over it. Today it feels colder in the house than it has the last few days. The sun is shining. I think the high today is supposed to be around 10 degrees. I know I say this every day but I am over winter. I hate it. Thank god it only lasts about 2.5 months here. Tomorrow it will be better. I think the high tomorrow is in the 20’s. I will need to get out and get some groceries before it snows again. My grocery list is growing pretty long. 

I did go out and start my car right before lunch yesterday. And then I drove into town about a mile to the little grocery store that has nothing. I needed bananas ( I eat 1-2 each day) and I knew that the produce truck came in on Wednesday. So I would be good. I get there and they haven’t unboxed the bananas and all that is on the shelf is rotten ones. Grrr. Well, I am not bashful. I went to the cashier because I didn’t see anyone else in the store. And asked if he would unbox some for me. He did. They are so green and hard. I won’t be able to eat them for a few days. Had they unboxed them the day before they might have started to ripen a bit. There is no hope for this small grocery store. It makes me sad because we really need it. 

My brother called last night. He lives in Arizona now. He is going to have back surgery next week. And we were talking about that. He is having major major surgery. A spinal fusion surgery. His back is a mess. He was injured on the job almost 3 yrs ago. And is just now getting the help he needs. My brother is married to a Filipino woman. They have been together for over 15 yrs. This is his 4th marriage. I met her for the first time in September 2021. She is a very nice woman. She does not drive. He is having surgery at a hospital that is 75 miles from where he lives. Due to Covid. He is unsure if she can be with him. I told him he needs to explain the situation to the dr. the lawyer and the insurance company. ( He is suing his former employer for his back injury. ) He thinks he is going to have to go to the hospital alone. Be there at least 3 days for recovery and then go from there. This makes me nervous. I am in no position to fly out there and help him. As much as I want to. I don’t know what I can do to help him. I encouraged him to really stress to the dr. his situation. He is going to get the covid test he needs before surgery. I told him to have his wife tested as well in case they say she can be there if she has been tested. Neither are vaccinated. He has his own opinion on that like many others. I personally have all my shots. But I am very concerned about his situation. The surgery, how they will cope. His being alone. I will be praying a lot for his situation. I wish I could be there to help them. All I can think about is what if something goes wrong? I have to stay away from those thoughts. Ugh!

I text my son yesterday thinking he was at work. So I was making it short and sweet. And he told me that they all have covid. My heart dropped. He said he got it first and then his wife and then my granddaughter. She is 5. So they have been home all week. He said their symptoms are not that bad. His are mostly bad cold symptoms. He had a fever for 1 day. He said the same for his wife. And Quinn just has cold symptoms. Mostly runny nose. I told him to watch Quinn closely because with young kids things can change quickly. He said she is off the chain. She isn’t expending her energy at daycare and she is driving them crazy. He said it’s hard to rest when she is just so hyped up. So hopefully in the next few days, all will be well and it will be warm enough for her to go outside for a short period of time. She said “Grandma, I got the cobid” but Grandma I am ok. I want to go back to school ( daycare) tomorrow. Tell daddy to take me to school.” I just laughed and she said “Grandma it’s not funny. I can’t miss school.” They have to keep telling her it’s okay. 

I have been trying to work on a budget and still working on eliminating some things I don’t need to save money. I have been receiving the emergency food stamps and that is going to stop on 01/31/22. I will be losing $235 a month for groceries. My rent goes up next month. My electric bill on the budget just went up $30 more a month. Gas here is $3.15 a gallon. I got my dish bill cut in half. ( Since I couldn’t disconnect without a huge penalty.) I am thinking of disconnecting my home phone. That would save me another $35 a month. I just wish we weren’t losing the Emergency allotment for food stamps yet. I know I am getting a raise on my Social Security but it’s not enough to replace the food allotment. My diet has changed and I am cooking more. But I still need around $30-50 a week for groceries. Meat is so damn expensive. Milk has gone way up and coffee as well. The last time I shopped I could not get cat food. The shelves were empty. I ordered it off amazon. I know I should not be complaining. Others have it a lot worse. I know I can go to the food pantry here if I really needed to. I can get the free food once a month from the truck. But that is mostly canned fruits and veggies. Which is not good for a diabetic’s diet. I will figure it out. I don’t know how others do it. Families I feel for them. 

I will keep watching videos on being frugal, budgeting, meals for one, those kinds of things give me great ideas of how to improve my situation. I don’t eat a lot. But with being on diabetes meds I do have to eat 3 meals a day. And 2 snacks. Which is hard for me. It feels like a lot of food. I have eliminated all sugar and all soda. 

Ok, I have rattled on long enough for now. I am off to shower.

Sheri