Well, it's now 28 weeks since coronavirus hit the state of Georgia. Last week was fall break for the kids in our county, and Briana (and I) needed it badly. But dang, it really went by so fast. I blinked and now it's pretty much over. Next break won't be until Thanksgiving time.
Well like I usually do, I will start with some good stuff.
Since we are still in the midst of getting our basement finished, we opted to stick around for fall break this year (and hope to maybe go somewhere in November instead). I wanted to make sure that Briana didn't just sit around the whole week (which I am sure she wouldn't have minded doing though). We've already our fair share of social distancing, so I wanted to make sure B did have some human contact (safely) besides her dad and me (Doug took a few days off from work to hang out with us).
So what did we do during fall break?
We went apple picking (per our tradition)!! It is a perfect social distancing activity and we missed out on strawberry and blueberry picking this year, so we weren't going to pass on apples. We had a wonderful time and the weather was perfect that day (and I am actually going to do a separate post on it).
Here are a few pics for now...
Bri spent some time with friends and family...
B's friend Jackson...
B's friend Mary...
B's friend Meredith ...
(And I totally forgot to take a picture of the girls on this break, so here they are together during past fall and spring breaks)
And we spent a day with Gramma and Papa too (Bri playing guitar for them)...
And Bri did do some chillaxing during the week too (heh)...
The first part of the week was fall perfection weather wise, but we did get two days of rain at the end of the week (Thursday and Friday) from Tropical Storm Beta...
Then Saturday (yesterday) was beautiful again.
I sat on my front porch that afternoon and there was a nice breeze...
I live next to a creek, so I was hearing the water rush a bit (from all the rain)...
It was quite peaceful.
I'm not going to hold my breath that the temps will stay this way (these were more like late October temps), but it was so nice having a fall break that actually felt like a fall break this year.
I think Bri had a nice mix of relaxation and fun last week, and I'm glad I could help make it nice for her...
I'm so not ready for Bri to start back to school tomorrow. High school is
no joke. And virtual high school is even less so. We are getting by though. Wishing things could be
different, but it is what it is right now.
Ok - now it's time for the not so good stuff I guess.
Coronavirus update...
Number of active cases are still zig-zagging here in GA. A number of schools were on fall break, so there is no doubt testing was down a bit last week. Lots of people headed to Florida (gulp). I'm bracing for a couple of weeks from now to see if numbers spike again...
We will just have to wait and see.
Now for some political talk (you know the drill)...
Honestly, I am so burned out on politics.
I've heard lots of people lately say they are trying to avoid the news and social media to stop from being bombarded by all the propaganda floating around right now. I wish I could completely avoid the news, but my having an anxiety disorder doesn't allow me to totally disconnect from keeping informed. Keeping a pulse on what is going on in the nation/world helps me a bit with feeling like I have an ounce of control in this world. But at the same time, it can definitely cause me more anxiety. It's a bit of a catch-22 for me.
Another reason I can't disconnect is because so many outside forces won't allow me to do so. The RNC calls my house every. single. day.
Literally. And I ignore the RNC calls every single day. I keep getting political flyers inside my mailbox. Political signs are littering the roads everywhere now. I can't turn on my TV without 20 political ads flashing on the screen. I actually had two women knock on my door early on a Sunday morning with Tr@mp flyers in their hands and they left one on my doorstep. It's feeling like full blown harassment around here. I guess Georgia is sort of considered a "
swing state" now (shockingly), so it's all getting a bit much (my county will always be hard core red though).
You all of course know that I've been pretty fed up with what is going on in our nation. I have been especially horrified by Tr@mp's stance on coronavirus since day one (and for good reason -
203,000+ dead).
But now - I have to admit that I'm getting extremely nervous. I am greatly alarmed by how the president is trying to undermine the election process. He is trying to instill doubt in people's minds that this election will be fair before it even happens (and refusing the peaceful transfer of power if he does lose). He is terrified of losing...
Tr@mp could absolutely lose without the election being rigged. So could B!den. It's just too close to call right now.
The FBI director has already said (under oath) that the agency has "not seen, historically, any
kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election
whether it’s by mail or otherwise.”
So many people are worried about the rise of "socialism" in our country (and I've stated before that B!den is not a socialist). Right now, I think we should be more worried about "fascism." And I think that is where our nation is headed under this current administration. I'll just leave it at that.
I'll say this...
Go vote. Please vote for democracy. Please vote against autocracy. Please.
And I saw this on a friend's wall on FB the other day and it really spoke to me...
"We have lost so much in so short a time." So very true.
Well, that is all I have for now. Back to the routine tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
(I'll be blogging about our apple picking adventure in a couple of days!)
We were the only customers in the store the entire time and there was a sign on the door asking people to wear masks (which we did). Unfortunately, the cashier that day opted not to wear one (very confusing).
