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[Anarchist Beauty]

Mud is gross tho. lol
We don't have grass or anything, though so it's easier.
We clear what we can and use ground kill on the rest.
Usually works for a long time.
I don't think we've had to weed the yard in like two years.

The weeds do put up valiant fights, but we are always there when the army invades.
We push them back and keep them at bay.
We may not win the war, but we'll win these battles.

Today I am faced with a terrible problem though.
Today I have no energy or motivation for anything, and it's today that I realized I have things to do.
Things that MUST be done.
And I just... Can't do them.
Pls send motivation.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

one small step forward...one giant leap for Ana...you can do it!
Beginning is most of the battle...pick something up, move something around, put something away...you can do it! I have confidence in you!
<and if not I am electronically sending you some energy!>

I just came back from grocery shopping...which I was pleasantly surprised was not the ordeal I anticipated. I found tons more onions than I needed ( a week ago the shelves were bare & I could not find them looking in 3 stores...so that's a positive)...some things still are limited ...like no TP < but I always keep a months worth on hand> and only being able to get one small box of kleenix tissues <because they only had small ones left and you can only get ONE> but otherwise, lots of meat and fresh fruit and veggies.

[galled]

Glad you're able to make headway on the weed hoards!

Sorry to hear about your low energy ebb, Ana. When I get like that I find that just pushing through is the only solution that nets results (and limits/eliminates the guilt/frustration of not getting things done when they should/need to be done). I know it's difficult to do at the time, but I've found it less painful in the long run than the grinding in my head that goes on if I hadn't done it--which can go on for a veeerrryyy long time!

I once read that depression is about lingering on the past and anxiety is about worrying about the future. I know this sounds easier said than done, but something that helped me is really coming to understand that you can't change the past, so the only useful thing about recalling the past is being able to put what you've learning into the future--the only thing we do have a semblance of control over is the future--which will become the past eventually. So to avoid regret/grinding on things in the future is to do what needs to be done now. It probably sounds like circular logic, but it really isn't and it has worked for me. I hope your energy re-charges quickly!

Lemon, that sounds really promising that perhaps we're over the hump or wacky consumer hoarding! I'm still baffled by how much TP people are hoarding? 3 months, 6 months, a year, 18 months?!

I'm glad store are implementing a no return policy on some of this stuff. I'm sure that will help ease the pain in the paper isle!

[Anarchist Beauty]

Yeah my grandfather went and did some shopping this morning since some stores are opening a bit earlier for seniors.
He said a lot of the shelves were pretty bare bones, and you were limited on certain things.
Like paper things, I heard him talking about toilet paper, napkins, kleenex, and paper towels but I didn't hear what the limits were.
He said Walmart was limiting people to one loaf of bread, which I think is a bit much since on regular shopping we can buy as many as four because my grandparents eat whole wheat and I prefer honey wheat.
But he got their whole wheat at Albertson's which let you get two loaves.

But all this panic, pandemic, craziness is also what's degrading my well being.
It's getting to me, even the memes and stupid shit that usually get me through most everything are becoming harder to deal with.
I'm scared, I'm worried, and all that on top of my existing issues.
It's not a fun time to be Ana.

But thank-you both for the encouragement and the energy. lol
I'll try to use it to get something done.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

If you have underlying issues then definitely keep your distance from people but that doesn't mean you can't go outside or watch some feel good movies and please turn off the rest of news...or atleast read the article and not just the headline. Hibernation is ok!

Grocery stores are doing delivery...they may just be a day or two to get it done right now. The restaurants that are open also do delivery for the most part...but you may just want to cook yourself. I did wipe down all my products from the grocery store with a disinfectant wipe as a precaution.

There are ways to combat & make this whole ordeal more manageable. Don't lose heart!

[galled]

I agree with Lemon--the media (social and "traditional") are feeding the anxiety by hiding the important facts in the body of the articles and broadcasts and the forwarding/spreading of opinions and rumors of impending this or that just needs to be ignored. While the CDC has gotten things wrong on rare occasion, it's by far the most authoritative source of what the state of the pandemic is. We (the world) will beat this thing. I can't remember when the whole world has joined together to solve a common problem before. The last big world scale things like World Wars have half of the world on one side or the other. I have great hope that this may be a turning point in the history of humanity for a better world!

Lemon, your system is a good one. While I still think I already did my COVID-19 bout, I certainly wouldn't want to unwillingly infect someone, so what you're doing is wonderful!

I think most of the world will eventually get this bug (simply by how it spreads without symptoms), anything we can do to flatten the curve will help make things tolerable for everyone.

Ana, one task at a time, one step at a time, and one day at a time and you'll move forward.

[Anarchist Beauty]

I will just go live in a cave in the desert and befriend wild coyotes.
That'll solve things.

[galled]

I know you're joking, but waiting it out is all we can do. It will get sorted in time!

[Anarchist Beauty]

I've played Plague... I know how long it takes for cures and vaccines to get made.
It's gonna be awhile.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

You may have had it already and lived through it!

Well, I got inspired and did some disinfecting...I managed 2 projects today so far...grocery shopping and cleaning! <I've also spent several hours trying to figure out what to spend my Kohls cash on...if I could receive the items I ordered to see if I want more before the Kohls cash expires that would be nice but not probable>.

How's your project list going?

[galled]

There probably won't be any cure, but a vaccine is possible and likely. However given how effective/ineffective flu vaccines are (with higher death numbers), I don't think it changes much other than psychological outlook. Unless you're pretty old and compromised, chances are pretty good you'll have mild to no symptoms. And even if you're in the high risk groups, it's a smaller percentage. In the end it sounds like it's just something most of us are going to get eventually and it'll become part of life like we live with flu.

[Anarchist Beauty]

That's not a comforting thought. :/

[galled]

We won't know for sure until we start doing widespread antibody testing, but it's looking more and more like many more people have had it already and didn't die or even require hospitalization or medical advice at all. (I think I've had it already in January.) It's more likely that while it's more contagious than the normal annual flu, it's only slightly more dangerous (again for the older and compromised)--and nothing like something small pox. The stats are looking more and more like this than the opposite. I hope that's at least a little comforting for you.

[Anarchist Beauty]

"Slightly more dangerous" to me doesn't usually equal 'country wide quarantine, lock downs, and social distancing'.
And I've been reading up that a lot of positive cases too close to me for comfort are young people, or younger than the old folks we've been worried about.
People aged 18 - 48.
Not comforting for the 26 year old me who's in the middle of that age group.

[Gingerale]

I never was the kid that liked to play in the mud.

The best thing to do is stay away from anyone coughing or sneezing.