Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Running between the raindrops

The raindrops are metaphorical, meaning a sudden bunch of worries and a glimpse of the end of my tether after the year of no social life, no touch, not even an animal. Worries involving other things I can't fix right now, mostly.

Now I'm also taking on helping get my, finally eligible, frontline worker son vaxxed. He's very computer literate, far more than I, but has no computer access in his working day, so he'll never manage without an assist. My heart sank as I started the process again, stressful. 


Anyway outside, the neighborhood kids have invented a new game. You throw a football, and it's batted away with a badminton racket. No rules, I think, but loads of fun 

And a further lift to my spirits came in the mail from Mary Anne, from Magpie's Mumblings.  She's a fiber artist, temporarily sidelined by surgery, so it was all the better to receive this lovely postcard artwork.  Thanks so much!


And an art card from honorary granddaughter next to it, lifting me up further.


This is my favorite place to sit, make art, knit, read, do business, and the side of the furniture is a useful bulletin board for notes I have to keep handy. Post-Its work best.

More knitted squares are happening, though that red one on the right fell prey to my general anxiety and I didn't decrease right. Ended up at first with a weird paralellogram. I ask you, simple knitting and I couldn't get it right. Shows how jangled I was. Am. It's fixed now.

If you're wondering if all those trailing threads are another symptom, no, they're on purpose. They'll be handy when I come to attach the squares into whatever they end up being.

Another nice thing: the state has reinstated a special program of real estate tax relief after several years of not being able to afford it (!) and my next quarterly tax bill, I just heard, will be several hundred dollars lighter as a result. Since NJ has the highest real estate tax in the US, we're Number One, yay!  this is good.

Especially since the Feds have still not started reimbursing seniors with the third covid-19 relief $$. A lot of  NJ people didn't get the second one either. Can't help being darkly suspicious about whether this is yet another blue state issue 

Appointees from the former guy are still employed at the irs and SS..one of whom finally admitted, under pressure from northeastern members of congress,  to delaying the handover of the vital files to enable the payments. I have my congressional rep, the blessed Rep. Bonnie (Watson-Coleman) on it now. Her caseworkers are in touch. 

But moving on, I finished reading Home by Marilynne Robinson, and it was really great. So intense that I may not venture into the others in the saga, at least not for a while. I do recommend it though.

And now that my pounding allergy season headache has abated, my spirits are doing better, thank you, sitting up and taking nourishment.


17 comments:

  1. Glad it arrived safely - and sounds like it came at a much-needed time too. I made it before I had the eye surgery and it's been sitting here waiting to get to the post office for weeks...obviously it was meant to be done that way!

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    1. The timing was poifect. As is the artwork.

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  2. I love the new squares with their stripes and strips, squares within squares. It's all going to come together so nicely.
    I want you to be okay. So- be okay, okay?
    Good luck getting your son vaccinated. You are a good mama.

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    1. Handsome son visited this afternoon, loved the blueberry Newtons, took care of several, and helped a lot with my angst over various things. Very helpful setting priorities.

      He'll work on the vaccine too, and between us we hope to succeed.

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  3. I like the little stripy fellows! Serious stash busting?

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    1. I have a tiny stash hence the stripes! Whatever scraps I find lying around. I like the stripes too.

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  4. I agree with Joanne, I like the squares with stripes! Good luck getting your son scheduled. I had us signed up on three different lists for a couple of months before anything came through. They keep saying pharmacies and grocery stores will be getting the vaccine soon. Hopefully that will help.

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    1. I'm hoping for more supplies. I was on six or seven lists, nobody ever got back to me. Almost three months of daily searching and refreshingly, ending midnight sometimes, often starting at 4am, before I finally got appointments. Less than a minute after I secured them, the location was fully booked. As was every other one in the state. So I guess it's all on again. We're both working on it.

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  5. we haven't gotten our relief money yet either though we did get the first two. well, supposedly the data has been turned over now so hopefully we'll see it soon. your little knitted triangles and squares look fun. curious to see what you do with them.

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    1. I never got the second, along with a number of friends. So I feel suspicious about the third. My congressional rep had a caseworker call me to say if it hadn't been dd by the 24th, I should look for a check. So we'll see.

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  6. Sometimes when one's nerves are all ajangle, it really helps to have a son (or other person) come by and help sort out priorities. Glad you have such a son. Setting priorities doesn't solve a whole heap of worries, but it makes them less worrisome as one doesn't have to resolve them all right now.

    Good luck with finding appointment times for his vaccinations. He's fortunate to have you, too.

    Chris from Boise

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    1. Just having an in person person is huge. It did help, you're right.

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  7. Hope you can arrange an appointment for your son. Good luck!

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    1. Thank you. Between us he's signed up for everything other than Miss America right now!

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  8. Good luck with everything
    The stimulus delay for any group is sad.

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