it doesn't take much...

...to make me happy!

I worked out this morning!

This is my gym:


From my gym, I can see:

My tree-top bungalow, and my new car!
I love both of these things! I know we aren't supposed to love earthly things, but I do appreciate them! A car with less than ten thousand miles, leather seats, power everything AND 4WD for winter! How could I not LOVE it? And the deck, ahh, it's amazing.

Anyway, my workout was on the wimpy side, but I'm old, and I don't want to hurt anything. It seems like every time I decide to start working out again, I do something to something, pull a muscle or ignite latent lower back pain. So I went slowly, three sets of ten push-ups, lifting the ten pound weights, some jogging and punching that looks quite comical, some leg lifts for the abs, ect., but a nice work out. It felt good.

Today, the girls are doing a girls' day camp for the younger girls at church. They're gathering at the pools, tie-dying t-shirts, playing games, and making lunch, just having an entire day of staycation. Paul is working, Jon is working, and I am...well, I swept the floor and washed some dishes, and well, here I am! It's nice, shh.

Jonathan is going on an adventure this weekend! He is going to a state on the forbidden list. New York state mandates state that one must quarantine for 2 weeks after returning from one of these states. It's not illegal to travel to these places, because THAT would be illegal for the state to institute that, but they can and will punish those who have the audacity to return and not fill out the proper paperwork, and quarantine. Who ever would have thought, in our lifetimes, that these things would unfold? I'm sorry, but the tourism dollars and the small businesses and the hotel industry, oh dear. What a mess. We need to live our lives!

So Jonathan is going on a true adventure, to a state that I've not gone to. Any guesses? It's not Alaska, and it's not Hawaii.

Can I vent here for a minute? It's about tattle-tales. Here in NY state, there is a mask mandate. One must wear a mask if one cannot social distance 6 feet. To me, that is ambiguous, if a store isn't crowded, and you manage to stay away from other customers, you might not need the mask on. There is a clause for medical exemptions, but the stores here have put no mask/no service policies in place. They HAVE to do this, because the government has said: if business don't FORCE customers to wear masks, they WILL be fined.

In Cayuga County, the complaints roll in from the Karens, and if business get a second warning, from a public complaint, they will face massive fines. Now, I agree we should be smart, and do what we can to be safe and not spread germs around, but there are people who have nothing better to do than to go tell on others. They were the same ones who gave apples to the teachers and were on the yearbook staff. They take a perverse joy in getting others in trouble.

The stores just want to stay in business. So they follow the asinine (is that a bad word?) rules. Like Walmart having only one exit/entrance. Now, what in the HECK???! Everyone bottlenecks to exit, right where people have to enter, with the other doors closed off. Why, in the name of all that is holy, would this possibly be safer?!!! I went into Walmart a few weeks ago with Jonny, so he could buy more oil for his poor four wheeler, but that's a whole 'other story, and as we entered the foyer, we had to stop and wait, as like five families were getting carts. There was a line of people behind us, and instead of stopping and giving us some distance, they were all just coming right in, crowding the entrance, and passing us, going right over to snag a cart, no social distancing AT ALL. The ironic part was the employee standing there with a badge on that said something that was a total lie, he was supposed to be standing there monitoring, making sure customers wear masks, but didn't care at all if they were all crowded together. See? I have a bit of Karen in me! But you won't see me tattletaling!

A ranter and a raver, that's what I am.

I'm planning the meals for our upcoming camping trip, I like doing that. Hot dog night is always fun...I don't love them, but the good local ones, roasted over the fire when camping always taste delicious. I don't eat marshmallows, but everyone else does. Grilling chicken breast ahead of time, slicing it thin, and freezing it, then warming it in a roasting pan over the coals, mmm. Add some canned green beans to one corner of the pan, and some cooked rice with butter and salt and pepper to another corner, and you have a good hearty meal. Hmm, I could add gravy...and bring a can of cranberry sauce and some rolls, and it would be like camping Thanksgiving! A few sweet potatoes, too...and 'tatoes instead of the rice!

I've been invited to go on a tropical vacation, and I said YES. I have to run it by Paul, of course. My older girls are tentatively planning to go to Turks and Caicos...in the winter, to an airbnb. Who knows if it'll still be open to American citizens, but we can plan, right? You have to live your life!

Anyway...things to do here!