COVID 19 – Grandma Bloggers

CULTURES, family, FINANCE, food, Grandchildren, HEALTH, home, PARENTING, photography, RELIGION, TRAVEL

Pandemic 101

May 15, 2020December 15, 2023 custom

The past two months have been life altering. In fact, it has changed everything! Besides aging me ten years, I have never cried so much or for so long of a time. Our prophet warned us and still I was unprepared for the changes Corona would make in my life. Suddenly, I could no longer lovingly hug my grandchildren. I could not freely go to church, shop, watch movies, or just walk around the neighborhood without keeping a distance. What???

The 1918 H1N1 flu virus caused the deadliest pandemic of the 20th century. Today (2020) we have a “global” pandemic that has shut down society as we know it. How could we have not known this was coming?

*Brighter days in Hawaii at Diamond Head Peak*

Why were we not prepared for this? Over a century of medical enlightenment should have taught us something, right??? It seems that as a world we have gone backwards in time. How did we get here? What went wrong? Who can we blame? Everyone seems to have an opinion on that, but no one is fessing up to this mess.

Luckily, our family has been able to continue working and studying throughout this catastrophe. Many people are without jobs and what our President, Donald Trump bragged about building up all came tumbling down. I won’t talk politics here because my husband and I don’t see eye to eye. The stock market is in territory it has not seen in years. The U.S. government tried to bail everyone out including many businesses (who is going to pay for that)?

*Dad and the boys performing circa 1992?*

There is no end to the madness in sight unless some genius comes up with an effective vaccine so we can all become immune to COVID-19. Who is the winner here? I know – stupidity!! Where are all the world-renowned scientists right now? Where are the Avengers when you need them? Oh, right – they are in the movies and they are probably in quarantine, too!

Our world went into lockdown. Whole

countries closed down. Drones took haunting images of famous cities devoid of mortals. No one roamed the streets except wild animals wondering where the humans went. It was like one big fictional novel coming to life. Will it ever return to what it was? That is probably not a good idea. We were dumb! The world had lost its’ luster. People were too busy having fun and making money to notice a tiny little virus that had the power to annihilate any power or wealth we thought we had.

we have been blessed beyond what we deserve. Pandemics suck. That is the truth!

So, the next time I write a post for my blog, I hope this experience will be a distant memory. I pray we have learned our lessons. Only God can get us through this.

Tell that to all the people rioting against social distancing. They also refuse to have the vaccine even if it would help others. Meantime, we will be practicing

social distancing. Who knew that was even a thing until now?

Artwork, BEAUTY, CULTURES, family, food, Grandchildren, HEALTH, home, Music, PARENTING, photography, RELIGION, TRAVEL

Here We Are!

May 1, 2020December 15, 2023 custom

May Day 2020! I didn’t know if I would still be here now. It seems like the last two months have aged me ten years! I am grateful that all of my family and I did not fall victim to COVID 19. It is still around, so we still need to be super careful.

Life has changed in many ways I never could have imagined. My grandchildren’s schools were closed. Our churches are closed. Many of my favorite stores are closed. I haven’t been able to hug my grandchildren since the lockdown. We visit each other by driving by in our car. We don’t visit with friends or relatives without being six feet apart. As if the lockdown was not enough of a trauma, we had several earthquakes, one of which woke me up and rolled beneath me. It seems I felt every aftershock. It is focused in Magna, Utah.

Corona virus is no respecter of persons. Some of the well-known people including Pink, Tom and Rita Hanks, Daniel Dae Kim, Prince Charles, Rand Paul, Prince Albert II, Ben McAdams, and several others contracted the virus and luckily survived. https://www.vulture.com/article/famous-people-celebrities-with-coronavirus.html

Others were not so lucky. Here is a list of some of the celebrities that were not so lucky and died from the virus.

https://www.thewrap.com/celebrities-deaths-coronavirus-star-hollywood-notable/

Thankfully, I do not personally know anyone that has been sick or died from Corona.

Being an introvert, staying at home did not affect me too much. Whenever I did go out I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone with everyone donning masks. You can not tell what they are thinking but most of them hurried about and only got what they needed. I missed sauntering up and down the aisles as a form of exercise.

Without other demands, I noticed many of us put more attention on comfort food. Here I am 5-10 pounds or more heavier. At least I can blame that on corona, right??

I had time to pursue my artistic endeavors. I enjoyed watercoloring, oil painting, alcohol ink painting, and acrylic pouring (porn). I used some apps to alter pictures. I continued my writing for smarterparenting.com as well as attempted to keep my Poshmark closet active.

https://poshmark.com/closet/elayne001

I am also an Avon Representative. Unfortunately, noone wears makeup during a pandemic on lockdown, so business is not booming.

https://www.youravon.com/rkongaika

Dr. Faucci seems to be the expert, but in my opinion, there are really no experts regarding the Corona virus. I have seen way to much of our president, gotten acquainted with Cuomo, and other world leaders.

No more nights out at the movies, dates at our favorite restaurants, or dinner with friends. Some days I cry when I hear the word “corona” which is often. Fortunately, I have still been able to read my scriptures every day which helped my focus on people who had it even worse than I did. Our prophet had prepared us for home isolation way before it was even though of. He spoke to us in Conference along with apostles and other church leaders. We have church every Sunday in our home. We still hold Family Home Evening with our family online.

As a way to cope with the pandemic, several creative people have made up memes, jokes, and art. Comedians broadcast their shows at homes including their kids, dogs, etc. I enjoyed that and saw several people in a new light.

One of my favorite new comedians is Leanne Morgan. https://www.facebook.com/leannemorgancomedy/

as well as Shelayne Shelton from Hawaii

https://www.facebook.com/jshelton19/

My husband has turned into Santa Claus since he cannot work at the temple and he got laid off from his job after he fell asleep driving. He has been putting together a book which includes stories from our missionaries. I edit out all of the wrong tenses, spelling errors, and punctuation blunders. It should be ready soon, but here is one in case you haven’t seen it yet. There are more stories to come before it is finalized.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J5aNe4FihPnNrnRNlX54koaaACFqSUG2OkqK9ebrULU/edit?usp=sharing

Until we meet again, I will pray for all of you that this virus will go away and that we will enjoy the rest of Spring and Summer. Should we die, all is well, all is well!

Artwork, BEAUTY, CULTURES, family, food, Grandchildren, HEALTH, holidays, home, PARENTING, photography, RELIGION, TRAVEL

Easter Celebration 2020

April 11, 2020December 15, 2023 custom

Easter in our family has been a fun time for the grandchildren including chocolate candies, colored eggs, the Easter bunny, and new clothes. This year there will be no new Sunday dresses at church since all of our meetinghouses are closed. Those who shop for Easter goodies this year will do it at their own peril. No large Easter egg hunts, sharing of Easter candy with cousins, or big dinners.

Parents this year will have to come up with a new way to celebrate Easter. Here are some ideas you might use to keep some of your Easter traditions while social distancing. Some of these are perfect for your living room or yard. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/virtual-easter-egg-hunts-let-144800827.html

If you don’t have any plastic eggs from years past, you can make eggs out of paper and write Easter messages on them. You can make large Easter eggs out of construction paper and hang them on your windows for others to see when they pass by.

Easter Egg hunt in Centerville

This year may be the first time for many of the kids to join the world-wide fast for our world because of COVID 19. It has been a somber time for all of us and our attention has been redirected to the most important part of Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we just need a reset button to remind us of our priorities.

It is a time of reflection and unity in spirit we have not seen. Although we cannot be together physically this Easter, we can cherish one another and share our experiences through technology. The recent and ongoing crises should be a reminder not to get too caught up in less important agendas.

Iknow I will never take for granted a touch, hug, or kiss from one of my grandchildren again. Isolation makes me sad. I am more grateful for family.

Perhaps the feeling of being exiled from all that is dear to us will help us to understand more of the experience Jesus had when his own people betrayed him. His last few days were infinitely more difficult than what we are experiencing now. I hope we will come out of this quarantine with renewed determination to be more Christlike.

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Happy Easter! We just finished our Tonga Nuku’alofa Mission history 1989-1992 and uploaded it for you to read. There are several Tender Mercy stories that were submitted by missionaries who served with us. Please share with others that may be interested.