No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on March 26, 2020

Aka Day 11 of the Homebound Saga aka Thursday

I have known Mary Aileen for over 50 years and we have been friends all that time. There was occasional drift as our paths and lives moved in different directions. We both knew that we were there for each other. 

Over the years we have encourage each other to be our best. We have been there as the ear that could be bent when one of us or even both need to vent. 

We are both avid readers. Her childhood home was a house of books as was mine. At a pretty early age her older brothers allowed us to raid their bookshelves for things to read. It was on those shelves I discovered Edgar Rice Burroughs and Stanislaw Lem. The world of the lensmen and the works of Andre Norton along with Elric and his cursed blade. Classic science fiction and fantasy filled the shelves. We would choose books then go somewhere and just read. I know some of our other friends found that a bit strange but it worked for us.

I dragged her into fandom. I would convince her to join me on various adventures and from there we made fandom friends some of which we are still friends with today. I would share fandoms I was passionate about to her. I introduced her to Dr. Who along with a lot of other British TV shows. We saw Star Wars together the summer it came out more than once. 

If she didn’t like something she told me and I learned to drop it. She never got into comic books. She doesn’t care for the horror genre. Vampires and zombies are a no go. 

She has listen to me ramble on way too long about fandoms I love and I appreciate it. 

She knows I am in her corner and there for her when she needs me and I know the same holds for me.

She was the maid of honor for my wedding fulfilling a promise I made when we were very young.

Everyone needs a Mary Aileen in their lives and I am happy to say that I have one that has been there for over five decades.

Happy Birthday Mary Aileen! I hope the day is peaceful and fun.

I am grateful for my friendship with Mary Aileen.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 25, 2020

Or Day 10 of the Homebound Saga otherwise know as Wednesday

One of the changes that will go into effect next week is remote schooling for the students in this area. The school board was smart and basically pulled two weeks out of the snow days they didn’t use and spring break which they moved. So at this point Caroline has not missed any school days.

Monday is the beginning of remote schooling and there will be a lot of computers and other electronic devices hooking into the local Internet all about the same time. I firmly expect there will be issues with this. There are times during the day that the bandwidth around here drops precipitously like when all the high schoolers get home from school.

We switched carriers because we were at the ‘end’ of the hub and furthest away from the origin of the signal. Since then we have Zippy the Internet and many fewer drop-outs or slow down. And we can download things at a reasonable speed. A TV show would take 2 hours to download on the old system if we were lucky but now 10 to 15 minutes and we are ready to play.

It will be interesting to see what is what next week.

I am working my way through my emotions along with helping my family and friends where I can. Online I find myself talking more about what I am cooking and the weather or the cats. We are checking in with each other and giving support to each other.

Offline I find myself calling my parents more often along with some friends who are seriously isolated due to health issues that make it imperative that they do physically distance themselves from the world.

I am planning to start writing letters to people because I think that would be fun.

Caroline and I have, weather permitting, been walking around the village. People are being polite to each other even keeping the six feet apart. There are doggies that Caroline has petted but she always washed her hands when she gets home.

In some ways it reminds me of what it was like post 9-11. We were checking in with each other and people were just nicer to each other. It was comfort in hard times. To know that people still have hearts and care about their fellow humans gave me hope for the world.

I do hope we come out of the other side of this better than when we went it.

Today it looks like rain and we will adjust accordingly.

Peter has a doctor’s appointment later. Now for appointment you have to answer a gambit of questions and only the patient can enter the office. I swear is it like that bridge in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

I have my list of things I must do, need to do, and, last, want to do.

I am waiting to hear what is next for the area and how the country is doing but that is for later in the day.

Right now I have four cats napping in their favorite spots, a cup of coffee and a working Internet. And for now that is enough.

I am grateful for friendly greetings.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 24, 2020

The Homebound Saga Day 9

Things up here in New York are sliding into the abyss. The number of cases is increasing exponentially. 

Conventions are being cancelled or postponed which is hurting our bottom line.

Heliosphere has been postponed until next year and I will be attending as a guest. 

I have been thinking about what can I do to try to make up the income.

Well I am making some furrpets to put up on my website for sale and going to take better photos of some other puppets I have for sale at this time. I am also working on other simple puppets that have a lower price point. But I am still making my custom pieces.

I am also revising Peter’s Patreon page. More on that when it is done.

Caroline has a couple of costume projects she want to do. I will help her but she wants to do this hands on. She wants to learn how I do what I do.

But it is hard to get started right now. I worry about my family both by blood and by choice. I know a couple that are infected and out of them a few have really had a hard time with it.

I know once I start, then I will get on a roll. 

I am thinking of creating a schedule for the day for Monday through Friday and save the weekends for whatever. Create a new normal.

Remember to breath and take a moment for yourself.

I am grateful for all the nurses who are on the front lines of this crises.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 23, 2020

Or the Remember to Breath edition.

One thing I have been finding myself doing is holding my breath which is not good for my body. I have to remind myself to breath and also taking the time to do some breathing exercises I was taught years ago to deal with stress. 

The one I do the most is 10 slow breathes in through the nose then slow exhale from the mouth. Best done standing straight or sitting straight up. Just pay attention to breathing for those 10 breaths and just be in the moment.

Finding ways to exercise is not impossible but a bit of a challenge. Going to the gym would give me a place to just exercise without the distractions of the house and pets and people. It was my time for me. 

I am one of those individuals who need some alone time to recharge. Time by myself is something that helps me sort out a lot of things and deal with problems and issues that seem overwhelming. I am having a harder time finding those windows because there are three of us and we are practically on top of each other. I usually get a little time in the morning depending on when Caroline gets up. Right now it seems if I want that time then it has to be after everyone goes to sleep and I usually go to sleep before Peter or at the same time as Peter.

Today I have several things on my list that are household things that need to be done. Including finishing restoring the living room from the chaos that happened on Saturday.

I can feel myself feeling that feeling in the pit of my stomach that was usually the sign that I was diving into a depressive episode. And it is not wrong to feel that. Right now, things are anxious and scary. If I was feeling on top of the world and totally happy, I would be worried about me. I try to control what I can and let go of that I cannot. It’s hard to do but it is what is keeping me sane.

So stay safe and remember to breath.

I am grateful for that which I do have control over.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 22, 2020

Not really creative with titles this morning.

Yesterday was one of those plan for one thing but deal with another. Nothing for it but to figure out what is next. 

Because of that I am extending World Puppetry Day to today since I didn’t get to any puppet building. 

But first I need to restore order to that which became chaos yesterday which should take half the day.

This morning I woke up to find three out of four cats curled up on the bed and there was no kitty politics until we entered the head skritch portion of the morning. 

Someone pointed out that we are not trying to social distances ourselves but physically keeping distance. Unless we are trying to be social at a distance…

I am getting the urge to make a doll. I haven’t done it in years but I think it is time.

I will admit to having to look at a calendar to figure out which day of the week it is.

Yeah short bursts of thought seem to be how the brain is calibrated today but I am a bit distracted.

Caroline has been drawing and coloring as her stress reducer. I am so amazed at what she can do with a pencil and paper. She is also an incessant doodler which is reflected in her note taking.

I miss the gym but am finding other ways to continue to exercise. Caroline and I have been walking down to the local docks and watching the sun set. Might be a little cold today to do so. Also I found two of our weights. Neither is the same weight but we can make it work. I know there is a matching pair hiding somewhere.

I have an idea for a puppet that I need to sketch out for me. 

I also need more coffee.

This is one of those times I am glad that we stay home for the most part. Makes this still weird but probably less weird than other people are feeling. I can navigate my day without feeling I need to leave the house.

I have the next bit in the story I am writing for the anthology I am working on. Now to take the story in my head and type it out. I want to have it done before I have to put on my editor hat.

Phoebe and Mewlan were playing a game of knock things off the table to see who could create more chaos. Phoebe won and was promptly taking off the table. Those two have been come besties and play with each other all the time.

With a few exceptions, our small collection of Disney ZumZums are cat toys. We have a basket that we toss them into as we find them around the house. Each cat seems to favor a few over the other ones. Apparently last night was a big play time as there are ZumZums all over the living room, kitchen, steps to upstairs, and the bathroom. 

I am grateful for answers to problems that really work.

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