Corona Virus and a Wedding

It's difficult for me to think of a way to start writing about the corona virus and how we're dealing with it. Who would've ever thought something like this would happen? There's so much going on and so many (everyone) affected by it, where do I even begin? *sigh*

As an introvert who is also a housewife (thankfully), not leaving my home isn't that much of a hardship. Other than not being able to go to church :-( and grocery shopping being more difficult and taking longer because I have to go to more than one or two stores to find things, life isn't much different for me.

It's funny because normally I would prefer being home, but now that we have  to stay home I want to go places. lol But I'm only leaving my house to get groceries on Fridays. The rest of the time I am home.

On the subject of getting groceries, the first week that we were told to stay home, I was able to get everything on my grocery list. (March 13th.) The second week, I got all but a few things. This week it was more difficult to find things, but I still managed to get most of it. Some things had to be replaced by something else - a different brand or flavor. I even managed to find toilet paper the first and second weeks (an 8 = 48 pack of Charmin and then a 6 = 24 pack of Angel Soft, my preferred brand), but couldn't find any this week. We should be good for the next week or week and a half. I hope and pray I can find some next week.


Charlie is still working (he's a crane mechanic/manager and since construction work is considered essential, cranes will need repairing and maintaining), but was off this week. He had vacation time he needed to use before he lost it. (Lost the vacation time, not his mind. lol)


Anyway, I hope this will be over soon. I'm tired of people getting sick and dying. I'm tired of almost everything being closed and people not being able to work. I'm tired of not being able to find toilet paper (of all things!) and all the groceries on my list. I want normal life back. :-( But our governor said yesterday that starting this Monday at 5:00 PM, there will be more shutdowns. My mom said it will last 30 days.

I'm so sick of it. It's not the orders I'm upset about (I understand why it's necessary); it's the fact that this is happening at all. I think most of us expected our healthcare systems (in America and in most countries around the world) to be able to handle something like this almost with ease. To at least have all the equipment they would need for such a thing. That technology and healthcare were so advanced that a virus wouldn't be as devastating as corona has been. Most people are surviving, thankfully. But it's sad that so many have died and many more may die in the near future. If things were as we (or maybe just me) expected them to be in the realms of health and science, not as many people would be dying. (I'm not sure I'm wording this the way I want to.) I reckon we (I) had more faith and confidence than we (I) should have.

But millions, perhaps billions, of us are praying.

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Friday, March 13th (before things got stricter and stores were still open), Kelly and I did a little shopping (just a few stores) so I could find a dress to wear to my son's wedding. I didn't have much money to spend, but I think I found something nice. My son was married on the 21st (more on that in a bit) and I received many compliments. So I guess I did okay. lol

I got this Liz Claiborne (I think) dress at JC Penney. Originally about $74, I paid less than $50.

I also got this shrug at JC Penney. Originally $44, I paid about $30. Those are faux pearls on it.

I got this clutch at Target for about $35.

I also bought a gold belt (at Target) to wear with the dress in place of the one that came with it, but it wouldn't lay flat. So I wore the belt that came with the dress. I wore a pair of nude sandals/heels I already own.

Kelly picked out a dress at Target that was originally about $30, but was on sale for $25.

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Sean married his fiancee Ashley on Saturday, March 21st at 4:00. They had posted on Facebook a few times that week that they would understand if people couldn't come. By the time their wedding day arrived, the governor and the president were saying keep groups no larger than 50. It looked like less than 50 people were at their wedding. I felt bad for them that so few showed up, but I understand. And as I told them, the most important thing for them will be getting married and having their close family there. (Some of our church family were also there.) They were both really nervous as they don't like the attention, but they were happy to be getting married.

 I know they look very young, even from behind lol, but Sean will be 23 soon and Ashley will be 24 in a few months.

They were going to go to the Outer Banks for their honeymoon and had booked a room a few months ago, but the Outer Banks closed earlier in the week of their wedding. Then they were going to go to Southport (my hometown and a place we went to many times for vacation), but decided that they would just wait until sometime in the future to take a trip. Instead, they've been in a hotel here in Greensboro this week.


I can't believe my son is married (he's a husband! wow!) and I'm now a mother-in-law. (Who's in no hurry to be a grandma. lol) I shall endeavor to be a good one.

It's also hard to believe that he's now moved out. His room is almost empty now and will be my library/computer room. I want to paint the walls a different color (maybe a medium to dark blue) and I'm trying to decide furniture placement and decor. I'll be glad when I can get this big desk out of my dining room and get some things out of my bedroom (including the two big bookcases Charlie built for me a few years ago).

At the same time, I kind of wish my son was still here. If we had a bigger home where he and Ashley could have their own space (kind of like an in-law suite), that would be great. Then they could stay with us in something that would be like their own little apartment until they could afford their own place. But they'll be living with my mom while Sean tries to get a better job and they can save up money for their own place.

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I bought a few more songs recently for my iPod:

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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Meeting Friends, Wrecked Truck, Building Gone

Friday evening, February 28th, I drove to a mall in Durham to meet up with a couple friends. We've been meeting there once a year (usually March) for the past few years. It was nice spending time with them just sitting and talking. One of my friends (Stacey) lives in Maryland. Her daughter plays volleyball and usually has a tournament in Raleigh. Since she's a senior this year, this will be the last time they come down for that. My other friend (Susanne) lives in Graham. Our friend Stacy (from Eden) usually comes as well, but she was sick. Stacey's mom also usually comes (I really like her), but she had family stuff back in Maryland.

Anyway, we stayed till just before closing and then said our goodbyes. When I got to my exit here in Greensboro, I noticed the stop lights were out. Then I noticed there were no lights (other than emergency lights or whatever they're called) in the buildings in the area. I live about a mile and a half from the exit and the lights were out all the way to my neighborhood, which was also dark. They had been out for about 30 minutes by the time I got home and stayed out for about another 30 minutes before the power came back on. Apparently someone had hit a pole. It was starting to get a little bit chilly in the house in just that hour. I'm glad they were able to get the power back on before it got cold in the house.

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The next morning, Charlie called sometime after bringing Sean to work needing me to come get him. (He actually called Kelly after trying to call me. My ringer is always off. Kelly doesn't usually answer her phone, but thankfully she did this time.) He had been in an accident a few miles from our house. When we got there, we were surprised to see the front of his truck smashed in. Someone in a black SUV had run a red light and Charlie turned into him. The guy Charlie hit did a 360 and ended up partly on the curb/grass. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

 The vehicle in the background is not the one he hit.

As expected, the insurance company said it's totaled. They said they'll pay him what it's worth, which is less than what he owes on it. But Charlie got gap insurance when he bought the truck and that will cover the rest. Unfortunately, there won't be any money left to get a new truck. Some friends have said to contact an attorney and see if he can get more money to get a new truck. I don't know if Charlie will do that or not though. I hope he will.

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In my last entry, I mentioned my iPod dying. Well, it started working again after I finished that entry. I pressed the power button and it said something about the battery. I charged it and it's been working since. I'm not sure what happened to make it die before. I had it charging while I was listening to it. (Using the bluetooth speaker.) The only thing I can think of is maybe that little button on the outlet was out and so the outlet itself wasn't getting any power. So the charger wasn't actually charging. That's my guess anyway.

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There's this old building that Kelly and I love for some reason. There's nothing beautiful about it. We've just always thought it was cool. We both like apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic books/shows/movies and something about the state of the building and the land around it looks like something you'd see or read about in those kind of stories. Like something from The Walking Dead.

About the second or third week of February, I was going somewhere and as I came to where this building sits, it was gone. It's been torn down by whoever has purchased the land or maybe whoever already owned it. It made me kind of sad to see it gone practically without a trace. I still feel a little sad every time I pass that empty land, which is a couple times a week. *sigh*

Kelly took both of these pictures.

A couple days after seeing that it had been torn down, I looked it up and found out it had been built in the 1950s. I miss seeing it there, as silly as that may sound. I wonder what will be put in its place. I'm kind of expecting apartment buildings or maybe a restaurant (it's near the water park), but who knows?

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I took Sean and Ashley downtown yesterday to get their marriage license. Kelly and I waited in the car in a parking garage. (I couldn't find any parking on the street.) Just a few more weeks and they'll be getting married.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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