It is March 26, 2020. I woke up with a strong feeling of optimism this morning. The stock market had another solid rebound yesterday, and the expectation is that the stimulus package will pass the senate today. Those are both good signs for the economy, but neither of these economic positives are the drivers of my optimism.
My emotions are feeding my optimism. I feel a sense of peace, rebalance in my heart. My priorities are clear, and I have a new appreciation for the amazing life that I have been blessed with. I believe that our country will get through this, and that in time our economy will recover and become stronger than ever before.
What is new in today’s news: The stimulus package did in fact past the senate just a bit ago.
The death toll in the US has topped 1000. New York City still has more than half of the reported cases in the country. Some experts are saying that we will have another wave of Coronavirus later on this year. This may be true, but I believe that we will be prepared, and the answer will not be to shutdown the country.
U.S. jobless claims have soared to 3.3 million in light of layoffs. One of the aspects of the stimulus package is that it extends the duration of unemployment benefits.
President Trump is optimistically touting the idea that the country will “reopen” on Easter. This is a beautiful idea. Personally, I think that the idea is what is driving the gains in the stock market the past two days, not the stimulus legislature. This concerns me because I do not think that this is a realistic expectation.
Challenges with present situation: The economy is the biggest challenge with the present situation. That is going to be the case everyday. I am guilty myself in that I am being extremely frugal with money right now, saving every dollar that I can in case I lose my job. It is Thursday, and I have spent less than a hundred dollars so far this week. Half of my expenditures were for Potatoe’s groomer, and the other half have been for Little Chirp to buy books to read.
I use a locally owned and operated groomer, and Potatoe loves his “spa day”, so I thought the splurge was worth it. I view feeding Little Chirp’s sudden passion for reading as more important than having toilet paper.
On a personal front, my weight is becoming a bit of a challenge, despite averaging 4.5 miles a day running, I am slowly packing on the pounds. I do not normally eat breakfast or dessert, and I have eaten both everyday since the “New Normal” began. I seem to be eating when I am not even hungry.
Update on the Birds: Both the birds came ready for home room at 7:45 AM this morning. I think that the “give and take” with letting them have a late start the prior day has paid off. Brainy Bird joined Little Chirp in the living room for morning reading time. The alarm that reading time was over went off, and no one moved from the couch for more than 30 minutes more.
Little Chirp is excited about his “stay at home” birthday party tomorrow. Both boys have already completed their school work for the week, and aside from reading time, they will be taking the day off. The day is centered around what we plan to eat. We are going to have a mid-morning brunch of crab cake benedict, and then steaks for dinner. Aside from the time spent cooking and eating, Brainy Bird plans to spend the day playing video games and football in the backyard with Little Chirp, until I finish work. Then we will have a family board game night all together. I think that Little Chirp is going to look back on turning twelve as a special day in his life.
With everything that is going on, I almost forgot that Brainy Bird gets his SAT score tomorrow. Who knew that he would most likely have just one shot at the exam before he would be applying for colleges over the summer? This is a double edge sword. Some colleges are already talking about waiving SAT requirements. Test scores are a major strength for Brainy Bird; we need this aspect to count on the application. On the other hand, what if he did not get the score that he was hoping for?
Things I am grateful for: I am grateful that all three of us know how to cook. Home cooked meals are definitely something that we have to look forward to each day. We each have our own strengths when it comes to meal preparation. Brainy Bird is the best cook when it comes to technique. Give him a recipe, and he will give you perfection. He makes sauces and gravies that rival any restaurant anywhere. I am the best meal planner, and I am diligent about getting up super early, so I can often get meals prepped to make cooking at lunch more efficient. Little Chirp is the creative one. Give him five random ingredients, and he will make something out of it. He loves making up his own recipes.
Shout out to a friend: Today’s shout out goes to my English teachers. I received an email today praising my writing from the owner/co-founder of the company I work for. This made my day, actually my week.
Writing is my passion. Writing as a hobby is a wonderful stress release, and a way to connect with so many people on so many different levels. I feel that my writing skills are a key differentiator for me in my career. I owe my writing skills to my English teachers.
The encouragement to be a writer began with my second grade teacher, Ms. Meckel. I maybe did not do as well in school as my parents expected. Then one day, Ms. Meckel sent a note home to my parents praising my writing skills. I went from a “B” student, to having a special skill. This was a catalyst in the development of my writing skills because from that day forward, my parents gave a huge amount of encouragement at home for me to work on my writing.
Ms. Meckel was one of those teachers that students never forget. She cared deeply about us. She taught second grade, yet she was always there to support us in our high school sports and plays. She has never lost track of us, and she has never stopped caring about us. In the most difficult of times in our little community, she was one of the few that was brave enough to speak up for what was right. That has left a lasting impression on me.
In my high school days, Ms. Holman was my freshman English teacher, and more importantly she got me special permission to be in journalism, instead of typing class. As a freshman, I got to work on the yearbook and the news paper. This was the highlight of my, otherwise difficult, freshman year. I even had a role in the school talent show that year. The talent show was a fundraiser for journalism.
For the life of me, I could not follow the directions of a freshman English assignments. It was not rebellion, rather a different way of thinking. For example: freshman year writing prompt, “What do you think would have happened if Romeo and Juliet would not have died?”
Me, “What do you mean? Romeo and Juliet is a work of fiction. If they had not died; I doubt that it would have been a famous work of fiction. What would have happened is that we would be reading something else.”
I drove Ms. Holman crazy, yet she somehow always stuck by me. She always encouraged me in my writing, even when I could not stick to the writing prompt.
My junior year, Ms. Young was my English teacher. I loved that class. We all did. We would sit on the floor, and we would have meaningful conversations. Ms. Young’s classroom was a place where we all felt free to share our perspectives. I looked forward everyday to writing in my English journal, and I anxiously awaited Ms. Young’s comments. She took the time every week to read what we had written. If I could only save one of my Earthly possessions, I think that journal would be it. I read through it the other night when I was upset with Brainy Bird, and this reminded me of what it was like to be a teenager.
Ms. Young had a way of making me feel understood at times when I felt that the world was against me. She set high expectations for her students, and she motivated us to meet these expectations.
Ms. Young also taught our creative writing class my junior year. This class was my happy time everyday. The freedom to write for a whole hour! Ms. Young’s teaching style attracted a diverse group of students to this class, and this made the class a special experience and collaboration of ideas. I sat next to Chris Gonzales in this class, and we wrote poems and short stories, which deepened our friendship, and helped us come to understand one another. Chris and I had been close friends since sixth grade; we had completely different backgrounds.
I was devastated when Chris passed away in August of 2018. Ms. Young and Ms. Meckel were there to mourn with us. Like I said, they never stop caring for their students. Once again, I felt as if Ms. Young was one of the few people that truly understood my grief.
One of these days, I am going to publish my first book, which will be dedicated to my English teachers.
May God bless English teachers every where!
Positives with present situation: We are starting a virtual health challenge at work tomorrow; this should help me tremendously with my challenge of weight gain. I get a lot of messages from folks that are also working from home, and have made reading my blog a part of their daily routine. If you are one of those folks, I highly recommend that you make this suggestion to your own employer. The benefits are twofold – employee health and comradery. I personally am looking forward to the challenge.
It is the little things in life…