Making the best

I ventured to town for the first time in 10 days yesterday. (for those who don’t know me well – Traverse City is about 25 minutes from where I live) There was plenty of traffic, nothing seemed drastically different. Costco’s “shelves” were full – even if they had no toilet paper, they had the area full of something else, so you couldn’t tell there was a rush on anything. The only difference was the limit of 1 on some of what I was buying; flour, eggs, and butter for baking. The good news is that I’m normally really stocked up for some reason, it’s as though I’ve been preparing for this my whole life.

Bob is finally expressing something over the state of the world right now, I think the uncertainty is what bothers him most. When will he go back to work? Will they still get paid or does he need to file for unemployment? It’s obviously unprecedented in our lifetime, and we’re all trying to find a way to cope. (I should NOT have bought the giant container of jelly beans at Costco yesterday!)

So in an effort to not sleep all day and fall into a funk, I’m up early (thanks, Ella) and making a giant to do list. I won’t necessarily try to complete all of it, but it will keep me/us busy and find something to do each day. That’s the biggest issue for Bob, he’s ALWAYS working and go, go, going that if he’s not busy, he’s lost. So this morning over coffee, I hope we will talk about what tasks we can do together and how we can help each other stay sane AND get some needed rest.

On a lighter note, I got some Dr. Earth soil supplement/fertilizer to start my seeds in the greenhouse and I’m SO EXCITED to get out there and get things going. We need to turn on the heater and make sure it’s working, but it’s been in the mid-high 70’s inside, even on a cloudy day. So, get ready for a lot of posts and pics about what’s growing in the greenhouse this year!

People have been messaging me on Facebook for eggs and asking me to open the farm stand this weekend. I was hesitant because of the stay in place order, until I read that my business is exempt from that. (farm/food service) SO, I am looking through recipes and trying to figure out what the masses will want besides bread and cinnamon rolls. I’ve got so many tried and true, and am happy to have a semi-captive audience for some of my favorite recipes.

So, for me it’s business as usual – getting ready for the season, but starting the baking part of it a bit earlier than usual. I’m trying to take advantage of this time off to finally finish my taxes (I’m running out of money and have a refund coming), plan for the coming season, clean and organize, and also find some time to relax a little. I’m convinced this virus is God or the Universe’s way of forcing us to get off the hamster wheel and slow down a bit, to stop the hate and start to help and care for each other. I know that’s a bit out there, but I feel like our society was about to implode. So now families are “stuck” together, playing games, watching movies, reading, napping, fighting, and doing puzzles – they’re making the best of a very frightening situation and moving forward. I wish that for all of you – make the best of this time off, in whatever way works for YOU. Take a nap, bake some bread or try a new recipe, make your list, clean your house, take a walk, love on your pets and significant other, read, write a letter (bring back snail mail), call your parent(s), a family member or a friend to catch up. Make the best of this unplanned time and focus on yourself, your family and friends and #stayhome. Making the best in Maple City! Peace, Andria