Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[Scarlett45]

Happy Birthday @doodlebug and @zoomama!!

[Ijustwantsomechips]

Happy birthday @doodlebug!  Hope it is enjoyable and restful.

And thanks to all the birthday wishes from everyone! I’ll eat cake and drink lots of wine, so all in all a good day.

[GeeGolly]

Happy Birthday to the birthday babies.

[Minivanessa]

Happy birthday, @doodlebug!! 🎈🎈🎉

[emma675]

Happy birthday, doodlebug and Ijustwantsomechips!!

[wilsie]

1 hour ago, doodlebug said:

I do believe we're birthday twins!  I am working today, my coworkers decorated my office with signs, balloons and flowers. We're having ice cream cake at lunch.  I'm on call tonight, but it isn't like I had any big plans.  I'll be off tomorrow post call and then back in the office Friday.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!  That's one of the good things about working on your birthday, even during a pandemic,  when you have good coworkers.  I hope it's awesome!

[Ijustwantsomechips]

Thanks everyone!

[GeeGolly]

I saw a humorous meme, which seems to be somewhat accurate these days: The US is a third world country wearing a Gucci belt.

[crazycatlady58]

@Ijustwantsomechips and @doodlebug. Happy Birthday and May God grant you many years.

[Ijustwantsomechips]

Thanks @crazycatlady58

[ChiCricket]

Happy Birthday @Ijustwantsomechips  and @doodlebug !

(these were the best gifs I could find for you both.) Well, a lot of the ones I found for Doodle besides this one were UGLY little (real) bugs! 😂

Edited April 22, 2020 by ChiCricket

[Sew Sumi]

Happy birthday to our lovely ladies!  🎂🧁🍭🍩🍷🍷🍷

[Jenniferbug]

Happy birthday! 

[Zella]

Happy birthday, everybody! 🙂

[MargeGunderson]

Happy birthday, @Ijustwantsomechips @doodlebug! 🎉🎁

[Ijustwantsomechips]

3 hours ago, ChiCricket said:

Happy Birthday @Ijustwantsomechips  and @doodlebug !

(these were the best gifs I could find for you both.) Well, a lot of the ones I found for Doodle besides this one were UGLY little (real) bugs! 😂

I love it!

My ex/SO sent this one this morning.

[Olliesmom]

On 4/21/2020 at 7:50 PM, Ijustwantsomechips said:

Yep! Each day I drag myself from the bed just a little later than the day before. I hate taking these unemployment calls, but since we have to go back into the office starting tomorrow, I stopped taking them. I’m taking the day off tomorrow since it’s my birthday, and will go back on Friday. 

Something tells me the office has not been properly sanitized, and a second wave of infections is coming.

Happy Birthday yo you and many more!!! 🎉👏🏻🍷🎊🧁🎂

9 hours ago, doodlebug said:

I do believe we're birthday twins!  I am working today, my coworkers decorated my office with signs, balloons and flowers. We're having ice cream cake at lunch.  I'm on call tonight, but it isn't like I had any big plans.  I'll be off tomorrow post call and then back in the office Friday.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you!!! 🧁🎂🥂👏🏻🎊

[BetyBee]

Happy Earth Day Birthday, doodlebug and Ijustwantsomechips!! 🎂

[Temperance]

One of my roommates has an earth day birthday. We got carryout. 

Happy Birthday to all the other Earth Day birthdays. 

🎂

[Ijustwantsomechips]

Thanks @Olliesmomand @BetyBee.  I’m almost to the bottom of the wine bottle. Yay! 

[andromeda331]

Happy Birthday @Ijustwantsomechips, @doodlebug and Earth! 

[Barb23]

I really had a "down" day yesterday.  The Covid19 stories have been sad to watch but nothing has hit me more than the stories Tamron Hall had on her show yesterday.  It was like a car wreck that I couldn't stop watching.  Tamron talked with a funeral director at a family owned funeral home in the Bronx for the majority of the program.  She told many sad stories  of trying to give the dead a decent respectful funeral & how upset she is to have to turn away so many families in her neighborhood because they just can't handle them. The most upsetting story to me was of a group of 5 people who stayed in their car at the cemetery for the burial of a friend or family member who had died from Covid19 & a week later they are all gone from it as well.  She didnt give details but I'm sure they were elderly and/or had underlying conditions.  Maybe they all felt fine &  thought  staying in the car was safe but all it took was just one of them (possibly an unknown carrier)  to do them all in. All I could think of for the rest of the day was those 5 people could have been the 5  high risk members of my immediate family incl myself.  We have a small family & that would wipe out a good part of.  I know the likelihood of all us being together during this time is zilch but just thinking that this "invisible enemy" has the capability is horrifying.

Today I'm sticking with the old shows I like to watch & starting a new puzzle. 

[Ijustwantsomechips]

6 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Happy Birthday @Ijustwantsomechips, @doodlebug and Earth! 

Thanks! It was nice.

[Nysha]

@Barb23 I'm sorry you're down. Sticking with the old classics is a good idea. The amount of information available is overwhelming. 

Along with keeping yourself healthy physically, please practice safe mental health routines. I know for myself, because I already have depression and anxiety, I have to work extra hard to keep from being overwhelmed by the sadness this pandemic is causing.

[zoomama]

frankly, you guys, we have quit watching the news since this all started. hallmark, hgtv, etc fills our background noise or the radio. i just cant hear anymore about this illness and its cost in lives.

[emma675]

Yep, I totally stopped watching the news, too. I get enough of the pandemic through my job so I'm still up to date, but the news on top of that was too much. 

I'm making my way through old dvds and TBS is running Friends every day from season 1 to the end. I'm also working out like a demon because why not? It won't last, but I've got arm muscles and my abs are starting to see some definition, which is exciting. 

[Zella]

7 minutes ago, zoomama said:

frankly, you guys, we have quit watching the news since this all started. hallmark, hgtv, etc fills our background noise or the radio. i just cant hear anymore about this illness and its cost in lives.

I check for stat updates and skim headlines, but I've also had to avoid watching news and curb how much I read. And I say this as someone who is a news junkie and has about 10 news apps on my phone. 

I've also taken refuge in reruns of Green Acres and Hogan's Heroes on MeTV. 

I also started walking again. Aiming for 3 walks a day on the days I am home. Don't have to worry about that the day I work at the library since I get in plenty of steps hoofing it doing curbside service there. 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Zella

[Marshmallow Mollie]

Same. I usually listen to multiple political podcasts. I completely stopped for several weeks. Partially so my young children didn’t overhear anything covid-19 related, and partially for my own nerves. 

[Christina87]

I am feeling down today too. My best friend’s dad died yesterday. If you are the praying type, I’m sure she would appreciate any prayers. Her dad was 82, but got Alzheimer’s at 70. He has been basically incapacitated for several years. She has no family support except for her husband, and I just feel horrible for her. Her dad was a legend in our community, coaching all kinds of sports, especially football. At one time he was considered one of the best football coaches in the state! He also was a PE teacher and taught driver’s ed. So many people in our hometown are mourning, but I just feel horrible for her!

[ChiCricket]

In honor of World Book Day, I would like to recommend the book series that starts with the book:

Welcome to the World Baby Girl,   by Fannie Flagg

I just finished the series...and I can't stop thinking about it. (read them in order)

 Anybody have another book series suggestion for me? (I can't do scary, dystopian, or depressing  right now, for obvious reasons.) Escapism is my jam rn.

 I'll read just about anything else...including cheesy mail-order bride romance junk😂

[PikaScrewChu]

Happy birthday to everyone! 🎂

We got an email saying to prep for the fall term initially being online and then transitioning to in-person lectures as the term progresses. I'm debating if it is worth the extra income for the headaches it is going to cause.

I'm so behind on everything I'm ahead. I thought this would prove that I'm capable with my projects and I would be awesomely productive. Yeah... In worried what my manager is going to say soon here. 

[EVS]

24 minutes ago, ChiCricket said:

In honor of World Book Day, I would like to recommend the book series that starts with the book:

Welcome to the World Baby Girl,   by Fannie Flagg

I just finished the series...and I can't stop thinking about it. (read them in order)

 Anybody have another book series suggestion for me? (I can't do scary, dystopian, or depressing  right now, for obvious reasons.) Escapism is my jam rn.

 I'll read just about anything else...including cheesy mail-order bride romance junk😂

I’m rereading the Debbie Macomber Blossom Street series. Total comfort reading but just what I need right now. 
 

Happy Birthday to those who celebrated yesterday and today. 
 

To everyone who is having a difficult or sad day, I’m so sorry and sending you virtual hugs. 

[Turquoise]

My husband's last infusion is tonight. It takes until about 1-2 am to finish and for me to flush/cap off the line, so we've been binging TV to stay awake. We discovered Outlander way behind the rest of the world, but we're up to date now. 😂The home nurse will be here tomorrow to pull his line, and I know he's excited, it will be the first time in 5 weeks he hasn't had at least one line coming out of him. He moves to oral antibiotics tomorrow, and we be able to go back to a normal sleep pattern. I hate this happened to him, but it was nice that I was working at home full time, it made it easier to deal with everything.

[zoomama]

1 hour ago, ChiCricket said:

In honor of World Book Day, I would like to recommend the book series that starts with the book:

Welcome to the World Baby Girl,   by Fannie Flagg

I just finished the series...and I can't stop thinking about it. (read them in order)

 Anybody have another book series suggestion for me? (I can't do scary, dystopian, or depressing  right now, for obvious reasons.) Escapism is my jam rn.

 I'll read just about anything else...including cheesy mail-order bride romance junk😂

if you will not be religiously offended, there is a writer i love. she is a christian contemporary fiction writer. please dont let that stop you from giving her a try. its not preachy at all. karen kingsbury and start with the baxter family series...there are about oh gee 15-20 books in the series. it follows a family through their life.   also the debbie macomber books  are great.

[Sew Sumi]

Which quarantine wench are you? 

[Zella]

17 minutes ago, Sew Sumi said:

Which quarantine wench are you? 

I, um, may share traits with all of them. 🤣

Edited April 23, 2020 by Zella

[ChiCricket]

3 hours ago, EVS said:

I’m rereading the Debbie Macomber Blossom Street series. Total comfort reading but just what I need right now. 

Oh, I love Debbie Macomber, but I've never read the blossom street series...and my library has the first book. Thanks!

2 hours ago, zoomama said:

if you will not be religiously offended, there is a writer i love. she is a christian contemporary fiction writer. please dont let that stop you from giving her a try. its not preachy at all. karen kingsbury and start with the baxter family series...there are about oh gee 15-20 books in the series.

 Thanks! I'll read that after the blossom street series. I read books with religious stuff in it all all the time, I just slide over the preachy parts. I'd miss out on a lot of really good books if I didn't. Doesn't matter what religion either.

Characters talking about their religion doesn't bother me, if the story is good enough without that part by itself..kwim?

Lately, I've been going back and comfort reading the kinds of books like the Orphan Train books, and anything to do with the Amish..simpler times ,I guess?

 

[MargeGunderson]

43 minutes ago, Sew Sumi said:

Which quarantine wench are you? 

Oh definitely Fey, but with cats. Perhaps with a bit of Euphronia for good measure.

[Zella]

Since our library is still running, I've been intrigued by what people are reading and watching right now. A lot of folks reading light-hearted, feel-good stuff, which totally makes sense. And then there are the people who are really wallowing in anything disease-related, which I don't want to do but I can understand. Also a lot of people reading WWII stuff. I will admit that is me in the third category. 

[jcbrown]

5 hours ago, ChiCricket said:

In honor of World Book Day, I would like to recommend the book series that starts with the book:

Welcome to the World Baby Girl,   by Fannie Flagg

I just finished the series...and I can't stop thinking about it. (read them in order)

 Anybody have another book series suggestion for me? (I can't do scary, dystopian, or depressing  right now, for obvious reasons.) Escapism is my jam rn.

 I'll read just about anything else...including cheesy mail-order bride romance junk😂

If you don't mind a little paranormal silliness, Juliet Blackwell has two series that are good escapism, one called the Haunted Home Renovation series and one called the Witchcraft Mystery series. Another series I find very readable and escapist is called "The Guild Codex: Spellbound" by Annette Marie. It's more fantasy.

[crazycatlady58]

12 minutes ago, jcbrown said:

If you don't mind a little paranormal silliness, Juliet Blackwell has two series that are good escapism, one called the Haunted Home Renovation series and one called the Witchcraft Mystery series. Another series I find very readable and escapist is called "The Guild Codex: Spellbound" by Annette Marie. It's more fantasy.

I enjoy Juliet Blackwell. I read mysteries, usually cozy mysteries bit I enjoy  light supernatural mysteries also. A author that I like a lot is Earlene Fowler's Bennie Harper mysteries.. They have some sad parts in them and Bennie is a person of faith without being preachy. For light hearted fun I enjoy Donna Andrews books. They always have a bird in the title and will always make me smile.

[awaken]

7 hours ago, ChiCricket said:

In honor of World Book Day, I would like to recommend the book series that starts with the book:

Welcome to the World Baby Girl,   by Fannie Flagg

I just finished the series...and I can't stop thinking about it. (read them in order)

 Anybody have another book series suggestion for me? (I can't do scary, dystopian, or depressing  right now, for obvious reasons.) Escapism is my jam rn.

 I'll read just about anything else...including cheesy mail-order bride romance junk😂

Enjoyed that book and all of Fannie Flagg’s!

im reading Ken Follet and Sarum. Looong reads!  I’ll feel good if I finish some of these hefty tomes by the end of quarantine!  

[DangerousMinds]

8 hours ago, ChiCricket said:

In honor of World Book Day, I would like to recommend the book series that starts with the book:

Welcome to the World Baby Girl,   by Fannie Flagg

I just finished the series...and I can't stop thinking about it. (read them in order)

 Anybody have another book series suggestion for me? (I can't do scary, dystopian, or depressing  right now, for obvious reasons.) Escapism is my jam rn.

 I'll read just about anything else...including cheesy mail-order bride romance junk😂

Omg, that’s one of my favorite books ever! I have not read beyond “Baby Girl,” however.

[Ohiopirate02]

14 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

Which quarantine wench are you? 

I'm an Euphronia with a cat.  

[Barb23]

I think I've recommended this author before -- Elin Hilderbrand.  Her books are almost always set in Nantucket which makes me feel like I'm on a mini vacation when I read them. It's nice you can read the books out of order. She may mention the same sheriff or store in different novels but that's about it.  They are basically romance novels but have an underlying theme in each one like a single mother, divorce, losing a job, coming home etc. I came across my first book of hers in a bag of misc books my sister gave me when I was recuperating from something.  My sister didn't even know where the book came from. 

Happy Friday & stay safe 😷.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Barb23

[Scarlett45]

20 hours ago, Christina87 said:

I am feeling down today too. My best friend’s dad died yesterday. If you are the praying type, I’m sure she would appreciate any prayers. Her dad was 82, but got Alzheimer’s at 70. He has been basically incapacitated for several years. She has no family support except for her husband, and I just feel horrible for her. Her dad was a legend in our community, coaching all kinds of sports, especially football. At one time he was considered one of the best football coaches in the state! He also was a PE teacher and taught driver’s ed. So many people in our hometown are mourning, but I just feel horrible for her!

I’m so sorry for your friend. It’s extra hard to mourn right now with social distancing. Much love to her. 

[galaxychaser]

I’m fey but exchange gown for pajamas.

[Nysha]

My go-to reading series are the Miss Read books and Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. 

[Minivanessa]

1 hour ago, Nysha said:

My go-to reading series are the Miss Read books and Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. 

I love the Miss Read books! I actually collected all of them in hard copies years ago. I had to ruthlessly downsize and donated them, but since then I've acquired most of them as ebooks. With judicious following of Kindle book prices on Amazon, I've done it without breaking the bank. I still re-read some of them now and then. 

My recreational/comfort reading includes crime fiction - not the gory or horror stuff. I'm re-reading some "soft boiled" Brit police procedurals from the late 60's by Elizabeth Lemarchand. That's after I read nonfiction books about the 1918 worldwide Flu pandemic. My old brain needed a break after those. 

 

[Oldernowiser]

So...Mr. Wiser and I drove the dogs to the mall parking lot to walk them, as we do (we tried to go yesterday, only to get to the car and discover a completely flat tire...with a razor blade in the sidewall...so a masked-up Mr. Wiser was out trying to do socially distant tire shopping yesterday in a pandemic. JFC.).

What.is.wrong.with.people. Another older couple, also walking the empty parking lot. We’re clearly veering away to give them a ton of room and they start walking toward us faster saying how much they love dogs. I was literally ducking under trees on the berm to get away from them. Fortunately, my crazy rescue dog’s belief that all strangers are serial killers finally came in handy and he started barking like a lunatic which gave us enough time to get away.

We’ve been pretty fortunate over here on the west side of Puget Sound, at least officially, in large part because it hit so hard on the east side that the governor shutting down the state came early enough to prevent us getting clobbered as well. But apparently people haven’t figured out that social distancing is the reason. 

I can’t with these people. 🤯

Edited April 24, 2020 by Oldernowiser