My little Buddy

Yesterday morning at 8:00, Katie crawled into our bed while Dana was sleeping. She and I found something silly to quietly giggle over (stinky farts or my snoring was it?) and then she looked me in the eye and whispered "You always make me smile, Dad". 

A single word to accurately describe the overwhelming joy, happiness, pride, and humility to the point of tears I felt may not exist. I'll just call that emotion 'everything'. She couldn't have said anything more meaningful to me than that even if she tried.

Katie has a way of making my heart softer, my patience greater, and my laughter louder. I've practically convinced myself that I won't live long enough to see her be a young woman so I'm enjoying every second of being her dad and making these little moments last as long as possible. Fear of death isn't the way I live but I'd be lying if I said my expiration date isn't something I'm wondering about.

When I became a dad (again) at 42, I felt a little selfish for bringing a child into my world when I knew I wouldn't see every important moment of her life. When you stop and think about it, how can anyone see everything? As smart as I think I am, I still felt like I'd see all her moments that make life worth living. It's an impossible task for sure so perhaps I'm just going to try to be more realistic and simply appreciate what I'm here to experience and witness.

Life is mostly unpredictable and some events will eventually knock us all off the path we're on. You can try to figure out how you're going to get to your destination no matter the circumstances or you can just enjoy the journey with all the unplanned side trips you take along the way. My Buddy is not one of those excursions though. To think of her or her sisters as anything other than a dream come true would be inaccurate and dishonest. They're my world and I always wanted to be a dad. I am blessed to still be on the path even into my AARP years. (Yea, discounts!)

Katie's sweet little face and countless freckles remind me every day that she came into my life when I didn't know that I needed her in it. Yesterday morning she said she likes my laugh and without any question, I dig hers too. She always makes me smile too. :)

Summer Stats

COVID-19 stats as of July 20, 2020

Texas: 339,210 infected
            4,063 dead

USA: 3,930,058 infected
          143,537 dead

World: 14,761,111 infected
            611,736 dead


Just posting this to compare.

Stats

Corona Virus pandemic stats today.

COVID-19 in the USA
Infected: 757,636
Deaths: 40,223

Trump is avoiding responsibility and blaming everyone. Nothing new.

Time

Today I woke up and had to think for a few seconds about what day of the week it is. Is it Wednesday? Is it April 8th? Do I even need a calendar anymore? This confusion isn't only mine. I know we're all 'off' to some degree.

It's also getting more difficult to find time to be alone and write. These days are a blend of frequent interactions among 5 family members, homework, puppy sitting, housework, and meal making so to find time to sit at my laptop and write is few and far between. Socially distancing is taking a toll on everyone and especially on me since I'm usually alone.

So here we all are; quarantined, isolated, frustrated, and even scared. The trips I've made to buy groceries were filled with anxiety. Do I have to buy food or can I live off of what's in our pantry? Do I say hi to all my Kroger peeps or am I supposed to limit all social interaction to the bare minimum? The number of shoppers wearing masks has grown too. I went to Costco yesterday wearing my Star Wars fabric homemade mask and I don't think anyone even noticed it. No one is making eye contact anyway. Just do your shopping as quickly and efficiently as possible without getting the virus. This is straight out of a Sci-Fi movie I swear.

It's 2:38 PM and it almost doesn't matter what time it is. I don't think I've ever said or even thought that before especially with active children who heavily depend upon me for transportation. On an average BV (before virus) day I had to open maps and schedules to figure out how to successfully navigate everything. Not now! You want to sleep in till noon? Go for it. You want to stay up till 10:30 tonight? Sure! Why would I care? The kids still depend on structure even if the schedule is relaxed in nature. It's true that the actual time of the day is slightly irrelevant but keeping us all moving forward is more of my goal than ever before. We just can't miss assignment due dates because I no longer know what day it is. That's an excuse we ALL could use.

Adjusting to the pandemic will slowly take time and perhaps that's the focus we all need to take. I may not need a wrist watch or wall calendar these days but I do need patience more than ever. When I no longer know where I am then I'll finally consider myself truly lost. That's not today thankfully.

I have to go make dinner now. I think?



Current COVID-19 stats for the USA
Infected: 422,369
Deaths: 14,463

Daily Reminder to Shelter in Place

It's 9:31 AM on April 7th, 2020

These ae the current COVID-19 stats in the USA

369, 179 infected
11,013 deaths

Peak is predicted to be coming to Texas in late May.

Let It Begin With Me

Is it time for bed yet?

I don't ask much in life. I really don't. It's not like I don't have desires or wishes; I have LOTS of those.

For instance:
I'd like a Jaguar. The vehicle, not the cat.
I'd like a place in the Caribbean. Beach house would be great but I'd prefer one up on a hill with an overlook to the ocean. I enjoy binoculars.
I'd like my bald spots to sprout hair once again. That one is gonna take a miracle I think but I'm holding out hope.
I'd like a house that is drama free. I probably have a better chance of growing my hair back than that  I think.

The one thing I REALLY want and am lacking these days is a peaceful evening. That would mean:

No television.
No electronics.
No family game time where the children lose their shit.
No barking puppy. (No nipping, biting, or growling puppy either. The little fucker has needles for teeth,)
No teenage boys calling my daughters. They need to go away.
No arguing.
No talking back or talking of any form. Sign language might even be too loud for these people.
NO NOISE!


Every night around 8:00 I feel the urge to ask the question: is it time for bed yet? The people and the dog can stay up and I don't care if they ever sleep. I just have two goals: get into my bed while the sheets are still cold and refresh my Star Wars iPad game tickets at 10:00. All I need to do is make sure I say a proper goodnight to the noise makers and control my urge to play Got You Last. This should be easy. It's not.

Everyone loses their damn mind and basic common sense at night. What the hell? Do I need to sacrifice a rooster or something to get the volume down?

I am a simple person. Don't give me extra crap to deal with and I'll definitely be an annoyed S.O.B. if anyone starts crying. Ask my wife if I enjoy that particular drama or change of any sort. She might laugh in your face if you ask her.

So here I am. It's 9:40 PM and I'm trying to find a way to artfully end this post while making sure I don't lose the opportunity to avoid my family for the bliss of a quiet upstairs. God, please don't let me rile the children; I love a good game of tag but I really don't need to screw this up. I can almost hear the bed calling my name.

The christian hymn "Let there be peace on earth" is on an endless loop in my brain. Time to give that song a chance to finish.Only one way that will happen. Good Night, laptop!



Reality check: The kids are talking, I'm still not upstairs, and the COVID-19 USA infected account as of right now is 164,253. The number of fatalities is now 3,165. The school district alerted us tonight that school is out two more weeks, through April 17th. Have to wonder if summer break has already begun.

This pandemic is a nightmare.

You Are The Music In Me

I write for fun. I write for others. I write for the sake of remembering. I write for money.

I don't write to expose. I don't write to complain. There are many reasons I stay silent.

But I should write lyrics because I can and so many can not.

Needing writing inspiration. I finally got it from an old friend DJ'ing global alternative music on Facebook. Here are some of the lyrics I think I'm hearing from a "song" he's playing:

I just got paid the time. I am a carrot.
Buh buh buh buh buh buh buh buh buh buh buh
beep beep doink buh bum bum bum
ugh ugh buh bug buh buh bug bug…….Carpe Diem. I am a carrot.
Uh.........um….....what in the hell was that???????

This guy could be reciting bible verses. He could be selling house salads. I have no idea what he's singing and half of it wasn't English. Even the parts that were sung in English made zero sense. I do like carrots though. Surprisingly I'm both apparently appalled by his lyric proficiency and currently somewhat hungry.

I'll keep his beat and instrumentals but use words from my world:

A stay at home parent. Evolution revolution?
Not ready for kids 24/7.
A plan to move ahead. Maybe the one solution.
Going down the path to the true heaven?

The lyrics I composed sounded much better when I was dancing to the techno crap my Facebook friend was playing. Just trust me. Imagine a ton of deep bass beats thumping 'bum bum bum' while I'm singing about the most major life decision I ever made and you get the idea.


I'm not a lyricist but I do have a wife, three kids, and a puppy who need me to stay sane and for our benefit, writing for fun helps me move toward that goal. Truth is this blog is a break they allow me to have once in a while and I'm using every second as a mental vacation. Life downstairs and outside can pause for an hour.


For a reality check and a reminder of why we have a quarantine in place, the USA COVID counts as of now: 32,356 infected, 414 deaths. This is just the tip of the iceberg. My advice? Wash everything and keep a journal. Maybe write a song too.







.

Muh muh muh my Corona.

COVID-19 Quarantine Journal: The Corona Chronicles 

Days 1-3 (March 16-18, 2020)

Synopsis:

I'm at home with our three kids who may not return to school this academic year thanks to COVID-19, otherwise known as the coronavirus. Dana's company, Spectrum, will not allow her to work remotely. All five of us are healthy, as is our 16 lb. and 4 month old puppy, and we have enough food to last several weeks.

Life on earth has changed dramatically since many governments are instructing their citizens to self quarantine at home for at least two weeks. Most grocery stores near us are limiting how many paper products you can purchase and the shelves inside are bare of essentials such as eggs, orange juice, butter, flour, and rice.

As of this vey minute, the reported USA infected count is 8,019 and the death toll is 125.

All that said, if I had to chose one word to describe the current situation it would be "scary".


These are the facts. I wanted those out there before I let thoughts escape my head like steam from a pressure cooker. So thankful I'm using this medium instead of screaming otherwise I'd wake the puppy. Never wake the puppy. Never. Penny is a biter.

Observations:

1. President Cheeto is not good at anything except lying and most rational people would consider him to be a savant at that. I can't stand watching him or reading his moronic tweets. He's at best an awful person. He is woefully unable to coherently or competently address the nation about the coronavirus. We're all screwed.

2. Homeschooling in 2020 is easy despite everyone bitching about now having to educate their kids. Internet resources alone are sufficient to get the ball rolling. Common sense, patience, and research skills are all that's needed afterwards. Most parents should have all 3. Sadly for our society, "should" and "do" are not synonyms.

3. My kids make a lot of noise. My ears hurt.

4. Watching the pandemic coverage looks a lot like every apocalypse movie ever created. Starts off with one goober in a remote cave getting bitten and then morphs into hospitals everywhere overflowing within days with the infected. These movies usually include good looking people getting rescued from hoards of zombies by a helicopter. Anyone own a chopper? Just asking for a friend....

5. Writing a blog in the middle of the day with my family in the house wasn't impossible but I had to take breaks to: address 9th grade geometry, 2nd grade spelling, a 16 year old cleaning lady, and the incessant crying of our puppy in her kennel because she's Cujo Jr. when let loose. I prefer to keep my toes.


That's all I have for now. More Jones Fam CC to come. The crying puppy needs a nap.