Don't Know About Celebrating This Year

Yesterday at the Dollar Tree I spotted this display:

Yes, Halloween items already. It always seems to occur in late July or early August. Normally, I wouldn't be thinking about Halloween right now, but because of the pandemic, it has been lately occuring to me that there won't be any big bar celebrations this year, which would have worked out great with the holiday on Saturday this year. And those who have children may have been looking forward to taking them out for trick-or-treating on a Saturday night. Indeed some have been wondering about this already. No potluck/party at work this year. The last one we had was for Valentine's Day in February. By now we probably would have had a themed party like we did the last two years. 

Even though I may not be too heavily thinking about the holiday in the middle of summer, a costume idea may occur to me at anytime as the stuff appears in the stores. One of my friends at work said she wanted to be the Starbucks Mermaid this year. Don't know if she's still going to go forward with it. And no ideas have come to me just yet. It's getting harder to even think of this now. Just decorating the porch seems like it will be out this year. And this would be the second year I put out my homemade scarecrow. 

I recently saw this going around on Facebook:

Would this work, do you think? Car parades were popular at the beginning of the pandemic, particularly when someone had a big birthday or for graduations. Two residents in my town had birthdays the same day in April, one turning 50 and the other 100. Both had car parades with people shouting birthday greetings. My cousin's daughter turned 13 in April as well and she too had a car parade, including my mom and me in my mom's van. And a graduation parade was held for a high school graduate who lives down the road from me. But now they have been banned in some areas. Unlike the protests, though, no one has seemed eager to have a car parade lately.  So would driving by to toss out candy be a viable option?

It still seems like there will be no celebration this year 😥

Sunflower Progress

It's been more than two months since I planted the sunflower seeds and here is how they are looking now. The one in the top photo is the tallest one.

Coronabingo

 This is something that has been going around lately. I won't go into everything listed, but some of these things do not apply to me, such as homeschooling kids, essential worker, and working from home. Reading, of course, is high on my list. I've had a lot of midday naps lately. And I have forgotten what day it is on some days. As much as I would like to bake bread, cakes, or cookies, we sadly do not have a working oven in our house. And I'm not going to bother with Tik Tok. I did download Zoom for the writers lab, but I have only been to one meeting so far. I'm not really into the idea of binge watching or listening to podcasts. I barely watch any TV as it is and don't always immediately watch my Netflix DVDs once I receive them. Going to the store is anxiety-producing for me. 

Although I didn't plant a garden, I did plant the sunflower seeds I got from my boss in May. They still have yet to open. One seed grew a lot taller than the others. I hope to post pictures when the flowers open.

One thing I'm glad to have done over the last month or so was complete a writing. I thought early on (at the beginning of the lockdown) that I'd get a lot of stuff written, but I haven't been doing at this much. Though I did get a story written. No one has been able to read it, though. Not sure what else I am going to do with it. I also began looking at stuff I have in my notebooks and am thinking of reworking some of this stuff. This sounds like a good thing to do when I can't think of anything else to write. Right now I am glad to have accomplished one writing.

World Emoji Day

Some images for World Emoji Day today. Read here for the origin of the day. I will admit I only use some emojis  in my posts. And I do not know what some of them mean. But it's still fun to look at them.

Still More Blurred Days and Months

Ok, so what is the month called now? 😀 It says July, but still feels like several months and days blurred into one. Maprilayjunely, maybe? And what about the next months? Did last week feel like the 4th at all? The fact that it was on a Saturday just added to the confusion. Usually such holidays feel like an extra Sunday, but now everyday has felt like Sunday. And we still have Labor Day in September, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving in November, and Christmas and New Years Day. 

But the weather at least has been hot in my area, making it feel like it's summer. Thugh there was some hot weather in April, weeks after the lockdown began. Everything's just a bit confusing these days....😕

Quiz: What Carnival Ride Are You?

Now this I agree with. I always loved riding a carousel. 
(quiz here).

You Are a Carousel

You are young at heart and a truly playful person. No one would ever accuse you of taking life too seriously.
You are definitely in things for the fun. You find joy easily, and you are often building up anticipation for your next adventure.
In relationships, you tend to want to be babied and taken care of.
And while you may be a bit high maintenance, you are incredibly loyal.

Your life is simple and satisfying. Each day you treat yourself to something you enjoy.
You have a lot of emotional attachments, and experiences are extra vivid to you.
You tend to be nostalgic and sentimental. The past is important to you.
Comfortable around all living things, you have a special connection to animals and children.

At your best, you are whimsical, free spirited, and creative.
Even if your schemes seem a bit strange, they usually work out wonderfully.
At your worst, you are spoiled, demanding, and impossible to satisfy.
You've been known to act like a brat if you aren't getting your way!

Chapter Break Bingo – July 2020

The annual emoji-themed bingo for July is now up.

July Bookish Bingo

My books:

1. Rani Patel in Full Effect--Sonia Patel (7 squares): Library Book, Physical Book, Multi-Word Title, Diversity, Beach, Feast
2. Boy Meets Boy--David Levithan (6 squares): Ebook, Not in a Series, Blue on the Cover, Free Space, Made You Cry, Free Book
3. The Garden of Small Beginnings--Abbi Waxman (3 squares): Shelf Love, Book Club Read, Made You Laugh
4. Beep and Bob: Party Crashers--Jonathan Roth (3 squares): Children's Book, Gift, Cake
5. Murder, She Barked--Krista Davis (2 squares): In a Series, Animal/Pet
6. Tigress--Jennifer Blake (1 square): Set in a Foreign Country
7. I'm Still Here--Austin Channing Brown (3 squares): Nonfiction, Audiobook, Current/Trending Topic

25 squares completed on July 13