Chapter 3: Staying Sane?

As if grocery shopping weren’t enough of a drag as it is. Now they’ve got designated “one-way aisles”. Each aisle runs the opposite way from the aisle next to it. And somehow, I can never seem to end up on the right freaking side of any given aisle that I need. Add that onto the reduced store hours, and you’ve got crowded aisles of confused people, all trying to figure out how to get to the one item they need from this aisle or that aisle. I think these “social distancing” tactics are backfiring.

              Checkout is no better. Every other self-check station is closed. I get that’s so people aren’t standing too close to each other while checking out, but what do you think that does to the line? Right. Makes it longer. And since the stores haven’t grown any larger, people have to stand even closer to each other in line just so they don’t block the aisles. If you ask me, this social distancing BS is just a load of crap. Maybe it was started with good intentions, but the further they take it, the less effective it seems to be. I can’t wait to go back to staying home and avoiding people on my own terms.

              Anyway, we’re managing to stay sane. Megan misses swimming like crazy, but is hopeful she’ll still get to swim at some point this summer. Jack is just glad to still be able to play outside, when the weather isn’t bipolar. To further help keep them distracted, we’ve done a few activities. I drew some Pokemon tattoos on them with Sharpies one evening. My Pokemon drawing skills leave much to be desired, so their options were Jigglypuff or a Pokeball. Both chose Jigglypuff. It wasn’t perfect, but it was fun and they both loved them, so there’s that. I’m gonna have to hone my skills, ‘cause now they want more, haha.

Jack, the most jiggly Jigglypuff.

Megan, the slightly less jiggly Jigglypuff.

              Probably the most notable event was the drive-in theater. When we heard they were allowed to re-open,  we jumped at the chance to get out and do something that somewhat resembled normalcy. There are restrictions, sure; you have to call in your concession order and only one person at a time can pick up an order. You have to call to check availability of the restroom key and only one person can use it at a time, and it and the key have to be sanitized between uses. You don’t get to use a speaker box, instead you tune in on your radio. And, of course, you have to stay inside your vehicle; no sitting in truck beds or on blankets on the ground. But that’s alright, the kids had never been to a drive-in so it was fun to take them for the first time. We watched Sonic the Hedgehog and they loved it. Ronan got a little fussy during part of it, but he fell asleep pretty quickly and wasn’t too much trouble after that. He did wake up near the end and fussed for a little bit, but calmed down when he saw the screen. He was pretty entranced by that. It was late by the time we got home, as it was a 45-minute drive one way to the theater, but it was worth every minute. Hopefully we can go again another time.

              We aren’t the only ones finding ways to enjoy ourselves. The dog’s got a favorite squeaky toy, but we’ve had it put away for a very long time, because the incessant squeaking was driving us absolutely bonkers. But we finally decided to be nice and get it out for him. Oh. My. God. He has been the absolute happiest dog anyone has ever seen. He’s even made sure to keep the squeaking to a minimum this time; he does not want to lose that thing again! He’s been chewing it almost non-stop since we got it out, and even whining in joy (I guess like a human would cry tears of joy?) while chewing. He even taught himself to play fetch with it. We never really taught him to play fetch, but he just started doing it all on his own. He’d set the toy on my lap and look at me playfully until I, by reflex, threw it. He immediately chased after it, brought it back, set it on my lap, and the whole process would repeat until he was so exhausted he literally just plopped down on the floor instead of chasing it. As we speak, he is lying on the couch next to me, chewing and whining his joy-whine. It’s pretty adorable, actually. I never knew a dog could whine in joy. Ya learn something new every day, I guess.

Apollo, the whiniest happy dog you'll ever meet.

              Well, I guess that’s about it for this last week. We’re starting to learn how to navigate life in this crazy world we all live in nowadays. It’s not always fun nor is it easy, but we’ll get through it, I’m sure.