Lipstick and Earrings

Lipstick and Earrings: Swoon 49

It’s been a week since I swooned.

Down about not being able to celebrate Easter the way I have done for 52 years…family, large dinners, egg hunts, Armenian egg cracking game, basket searches, hugs, food, church festivities… I was not so swoonie.

Determined to make it feel like an almost real holiday, I tried to prepare as usual. French toast (from mom’s homemade bread), flowers (from the front yard), egg decorating (8 instead of 48), dinner of IKEA Swedish meatballs and veggies (use what you have). We attended church (online) while dressed nicely (from the waist up). Festivities with every family member (via Zoom) and a basket hunt with drawn clues (from the master of exquisite basket hunts) for our co-quarantining kid. A (virtual) Easter basket hunt with our California kids (clues given via text, live video feed, selfies as proof of found objects, and “baskets” magically appearing when they finished…thank you VENMO). Armenian egg cracking game translated to a virtual experience by our game designer kid…18 people all over the country “cracking eggs”…like there was not a pandemic in the world. Sigh, we did the best we could. I went to sleep thinking we are so fortunate that this is our biggest problem…we got this.

Monday… no work. Tuesday…no work. Wednesday…very very little work. Small Business loans do not cover people who own businesses with no employees or payroll (no matter how much work is lost). Note to self: next time be a millionaire, that way the government will give you handouts. Healthcare workers are getting very sick, tired, and missing time with their families. Finding food takes much planning and cost. People need donations for small towns, food banks, the USPS, funerals, medical expenses. Donating again and again, thankful that we can, but wondering when to draw the line as people with limited income for a while. Feeling guilty we are not sick, sad for those who have lost a loved one, and nervous for those alone in hospitals. Sigh. How the hell can one swoon?

Well after some much needed girlfriend therapy this morning… I am following the lead of a brilliant lady, who said… “I am like a rollercoaster up and down and sideways, but I am trying to focus on the little wins for now… sending hugs.”

I felt that virtual hug and I am listening.

Two wins for the day accomplished… I put on lipstick and earrings…the rest will just be icing on the cake. Another note to self: when you set a really really low bar, you can achieve any goal.

Wishing you a win.. or two.. or twelve. Stay well and swoon.