Wednesday, April 1 through Friday, April 10:

On Thursday, 4/2, Florida’s governor declared that all of the State’s citizens must “shelter-in-place” – going out for only essential services – starting at midnight today. So, I got in my car and drove to the North River Care Pregnancy Center to listen to a webinar with the director, Teri Giles, about new opportunities for funding which should be available within the next few days for small business to be able to keep their staff working during the coronavirus crisis. On the way home, I stopped and picked up a pizza from the nearest local pizza place to my home and gave them a nice tip. Dad and I enjoyed pizza for an early supper that night and Emma and I had some for lunch the next day. Thursday evening, I participated in a telephone conference call board meeting of the pregnancy center where the board authorized the powers that be to apply for the new small business loan which can be “forgivable” if administered correctly. On Friday, 4/3, Vanessa came over to see her family and have supper with them. She is still working at the Shake Station about 15 hours a week filling orders at the take-out window. Kellie, who has been off this week and last week, will return to work at the main office of the Manatee Tax Collector’s Office, but she will only be working two or three days a week for the rest of April.  Saturday, 4/4, I captured this picture of new magnolia blooms – gives one hope!

Also on 4/4, I was pleased to wish friends Ann and Curt Mahoney a very happy 45^th wedding anniversary. We met them through our sons (who were in pre-school together and are now in their 40’s!) I spent most of the morning working on my filing project and managed to purge all of Dad’s files.

We celebrated Palm Sunday, 4/5, by participating in the Palm View First Baptist Church morning service including the Lord’s supper.

Emma continues to join Dad and me to watch the on-line church service. We were unable to go for our regular walk because it rained today for the first time in a month!

Dad and I went to his doctor’s office on Monday morning, 4/6, for his annual checkup. The doctor said that he is in remarkably good shape. He was a little concerned about a drop in his blood platelets and will run additional blood tests before seeing Dad again in 5 months. Also, he said his sugar was too high. I volunteered to buy less candy to see if that fixes that problem! While it was overcast again today, it was not raining, so Dad, Emma and I took our afternoon walk as usual.

I put out the garbage on Tuesday, 4/7, and got into the car to drive to Publix (with my home-made mask on – a new recommendation from the CDC) to do the week’s grocery shopping arriving at 7:00. I saw the “pink” moon setting as I drove down the road. (The moon is closest to the earth today so it appears larger than usual and is called a super moon. In April, the name Pink Moon comes from the pink flowers that bloom – phlox.)

The “senior” crowd at Publix was reasonable, but the store still didn’t have paper products and not many canned vegetables. I got most of what I needed and was crawling back into bed at 8:00 a.m. Later in the morning, I got a call from my brother, Rick. He and his wife, Tammy live near Sanford, Florida, on the St. John’s River. He just called to check on me and Dad in light of the coronavirus and the restrictions that have been placed on all Floridians. I assured him that we were well and told him about Dad’s good checkup. I also told him that our other brother, Bill, and his wife had returned to Tampa in their camper to wait out the restrictions placed on travel due to the virus. Rick said that if I get to travel to the Bahamas (Compass Cay) in July, he will come over for the long weekend to stay with Dad. I am hoping to make the trip this year with JP and Rick’s nephew Mat with his fiancée Lindsay. We had wanted Mat and Lindsay to come and visit us when we were living on the boat there, but the timing never worked out.

My brother-in-law, Edward, called Thursday, 4/9, evening after receiving my e-mail saying I was sorry that I would not be able to drive to the East Coast of Florida next week for his 55^th birthday. We had a nice visit over the phone and will definitely get together as soon as the travel restrictions are lifted in Florida. After I put the garbage out Friday morning, 4/10, I drove to the nearby Dollar General Store where I was able to buy a large package of “TP” along with stuff with which to stuff an Easter basket for Sunday morning.

Saturday, April 11 through Monday, April 20:

Not a lot to report for these 10 days. We celebrated a nice Easter on 4/12 by watching our on-line church service from Palm View First Baptist. Then JP, Kellie and Emma joined Dad and me for an Easter lunch of turkey, dressing, asparagus, mac and cheese and a tossed salad. I had made lemon cupcakes on Saturday which we had for dessert. Of course, Emma had been visited by the Easter bunny that morning and was very excited to learn that he hid eggs in both her yard and my yard. I was glad on Monday, 4/13, to have my monthly cleaning service return, and of course, I went to the Publix Grocery Store at 7 a.m. for “senior shopping” on Tuesday.

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Again, I was surprised to learn that my doctor was taking regularly scheduled appointments, so on Wednesday, 4/15, I went for my annual wellness visit which had been scheduled months ago. They had just moved into a new office and naturally only about half the stuff was working. But, he said it looked like I was doing very well. On Thursday, 4/16, I completed the update of Dad’s filing including creating a couple new spreadsheets to help track his finances. We had a light rain most of the day (which we needed) so I made turkey soup with leftovers from Easter.

Friday, 4/17, was my brother-in-law, Edward Hoffmeister’s birthday; Sunday, 4/19, was my niece, Christina Cambre’s birthday; and Monday, 4/20, was Christina’s father – my brother, Bill’s birthday.

Tuesday, April 21 through Thursday, April 30:

On Tuesday, I made my weekly trip to Publix Grocery store. On Wednesday, 4/22, the federal government announced a three-phase program for reopening the economy. It is not supposed to start until the number of cases of Coronavirus has decreased for two weeks.  At the same time, the CDC announced that they are afraid the US will get a double-whammy this fall from both the flu and a recurrence of the coronavirus, so nobody really knows yet when we will resume life as before. They continue to say that people who are over 65 and have other health issues (like my diabetes) are at the greatest risk. We ended this week with me doing work around the house on Thursday, a cold front and rain all day on Friday and nice weather on Saturday.

On Sunday, 4/26, Dad and I watched the Palm View First Baptist Church service on You Tube on tv. Emma realized that she could watch it on her own tv because they watched a friend’s wedding on You Tube last night. So, she went home and watched it by herself!

I went with JP and Emma to Shake Station on Monday afternoon to order food and milkshakes to bring home and was happy to see granddaughter, Vanessa, working there. (Just an FYI – She has blue hair today.)

National news was filled with talk about the possibility of the nation’s meat supply possibly being in trouble Tuesday, 4/28, because so many workers in packing plants have become ill. Wednesday, 4/29, I went to Publix grocery store on Wednesday instead of Tuesday this week (again at 7 a.m. which is reserved for senior shoppers). I bought one meal of beef, one small ham, and a bag of frozen chicken breasts because I don’t know if I’ll be able to buy them next week. I walked with Emma and Dad at 1:30. Emma and I have started leaving PaPa resting at the lake while we walk to the end of the street we live on (29^th Street East) and return to pick him up and walk back home. Below is a picture of the egret that we saw today.

We are walking for about 30 minutes each day. I received a call from my CPA’s office telling me that they were putting my paperwork in the mail for my signature and return and that I would be receiving a refund. I am ecstatic! Dad will be getting a refund as well. I can’t remember the last time either one of us got a refund.

From 5 to 6 p.m. today, Florida’s governor held a press conference telling us that the State will enter phase I of economic re-opening on Monday, May 4. Briefly, restaurants and department stores can re-open at 25% capacity. Schools remain on e-learning for now and bars, theaters, gyms and personal care businesses (like hair and nail salons) cannot open yet. As far as seniors are concerned, nothing really changes – including no visits to nursing homes or long-term care facilities. So, it looks like this old lady will continue to stay home and when I do leave, I’ll wear a mask for some months yet.

We had another cold front on Thursday, 4/30. The morning was rainy, but we were able to go for our walk in the afternoon. I received an e-mail from the church letting everyone know that we cannot resume regular church services yet as they don’t want more than 10 people in a gathering.