Made it to March

March is not my favorite month and I know I've written that before. Probably have used this post title before, too. It's a long month, containing first the painful switch to Daylight Saving Time, then the twins' birthday (for which I am entirely unprepared), and then St. Patrick's Day, the first day of spring, and Spring Break. By the end of the month, sometimes, it even looks a little like spring in Colorado -- but it often is very snowy around that time, so no guarantees there. I've thought for a while now that, with climate change, February tends to behave more like March used to (very snowy), and March more like April (still snowy, but less so, and the snow is wet).

So, whether March behaves like itself this year, or like April used to, we'll get more snow. In fact, we're due for some tonight, maybe 1-3 inches, but preceded by rain. (The photo shows the storm moving in yesterday.) I need to remember to put the cover on my windshield. Oh, whoops, just went outside to look at something and it's already snowing lightly. It's 33° on our front porch, not really a rain-friendly temperature.

This has been a so-so week, not fabulous but not terrible either. The cats behaved themselves, no major illnesses, etc. The metronidazole formulated with chicken that the vet had prescribed to treat Chester's diarrhea finally arrived and I gave him his first chewy yesterday. He bit off a piece of it, chewed, and then spit it out -- metronidazole has a bitter taste, even mixed with chicken. I encouraged him to try again, but soon realized it was hopeless. He gave me such an unhappy look. So I packed up the container with the 29 additional chewies (cost: $45) and donated it to the Humane Society. The receptionist told me they could probably use it for a small dog, since it's based on weight (Chester weighs 15.5 lbs, the size of many small dogs).

When we were at the vet on Feb. 21st, I was pleased to learn that Chester weighed 15.5 lbs, because that means he's down a full pound since last May. The vet was less impressed. I asked how much he should weigh, and she said about 10 lbs. Ten pounds! I laughed at the thought of trying to get Chester to lose another 5.5 lbs. The vet unbent and laughed too. She said she had two kitties at home who weigh about 7 lbs each, but would really like to weigh 15.5 lbs. Mr. Fluffy would probably like to weigh 30 lbs.

We had more parent-teacher conferences this past week, on Tuesday, and I took Kid B this time. I contributed a gigantic fruit salad to the dinner for the teachers, and we've been dealing with the leftovers ever since. It was a good salad, made with cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, oranges, and bananas. But February (now March) is not really fruit salad time. I would like to eat a cooked vegetable salad, a squash salad perhaps, but not a heaping bowl of cold fruit. I haven't looked at the salad in a few days, but I suspect it isn't very attractive anymore. One website suggested putting old fruit salad into a smoothie, and I think that's a good idea, but who wants a smoothie on March 1st? It's 33 degrees, for heaven's sake. So, I don't know, the salad is probably headed for the compost bin pretty soon. Maybe I'll give it to the squirrels -- they wouldn't be so fussy.

I read an amusing little book this weekend, one for which I was not at all the intended audience (I needed a break from serious stuff). It was called Average is the New Awesome: A Manifesto for the Rest of Us. The book is about 200 pages and could easily be 100 pages -- there's a lot of filler. But I thought the author had some cute ideas. The book is aimed at Millennials struggling with not being able to get good jobs or pay for anything (houses, babies, etc.), after their parents worked so hard to convince them that they were "special." She sings the praises of being ordinary -- for example, you can go to Target and wander around the home decor department (for me, it would be the Barbie department) without anybody noticing you or caring, instead of getting up at 4 am to prepare for a day of being way too exceptional to set foot in Target.

She also works hard to convince her readers not to worry about the portrayal of other people on social media, that absolutely no one is as happy/successful/perfect as they look in their carefully curated online lives. This gave me pause. I try hard to be honest in this blog, while at the same time not being too depressing. But is it possible that I occasionally make other people feel inadequate? For example, if I post a photo of my kids doing cute things, does that make anyone feel like their kids don't measure up?

And what about all the reading I do -- does it make people feel as though they ought to read more? I suspect that it does, because whenever I bring up my reading habits in an actual conversation, the other people in the room say things like "Oh, I should read more," or "I wish I read more, but I just can't find the time," and other apologetic comments, as if I were judging them for not reading. And maybe I am, to my shame. I'm fairly psyched about how much I've been reading. I set myself challenges, and then I'm tickled when (if) I achieve them. Does it make other people feel bad if I write about something I accomplish? Readers, please don't ever feel bad. You have your own interests and hobbies, which may or may not include reading. Reading a lot is a big deal when you're 8, but when you're nearly 60, it's just fun -- if indeed it is fun, and if it isn't, don't do it.

The thought that I could make anyone feel bad by what I post is mind-blowing to me. I hope it isn't true.

The other big thing this week is the coronavirus, about which I still don't know how to feel. There aren't any cases in Colorado yet. Only one person in the US has died so far, compared to 16,000 who have died from the flu (most years it's more). And yet, my kids' school district sent out an email on Friday encouraging people to stockpile food.

Slowly start to stock up on enough non-perishable food to last your household through two weeks of staying at home if there is a wave of transmission in the community.

Yes, it really said that.

There were other, less weird, recommendations in the email, like figure out how you're going to work if your kids have to stay home from school for weeks because their school is closed, and plan how you're going to handle daily life if your kids get sick or you get sick. Also,

Start practicing not touching your face now. This can greatly reduce the frequency of potential spread. (You can even try a buddy system, where you and a friend remind each other when someone scratches their eyelid or rubs their nose.)

I did practice this yesterday, at the pet store, where I had gone to stockpile cat food (the cats eat prescription food twice a day and pet store/grocery store food once a day, so this is about two weeks worth of food). An older man returned his cart to the store and I grabbed it. Then I thought -- what if he's sick? I put my cloth shopping bag on the handle of the cart where his hands had been, which was pointless because it just transferred any viruses to the bag, and then I attempted not to touch my face the whole time I was in the store. It was extremely difficult.

Later, I heard on NPR that most face masks don't filter out viruses, so don't bother with them, and don't stockpile the ones that do, because health providers need them. As I had just remembered that my sister Nancy, who is a nurse, fits into the category of "healthcare provider," I thought, "Oh! Must save face masks for Nu! No stockpiling face masks!"

I honestly don't have the faintest idea what I should buy or do. I looked at a list of what type of food you should buy for your stockpile. The first item was peanut butter. My kids hate peanut butter. Another suggestion was granola bars. I bought a package of eight Nutri Grain cereal bars on Thursday afternoon, and by Friday morning there was one left in the box (note: I did not eat any of them). That's what will happen if I buy large quantities of anything the kids like: they will eat them until they make themselves sick, and then after that they won't touch them.

I'm thinking I might start with a couple gallons of water. And then we'll see.