On my Thursday drive home, I stopped at three places I don't normally stop at for a couple things we needed and to take a chance that the elusive toilet paper might be found. I was out of luck, and ridiculously feeling down. After a stressful day of trying to work on pushing supportive policies up the chain of command for approval, figuring out how to solve millions of dollars worth of problems with only hundreds of thousands in funding, to have scored toilet paper would have felt like a little victory against this virus and the unfair impact. Needless to say, I was down when I arrived home, though DH had made burgers and fries and both my girls were with me.
On Saturday morning I was doing a little bit of sorting and took a look at the closet in the down stairs bathroom, tucked under the stairs. It also is the opening to the crawl space. In it, I found an old multi-pack of double roll toilet paper with two large rolls! There also were four boxes of facial tissues in there that I had forgotten about. I honestly can say, I felt like I had won the lottery. When life resumes to a regular flow of resources, and I have no doubt it will, I will never underestimate cupboard stores. I'll never understand hoarders either, but that is a completely different subject.
Life is full of ways to see the winning lottery ticket if we reframe our expectations. At my last store stop, I found carrot, zucchini, and pepper seeds. There was pumpkin and lettuce seeds as well, but I don't have the space for pumpkins. In hind sight, I maybe should have bought the lettuce seeds as well, but for our first year trying to have a garden, I'm happy to start slow. Each packet was only $ .59 so I've invested $1.77 in my garden, and will start the seeds with soil I already have in egg cartons this weekend. If I get even one vegetable, I'll consider the seeds a wining ticket.
How about you? What little winnings have you had recently that have given you a bit of a lift?
A eureka moment indeed! Wouldn't it be nice to always feel that grateful even after this is all over!!! I saved quite a few packets of seeds from when I was "meaning to plant" but never got round to it, so these past few days I've been starting off (hopefully) a few seeds for later. Not sure if they will work but if not I haven't lost anything have I. Oh, and I found a bottle of hand sanitizer in plain view when I realized I had bought it back from Turkey with me a couple of years ago as I loved the smell! Now that is happiness!
ReplyDeleteWe haven't got them started yet, but I'm looking forward to ckeanung up the yard a bit and starting the seeds for indoors. Simple goal. One zucchini.
DeleteYeah! Just reading this I never thought about it but we have a old dilapidated cabin (which this year I really had hoped to get permitted for demo and maybe build but now not on my list) and the thought that I think we have toilet paper and some other supplies out there popped into my head. Yes just like a lottery win.
ReplyDeleteThere's TP at the lake place as well, so if we get desperate there's options. I might order some even though delivery is May.
DeleteYippee!!! I *think* I may have struck the closet lottery. I am making a quilt which I am attempting to quilt via "quilt as you go" (quilting smaller sections on your machine, then connecting those, rather than handquilting the whole thing on a rack.) I planned to buy nothing for this quilt, making it up from scraps from my stash with the exception of the batting and the border. Well, it's now time for the border, and it doesn't look like I'm heading the 25 miles to the fabric store. But, when I was tidying up a closet, I found a length of fabric which had somehow gotten stuck under some yardage...this is PERFECT for the border--and there is maybe 1" leftover!
ReplyDeleteSeriously Meg, did you ever meet a quilter who didn't have a secret stash? I want to make a scrap quilt too when I've finished my current projects but I never thought of quilting as you go. Interesting! Thanks for throwing it out there!
DeleteI've done it before where I quilt (in sections) the top to the batting, then join those as you would anything, right sides together, then put the back on in one big piece, and hand quilt that around the connected sections. This time, I'm doing all 3 layers, then connecting them--there is a different method to this--a bit more involved--you leave extra allowance around the back, trim one side, iron the other under, and either blind stitch by hand, or use a running stitch on your machine, and hope you catch it all. Fusible webbing helps, but I have none of this--so unless the stores reopen by the time I am ready for that step, I will become best friends with my iron.
DeleteI always remember a patch work quilt my sister made for a 4H project-all scraps. It was a movie watching quilt.
DeleteI do admit to buying a bundle of facial tissue as a backup to TP, but for now I have a good supply as both. My small victory was yesterday picking up 2 six packs of petunias and a six pack of another small flower from my friend who bought them the last day the greenhouse she worked at was open for me. Now I have to keep them alive until I can plant them outside, a couple of weeks. Yesterday I had to go out to the pharmacy to find Mom some distilled water that she needs to clean her cpap machine - had to go to 2 pharmacies but found it - yet another victory. We take what we can get these days I guess. Gone are the days of being picky and spoiled for choice
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the flowers. I'm starting to see more and more grass poke through. Surely that's got to be good for moral.
DeleteIt's been little stuff the past week or so. . . getting through a pantry stash of something we've been trying to use up, because everyone is at home for all meals. Or, the kiddos finding a long lost box of jello & thinking it was the greatest in a pinch snack ever. Finding N95 masks leftover from the fires, and a way to donate them to our local hospital. A new puzzle we've never done. Lots of ways to be grateful for sure!
ReplyDeleteI need to look for positive every day- not just Tuesdays! Jello for the win.
DeleteToday, my little lift was finally getting in to see cardiologist. Good appointment. Every time I go into the store for bananas, I am thrilled they are still there. I know that is silly, but I am addicted to one each morning. There are substitutes for toilet paper but not for bananas.
ReplyDeleteDH has a daily banana as well, so I have also been buying another bunch whenever in stores. We freeze whatever doesn't get eaten for bread or smoothies so I don't worry about overbuying bananas.
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