Thrifty Thursday-Long Game Edition

     Yesterday my daughter babysit my great niece though brought her over for a few hours when she had a conflict. She's 9 years old, in 3rd grade a pretty self sufficient so I could still do a meeting while she kept herself busy. Later we went out on the deck, she reading and me working. One of her home school tasks is to read at least 20 minutes, and then discuss what they are reading and how they can apply it to their lives. She was reading an American Girls book about Kit, the one who grew up in the depression. K's summary was, "The depression was kind of like now, though no one had any money." There was more discussion, clever little girl, and left me thinking. I'll not minimize what the loss of income while worrying about illness is causing now and I do think anything we do as individuals, families, communities, and world sets the stage for the long haul. Are we hoarders or sharers? Do we live life, but with precautions, do we self isolate indefinitely, or on the opposite spectrum, demand life resume and pack into every open space? I can only control my own actions, and my own reactions, but I do think my efforts are pointing towards future years, the long game.



Time

• I had a Zoom Happy Hour with my friend N. I got to meet her new rescue puppy.
• I met three of my friends by the river for a spread out walk. It was good to talk, if form a separated distance. Our states Stay at Home expired to a Safe at Home Sunday night, but we all were still practicing social distancing, and stayed outdoors.
• My sister came for lunch on Wednesday. I have not been as supportive as I would like do to work and stay at home, but it was good to see her. While I won't be going out to eat soon, her business is the restaurant industry so for her, getting to work again is more than income since after losing her husband so suddenly, work will also benefit her health.
• Monday my girls and I went for another river walk, this a different section, and I had forgotten how pretty it is. The path goes along the river on one side, and a river fed lake on the other. The dog was in heaven. This plant, was growing out of the shore rocks and I thought it was quite pretty. If you know what it is called, let me know.

Resources

• I got the free to me hostas in along the garage by our porch. I still haven't decided where the others will go. I kind of like how they look in the planter, but I have more offers to get more, so if I decide to plant these, I can still have containers.
• I had packed DH and DD2 sandwiches and snacks for their road trip. DD2 left half a PB and J wrapped up in the cooler-it was perfect for my Monday breakfast. Not going to waste!

Money

• Set a new self imposed challenge for the rest of the month to not send more than $100 more, to keep the H&G to $625. No denying we are spending much more but this little challenge will push me to use up all food, cleaning, and personal on hand, and not waste items while keeping money in the bank.
• Paid bills on time-no stupid fees. I really don't have much to add to the money category for extra savings so it is all about keeping what is ours and not wasting money on stupid expenses.

     Long term, I'll continue to be safe, yet spend time with people and doing things that make life good. On nice days and evenings, I'll take more walks. I'm not eager to rush out to places with lots of people, but as the economy opens up, and if/as our income stabilizes, we'll do a few more take outs and see friends and family in small gatherings. Hopefully I'll be able to patron other local businesses more frequently as well. I don't want to be a dooms dayer, afraid to let life move back to people gathering, but I don't want to be an ostrich either. DH and I both have risk factors, and I intend to enjoy life well beyond the next few months, so if scaling way back for now is part of our long game, I can take that.



     I took the picture of my neighbors lilacs yesterday. They are coming along nicely and next week will be in full bloom and I'll post the progression from week to week. It's the little things!.