Start Week 7

Another week done.....

*****
My plants are doing well.  2 of them lost a few limbs which I have been rooting in water. The roots are taking and I am glad about that.  I'm glad they are home.

Daya is bored.
She does ballet classes offered by school but doesn't think much of it.

I really understand how she feels.  Last night we did some figure drawing in the Reuters East Coast Art group, and working from photos on a (small) screen is nothing compared to working from life.
It doesn't even compare. It's not the same and cannot even start to be an equivalent.

Dance is the same.  I really, really get it.

*****
Last Thursday (Apr 16) one of Daya's dance classmates lost her mom to the virus.
The dance dept announced it last Saturday.  The freshman class is doing something for her.
Daya isn't really friends with the girl but they know each other.  I found this news to be extremely upsetting. I'm just so sad for this girl. It hits home in a big way.

I have to say the LaGuardia dance teachers care about their students in a way that is absolutely astounding.  They are a small community and there is a lot of emphasis on taking care of each other.
I'm not sure how involved Daya is other than taking a few dance classes a week, and basically living on the phone with her friend, but I hope the spirit of community support gets through to her.  She is a member of a very small, tight community and I hope she appreciates it and contributes.

*****
In happier news, last night I finally found my Plants vs Zombies shirt which I have been looking for over several weeks.  Apparently I stashed it in the bookcase near my yoga mat.

Furball also (correctly) thinks my shirt is cool.

*****

Show of the Week: Seinfeld.  I'm going through every single episode.

Retro Game of the Week:  The Sims 2.  You know what? It still holds up quite well. Playing now isn't quite the same as the immersive hours and hours I spent in this game 10 years ago but.... it's still pretty fantastic.

Start Week 6

Yesterday started Week 6.
It's still April. Long month.

My local grocery store has plenty of toilet paper, but the larger stores like Target do not.

Egg prices have come down slightly but are still way too high.

******
LaGuardia Dance had a meeting last night for parents, students too if they wanted to show up, and some of the teachers.

So many people had the same story.
Many of the kids have lost motivation.
These are kids who are used to being in the dance studio for 20-30 hours a week, and now... nothing.
These kids are incredibly motivated and driven, dance is their reason for getting out of bed in the morning and now many of them (including mine) just don't anymore.

Especially since the announcement no school since September, I have noticed a definite loss of motivation with Daya. It's hugely impacted the kids.
The parents who spoke were saying exactly what has been going on here, there is a comfort in that but it's still terrible.

The teachers give online dance classes but they are not mandatory and cannot be.
Most kids don't have the space and the floor type is really important too.

Daya has enough space in her to practice some stuff but it's not nearly the equivalent of being in the studio.

******
Here is a painting that I did in the Reuters East Coast sessions over the past few weeks.
Just to do... something, really.

6x8 pastel on black Richeson.

I'm  not feeling very productive artistically.
I'm just not up to it mentally.

*******
Well... I did it.... since I finished Shadow of the Tomb Raider (at 100% completion!... Daya is still working on it).........

This week I also succumbed to getting Fallout 76, my friend Audra is extremely happy about it. She's been trying to get me on this game since it came out. She even made me a room in her house with three (topiary!) cats because I have three cats.

Pebbles is in the game, but as a boy-cat.
There is a Pebbles lamp, plush, poster, and probably more stuff I haven't seen yet.
Who knew.... Pebbles really is invasive like that,  She does just impose herself everywhere, so I'm not surprised she's in Fallout 76 too.

The Easter Bunny and Toilet Paper

I made sure the Easter bunny still visited Daya.

With everything getting cancelled (especially school,  Ailey too) and my ill-fated transaction, this has been a stinging-painful week.  I feel like I'm reeling a little bit.  Most of my upset over everything isn't about me personally, it's about Daya and what she's losing and going through.  As a parent this is just what happens.  And I'm genuinely feeling for all the kids, especially the seniors.

Daya has a close friend also from LaGuardia dance that she has been pretty stuck to every day, and I'm very glad about it.  This would be so much worse if she didn't have friends to be with.

*****
In shopping news, I did find a bag of rice AND toilet paper at the store.
I also got some of my favorite tea.
Losing a good cup of tea is more than I can really deal with right now.
Thank goodness too, I was starting to get nervous about the toilet paper.
It has been a month since I bought any.
The local neighborhood grocery store seems to get stuff in more consistently than the larger stores, although it is still hit-or-miss.

While I did not panic-buy, I had us stocked up ok for a little while- but my tower was getting lower than I like, even under normal circumstances.

I can't believe I'm writing about toilet paper on my blog.
This is what we have come to, I guess.

*****
I did order another PS4 for Daya thru Ebay (again) so there's buyer protection there and I expect this time it will work out.

It's hard to forgive myself for being so dumb, I'll get there in time.

School Closed Until September

It's devastating.
I just can't even anymore.

Since we get out so late--- the very end of June- I was hoping maybe that would be our saving grace of getting the kids back, at least for June.

I am grateful Daya isn't a senior.
But I am absolutely heartbroken for all these kids, especially the seniors.

This hurts so much.

Welp.

Scam.
I got scammed.
Even though I know better, and I'm so careful with things it still happened to me.

I can say for absolute certain my cognitive function is really bad these days.
Like really, really bad.

I can't string thoughts together properly, thinking feels like wading through thick mud.
My mental function has been getting worse and worse over the last month- I was aware of this on a certain level through the stressful years of raising Daya, I thought it was bad before, now it's just ridiculous.

I know it's mental stress and feeling burned out.
Being scared and upset, disrupted.

So being in a very abnormal circumstance I have done something very abnormal.
I feel abnormal.

And this while I really am taking care of myself.
I'm taking the time to relax every day, I sleep well, I'm eating healthy (mostly).

Daya gets upset sometimes but she's doing as well as she can.  Ailey getting cancelled was hard, and this scam hit at the same time. Bad timing, bad business.
It's good that Daya and I get along well, we are living well together cooped up in our small home day after day. She's a good kid, she really is.

******
I filed a police report and will attempt to recover funds.
The site I found the "seller" through said he was identity verified, and I reported it early, before he took his profile down.  The police have the phone number and email address.
The officer said I can probably recover funds, especially if I threaten to report the site to the Better Business Beareau or give them bad publicity, which I am willing to do. I think that site is probably a huge breeding ground for scams.

I will never, never, NEVER go through a site that connects local people selling locally to each other again.  That's what ebay is for.  And I did purchase thru ebay, and when that didn't work out, I don't know, I just mentally crossed ebay off the list thinking people aren't shipping, because that's what ended up happening with my ebay purchase.

The stores aren't shipping.
Amazon isn't shipping.
It's all so.... abnormal.

*****
ALSO I'm out of good black tea and am stuck with my Costco size box of stupid weak Lipton tea, which I never drink except in dire emergency, usually in a restaurant.  It's better than nothing but I'm really missing better tea. I double up the teabags (well I usually do that) but it's a definite difference.

Tomorrow Starts Week 5

Tomorrow starts week 5 at home.
Here is the week 4 recap:

******
Egg prices in the grocery store, this should be illegal:

I normally pay $1.90 - $2.20 for 18 eggs at the grocery store.

Thank goodness Costco is still normal. I stocked up.
We go thru a lot of eggs.
I went shopping last weekend and I'm not going back until I absolutely have to.

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One of my Topiary Cat paintings was featured on the Art Students League page.
It is 15 out of 33.

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Daya's Ailey summer intensive got cancelled and she's heartbroken.
So am I.

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Daya wants a Playstation 4 so she can play Warframe with her friend.
I told her yes I will get her one but she's under a work contract for it.

I am having a heck of a time getting one for her.
First I purchased one on ebay, paid, all of it.... the seller took too long to ship then cancelled the transaction due to not being able to get to the post office because of the virus.
I did get a full refund.

Amazon has them but isn't shipping until end of the month at the earliest.

Then Daya found a local seller- I asked twice if they are in walking distance from my neighborhood, no response.

Last night I found another listing on the local site----which was offering shipping----- and as of this writing might have done a stupid transaction. Seller gave their phone number and I texted to verify they really would ship, they said yes. They were very responsive.

Instead of paying verified with buyer protection through the website, the seller wanted a Cash App transfer, it's like paypal or venmo......... and I did it. This is something stupid I know it is, I'm really taking a risk sending a stranger $214 with no buyer protection.  And I really did it.  The seller was identity verified thru the website I found them at, and they have a few other listings. And I didn't pay sales tax and neither of us paid fees.

This was a freaking scary thing to do, they said they would send video of shipping and tracking this morning AND THEY DID NOT.

So I texted and didn't hear back, freaked out, called them- call rejected!!!!-- looked on Cash App, saw that the payee I sent funds to was different today than yesterday, the username I sent to yesterday NOT FOUND... well bad on me I guess........ the transaction is there but to a different username.

THEN the seller did respond and I was quite upset and told them so- he said his wife did ship the package this morning and he apologized, now he says I have to wait three hours for her to send the tracking.

So now I wait til this evening, I know this was a stupid way to purchase something and I can't even believe I did it.  I am hoping I didn't get scammed.  I will not know until I get tracking and a package arrives with what he said would be in it, in it.

I'm so scrambled and upset and the stress gave me a bad headache.

Even if this turns out to be legit I think I will not ever do this again because 1) it is stupid and 2) the stress isn't worth it.

*******
I hope to pass through this dreadful time quickly.

Also I hope toilet paper comes back into the stores because my toilet paper tower is getting a bit low.
I'll be ok til the end of next week............ then..... I don't know.

*******
Finally, here is a paragraph from a work update from our Chief People Officer,
I like it, so will put it here.

A final thought from me: many things are emerging that will serve us well as and after we recover from this crisis. People are finding that there’s strength in being gentle, that leading means so much more than managing, and small talk isn’t small at all. 
I’m sure you've noticed changes and developments in people, businesses, and society too – please reflect on these and ask yourself, what could this mean for us when (not if) we come out the other side?

Week 4 Start

Really can't wait til this shit is over.
I don't even know anything anymore.
Such a weird scary strange time.
Sometimes I am ok and sometimes I really am not.

******
Last night I met virtually with the Reuters East Coast Art Group.
It was good to paint and have good company.

I found my inflatable unicorn horn for cats while looking for my mahl stick.
Since I bought it at Blick it counts as an art supply.

Isis got to wear it and everyone liked it, Leah took a picture and posted.