Greetings from the Apocalypse!

Forgive my gallows humor. I don't mean to be flippant about any of it, but I come from pragmatic, practical stock and we use humor to deal with stress. Humor is how we take power back from scary things. I'm just a hair north of Seattle, in Snohomish County. The kids are home for six weeks--minimum. Possibly longer, depending. Libraries are closed for the month (but I can still borrow digitally! Huzzah! Thanks, libraries!). My bookclub is meeting digitally and we're cancelling all the things. Honestly, I wouldn't be too worried for us--we're healthy. I have asthma, but it's minor, and I have my inhalers on hand if I get sick. I'm super worried for my vulnerable and compromised friends. Mostly, I'm worried about my mom, because she's in the hospital again. (Third time's the charm? Please say third time's the charm.) She's in for non-Covid-19 reasons, but this is the WORST time to be in the hospital. I mean, there's no good time, really. But to be already sick and dealing with things while you're in a hospital that's currently on lockdown (we aren't allowed to visit) and dealing with a large influx of people...that's not good. She was admitted yesterday and hung out in the ER for 24 hours before they were able to find her a bed at a different hospital. 

So basically, my mom is on a tour of local hospitals. Hospital tour, 2020. Would not recommend. No stars.

I hope they figure out what's going on and that she can come home soon, because she's currently part of that vulnerable population. 

The weird part about all this is realizing that, in some ways, going through hurricane Katrina did prep us a little for this, at least emotionally. Prepping, but not panicking, is key. Seeking out good info, but also learning when to stepback from news and social media. Sending yourself into a tailspin of worry helps no one. Check in on your loved ones. 

The upside? Hopefully I'll get back to writing soon, despite the kids being in my face for six weeks. Also, I've been reading so much on my library digitally that I have quite a TBR pile, and I can now attack it! Stress reading for the win! I just finished a series I've been waiting to tackle (Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious) and it was delightful. She's so funny.  I've also been rereading poems from a local poet, Jeanine Hall Gailey. She has a book called Field Guide to the End of the World that's very fitting currently. If you need books right now, check out your local bookshop--some of them are shipping for free right now. I know my local indie, Third Place Books, was doing free shipping for the month of March and have been posting bookseller recommendations on their Instagram Stories, which is really cool.

If you want to know what I'm reading, I'm on Bookbub and I've been trying to post reviews regularly of books that I'm enjoying. If there's a book you've read recently, post about it in the comments! I'd love to hear what everyone is enjoying. I read all genres, so don't feel weird about posting whatever kind of book it might be. This is a non-shaming zone when it comes to books.

Stay healthy out there!

Lish

PS (Picture is of my cat, Kitty Pest, aka Tempest, aka Stalin, aka Jon Leguizamo, aka Bubba. Everyone has a different nickname for her. She's very much enjoying having us all home.)