Coronavirus!

If you didn’t read the title of this blog like Cardi B screeches, “CORONAVIRUS! CORONAVIRUS!” in her now viral warning, can you please go back and do so at this time, thank you. Just kidding – kind of – I actually named this blog as such because I literally NEVER want to forget this time in our world and posting a blog with a date and time stamp forever attached to it will ensure that I’m always able to remember this exact period in life. Maybe that seems crazy to you, but hey, these are truly crazy times.

I left for California on March 5th and thank goodness I did! If I would’ve gone just one week later, I would’ve missed out on being able to do everything I did before COVID-19 swept across our country! Because of my perfectly timed vacation though, it has been SEVEN WEEKS since I last worked! This has now become the FOURTH extended period of time in my life where I’ve gone without working! One more instance like this and I’ll tie the number of times I’ve pooped my pants! Incredible.

Given that my time away from work has been a little bit longer than anyone else I know, I keep getting asked over and over again if I’m bored or if I’ve run out of things to do? Well, let me utilize this post to showcase everything that I’ve been able to do with the gift of time that has been granted to me because in no way, shape, or form am I bored or without anything fresh to do each new day.

As I’m sure nearly all of you know by this point, my ultimate goal in life is to become a published author and live as I wish off my literary royalties. Well, now this may be a bit of stretch, but because of my Unemployment Insurance pay from the wonderful state of Illinois, I’m in a sense living that life right now. I’m literally getting paid to write, which is exactly what I want to do with my life! So for the time being, this is my ultimate dream result and I couldn’t be happier about it! In fact, as of this very post here, I have gone and tied my best weekly blog posting streak! This is my seventh week in a row sharing a new blog and there are no signs indicating a slowdown, so you’ll all have plenty more to read from me in the weeks ahead! Great success!

Now I wish that I could sit here and tell you that I have totally and completely finished my long-delayed book proposal and have sent it out to several literary agents, but that’s not at all the case. Progress has been made though, in fact, I’ve doubled the amount of work needed to get done, yet remain a third away from completion. Nonetheless, I’m confident that by my birthday on May 1st I should have it 100% done and ready for any literary agent who wants it. My goal still remains to be published in the classical sense by a publishing house, so as long as that remains my plan, this proposal remains my mission. As soon as I’ve finished and started the next process, I’ll be certain to update you all with a post highlighting such, but until then, know that I’m working on my future, slowly yet surely.

Writing isn’t the only thing I’ve been doing these past thirty-seven days since returning from vacation. Like I said, I haven’t got bored yet, but that’s because I’ve expanded my palate and started doing many things I’d normally not do in order to keep myself sane and entertained.

While in California, I helped my dear cousin Alyssa finish this 1,000 piece scenic puzzle of a quaint lakeside village in Austria. Needless to say, it really gave me the puzzle bug and I couldn’t wait to do my own. In fact, it was my first extracurricular in this whole ordeal! Five years ago during the Disneyland Resort Diamond Celebration I bought this lovely 1,000 piece puzzle that up until this point I’d never even attempted, so now was the perfect time to make it happen. Thankfully, I own the Disneyland Resort Diamond Anniversary soundtrack as well, so as I was working out which piece goes where, I was able to listen to the iconic scores to such legendary rides as Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, or mine and Melissa’s personal favorite, Splash Mountain, all amongst others. It took me (and kind of Melissa, but not really) a full work week to finish, but I had the best time puzzling it all out. The only downside is that the experience gave me an immense craving to go back to Disneyland when I told myself I wasn’t going to go back to California till next June when the triplets graduate high school, but I need my laughing place, so a trip to California lies ahead.

As I trust we all know, on the evening of April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg that sent it some two hours and forty minutes later to the bottom of the northern Atlantic. Well, to honor this historical event, each year Melissa, Nancy, and I watch the cinematic masterpiece, Titanic. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you, but I’m going to anyway, everything about this film is perfect. From James Horner’s sweeping score to the adventurous love story between Jack and Rose all set to the backdrop of one of the humanity’s greatest disasters, this film defined a generation. It’s unrivaled in its brilliance and certainly deserves a repeat viewing each spring. Needless to say, I weep through several parts of the movie, but none harder than at the very, very end. When Rose finally passes away an old lady in her bed and the camera scrolls across all the photographs she traveled with that showcase how she did everything she and Jack dreamed of doing, I lose my shit. I’m not even going to lie to you all, I’m crying as I write this now. That scene just gets me every damn time and then when it segues into her returning to Titanic and walking up the grand staircase where Jack is standing there waiting for her – LORD! GET ME THE KLEENEX! The majesty of that cinematography! It really is simply the best. If you haven’t watched this movie lately then you need to buckle down and do so, I promise you, you’ll love it even more than you did the last time.

I don’t watch television on my own, I just don’t, it’s not my thing. I feel like it’s a waste of my time, but this quarantine has changed things some, so I’ve downed a couple series on my own without Melissa’s accompaniment that I want to highlight here.

Stranger Things – So after years of being told by many that I was going to LOVE this show I sat down and watched all three existing seasons and honestly, it was just okay for me. The evolution of the characters and their relationships with one another was what I enjoyed most because past that it was just one recycled plot over another. I felt that it greatly lacked originality, but often made up for in 80’s nostalgia. For those of us who remember correctly, I wasn’t born till 1991, so I have no 80’s nostalgia, but I appreciate the pop culture references and all the jammin’ 80’s music it featured PLUS!!! Because of Stranger Things, Coca-Cola released New Coke in a limited edition Stranger Things pack and you know I had to have that in my life! I NEVER miss an opportunity to taste a new flavor of Coke. That limited edition Coca-Cola release was the undisputable highlight for me of an otherwise mediocre at best show.

The Haunting of Hill House – Eh, it had some genuinely scary moments, but it was also bogged down by some slow ass pacing. The first episode was a complete snoozefest, but episodes two through nine were pretty decent all in all. Then came that last one. I was so excited to see how everything was going to wrap itself up, but let me tell you, I HATED the ending. It was a garbagefest. Dumbest damn ending I could have imagined. They spent nine episodes trying to villainize a hostile object in the show only to spend the final hour of it all trying to convince you to love something they made certain all along you hated. Dumb. I was so pissed at that ending. I’m still mad about it and I wrapped this shit up weeks ago.

YOU – Okay, this show is AMAZING! It’s definitely dark and twisted, but I never have any idea what is going to happen next and I LOVE that! Season one was phenomenal and full of twists and turns that I NEVER saw coming and it gave me ample reason to both love and hate the main character, which I found as a refreshing change of pace. It stars Gossip Girl’s Penn Badgely, which as a reminder, Gossip Girl is the SECOND greatest television show of all time, so I shouldn’t be surprised I loved and hated him so much because I felt the same way about his character Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl. He’s an extraordinary actor who truly ran with an extraordinary script. I’m about halfway through the second season now and am still loving it – albeit a little less – but the last couple episodes have redeemed itself for the first couple of bumpy ones. I would HIGHLY recommend this show to anyone and everyone. It’s truly amazing, but beware, it’s not for the faint of heart.

I’ve also been reading Jessica Simpson’s, Open Book, but I have quite a bit to say on this, so I feel like one of the voices of my generation most definitely deserves her own blog post. I cannot wait to share my thoughts on this Irresistible page turner with you all soon!

Last, but certainly not least, I’ve been going on two, three mile walks each and every single day around the Disneyland of Illinois, Wilson Park. It has truly been wonderful seeing all the leaves and flowers blossom. I’ve been ever so thankful for this experience because normally I’d just be doing this a couple times a week, but watching the park evolve day after day has been a real luxury that I’ve loved every part of. I even finally got to visit the Watershed Nature Center in Edwardsville for my first time. I very much loved it and would without a doubt go back.

So yeah, that’s basically everything I’ve been doing as I Stay at Home. How about you? What have you been doing to keep yourself occupied? Are there any shows on Netflix or Disney+ that I should be watching or anything else you’d recommend I do? Please leave any comment you’d like below! I very much hope that each and every single one of you has been well and that you’ve been able to find a multitude of ways to maintain your sanity and entertainment. If you’re like Melissa and still working I hope that life has been even kinder to you and I thank you for all that you continue to do so that we can look forward to returning to a new normal someday soon. As always, THANK YOU so much for reading, ESPECIALLY this here Frankenstein of a post! I’ll be back next week with another new post, but until then, I wish each of you all THE BEST!