Alright 2021…let’s be friends!

2021, I thought I was friends with 2020. Turns out she was a bitch and apparently her name was Karen. She drank a lot and was like a loose fucking cannon. And she argued with a white cat a lot. I really hope you’re better. I really can’t handle another 2020 situationship or another Karen. I can handle another white cat, though. So if you’re up for that, I am, too.

So here’s what I need in this friendship: I need some reciprocity. If I am nice, you need to be nice. It’s really simple. I also need you to take any medications that are necessary to keep you on an even keel. The bullshit that 2020 gave of murder hornets, Corona Virus, quarantines, hiding toilet paper, online arguments and some crazy orange man taking over the White House and sending out tweets to twits was just some over-the-top crazy. So 2021, take your damn meds! I’m all about holistic approaches, but not when you’re bouncing all over the place. Please! I am begging. Take your meds. You’ll feel better and so will the rest of the world.

I also need for you to give some warning of any chaos that may be coming. And can you please, for the love of God, keep Mother Nature from drinking too much? Last year she got a little crazy with some weather mood swings. We’d go from hot as Hades to freezing our asses off in the blink of an eye. Well, when we walked from our house to our cars trying to find the elusive toilet paper and Clorox wipes.

Maybe this year you can bring us some peace? That would be nice. Peace on earth and goodwill towards men (and women) would be such a nice change. It would be wonderful to be able to talk to others without screaming about politics and such. It would be great to have some pleasant things to talk about. Can you find some good things for us? All over the world? Please.

And maybe sprinkle some fairy dust or whatever it would take everywhere so that our moods improve. 2020/Karen really brought out the worst in us. I know there were times I behaved in ways I never thought imaginable. There was even the episode that my friends and I now refer to as “the day that Anonymous went Walmart on someone’s ass.” It was not a pretty day and many curse words were used. It was effective but it was not my normal nature.

Now I’d like to tell you that I am really glad you’re here, 2021. I am. I think your name should be Hope. You don’t look like a Karen at all. Let’s be friends and do some great things!

Mid 2020

This year has been one of the craziest of my life. And I have had some crazy years. One year all of my immediate family died. This is ranking right up there with that type of crazy.

2020 has brought us a pandemic that has killed thousands, Civil Rights Movement part 2, so many celebrity deaths, locusts in foreign lands, unemployment crisis, toilet paper shortages, hate and violence that seems to be the beginning of another Civil War and an orange president who doesn’t seem to give a damn. Europe has closed its borders to us. And I had to laugh when I read that Mexico closed its border to the US in Arizona because COVID-19 numbers had surged. You know things are crazy when that happens. My friend and laughed and said, “Well, Mexico may pay to build that wall after all! TO KEEP US OUT!” If it wasn’t so sad, it would truly be funny.

But right now, not much is funny. Many of us are wearing masks that everyone hates. Some refuse to because they feel the government is overstepping. I find it interesting that these same people love their republican government but haven’t figured out that those people are the ones mandating the damn masks for the most part. Or in the state of Alabama, the governor is being such a wimp and saying they can’t govern the masks but each city can make their own decision whether to enforce a mask rule or not. Bullshit. Quit making it hard on the cities and municipalities. Say that the mask rule is in place and you stand behind it and with the mayors and law enforcement. Don’t just shrug and say, “Well, I can’t really do anything.” You sure as hell opened up those beaches too early and our COVID numbers went up quickly. You did something then. You opened up the state too quickly so you wouldn’t have to pay all that unemployment. You did something then. So you can’t enforce a mask regulation? Bullshit.

I just want to live normally again. I want my life back. It wasn’t much of one, but it was mine. I want to be able to hug someone without admonishments. I want to see the man I was seeing before this crazy and kiss him again. I want to be able to cough without people looking at me like I am killing them.

I want 2020 to settle its ass down and let’s get back to normal.

Parents Forced To Be Parents

With this whole virus thing, families are at home. All the time. Some families are thriving. Some are not. Some parents are doing well with completing the school year at home. Some are not.

I recently saw a rant on Facebook by a mother who basically threw a verbal fit. I was rather appalled at all she said. She’s always posting about how she loves her family and how her kids are basically angels. Well, I guess that’s as long as they go to school and come home and sit in front of a computer or tv. When she has to deal with them with the not-so-pleasant tasks of life, it seems they aren’t so angelic after all.

Her rant was basically how she couldn’t understand how her son couldn’t read certain things and why his teachers weren’t doing better during this crisis. I had to keep my fingers off the keyboard to keep from blasting her. She went on to say that she “didn’t sign up for this!” Excuse me?! You are the one who had that child, so basically you signed up for whatever the hell he needs. So get the fuck over it!

I really don’t think the teachers conspired to not be there for your angel. And by the way, why wasn’t she aware before now that her son wasn’t doing so well in school or wasn’t at an acceptable level? That’s on her. Be a parent and check in on where he is education-wise. That’s why kids are passing but don’t know a damn thing. And she went on to bitch that he was asking Alexa (yes, Amazon Alexa) for answers. OK, so why not let him use a computer and look shit up? We used encyclopedias in school. Why not let him look stuff up on a computer like it’s the encyclopedia that it is? And why not show him YouTube videos for the math problems he doesn’t seem to understand? Instead, you want to rant and rave and get sympathy from your friends because you’re having a meltdown. Drink a glass of wine or take a damn valium and be a parent!

Typically she posts about her Facebook perfect life and their perfect trips to Disneyworld. Turns out life isn’t so perfect. But what gets me is that she is so damn out of touch with her kids. Does she seriously only interact with them for the fun things? Does she not know what is going on with their school work? She has portrayed herself in the past to be that mother that was baking cookies, helping with homework and such. Now we see the truth. She had her kids in tears because she can’t deal with them.

Parents, use this time with your kids wisely. Get to know them. If they don’t know something, help them learn it. Don’t torture them. They’re stressed, too! And you fussing at them is not going to help them and it’s sure as hell not going to get the work done. You showing care and concern and even saying, “Yeah, this really sucks!” is going to be what they need more than anything. And if you don’t understand their homework, use Google and YouTube! There are free videos and info all over the place.

Look at this time with your kids as a positive. It may not have been ideal, but you did have them. Love them and comfort them. That’s the best way to help them through this horrific time. They don’t need to be stressed by you anymore than they already are.

And, yes, you did sign on for this.

Ain’t That A Helluva Note?

Wow. The world is falling apart. The only good thing about anything is that it’s good I am an introvert right now. That’s it. Oh! And I do have two cats that I adore. Other than that, the world just sucks.

So we have this crazy plague going on that has basically caused the world to be immobilized with fear and panic. Everyone wants some toilet paper. Businesses are falling apart. People are going nuts.

I have been up and down. I have been off work for two weeks and was notified Friday that I was officially laid off. They plan to bring me back but we have no idea when. My company is continuing to pay our health insurance while we are out of work but I don’t have a paycheck coming in.

Because I am single, it’s hard. I handle everything alone. I guess growing up as an only child and having been through so much that I have prepared for some of this. But the thing is that when you’re hit with the news that you don’t have a job to go to right now and there’s no money coming in, it’s scary as fuck.

And I am isolated alone. I sit in this damn house alone. I know the world is as devastated as I am. I get it. But I also don’t think they get that I am completely ALONE. I have tried reaching out and some people have not reached back. That’s disappointing and painful. I have told myself over and over that I wouldn’t trust people so much and yet I did. And because of that, I have withdrawn emotionally again. Self preservation and all that shit.

I am blessed to have a couple of friends who are there and who love me. One is far away and one is not so far. But with the whole isolation thing, they both feel a million miles away.

All of this craziness keeps me wondering what is next. And I try to never say something like that. If you say it can’t get worse it’s like you’re tempting fate. Yes, it can always get worse. And all the things happening keep me just saying with surprise, “Well, ain’t that a helluva note?!” And while I shouldn’t be surprised, I am daily.

Please follow the guidelines and stay at home as much as possible. Please be safe. Please isolate as much as possible even though it is miserable. Please find things to do at home so you don’t go crazy. Please think of the health of yourself, family and others before you doing something that could endanger anyone.

And please quit making me say “Ain’t that a helluva a note?!”