Today on Facebook a friend expressed her frustration at the current global crisis, the fact that she has been at home for five weeks and the fact that she can get nothing done. She feels like she is losing it and even finds herself screaming with rage at the stupidest things.

I get it and commiserate with her. I screamed when I couldn’t get the lightbulb I was replacing to go into the socket properly.  And I mean it was disproportionate rage.   I think we are reacting this way because we are feeling so helpless and there is no way to lash out at anyone or thing.

Since I have two of these dogs, I couldn’t resist this

I do find that I need a schedule and a plan for each day to keep me on track. Otherwise I end up scattered going from one project to another getting nothing accomplished.

Lucy finds that she can focus when she makes a list of projects that she can check off. And one of her latest projects is unusual at best:

“Once I knew that lockdown meant weeks, not days, I started to make a list of all of the projects that I might be able to do at home or in the garden when the warm weather appeared. I am a list maker by trade.

Among the tasks was a close and careful examination of my jewelry,  by which I mean not diamonds or emeralds but the over-abundance of “working” jewelry, otherwise classified as fun, flirty and fake. Included in the treasure trove of goodies was my childhood piggy bank, somehow relegated to the bottom of my jewelry drawer.

Lucy’s had this for over 60 years

There are hundreds of pennies trapped in this piggy bank, some likely 50 years old or older. Could there be a special penny in there that will make me a rich woman?  I wonder if there is such a thing as a valuable penny. Does anyone check pennies, like the ones left on counters at stores?

Valuable treasure?

Certainly Google knows.  I decided not to ask my local banker as maybe they troll for valuable coins and I do not want to know what riches I have inadvertently thrown away.

So with weeks stretching ahead and no legit deadlines, I decide to try and remove the pennies from the piggy bank without smashing it to bits because it has sentimental value. (I am fairly certain my daughters will not care if the piggy bank makes it into my estate.)

To actually retrieve the pennies, requires a knife that I jam into the top slot where I align the pennies so that they come out of the thin hole. Sadly, there is no escape hatch at the bottom with a plug.

Hours later I am only a little way through, and because I am committed to finishing all projects that I start during this pandemic, I will continue until empty. I have therefore decided not to research the value of a 1952 penny for example in case there is no value beyond one cent which would deter me from finishing this time-consuming project.

I will let you know if I find a cherished penny.   In the meanwhile, my question for you is –  Have you done anything more ridiculous during this stay at home season? “

Just to keep us from losing our minds read about the Bin Isolation Movement started in Australia by a woman who said that her trash went out more than she did now that she was quarantined so now women are dressing up to take out the trash:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/12/world/bin-isolation-outing-facebook-trnd/index.html

Another suggestion is to get this book for fun and interesting reading: “In Our Prime” by Susan Douglas. Subtitle reads “How Older Women Are Reinventing the Road Ahead”. New York Times Book Review titled its review: Buck the Patriarchy.

I leave you with this:

I hate to say it but this is true. Uggh!

Ciao. Lucy and Claudia