LR Afterthoughts: On pandemic grocery shopping

You know you wanted more! Here's an afterthought on: "LR & MB brave grocery store, end up wishing we'd just ordered off Amazon"! Turns out, grocery shopping is a whole debacle, even if you're not going to the store. Through the whole pandemic situation, George/Gramps/Pa has been doing his part by self-quarantining. So to ensure …

LR & MB brave grocery store, end up wishing we’d just ordered off Amazon

Is it just me, or has grocery shopping become a whole "thing" these days? It kindof feels like an event now, doesn't it? Like how going for a drive or getting a soda at the drugstore was a big night out in 1950. The last time MB and I went to the grocery store, I …

LR’s #1 Tip for Keeping a Clean House: Don’t compare yourself to your mother.

I come from a long line of strong, overzealous cleaners. My mother's interpretation of daily "straightening up" is basically my version of a whole-house cleaning. And she tells stories about how her mother used to do a yearly "spring cleaning," which involved removing and washing drapes, unloading the contents of closets to wipe down shelves, …

LR doesn’t want to talk to you in the grocery store

If I could enact a law, I'd make it illegal for people to strike up conversations with strangers in checkout lines. Introverts, I know you know what I'm talking about. Call me antisocial, but to me there are few things worse than having to make small talk with a random stranger in a checkout line. …

LR Can’t Pull Off A Vest (And more reasons why I’ll never be a real adult)

I'm 31 years old, and I can't remember the last time I felt like a grown up. Come to think of it, I don't know that I've ever felt like a grown-up. Once, I sent one of those Yellowstone National Park eagle cams to my dad. I told him the chicks had hatched and were …

LR tries social distancing, refuses to return to normal human interactions

Social distancing is my ideal lifestyle. I'm not saying I like Coronavirus or anything, and of course I hope we get through this crisis as soon as possible. All I'm saying is, if this whole don't-touch-each-other, don't-leave-the-house, just-order-takeout thing became a new way of life from now on, I wouldn't be mad. As a self-diagnosed …

LR realizes that when dating foster cats, soul mates are too easy to find

The thing I've realized about fostering is that it's really a lot like dating. So you meet a cat. Then you get to know the cat over a period of time. Then you get attached to the cat. Then you're faced with a difficult decision: Should I let the cat go, or is it the …

It’s ok, I’ll just keep this foster cat (and every one that comes after her…)

I think I know how Marilla Cuthbert must have felt when she said "I can't imagine how I let that child worm her way into my affections." When I started fostering cats for the Maryland SPCA this year, I didn't think it would be this complicated. I wouldn't say I went into it naively. I …

I’d Like to Say “I Love You,” But…

A few weeks ago, I saw a blogging challenge to write a poem on Valentine's Day. Cue my instant eye roll, as visions of cherubs and heart-shaped chocolates and romance-as-dictated-by-Zales commercials danced in my head. The instant eye roll is a coping mechanism I developed back in high school to steel myself for that one …

LR assumes role of Bug Bounty Hunter, reverts to childlike dependence

Since moving into an apartment by myself, I’ve noticed a few things.  For one, it can be lonesome (scary) to be home alone at night. If I heard a noise at the Cottage in the middle of the night, I could easily convince myself it was Carrie.  Now I can more easily convince myself it’s …