Crazy Unsettling Times

If you had told me two months ago that we would be where we are now, I would have thought you were joking.  Back before everyone knew what the terms "social distancing" and "stay-at-home order" meant, we were just crafty gals stampin' and having workshops.  And now effective (yesterday,) Monday, March 30 through April 29, our state of NC is under a mandatory stay-at-home order meaning non-essential businesses must close to the public.  But what is considered an essential business has me stumped.  Yesterday, I drove to Mooresville (first time in 2 weeks) to pick up some groceries at Aldi's and tape refills for my tape gun at Hobby Lobby.  I was assuming that Hobby Lobby, Michael's and Jo Ann's would be closed when the stay-at-home order went into effect but no, they are considered essential!??  I'm sorry, I don't understand!  There was a note on the door that they are considered essential because they sell material (to make masks with) and also office supplies??!!  Our Hobby Lobby is right beside Lowe's Hardware.  There was hardly a parking spot left at Lowe's!  I'm sure there were more than 50 or 10 people (whatever the number is supposed to be) in that store and not keeping the 6 foot distance.  When I was at Aldi's there were a lot of people who were not being socially distancing.  I felt like I was in the minority there and had to keep going to another aisle while the aisle I wanted cleared out!   Ashley told me she went to the Dollar Store yesterday and had to ask the man standing behind her in line to move back.  She said he didn't seem to understand even though there were tape lines on the floor 6 feet apart.  What is it going to take for people to understand how serious this is!

I feel sorry for all the small "mom and pop" restaurants that are suffering from this.  After I left the grocery, I stopped at a small mom and pop hoagie shop and took my sandwich home to eat.  I urge you to support your local small businesses now.  They have bills to pay and little to no cash flow makes that very difficult.  The big corporations will receive bail outs because they are deemed "too big to fail," but that is not true of the little guys.  Did you know that local small businesses make up about 49% of the economy?

It's human nature to feel stressed at this time, especially when our day-to-day lives don't look the same as they used to.  When things are more out of our control than usual, it's helpful to remember and focus on the things we do have control over.  By reducing or preventing stress, we're not only taking care of ourselves, we're able to be better caretakers for others.  Paying attention to and managing stress can help us stay on track with our overall health and wellness, develop new routines, and remember what's important to us.

We will get there even if we fail to develop a vaccine, discover new drugs, or eliminate the virus through public health action, though any of these are welcome because they would hasten the end of the crisis.  By staying home when we are sick, minimizing mass gatherings and reducing physical contact, we can dampen the epidemic, reducing the number of cases and the speed at which they occur.  We can get through this if we work together and remember there is SUNSHINE on the other end of this tunnel.

Check out the sentiment on this card - great for these crazy times.

Today is the last day to get Sale-a-Bration items!

I used some Sale-a-Bration items on this card - the vellum, the Lily Impressions DSP, and the Lovely Lily Pad stamp set.  I stamped the lily onto watercolor paper and heat embossed it with white embossing powder.  Then I used my Aqua Pen and a little Blackberry Bliss re-inker to color the lily.  Oops - just noticed I am missing a sequin!  I had 3 on the card so just imagine the third one right above the lily!