Unlike many, I don’t need a haircut. My bob has finally grown to my shoulders and all is well in my hair world. Silver linings, you know. Let’s catch up on My Carona.

In addition to the pandemic stay-at-home order being four weeks old, I am now a year older as I celebrated my birthday this past weekend! Whilst celebrating during a pandemic when one can’t see other people may be a hardship to many, to this introvert who prefers spending time alone, it was like every other year. EXCEPT! I couldn’t visit my beloved Ocean, as the beaches, boardwalk, and the entire state Ocean waves onto the edge of zillions of times each day is closed until further notice. There are beach cameras, though, so I did spend some time spying the sand and surf through my computer screen. I also received some funny cards, including one from a neighbor in which she made a felt mask and put it on the kitty on the cover’s mouth. Most delightful, however, was a balloon bombing by my nieces! A cheerful Happy Birthday balloon tied to a shopping bag including a card and 12 teeny tiny strawberry shortcake cupcakes (from a bakery in Canada, apparently!). Super delicious and fun.

Speaking of super delicious, I noted last week that I can cook all of a sudden as long as I get a recipe and all the ingredients delivered to me. The trend continued even on my birthday — I made bean and cheddar taquitos. O.M.Me.Who.Can.Cook. Vegan refried beans with sauteed red onions and taco seasoning in a lovely flour tortilla with cheddar cheese inside and on top, topped with more cheese and cilantro and more onions. *faints* It was so good, I woke up the next morning and my first thoughts were, “Good morning, world. Gotta get me another one of those bean tortilla things for breakfast pronto!” And I did. And it was good.

There are personal negatives to this situation we all find ourselves in, but with being lucky enough to be lucky, safe and at home, I’m choosing to focus on the positive. I do what I can to be prepared and stay healthy, and I remember that this will end eventually. In the mean time, I focus on the good that I can and make sure I don’t add to the problem. It’s the least I can do, literally.

There are teeny strawberry shortcake cupcakes left, but I’m not sharing, unfortunately (feel free to pilfer the pantry, though). One teeny taste a day is more than a week of cake-y/birthday-y-celebration-y goodness. It’s the little things (again, literally).

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As an introvert who likes my personal space, one of the positives of the restrictions is staying six feet away (at least) from other people. I’m glad we’re all going to do it now. For those who don’t get/ignore the memo, does anybody know how to put this on a loop on a tablet draped on my back?

• How many days will the snowman pajama pants be worn? I’m actually wearing pants-pants most days. I anticipated I’d PJ it more, but… not so much. Who knew?
• How many books will be read? So far: 2! Two books read! Ah! Ah! Ah!
• How many bottles of water can I drink each day? Still averaging 6 (8 oz each).
• How many times have I craved McDonald’s French fries? A few, but I now have an air fryer, potatoes, and a cooking skill I didn’t know I had before so… I’ll be OK without them.