Pandemic Diary Entry #13

Sunday, May 17 (Day 67):  Finished reading The Year We Fell From Space by Amy Sarig King (Oct 2019, Levine/Scholastic, 272 pages, for ages 8 to 12).  Gorgeously written, as all of her novels are. And if your middle grade reader is reading this, they'll probably be grateful for the short chapters.

My favorite lines, from p. 51:

                        "... some kids join band or play sports.

                         I just think about the stars. Usually by myself.

                         I'm probably from another planet."                       

Support authors! Buy this book from Bookshop.org.  Or your local indie bookstore (you can even choose one while you're on Bookshop's website). Also available at B&N. 

It's beginning to look like summer in our back yard.

Our rhododendrons next to the deck get prettier every day.
And here you can catch a glimpse of our Accidental Garden!

Monday, May 18 (Day 68): Our Giant delivery was due between 9:30 and 11:30 am. Nice of them to let me know last night, via email, so I didn't have to get up at 5:30 and check. The food arrived around 10:30. Only 20 bags this time! Still far too much plastic. We didn't get any ground beef this time, so no hamburgers this week. Think someone's trying to tell us to become vegetarians? We also didn't receive the milk, the lemons or the Dawn dishwashing liquid.

Another long walk today. It looks like summer everywhere.

I realize these are weeds, but they're pretty!

The trees at the top of the hill from us are green and lovely

Lemon chicken and zucchini parmesan for dinner. Watched an old Goldie Hawn movie that, surprisingly, was not a comedy!


Wednesday, May 20 (Day 70):  Warm and partly sunny. I have to admit, the days have begun to run together, to blur in my memory as if they're all one. If I don't write in this journal every day, I immediately forget what we did. So I'll start skipping days and only write about the ones where something different happens.

Went through the first half of my manuscript again. Not making very many changes any more. Reading and re-reading my lovely editor's comments and occasionally changing one word in the text.

Started reading Turtles All the Way Down by John Green.  Wow, am I glad I didn't read this before writing my novel in verse! Aza, the main character, suffers from a mental illness. At one point, she eats her sandwich in quarters, as my character does.

In the afternoon, our younger son called! This is always an occasion. I love hearing his voice!


Thursday, May 21 (Day 71):  Got through part three of my manuscript. It's written in four parts, so I'll finish up tomorrow. This is the third time I'm going through my editor's line edits, so I think it'll be as complete as I can make it for this round. Hope she likes what I've done!

Veggie pasta for dinner. It turned out better than I thought it would. Zucchini, mushrooms, and chopped tomatoes sauteed in olive oil and served on rotini. Lots of oregano and basil and pepper.

Here's something you probably never knew about me: I'm allergic to garlic and onions (my maternal grandmother was too). It makes cooking difficult, especially anything Italian. And every commercial salad dressing or pasta sauce or soup contains garlic powder and onion powder.  So I have to get creative. Any recipe ideas that are free of garlic and onions would be most welcome!


Friday, May 22 (Day 72): Woke up with a headache. Then the rain started after breakfast and eventually my headache went away.

In the afternoon, I finished going through line edits (for the third time)! Yay! Feels like an accomplishment in this time of crisis (and headaches). I loved working on them because it was such a beautiful escape.

Keeping my fingers crossed that my editor will like and accept what I've done.

Leftovers for dinner. A few episodes of Cheers on Netflix.




COVID-19 World Stats as of May 22 (from WHO):

Confirmed cases: 5,105,881
Confirmed deaths: 333,446


US Cases as of May 23 (from the CDC):

Confirmed cases: 1,595,885
Confirmed deaths: 96,002




What about you? Have the days blurred together, so you don't even know what day it is anymore?

Tell us about any good books you've read this week.

And if you have any favorite recipes that don't involve onions and garlic, please let me know. Thanks!