The Curious Housewife

The New Social Visit: This week my one "social" visit consisted of a trip to the cardiologist's office.  (For those reading who don't know, I have coronary artery disease and a history of having had a heart attack and bypass surgery.)  I see him twice a year for a check up. He tells me that the blockage in my carotid artery has not advanced and that he is happy with my lipid panel and liver values. I tell him about some anxious heart related problem that I have been pondering and he politely shoots my worries down. It's a pleasant time though because he is a really congenial guy, nice looking, my age, and possesses a very calm and reassuring demeanor. He usually enters the exam room and shakes my hand warmly. He is the only one who gets to call me "Liz." We chat, he listens to my heart and kind of checks to be sure nothing has changed in my activity level. Nothing ever changes in our routine. Until now. As can be imagined, things were a little ...

A portion of my pantry. Don't judge! This last Wednesday, I finally went to the grocery store. I had been putting it off. The first excuse was the rain. The next excuse was a doctor appointment. Then I was simply too tired. I knew that I was running out of reasons to not go. Finally, Wednesday came and that was my day. I girded my loins, got in my car, drove to the store, and guess what? It wasn't that bad! Why all of the delay then? What would cause someone to put off a normal everyday kind of activity? The reason is that now things aren't normal. Things are very, very not normal. I knew there would be empty shelves. There might be a crush of people running around with toilet paper rolls in their arms, grabbing canned beans and packages of meat. There could be people walking around with a silent virus or worse, outright sick and obviously infectious. But, as I said, it was fine. Mulling things over, for me, is a way to work through a problem. It was indeed a probl...