I know, I know, Sunday Comics were phoned in, there was no Monday Message, and there wasn’t a fun Wednesday graphic. It’s been a busy week. To make a long story short, at this moment, we think my dad is finally cancer free after a three and a half year battle! Please Knock on wood, kiss your lucky rabbit foot, and keep your fingers crossed! (Fun fact about Little em, I opened the shop the same day my sister had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from her lung. The launch was planned, the cancer was not.)
     A few weeks ago, my dad was pitching product ideas to me, and he mentioned the word, ENDURE. He said Endure has sort of been his mantra through this whole cancer thing, but it would probably resonate with a lot people. The dictionary definition of Endure gives me complacency vibes, but that’s not how I’m choosing to define it. To me, it means staying tough while you fight through whatever it is that is causing you pain, or discomfort, or frustration. When you’re about to give up, don’t. Endure it. Work through it. You can do it! You are so much tougher than you think.      ​      
     This post is super cheesy, but I’m optimistic today. And I'm rooting for you.

I'm posting this clip from The Sandlot simply because it makes me feel good.
July 4th feels different this year. July 4th is different this year.
The country is going through, and growing through something.
You're a mess, but you're my mess.
Happy Birthday America

     Since March 24th, the people of my city have been ordered to Stay Home. At the time, I didn’t know what that would mean for the city, or for the people. What I also didn’t know, was that I would end up watching 13 entire television series. THIRTEEN. That’s sixteen thousand, one hundred fifty three minutes of television. That adds up to 11 days. I’ve "Stayed Home" for 80 days, and 11 of them were JUST spent on television. 
     That number only includes the shows I watched from start to finish. It doesn’t include the countless hours of News I've watched, or the all The Office mini marathons I've had (I'm watching The Office right now as I make this post). When I first had the idea for this post I thought it would be fun to write a review for each show, but then I did the math. After counting up the minutes, and realizing I spent 11 days watching television, (3 of those days are JUST Riverdale!!) I realized I’ve wasted A LOT of my time.
​     So, instead of giving you a well thought out review, I’m just going to give you a sentence each. If you’ve seen any of these shows, give me your one sentence review in the comments!

     Before I go, I just wanted to say thank you for reading this post. If you have any recommendations for other good shows, let me know! 
     Please be safe out there and please just do your best for the human race!

How is everyone doing? 
Me? I’m fine, thanks for asking. 

     I don’t have any silly story to give, or any nostalgia to hit you in the face with this week. Just me checking in on you.
We are finally seeing the other side of ~The Quarantine~ tunnel. Some people are really excited about it, and some people aren’t so excited about it. Both feelings are okay! 
Shoot, I’m excited to not hear, “In times like these…”, “In these unprecedented times…”, or “With everyone staying home…”, on my TV anymore! But I’m not excited about all the tension it’s caused. 

    I’m already feeling nostalgic for this time. Obviously, I can do without the fear, the deaths, and the economy tanking, but there weren’t any expectations of me. My time didn’t belong to anyone else but me. Have you ever said, “If I just had the time, I could…”? Well, you know what, I had 3 months worth of time, and still didn’t do any of that stuff I talked about doing. Not to say I didn’t do anything productive, because I did. But no, I did NOT learn how to play Feelin’ Alright on my Casio like I’ve been wanting to do since Christmas.

     I hope all of you learned a little bit about yourself, because I know I did. I think that is most important. Living through a Pandemic is awful. There is no doubt I’ll remember it that way, but I want to also remember it as a time where I made some positive changes in my life. Like learning how to prioritize my time better, or learning how not to touch my face so much (honestly! Who knew it would be so hard?). And I hope that for you, too. I hope you’re doing alright. I hope you aren’t sitting at home pouting about all the things that were taken away from you. Pouting feels good, but it’s never the answer. Same goes for cheese, trust me. 

     Before I go, I want to thank all of you who have supported this little business through…sigh…these unprecedented times. You have kept me busy, hopeful, and happy. I am going to add a video below of a song that has been stuck in my head the last few days. It goes along with this post. I hope you dance a little bit while listening to it. But just a little.

Be cool, & (responsibly) party on.