Tag: Covid-19

Posted in About Me

Rest in Peace Sis.

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Shirley Yvonne Bill
November 27, 1954 – January 9, 2024

Saturday my oldest daughter called to let me know that my sister Shirley wasn’t feeling well well. She’d had the flu or flu like symptoms for about 3 weeks. She’d been to her doctor who ordered bloodwork. Only problem was that she had been too weak to drive. My daughter was driving down to take Shirley for the bloodwork Monday.

Shirley was tested 3 times for COVID with negative results. She did test positive for the flu about 10 days ago. The problem was that she wasn’t getting better.

This morning a friend from her work tried to call her but got no answer. So they went to her house to check on her with no response. A call to the police department was made and they came out. When they entered the house, they found Shirley had passed in her sleep.

Now we wait for the results of an autopsy to determine cause of death.

Please folks!

If you have a senior friend or relative who has been feeling sick with flu-like symptoms, check on them before it’s too late.

Posted in About Me

2021 A Year in Review

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

It’s been a long year, hasn’t it? Who would have ever thought that the pandemic would be still dragging on at this point? It’s been almost 2 full years of the pandemic and it has impacted every aspect of our lives. We started out the year with vaccinations being approved which made us all hope for a swift end to things. Alas! So many people have still not gotten vaccinated, which has enabled the virus to mutate and surge in waves. With the holidays currently running, another surge is expected as people travel home for the holidays.

So how has all this impacted you? For myself, I find that despite not being able to get out as much, I don’t have the time I’d like to have for myself. When I checked my blog stats, I posted a whopping 283 posts! That’s almost 1 post per day! But along the way, I discovered some things about the posts. I needed to put more of myself in them.

My husband’s take on all this was that I was overwhelming myself trying to do a post a day. So let me see about changing that. Now there will still be Lifestyle posts, in fact, I will have a guest post next week. I also want to start including some Blog Tour Posts on new books.

The main focus of the blog will still be on book reviews, but if I’m honest with myself, that doesn’t mean that I have to write all the reviews. I may flirt with reposting reviews from other blogs.

My year in books

I took a look at my GoodReads stats and was really surprised.

  • 424 books read
  • 70,867 pages read
  • Shortest book – 22 pages
  • Longest book – 1209 pages (Lord of the Rings)
  • Average length – 167 pages
  • Most popular book shelved – Lord of the Rings (414 people)
  • Average Rating – 4.23
  • Highest Rated on Good Reads – 4.95 (Submission by Delta James)
  • First Review of the Year – His Human Claim by Stella Rising
  • Last Review of the Year – Alien Conqueror by Sara Fields

I have to laugh at myself. These stats would have been very different if I had remembered to mark all the ones that I was REREADING again!

Last Thoughts

It’s been a long year for my house. My husband’s decreasing mobility has meant that I spend a lot more time caregiving than I do other things. Thanks to a visit from a friend from Ohio, I’ve started taking time for myself away from the house. Right now, I’m attending Country Church with a newly widowed friend on Saturday nights. When I can, I take a walk.

If you’ve found yourself serving as a caregiver for a loved one, remember to take time for yourself as well. It will make a world of difference for you.

Till next year!

Sandy, the Reluctant Retiree!

Posted in Enjoy the Giggle

Enjoy the Giggle!

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Church Sign Edition!

They are everywhere, church signs that is! On one side may be the times for the worship services, while the other side has a short quote of some kind. It’s these short quotes that can down right give you the giggles. After seeing one at a Hispanic Seventh Day Adventist church that I walk by on a daily basis, I decided to start including them in my giggle listings. Enjoy!

Ain’t that the truth!
The Gospel is not in quarantine

Posted in About Me

Quick Tip from My Kitchen

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Now that we’ve all been stuck at home for the last 5 months, many people find themselves making meals at home as opposed to ordering them. Face it, it’s much cheaper to cook from scratch than it is to order. Now, most of us buy groceries for a number of days each time we go and the meat goes in the freezer.

If you aren’t in the habit of remembering to take the meat out in the morning, (before you left for work), you may occasionally find yourself at lunchtime hoping that your meat will thaw in time!

It’s August, and for most of us, that means hot temperatures. I discovered that if I put the wrapped meat on a plastic plate and sit it on something outside, that it will thaw just fine. For me, hamburger can be taken out at lunchtime. The ribs in the photo needed to be thawed by 2 pm so I could start working them. Luckily, Florida weather takes care of thawing things.

So, give it a try! It works really well for me.