Shining Moments March 15th - 21st, 2020

Hello everyone, how are you doing? By now I’m sure almost everyone has been in some sort of quarantine – whether self imposed to be safe for yourself/your families, imposed by the City and State wide government or because of actually being sick. I know that I don’t need to reiterate all of the things we’ve had to update/change/cancel. We’re seriously living in an age of FOMO – Fear of Missing Out. Sure this completely blows, but let’s put it into perspective – there are 195 countries (that are recognized by the United Nations) and according to WHO (World Health Organization), there are 184 countries/territories/etc that have at least 1 confirmed case as updated Saturday 3/21/2020. You may feel alone, but you’re not. We are all *literally* in this together and together we’ll get thru this! I’m ready for all of us to start seeing laughing faces instead of anxious faces.

As scary as all of these seems, it’s important that we keep our hearts & minds as light as possible. In last week’s Shining Moments (check it out here if you missed it), I listed some ways to be light in the seemingly darkness. Laughing and joy along with our incredible medical, retail and food service providers will be saving us. In light of spreading laughing while I myself have a witty sarcastic humor, so this was the meme I created.

– Spread as much laughter as possible – create and share memes, create and share comics, watch or listen to your fave comedians, watch Dry Bar on Facebook – the more you are laughing, the less time you are spending being anxious. Plus smiles are contagious!

– Check in again with your neighbors. See what they might need (supply or just a breather).

– Surprise your neighbors. We have lots of pets in the building, so while I was out getting supplies for my household, I picked some up for my neighbors I know have pets (and some for my hotel too) – big hit with pets and families alike!

– Check out Pinterest or go a Google/Bing/MSN search for DIY stuff. Can’t find bread and there’s still flour and/or yeast on the shelves? Make your own! Make stock bases from scraps.

– Not a cook? Try to find a new craft to try out – even if it turns out to be a flop, you tried something different and time you were worried about has passed!

– Check out on deals about the suppliers you use – For example, Amazon is offering a short deal for Kindle Unlimited (Free for 2 months before it goes to $9.99/month for a MILLION + titles). I’m sure you and the kids could find something to read there!

– Museums, aquariums and such are offering digital viewings of their collections – think of it as getting to visit without any lines!

– Depending on your closet and any uniform standards, try to wear more bright colors. So many people are wearing black or dull colors. Let those bright colors shine. It might not be the biggest change, but I think seeing some more bright colors might help brighten moods. If you can’t choose colors, see what kinds of accessories you could wear instead that complies with your company’s handbooks (necklaces, bracelets, headbands, etc). Otherwise, also consider what colors you wear while outside or shopping.

– Write out encouragements to your neighbors, your coworkers, your bosses, your clients/guests.

– Write out encouragement letters, colored pages or something special to nursing home facilites – may of them are in isolation/shutdown because this virus affects them the most. Don’t let them feel forgotten or even more shut in. Check your local newspaper, FB pages or contact the nursing home facilities. I know one of ours reached sent out a plea for encouraging stuff. Comment me or DM on FB/Instagram/Twitter/Pinterest (@cresmoonstars) and I’ll send you an address

– Listen to music that makes you happy or uplifted. I’ve been listening to more Worship music (check out my Spotify public playlist here – 134 songs and 11 hours).

– Lots of churches are offering church online and not just on Sunday. They also have kid programs for education studies and religion studies throughout the week.

– I’ve created a hashtag similar to my #letshinebrightogether.
In this time, #letspreadjoynotgerms.
I want to see this hashtag go more viral than the coronavirus. Let’s do it!

Shining Moments

– Still at work presently – this could change any day but I’m thankful I’m still open and accepting business

– Many people are being very understanding about us having to limit some of our hotel services (ex: to go bag breakfast vs the normal breakfast spread, right now we can’t gather more than 10 people per City rules so no evening social, no sitting outside, no grills, no pool). We’re still laughing at work and our guests are still laughing too.

– A guest has their doggo with us right now and I brought in some treats (to which I have a new friend haha)

– Able to do UberEats and doing decently

– Got to see some very cute and adorable doggos.

– St. Patty’s I wore green and some small novelties to keep the fun of the holiday despite these crazy times, again #letspreadjoynotgerms

– Ate a St. Patty’s snowball as a fun St. Patty’s treat

– Found some more toilet paper at Walmart – poor guy just opened the boxes and many bombarded him. I was able to get 4 rolls for myself and 4 rolls for the other household (since we’re out of school til April 13th presently – Spring break was 4/6 – 4/13, so 3 extra weeks of not physically in school but eLearning).

– Someone I follow was offering a Pen pal match up so I look forward to writing to my person next week!

– I’ve been rolling around in my head about starting a Pen pal program connected to Crescent Moon & Stars – if you’re interested in this, comment or send me a DM on one of the social media accounts!

– My parents got a cat in February 2019 and we came to find out she was chonky because she was pregnant! 1 month later she had 5 kittens. One went to my dad’s coworkers and my parents kept the rest. They turned a year old earlier this month before all this hot coronavirus mess really got blown up this month, but I got some new updated pictures over the week and they are too adorable!!!

Progress on 32 Things
For the full list, check out my birthday post 32 Birthdays and 32 Things

I realized that lots on my list is going somewhere and doing something – COVID19 has other plans for 2020 apparently. Anyone else imagine it laughing like a Disney villain would?

I did receive the newest Patrica Briggs book in the Mercy Thompson series called Smoke Bitten before Amazon released their statement of prioritizing essentials first, other stuff later. Trust me, Patrica Briggs is an essential haha.

I haven’t read it yet so I can’t cross it off yest but how gorgeous is that cover?! I can’t get my blog to upload the pic so check out the link of the title and also check out the illustrator’s page – Daniel Dos Santos does amazing work