I have gone to Dollarama and the pharmacy a few times and it was actually wasn't that bad because the stores that I went to really closely controlled the number of people in the store at any given time and made sure that everyone knew to follow the directional arrows in the aisles. My experience at the grocery store that I went to was completely different!
The staff were not closely controlling the number of people in the store and they weren't reminding people to follow the directional arrows, so there were too many people in the store and it was total mayhem as people walked anywhere they wanted -- it was almost impossible to stay 6 feet away from other people. The directional arrows and footprints on the floor were incredibly clear, so I am not sure how people could not see them. There were also security guards walking around and reminding people to follow the arrows, but no one was actually listening to the security guards! At one point, one guy said to me that he hadn't seen the arrows... how that was even possible is completely beyond me. I was so stressed by that time that I just snapped back something about looking. 😖
As I was walking down the last aisle towards the cash, I passed the beer and wine section. I hadn't planned on buying any wine but it was on sale and I was so stressed that I did anyways. Wow, I have been driven to stress-induced alcohol purchases... yikes! I will say, though, that I bought that bottle of wine a little more than a week ago and it still isn't empty yet, so at least the stress-induced alcohol consumption is still under control. 😉
I never would have imagined that grocery shopping would be so stressful and that I would one day define "mayhem" in a grocery store as people walking anywhere they wanted! Well, that just reinforced my need for Hal to do the grocery shopping for us and for our elderly neighbors. I'll continue to take care of checking in with our neighbors every week and getting their shopping lists, disinfecting and repacking the groceries in clean bags, and getting their reimbursements for the costs... all things that I can do from the safety and calmness of home.
The reason that I needed to go grocery shopping was a good one though -- we needed a few things so that Hal could make his first foray in the world of baking. He made the most amazing apple-berry crisp from a recipe that he got from a friend. Oh. my. goodness. -- the crisp was so yummy that we ate half of it in one day! It was one of our treats for our weekend of rest and relaxation. Another was a delivery order from our favorite Thai restaurant... also so delightfully yummy!One good thing that has come from the pandemic is that Hal and I really cherish those two days off of work that he has every week and that we can spend together without any pandemic-related source of stress. We have a rule that we don't go out on those two days except to go for long walks in our neighborhood together. There's no shopping or busyness or other people to stay 6 feet away from at all times... it's just two wonderful days of rest and relaxation and involves a lot of sleeping, particularly for Hal because he's just so exhausted by then, and watching our favorite shows together with a big bowl of freshly made stove-top popcorn. We're thinking that we might just have to make the delivery order from a favorite restaurant a regular part of the weekend treats too!
One thing that has come from the pandemic that was a horrible source of stress and anxiety was my EI claim. I filed the claim after my job ended at the end of January and it was approved in February, but then there was an issue that resulted from a report that I completed and my claim was put back under review as a result.
The initial review deadline was March 24, which was the week that the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) was announced and millions of Canadians started applying for it. The system was so overwhelmed that the review was not completed and it became almost impossible for me to call Service Canada to follow up. I tried calling for many days until I finally got through and was able to talk to someone. The review was escalated to the next level and a new deadline was set, but the review was still not completed by that date and I had to spend however many more days trying to get through on the phone line again. That whole scenario kept repeating again and again and the review kept being escalated to the next level each time... until I hit my breaking point last week.
I had spent all day on Tuesday trying to get through on the phone line, with no success. By the end of the day, I was overcome with stress and anxiety, I was having panic attacks and I was struggling to remember the many reasons to have hope that I had been focusing on just the day before.
I realized that I needed some help and breakthrough with the situation, so I put a post on Facebook asking for my friends to pray. That was Tuesday afternoon at 2:45 pm. On Thursday morning at 11:00 am, my phone rang and it was the agent from Service Canada who was assigned to review my claim. Half an hour later the review was completed and my claim was once again approved!!
Thank you, friends, for praying for me when I felt so unbelievably weak and thank you, Jesus, for moving mountains when Your people pray. God is truly victorious and with me, and He has already conquered every situation that could cause me to fear and be anxious. 💜💙💚💛
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