Out and About – Week of April 6th

We all have a lifestyle, yet the word “Lifestyle” didn’t exist before 1929. The word entered the English language that year and is defined as “a set of attitudes, habits, or possessions associated with a particular person or group.”

Here’s a helpful hint to consider before you mail in your tax return for this year. If you have already received your refund, you’re invited to skip this paragraph. If you are a procrastinator, please read on. Before you sign and mail in your return, I suggest that you compare this year’s to last year’s line by line. You’ll want to note any differences between the two. If you are unable to explain a difference, it may be that an error was made in the preparation. Remember that the IRS will hold you, the taxpayer, responsible for any mistakes, whether you prepared the return or hired someone else to do the preparation.

The female lemming can be impregnated at the ripe old age of fourteen days and can give birth just sixteen to twenty-three days later.

As of this writing, we have all been advised to stay home and stay safe until the end of April. It seems that we’ve already been confined for longer than just a week or so. I do the best I can, when it comes to following advice, but I do go to town about once a week to take care of a few important things. I try to handle everything with one trip. We all need groceries, but we shouldn’t need to take the entire family with us when purchasing groceries. My gas tank remains full, because I don’t really go anywhere.

The Easter season is upon us, and I miss everything that is a part of that celebration. Our church does the Sunday service via Zoom. This is something new and seems to be working out very well. We are unable to greet church members in the usual way, but it’s amazing how nice it is to see their faces and speak with them during the service. My parents would be in awe when it comes to the technology we have today.

Staying in gives the opportunity for families to get to know each other a little better. We can now spend time playing games or putting together puzzles. We have plenty of VHS tapes and DVDs on hand. This is a perfect opportunity to watch all those M*A*S*H reruns. There are a few movies I still need to watch a few more times. I almost have the entire dialogue memorized for “COOL HAND LUKE”.

The one thing about staying in, is that because we don’t have much to do, we have a tendency to eat too much. Fitness facilities are closed, so it’s difficult to work out. We have found that by taking daily walks, we get some exercise and some much-needed fresh air. One can still see friends, who might have the same idea. We must all remember to keep the suggested safe distance as we walk. Another good idea is to take a trash bag with you and pick up litter along the way.

Here are several suggestions that you might want to try as a family, or by yourself:

Play enough classical music so that you can identify the music of Chopin, Mozart and Beethoven.
Take plenty of snapshots so that you have something to remember these trying times.
Bake cookies or brownies as a family.
Teach the children how to do simple home-chores such as laundry or ironing.
I won’t be seeing many of you Out and About, but when I do, I’ll do so at a distance of six feet.

Stay home and stay safe.

Submitted by Norm Stutesman

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