Greeting and salutations, blog readers!

I survived two whole weeks into this Coronavirus pandemic, two long weeks into the situation, two, with a job. Didn’t think I would get the second week. The third week was planned for by my boss and such, but in the end… Two weeks into it getting really serious around here anyways. Two full weeks in the Houston job market after the Coronavirus became a big enough deal to cancel Rodeo.

We have to close the doors. Rumor has it we will open again, whenever this all blows over, but in the meantime, I am laid off.

For the first time in years, I have no job to report to, and for the first time in ever, there is really no job to go out and get. No one is hiring because we are in the middle of a massive pandemic that is shutting down plenty of big, successful businesses.

So…for the first time ever, I can, guilt free, be on my schedule, and work on my art. As you may recall from yesterdays blog, I am a bit of a night owl, hence why I am writing this at 2:00 AM. I vlogged a bit, earlier, while I deep cleaned the stove top and changed the drip pans. I also, without vlogging it, worked on a recipe for a chicken vegetable noodle soup, and we had that for dinner.

It was fucking insanely delicious. I low key kind of wanna get another bowl of it, instead of the leftover soda I had from the movie I watched. (28 Days Later.) I will likely watch 28 Days Later again tomorrow, because man, that movie is totally different than I remembered. I vlogged a bit of watching it, and I will probably blog about it as well, for the Zombie Reviews. I know prefer to watch something many times before reviewing it, and since so much of 28 Days Later was totally different many years later, and because I have all this new found down time, I will watch it, vlog it, write it…and likely many other things I do will be covered in much the same way.

I plan on vlogging, for sure on weed tube, maybe on youtube, as well as maintaining the social media, but now I will do it with the knowledge that I need to monetize and also advertise my communications skills to possibly get some clients again. A while back, I had a few clients I did social media work for, and I think I may have to take a few back up again, if I can find some who are needing such work. I also have, of course, the lay off unemployment benefits, but since I had those benefits back three years ago during Hurricane Harvey, and my address has since changed, I have to wait till Monday to get the address changed, then get a new card sent here. I can submit my benefits request, once the new card is going to go to the right place, to ensure no delay in the funds I will need to stay afloat.

So, other than the obligation of filling out that benefit information, which due to everyone else trying to get on it too, kept crashing on the website, so now I have to wait till Monday, when I change my address, to resubmit it, but at least I have filled it out so much I can easily get it done fast, BUT other than all of that, I now can, guilt free, work on my art.

Naturally, once the shock of it all wears off, hopefully after a good nights rest, I will be less in shock, and able to set up a schedule for myself, moving forward for content development.

I told myself, above all else, I would use this time to work on my art. This is a few weeks (or however long) of time that I will be unable to work and unable to job hunt for anything else either, it is literally a perfect time to work on everything I haven’t had time for.

My art, of course, will be my main focus. I will also have time to work on projects around the house, like today, cleaning the stove and changing out the drip pans. I can deep clean parts of the apartment, and get the bedroom sorted for my needs. I can also touch up paint around the place, and, maybe, just maybe, clean out the hallway closet to get more storage space that we desperately need around here.

And, of course, I can maybe get some fitness work done, get back into my cardio grind, as well as my working out and yoga I like to do to stay in shape. Everyone recommends sticking to a schedule of some sort, I don’t know if I will stick to the usual rise in the morning go to bed in the evening thing, namely because that doesn’t work for me, and if I am going to use this time, and truly view it as a gift, I think it would be fun to also allow my sleeping pattern to fall into what feels natural and allows me to perform best. This is also a great chance to see if I am still as good a writer late and night as I have always thought I was.

So, to sum up, I have been left unemployed during this Coronavirus situation. I have noticed more people calling it COVID-19 but I don’t like that name, too clinical. Also Coronavirus denotes the crown shapes the virus has, apparently, while also paying homage to a saint, who I believe is a saint for pandemics.

And I, dear readers, love life little poetic moments like that.

Also, my phone is now trained to auto-correct to coronavirus, and I haven’t done the same amount of typing for COVID-19 so…Coronavirus it is.

So this is where I am with the Coronavirus updates. Laid off, and trying to consider it a blessing, because now I can work on all the things I never have time for. I am hopeful that I can properly use this time to really dive into my art and side projects, and come out the other side of this in a better situation, whatever that may look like.

However long this may last, I want to make sure I can look back and say I did the best I could with the hand of cards I was dealt.

Basically: No excuses, Abbi. It is time to finish this part of Flake City. And Vlog the whole damn thing.

It is officially time to work day and night on my art, without guilt, because there is nothing else I can do, and going outside is kind of a big no no.

We haven’t started a lock down yet but we have been hearing nonstop rumors. If the news from other countries is to be believed, (Some better equipped for this disaster than we are) we are in for more, much more, before it gets better.

Depending on who you listen to, this could get much, much worse, or just a little worse. We have, again, depending on many different sources and factors, anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, where we will be dealing with this virus. Some people believe it could be years.

However long it ends up being, I will need to find a way to bring in money, but, I can also use this time to make my art, which can, also, bring in money. Plus, with Flake City being all about a city that gets quarantined when Flake City is infected with a zombie virus…maybe people will find it topical and enjoy the reading. Or they will be so over it they will hate me. Either way, I will be finishing part one to Flake City, and working on editing and illustrating it for publication later this year.

So I hope you all continue to enjoy that sort of content.

If not, oh well, I enjoy it, and that is, frankly, more than enough.

Be sure to follow me on all the social media, including WeedTube and YouTube, my screen name on all social media sites, yes including TikTok, is @abbigrasso

I hope you enjoyed this more personal daily blog style update. Now that we are out of Coronavirus limbo and into self isolation, with a possible side of government mandated shut downs that will make social isolation enforced, I may update more about the daily day to day life of my writing. I am considering adding a second blog every day to my schedule, like I do on Fridays, so keep an eye out for that and feel free to comment or contact me on the social media of your choice, if you want more blogs every day.

Wash your hands, stay safe, and thanks for reading.

❤️

Abbi