These are the Good Old Days - Even 1 Year Later... in a pandemic

Thank You Treats!

This past Saturday was the official Fall Ladies Day Out at the Occasional Shops in Buffalo. We also celebrated our one year anniversary! If you had the pleasure of stopping in our shop we had small treat bags for people to take as a thank you gift!

​Wednesday night Nicole and I spent a few hours re-staging the shop and bringing in some new merch and the treats and as always we complained about things, made observations about things, and laughed about things... 

​It's hard to believe it has been a year since we began this little endeavor. MUCH has changed in a year. Since we started RR I quit my job at the school district I had worked at for over 13 years, sold my house, and moved to the cities. My grandson turned one, my son and his girlfriend got engaged, and Nicole's daughter Anna graduated from high school. And other stuff.... Oh yeah and COVID!

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COVID has overshadowed everything since its inception last spring... It is an understatement to say it has changed our lives. For some people, many people, it has been devastating. Adults and children are suffering. ACES scores are literally increasing for kids... it is hard to know what exactly the impact will have been on the kids. It is hard to know what we can do... or should do... so we just do.

Nicoles Awesome Signs!

When we were setting up the shop on Wednesday we had two signs left from a bunch Nicole had made. Her signs are so cute! "These are the Good Old Days" was one of them. Nicole and I were both like... "How could no one buy this adorable sign!" We are always amazed by the things that sell and don't sell... It never goes the way we think it will. That is a large part of the fun. But now as I sit here reflecting on the past year and thinking about writing this post  I have to wonder if maybe many people are thinking...
"These are NOT the Good Old days." 
COVID is stupid.
It has ruined a lot of stuff for people.
It ruined Anna's graduation.
It is ruining the new school year for so many children.
It ruined our vacations and concert plans.
It is ruining people's weddings.
It is ruining peoples jobs and businesses.
It is literally ruining people's health and lives.
And the list goes on...
And so does life.

Trying to find a "silver lining" can seem insensitive when so many people have had so much added trauma to their lives. But it might be the only way some of us know how to cope. It is how I cope. I have to think about the positives. If there are any... and fortunately for me, I believe there are some. 

We spent this past weekend in South Dakota at my cousin's daughter's wedding. Probably not the smartest thing to do in a pandemic, but we wanted to support our cousin. And there were positives. Even though they had to completely alter a lot of their wedding plans and many people were not in attendance that normally would have been, the couple still made that commitment to be there for each other for life. There was food, drinks, dancing, speeches, presents, cake, and cartwheels. Yes, that is right, CARTWHEELS. (A certain "auntie," whose name shall remain anonymous, has made it a "family tradition" to grace us with her acrobatic abilities during the dance at family weddings.)

We had so much fun! We laughed, and danced, and laughed, and just had a crazy good old time. Shenanigans took place... there was only one "incidental"... a gravy boat may or may not have been broken upon delivery of the wedding gifts. Lots of pictures and videos were taken... (I do believe there is even video of said cartwheel... But we have all been warned about posting pictures or videos of this.) We stayed up way later then we normally do and many of us were very "tired" the next day. Some of us more than others. In all, it was a great event. Good times were had by all. 

I hope the newlyweds will look back on their wedding day and think of it as one of the "Good Old Days." It really was a good day.
And let's face it... we don't know what tomorrow will bring. I know when I start to feel anxious about things I have to remind myself to live in the moment and look for the good stuff. I think COVID has maybe helped some of us do more of that... we have had to slow down and remember how to enjoy the little things as well as the big.  That is the big lesson of this past year isn't it... 
So no matter if you are staging your shop on a Wednesday night or dancing to LIZZO at a wedding with your family, there are still Good Old Days to be had! Sometimes we just have to reinvent them or "reincarnate" them... speaking of which... we like to reincarnate junk into "REALLY GOOD STUFF."

October Storefront 2020

We sell that good stuff at our shop The Reincarnated Rabbit. We started this adventure about a year ago and we feel very blessed that we are still able to make this little shop happen. It brings us joy and we hope if you ever get a chance to stop in you might find a little joy in our shop too. In the meantime... Hang in there everyone and keep looking for the good. It is out there! I promise!