For as excited as I am to see that states are starting to open up, I have to admit that I’m starting to feel a tiny bit of nostalgia for quarantine downtime already.
In a weird way, this time has been really beautiful. I’ve treated it as a retreat of sorts and have really seized the opportunity to do things I never “had the time” to do before. I’ve really learned to re-prioritize and focus on what’s really important.
While I’m hoping that life never completely “goes back to normal” in the sense that I don’t want to lose focus on what I learned through all this, I’m overall SO excited to be able to go to restaurants and see friends again. This time has been lovely, but I’m ready to have an in-person social life again.
In the name of taking a small step back from my regularly-scheduled “how to” posts, I thought I’d take today to really express my gratitude for what we’ve all been through. I hope you can take today to focus on the positives while looking forward to some good times to come.
FaceTime Happy Hours
Are real, in-person happy hours better than FaceTime ones? Obviously. But, there are a few things I’ll miss about FaceTime, including the fact that I can have “happy hour” with my friends all over the country. Since we’ve been on lockdown, some of these happy hours have gone as long as three hours, requiring phone charge after phone charge. I’ve had longer conversations with people than I’ve had in years. It’s been pretty lovely.
Daily walks with Jim
My “zen” has reached a whole new level and I’m loving it. When the weather cooperates, I sign off my laptop around 5 or 5:30 and meet up with Jim for a walk. Sometimes we go in my neighborhood. Sometimes we go in his. Sometimes we go to a Civil War battlefield, the towpath near Great Falls or to one of the lakes near us. We’ve gotten to explore the area, spend a ton of time outside and just enjoy each other’s company in a relaxed, beautiful environment. I will treasure the memories we’ve made on these walks forever.
Time with the pups
It’s no secret that I love my dogs and I they’re definitely loving quarantine time more than anyone because I’m home so much. Under normal circumstances, Cannoli comes with me to work on Thursdays so he’s already with me a lot, but Frickle is relishing in the extra snuggles and midday playtimes… and I am too.
Time-Consuming Cooking
For as much as I love to cook, I’ll be the first to admit that I have used time constraints as a reason not to. Rather than sticking with my regular chicken quesadilla, soup, smoothie, chicken fingers, roasted veggies rotation, I’ve explored some new recipes, bought meal kits (Martha and Marley Spoon is my current favorite) and worked on pairing wines with meals. I even made pierogies from scratch, which takes forever but the effort is soooo worth it. It’s been lovely and I’m so thankful to have some new recipes to bring with me for years to come.
Lazy Evenings
This should come as a shock to absolutely no one, but I am very type-A and always feel like I need to be doing something. For example, I never go to bed with a dirty kitchen. Every morning, I wake up and make my bed. I work more than a need to because I love it. But, as often is the case, we all need to unplug, and I’m getting better at doing that.
With more time during the day, I feel truly accomplished by 6ish after I’m back from my walk. I have dinner, sometimes with Jim, sometimes just with my dogs staring at me. I work on my blog for a bit… And then I watch TV. Or I do needlepoint. Sometimes, I knit. I turn on my oil diffuser and just zonk out. I unfortunately am sure these relaxing evenings will quickly subside when things go back to normal. Let’s be real, I physically can’t relax until everything that I want to get done is done, and there just won’t be as much time, but I’m enjoying it for now.
One thing I have really strived for throughout this whole pandemic is being grateful, and I encourage you to do the same. Focus on the positives, even when it’s difficult. I’m confident we’ll remember this time not only as a time of trials, but also as a time of sweet, irreplaceable joy. Today I hope you can find the joy in your current situation. Have a great weekend!
