L: hi
L: what’re you doin?
A: i feel like we should stop asking that question
A: the answer is too depressing
L: so true
L: i’ll re-phrase
L: how’s your 1000-piece puzzle coming along?
L: it has 1000 pieces right?
L: not 500
L: not 750
L: you know you call it your ‘1000 piece puzzle’ right?
A: omg no i didn’t know
A: and f you, 1000 pieces is a lot
L: anyway, now that i can’t say what’re you doin,, let’s see what i can come up with
L: have you made any photo albums today?
L: or organized any closets?
L: or done any spring cleaning?
L: because i haven’t
L: even though it seems like i’m supposed to
L: i just have no desire to
A: i haven’t been this unproductive in my entire life
A: with all this time
A: i’m not sure why
L: me neither
L: i just can’t concentrate
L: i mean it’ll be a miracle if we get this blog post out
Here we are. Again. Still quarantined. Still cruising through the grocery store aisles at breakneck speed with gloves on, bandanas up, heads down. Still walking our dogs six feet apart from each other. Still wrapping our heads around these strange, unprecedented days. Still trying to embrace our new normal.
Highlight reel. Take 2.
1. Communicating in the time of corona
Our favorite new word?
Zoom.
We use it all day, every day.
We’ve even started to use it as a verb.
We could have zoomed before. We probably should have zoomed before. We’re zooming our friends that live across town. We’re zooming our friends that live across the country. We’re zooming siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews. We know exactly why we didn’t zoom regularly pre-pandemic. We know exactly why we’re doing it now. We just hope that by adding zoom to our vocabulary of human interaction, we successfully keep it there post-pandemic. At least a little.
L: i zoomed with my love cousins last night
L: it was so good to catch up
A: i zoomed my niece
A: who introduced me to her new hamster
A: and new bunny and new puppy and new lizard
A: oh and her new pink hair
L: whoa, sounds fun
A: she is fun
L: i’m zooming a funeral today at 11
L: it’s so sad that it can’t be in person
L: but at least zoom can get us all there
A: i can’t imagine
A: that’s horrible
L: and then we’re zooming shiva tonight
L: if we can’t be together, at least we can feel like we’re together
A: that’s so nice
A: all this zooming is crazy, right?
A: i feel like i’m zooming everything and everybody
A: bar method classes, happy hours and all of them in pjs
A: don’t tell anyone
A: but i have separate morning and night pjs
L: i won’t tell anyone
L: but just so u know
L: you’re not alone
2. Cooking in the time of corona
L: omg i haven’t left the kitchen
L: in days
L: i clean the kitchen
L: and empty the dishwasher
L: and clean the kitchen
L: and cook
L: and clean the kitchen
A: wait, so have u been cleaning the kitchen a lot?
L: haha
A: well, we’re having a cook-off
A: a full blown competition
A: we’re mostly all just trying to beat will
A: so we play rock paper scissors to see who goes first
A: and ben wins
A: and here’s his menu
A: wait for it
A: french toast
A: with pancakes with m&m’s
A: and hashbrowns
A: oh and i’ll be washing it down with the mimosas he’s making
A: and i’m pretty sure i heard him asking charlie for the recipe
A: and i’m also pretty sure i’ll be using up my pandemic carb allotment on this one meal
So while we’re not ready to fully embrace the silver lining of this pandemic, we can see some shades of silver. Family cook-offs, family dinners, family card games, family 1000-piece puzzles. But besides all the obviously magical family time, we love all the walking and the biking and the zooming and the happy hour-ing and the pj’s all day-ing There’s no doubt we’re ready for a pandemic end-date, but in the meantime, we’re doing our damnedest to notice the silver-ish inner layer.
3. Uncertainty in the time of corona
A: hi
L: hi
L: i’m bummed today
A: same same
L: groundhog day sucks
L: i just want an end date
L: it would make me feel so much more settled
A: me too
A: just tell me when it’s going to be over and i can do it
A: 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 9 months
L: um
L: u can’t do 9 months
A: um
A: this is when you’re supposed to say ‘we’ll get through this no matter how long it lasts’
L: we can’t do 9 months
Unsettled. Uncertainty. It feels yuck.
So how do we deal with this discomfort, this open-endedness?
We’re choosing humor.
Again.
Problem is, we’re not sure we know what’s funny anymore.
We find ourselves so anxious to laugh and unwind, that we’re not sure if we’ve lost our funny gauge.
So try not to judge us too harshly on our meme choices this week. Being unsure of our humor meter + being isolated at home with no end in sight + feeling a teeny tiny bit Eeyore-ish = extra sensitive.
4. Memes in the time of corona
Funny? We’re not sure either.
Obvi.
We’re pretty sure this one holds up, we like it every time we see it.
Pre-pandemic, this was one of our favorites.
Mid-pandemic, this is one of our new favorites.
5. Inspiration in the time of corona
While we’re over here looking for memes that make us laugh and zooming friends near and far and doing our part to help, we’re humbled by the droves of people who are going above and beyond.
The ones who are sewing face masks for doctors and other hospital workers.
The ones who are delivering food.
The ones who are dedicating time to the multiple pandemic relief funds.
The ones who turn boredom and fear into creativity and courage.
This ‘salty mamas’ meme is what we’re appreciating today. Maybe it’s because these times feel like a throwback to our childhood, to a simpler era when we rode purple banana-seat Schwinn bikes. Maybe it’s because our kids are getting a little taste of forced seclusion that somehow breeds ingenuity. Maybe it’s because this is part of the silver-ish lining trickling through the Netflix binge-watching and the Fortnite extravaganza. Maybe.
#whatayearthisweekhasbeen #1000piecepuzzles #afternoonpjs #enddate #2milewalkinthesnowuphillmoment