Triple Digits

Last Saturday, June 20th, was the officially 100-day mark since my company's work from home order and since the pandemic became real.

Last time I wrote a post checking in, it was May 13th and I said I'd be working from home for at least another 48 days. That would've brought us to June 30th. The new return date is August 31st. That's 64 days from now and at that point the total days of working from home will be 171. (I think. Math was never my strong suit.)

171 days.

Honestly, I never thought that we'd go that long. (And who knows, it could go even longer.)

Let's see what's changed (or not changed) since my last check-in:

• 62 days is a LONG time to stay at home with only short trips to the grocery store and the pharmacy. I mean, a LONG time. Thankfully now, at day 108, I actually go more places! I've been to Walmart twice (although, honestly, after those experiences, not sure I'll go back), I've been to Home Depot, Lowe's, and we've gotten takeout a handful of times. I even plan to go to TJMaxx this week. Woo hoo!

• I will be working from home for at least another 48 days. Over ONE HUNDRED days. See above.

• Even though I'm an introvert, I miss being around co-workers. Still the case. I had a social distancing lunch with my friend/co-worker Terry at her house and that was nice. It was nice to see someone live and in person- not on a screen.

• We/I have done some really fun Zoom/Google Hangout happy hours and I have gotten to "see" people I wouldn't see even if there was no pandemic! This has slowed down a bit, although I did Zoom with my parents for the first time on Father's Day which was great. It was good to hear their voices AND "see" them. We also started an online Happy Hour for my department at work, which allows us to have some of that social interaction that I've missed.

• I have pretty much stopped watching TV. (Odd since my last posts were about binge-watching shows.) Call the Midwife makes me cry during every episode and I'm not in a place where I can handle that right now. (If you do need a good cry, I can certainly recommend some episodes.) John and I started watching Killing Eve on Hulu which was great at first and then you know what? I got tired of seeing multiple people getting killed in each episode. (Go figure.) I need a comedy that will make me LAUGH. Season 2 of Netflix's The Politician came out last week and we watched it. While it was good, I liked Season 1 better. But the clothes and the characters are enough to keep me watching.

• We have been getting creative in the kitchen with drinks and food- I'm hoping to share some of those soon. Still cranking out the recipes. As I type, John is making Jordan Marsh's Blueberry Muffins. If you're from Boston/New England, you  know Jordan Marsh, but you may not know that they were known for their legendary blueberry muffins. For those not from around these parts, Jordan Marsh was a department store chain - on the level of Macy's. My last recipe was No Bake Butterscotch Pie. It's really simple and can you really go wrong with butterscotch pudding & Cool Whip? (Don't mind my bad drizzling technique.)

• The weather is SLOWLY getting nicer here in New England, although John informed me that overnight recently we broke a 100 year record for coldest temperature on that day. Hot as blazes here. We had to buy a new window AC, as the floor ones we have sound like a jet is landing in the room. And the window AC we had, well, let's just say that it was a fire hazard.

• I have been slacking on the physical activity side of things. We walked today but hadn't the past few days. Same. The heat is getting to me. We've been walking but I need to get back on the Zoom Pilates bandwagon.

Let's end on some positive notes:

• Massachusetts has been opening up in phases and we are to the point where libraries are now during curbside pickup! Hallelujah! I am OVER reading on the Kindle. I miss real books! I will be able to pick up Julia Alvarez's new book Afterlife on Tuesday and I am pretty excited!

• I got a new desk chair from Wayfair and it has saved my back. While I love my cute upholstered chair from HomeGoods, it's tough on the back/posture. John put it together and voila- a whole new workday.

• I'll leave you with this. We use a local pharmacy and when I picked up my prescriptions maybe a month or so ago, this was in the bag. It was such a nice surprise. I keep it on my bureau and honestly, it makes me smile every time I see it.  I hope you have someone/something that makes you smile during these times.