10 Things to Keep for After
March 15th, 2020 was the day that we started to “Stay Home.”
It was also my birthday.
This Monday, it was my birthday again.
Last March 15th, we didn’t know how bad it was going to get. This year, we know it will get better, but not how soon.
In between, I’ve found things that helped me. Things that I want to carry forward, into some easier After.
10 Things I’m Keeping From This Year
Extended coffees with my husband
I need to get up from this table. I need to get to work. I’m wasting so much time, was what I’d tell myself in the early days of lockdown, when I sat in the kitchen too long in the mornings. Eventually I realized that lingering over coffee with my husband was the reason I could go to work AT ALL. His company, that ritual, kept me going the rest of the day.Making bread
Not the complicated kind. Just this no-knead recipe, which made the rounds from daughter Genevieve to daughter Caroline to me. Even after I felt secure that there would be a steady flow of groceries, this bread was so good and easy I just kept making it.ADD Meds
When one adult daughter was diagnosed with ADD a few years ago, I realized—at first with shock, then it was so, so obvious—that I had it too. But hadn’t I survived this long without assistance? Developed my workarounds? I had a quiet house and a predictable schedule…And then, not so much. Cue the assessment. Bless you, Vyvanse. I’m never going back.Short challenges
OK, so if we’d KNOWN we were going to be here a year ago, we might have made different plans. But the value of short challenges is that you don’t have to know what’s coming, or commit for too long. Austin Kleon calls it the 30-day ‘Practice and Suck Less’ Challenge. What you choose to suck less at, is up to you. I took Kerry Clare’s Blog School Course in cold, dark February, and came away with 7 blog posts and a sense of accomplishment. What’s next?Listening along
I always say I’m not good at music. (I was once married to a music aficionado, so what can one do but compare?) But when the fabulous Olivia Ball asked me to be a guest on her radio show, Make Liv a Mix Tape, the playlist and the conversation it sparked were a joy. Thanks to others who’ve prompted similar sharing, I’ve added an eclectic soundtrack to the weirdness.Grocery delivery
I hate going to the grocery store. Now I don’t. That is all.Snow removal service
Shoulder injuries and shovelling don’t mix. Which is the only reason my husband consented to getting someone else to shovel “when we’re home and can do it ourselves.” Sorry, honey. That is totally happening again.Writing letters
Mini journals. Little offerings. I’m writing letters again. Sometimes I send them out with a stamp, sometimes attached to an email.Evenings
If I find it hard to start working (see items 1 and 3), then I REALLY find it hard to stop. This year, I’ve tried to embrace the joy of evenings. Sometimes, I look across the living room and think, What’s become of us? Just hanging out like this, not doing anything productive? Then I remember that we’re having a life. That thing we all want to stick around for.Talking about myself
Out in the world, there was a lot going on. At home though, there weren’t a whole lot of topics. I’m glad I’ve made myself one of them.
What about you? Are there things you’ll be keeping? May I suggest you take notes? Because when I started this list, After seemed a long way off.
Then we got a call. Could my husband be at our family medicine practice on Monday?
On my birthday, he got his vaccine.
L and our amazing family doc, Tejal Patel, who is on leave, but still came in to work the vaccine clinic.