The acme of my creativity

Over Christmas, my 5-year old nephew was upset about having to mop the floor. I tried to cajole him, but he just needed to bummed for a few minutes and, no joke, after being grumpy for 5 minutes, he was over it and got to work. And I watched him and said, "You need some mop mittens." He liked that idea and we came up with two or three other chores he could use mittens for. I left for home with a promise that I would make him some mop mittens.

And, only 5 months later, I have done it! I am not an overly crafty person, so these primitive guys are a high achievement for me. And I did have fun making them. It took me a couple of trial runs, and I did have a technical snafu which resulted in buying a new sewing machine*, but I did it. Creating is a good feeling. 

Now to send them off and hope that they do the job. If not, I guess we'll do a little more experimenting.  

*Came in really handy for making face masks last week.

Pandemic observations

Empty streets are delightful for photographers--and skateboarders. So many skateboarders out!

Mondays are just as rough when you are working from home as when you go into the office. (And I know that I am incredibly lucky to know this. I wish everyone could personally experience this. I really do).

Sometimes, there is no perfect decision, there is just a "doing the best we can" decision.

It doesn't take long to adapt to a new normal. Which is now just the current normal. Don't worry, though, it will change again.

I think I need a nanny. No, not for kids, as I don't have any. For me.

The mail gets reeaaaaally boring. Even the junk mail is sparse.

We thought virtual was the answer to everything. And now? Maybe not so much.

My bed has never been so comfortable.

Per my sister, parents teaching their kids at home are not just parents and teachers. They are janitors, lunch ladies/men, principles, and administration for a range of ages (one-room schoolhouse is making a comeback) and at the same time, they are none of those things if your child is a teenager.

Sometimes, you just gotta make a decision. Never use the word "encourage" or any form of it in a pandemic situation. Just tell people what to do and what not to do. Don't worry--a bunch of them will still ignore you, but at least everyone will know what they ought to be doing.

And, to quote s a college professor, this timeless truth has proven its timelessness and truthfulness yet again: People are people, wherever [and whenever, and in whatever circumstances] you find them.*

*No. This wasn't on the exam. But it is the most memorable and useful thing I got from the class. 

The View from my Window

I saw a headline the other day and it said something about the view from the author's window. I didn't read the article, so I have no idea what it was actually about*. But the idea of writing about what can be seen from your window is quite appealing. Except that I live in a basement apartment. And basically the view from my window is rocks, some bushes, grass, maybe pavement, bricks from the building next door, and if I'm lucky, feet. In fairness, my apartment complex is not a hive of activity at the best of times, so even if I had an upstairs apartment, it isn't likely there would be a ton to see, either.

Once in a while, I get lucky and some of the young'uns pop by and we chat through the window. That improves the view, first because it puts something in the view, but also because it's interactive, and that's always fun. Clearly, though, I didn't move here for the view.

I am pretty lucky, though, because all I have to do is cross the street and there are some fantastic views, especially in the spring. Oh my flowers! It's the best. I've been getting out and about most days to enjoy that view. This week, there have been a lot more people--not masses, but instead of 1-2, maybe 6-8. And we're outside, and spread out, so it's fine. But I miss having it all to myself. I liked having it all to myself. I mean, it was odd, but nice in a way. I mean, I remember the good old days when you couldn't cross the plaza without running into a crowd. When you couldn't get pictures without having a stranger in them. And now I'm kind of freaking out because there are 6-8 people instead of 2?! It just goes to show the incredible capacity of humanity to normalize weird situations.

So for now, no view from my window, but if I ever do have a great view, I'll let you know.

*This is the story of my life. I read LOADS of headlines and very few articles. It's amazing how much you can get from a headline. Thanks, headline writers.

The pretendness of time

I hope that, after weeks of social distancing and isolation, we can all agree that measuring time is just a pretend thing we do to feel some sense of control over the universe.

I mean, it was already up in the air for me before. How else do you explain the way I can simultaneously feel like an old tired woman who remembers' back in the day when' and pays bills and taxes and a 5-year old who has no idea how to prepare an actual meal and contemplates the best foods for food fights?

But now. Well. I can't actually remember how many weeks it has been since I started working from home. I have no idea what day of the week it is when I wake up in the morning. Tuesday? Friday? A month from next Thursday? No clue. I may or may not have gone to the bathroom during my 'work' day and mealtime--well, there is no such thing anymore. Without the structures we have created, time is kind of a non-thing.

Or in the beautiful prose of a friend, Lauren, "Time is now some sort of elastic quicksand that is simultaneously drowning me and not affecting me."

Yeah. It's like that.

Food fight

A while back, I was at this event helping to prep salads*. It was this fancy schmancy thing, where you put stripes of toppings, and I was doing the pepitas and it occurred to me that they are the PERFECT food fight food. They are dry, not sticky, very throwable, but easy to clean up.

Unlike the couscous. What a mess! I mean, maybe dry couscous could work (although it is a bit small). But cooked? It sticks to everything. Absolutely unthrowable. And clean up? Nightmare.

So, now I think someone needs to write the official guide to food fight foods. You have to consider texture (yes, this matters), throwability, cleanup, throwing satisfaction, impact when hit, edibility of food (I mean, M&Ms would be a great food fight food, but how do we feel about wasting chocolate like that?).

I know it may sound daft but let's be real. We are all stuck at home. We all feel like throwing things at some point during the day. It's important to be prepared. Just sayin'.

*because it was a group of women, so of  course it was salad. Eye roll.