Living in the Time of Corona

Hello, my corona friends and I hope you are all happy and healthy and all snuggled up for a cold winter’s night. Yes, I daresay the temperature has definitely gone down around here and not just because it is January in New England but could have something to do with those snowbirds flying south to Florida. Oh, I can see clearly now the sky is blue and it sure has been so very blue, but more importantly crisp and clean this past week.  I might even say I have a little kick in my step, even with the news that double masking may be best at this crazy time. Seriously I just want to throw this dam mask off and never see it again and especially here in this cold damp weather, we go for a walk and that dam ting is soaking wet when we get home. This is especially relevant because we all know that the only enjoyment or visit with our friends is an outdoor stroll or a many mile walk as that is the only activity we can look forward to besides the fantasy of what is for dinner today?   Well, last week the Boston Globe published an article about supporting our Restaurants with take-out, and being the good citizen that I am I was happy to oblige. I told my roommate that it was our civic duty to do the research and support those small businesses that really needed the help and it was a culinary delight.  Of course, it did happen to coincide with me getting shut off from hello Fresh and there was no delivery box waiting for us at our door last Sunday. Imagine our surprise when upon entering our building last week there were three boxes for our floor and ours wasn’t one of them, for the record there are six units on our floor. After further investigation, it turned out that I had neglected to update my credit card on file, as I had to cancel mine and get a new one. This is something I do about 3 times a year and often wonder if they are thinking what is with this lady and why can’t she keep track of her cards?  Funny now they actually ask you do you want to put it on hold and see if you find it or just send a new one, pandemic changes everything, as they even ask if you want it to a new address? Now you know we live in one room so there are not that many places to look so pretty safe bet it is gone for good, but wouldn’t you know techie was looking for his shoes under the bed and found my card last week, how it got there I have no idea. But I can tell you that search led to throwing out a lot of stuff that had piled up in a very short time. My roommate came home from a dental procedure and looked in our medicine cabinet and found that all the Advil, Tylenol, etc. was years past the expiration date and I had to make a trip to CVS.  Well seriously we have only been here a little over 5 years so how bad can it be? I really don’t pay attention to the dates but he thought it was important so now all replaced. I will not replace them with any Costco versions of the super-size as we will never go through them fast enough, as I never get headaches I only apparently give them. Of course, this go-round led me to my kitchen cupboards and the expiration of some foods and if it was only two years past the expiration date it made the cutoff remain, hey it is still a pandemic. They hit the fridge ok there may have been a few salad dressings with a few years past but they had never been opened so they were deemed safe. The freezer was not too bad considering everything gets pile onto the old but maybe just tossed a few but I am drawing the line at my precious pierogis may have been a few years but I think it will only make them better.

This brings me to my conclusion tonight and must say with maybe a bit more abundance of joy that was necessary I was more than happy to throw out the Cheetos that have been living under my cushions and in my head for the last 4 years and yes that is one expiration date that I will wholeheartedly honor.

 Just saying………………………….

Of course, even if you don’t like Bernie he definitely stole the show this past week and I loved it.

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Good evening my Corona friends and I can only hope that you are happy and well during this most insane time of our lives.  I can’t believe I just put a 3 in front of the days since I started this blog and pretty soon we will be approaching a year, which never in my wildest dreams did I see that coming. Speaking of dreams are we all still having nightmares?  I swear some days I wake up and I have to yell at my roommate for what I was dreaming about last night. He was complicit in those nightmares! I can’t even blame it on the vodka or the chardonnay anymore, but the excellent thing is in a few days I won’t be able to blame it on Cheeto because he will be what I hope is a distant memory. Dam I hope we all wake up this weekend and find that this was all a bad dream, and there really is no virus and we didn’t have a reality tv star leading our country. Anyway moving forward I am not going to dwell on the coulda, shoulda, woulda but now it is a time for a change. There will be no more genuflecting to our fearless leader because that ship has clearly sailed.  As I write this the clock is ticking and let it be noted that it is 1 day, 13 hours, and 54 minutes and 48 seconds, now 39 but you get the picture clearly I am paying attention to the coming change. Hey, do I think there is going to be some miraculous change overnight to take us out of this nightmare?  No, but at least I won’t have to listen to a carnival barker telling us we turned the corner, and we will all be out of it soon.  Listen do you hear the quiet? Yes it has been eerily silent for more than a week, not to say my cable news stations haven’t been ad nauseum with all that has happened in the past ten days but can we move on to our new reality already. I mean when the heck this old lady is going to get that vaccine so I can get on a plane, dine inside and visit my baby, who is going to have a baby come June. I know it seems like it is all about me but right now it is all about my roommate and my kids, and grandkids. I remember a month ago watching early one morning with the whole country as the FedEx and ups trucks pulled out with those vaccines, the whole country felt hopeful but where the hell did they go?  Now they announce there is no backup, but I hear there is something called Vaccine tourism in Florida, could it be true?  How do I book a trip and does this include 7 nights and six days at a beachfront hotel?  Ok, I can’t believe I am going to say it but I may be willing to stay at a Holiday INN Express if it comes with a vaccine, no spa treatments included. Seriously we could breathe a bit easier if we had a date as to when this would be happening, I mean it would be something to look forward to and maybe even get dressed up for the occasion.

Techie and I got all dolled up a few nights ago for our company party and he even wore his tuxedo. We got a few weird looks leaving our building when I mentioned we were on our way to a big party.  I did let people know it was of course a ZOOM party because we are all responsible adults. Just heading to a secure location other than our one room.  I laugh when I think about it because every year I have to run around on the day of the party looking for something to wear and it drives me bananas, but this year I was happy to dress up and pretend we were somewhere else.  I am thinking that I may just have to plan one day of dress-up each week just to feel some kind of normalcy. But who am I kidding most days I have a coffee stain on my shirt, my hair doesn’t look combed in the back and I never wear any makeup. In fact just last week I was working with Brian on an early Saturday morning and after a few hours I realized my shirt was on inside out, I said why didn’t you tell me he said I thought you knew and maybe spilled something. I wish I could blame it on pandemic but this pattern was sealed long before covid, so add it to the list of things not happening after Covid.

Well, one thing techie and I don’t have to worry about is how to entertain kids and see that they follow along on remote learning. Today our daughter told us that she booked an adventure for Charlie, and no it wasn’t Disney world but for a small fee of 30 bucks, you could take a goat for a run. Yes, you heard right a GOAT. That’s what I have been saying this Pandemic has brought out the entrepreneurial spirit in some and if you can get people to come and walk your Goats you are a better man than I.

Just saying….

Now 1 day 13 hours , 23 minutes and 29 seconds

Good evening my Corona friends and I hope everyone is healthy and happy.  I really can’t believe what is going on out there in Covid world but it seems to have gotten much worse, and this after great news about a vaccine. I guess we never really did turn the corner and looks like a lot of sharp curves ahead till we get to the other side. I really don’t want to sound like the grim reaper but man oh man the world has gotten really freaking crazy. I mean it wasn’t enough that we are still going through life as the masked bandits but then we had an assault on our nation that really shook us all to the core. I am all for protesting, as one of the best points in this country that we can do it in a very public venue, but holy shit what happened?  I have never been a fan of the Orange one but this time he really was off his rocker. I mean if you looked at some of the get-ups on these people, you really could have some fun with a commentary, but the violence and death just knocked any joy of making fun of the “deplorables”.   Really we are approaching a year anniversary since we went into lockdown and every time I think of anything worse that can happen, it happens but this was the Topper of all. I have been to a lot of protests in my day, but none that turned so ugly and incited by the Dude who lives in the White House, WTF? can he exit fast enough?  I really found it very hard to stay away from the news channels this week and every day I saw a little more that I wished I hadn’t. Apparently, people found it convenient to defecate in the hallways and even my grandson Charlie who is a big fan of nature pee knows enough that it has to be outside. I have visited the capitol building a few times and if I ever get the chance to go back, I will be thinking about where I might step, not a good visual.  I hate to say it but I wonder how many Halloween costumes next year will be like that guy with the Rams head?  I wonder if he was in full regalia when he was arrested.  Apparently, he is some type of Shaman so I hope it works out for him in prison and he can start a new cult following. Anyway, I shouldn’t even joke about it but sometimes when it is so tragic you don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

I was lucky on Wednesday as I was at work and could tune out what was happening until that is when everyone’s phone started pinging with news alerts and I couldn’t wait to get home to watch it on TV. Luckily that evening I was lucky enough to be invited to yet another Zoom cocktail party, but this time for a very fabulous occasion of my friend Lisa’s Birthday. I have to say I was thrilled to have such a pleasant distraction. She has a group of women friends that call themselves the Foxy ladies. They are a sassy group and when I became friends with her, through another fox, I managed to wiggle myself into an honorary Foxy position. There is nothing better than being part of a group of very supportive women who love each other and are there for each other. So thanks for allowing me to be a part of it and I love all the stories. Lisa, we promise there is an in person celebration brewing in the future. Well needless to say it was a rough week and I was at a real low come the weekend and what I really wanted was to go somewhere and not just a 5 mile walk around the city, where I peek in the windows of restaurants and see diners enjoying a night out and knowing that won’t be me anytime soon, I would go in but my roommate is a definite no so will have to wait for the vaccine. Techie decided Friday night that he would set a nice table and got some delicious take out with candles and all. We could have our own restaurant right at our kitchen counter and he even agreed to a dance party and we cranked up the music. What better way to end the night but smoke ’em if you got em and my son in law keeps us in good supply? The only problem is we couldn’t find a proper receptacle to use and MacGyver was thinking the old tampon and tin foil routine would work, but hey there are no tampons in this home any longer so he was improvising with the paper towel holder but anyway we worked it out. Finished the night with Junior Walker and dancing with my lover, ok I can do another day.  The world is going to be a better place because I have to believe for the sake of Charlie, Maisie, and Tilda that it will be.

 Just saying……………………..

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Good evening my Corona friends. I hope you are happy and healthy. First, let me wish you all the Happiest freaking New Year, and hope you are all in line for the vaccination. Who would have ever thought that in this day and age so many of us would be anxiously awaiting a shot. I usually would be hiding from a flu shot, only because the sight of a needle freaks me out. Let me just state that yes I am ready willing and able for my shot in the arm. Anti Vaxxers? Bring them on! More for the rest of us! Of course, I am thinking I am already of an age where I have over the years put a lot of untested and unknown things in my body that this vaccine is the least of my worries, bring it on ASAP.  Well, I know the news won’t be good after all the people who traveled over the holidays and are now back spreading the love, but we have to keep trying to put an end to it.

I know now when my roommate and I take our daily walks around the city and I look in a restaurant and see people enjoying dinner out I feel like crying because I want to be part of it. The worst thing was today I peeked in a place and people were sitting at a bar while dining, my favorite perch, and all this time I thought bar seating was off-limits.  I seriously wanted to break our family rules and just go for it, but alas I did not and settled for takeout with my own bottle of wine. Yes, I have read about sober January, but this is a Pandemic, and no need to be overzealous, ok maybe only on weekends, but that may be too harsh. Let’s just say one day less a week and there are eight days in a week, right? This New Year Eve was a different kind of celebration. It was one that surely made up for how bummed we were feeling for not being able to have our traditional New Year’s dinner with friends because we were lucky enough to have two important overnight guests.  That is right my friends we had a sleepover with Charlie and Maisie our grandchildren. Their parents went nowhere but just wanted a night off, and as a matter of fact, they forgot to pick them up the next day as they were in a bit of euphoria. I mean in today’s world who could really blame these parents that are working from home and while trying to keep the online learning going at the same time.  Heck, I had a full-time Nanny but there were still times when I really thought I might leave my son Max among the lettuce in the grocery store. Today they have many more worries and I can only imagine all those toddler heads in the produce aisles at the grocery store and what kind of picture that would be. Well, we were very lucky that the weather held and we were able to spend hours at the park outside our door because this one room can get exceptionally small when we break out all the Legos and trucks with two small people.  It was like a dam had opened on New Year’s Day with the sun out in a nice 35-degree weather everyone was at that park, slipping and sliding you could almost forget there was a plague except for all those little masked creatures on the slides. I really don’t want to pay it any mind because it makes me sad when I have to zip up their jackets, get their hats and mittens, and oh ya now we need a mask.  I think most of them are faring pretty well and I love them for it. The sad news is that their parents remembered they had two kids and came yesterday to reclaim them, so we reluctantly returned them and cleaned up all the debris from having two kids who you let do absolutely anything they want while under your roof.  Well after all the excitement and fine dining on mac and cheese and hot dogs I decided today was definitely going to be take out day and I had the perfect place in mind. My friend Sarah had told me about the most perfect chicken Parmigiana in Boston. We placed our order at Table in the North End with a pick up at 3:30, Techie misheard the closing time and a whole another story about getting a hearing aid, but we got to the place at about 3:15 and it closed at 3 but the door was open so I walked in and it was all dark. I yelled out and she called from downstairs what do you want? Just my take out, “go next door to the market and I will come up.” That was closed as well but the person opened the door and let us in. The chef came up to berate us that we were late as they closed at 3 and we should have picked up at 2:30.  I said no worries we placed it online and could we get it another day, we had it wrong. No, she was going to make it for us, but we were late and would have to wait outside, while she turned the oven back on and cooked it for us. She left to do her magic and I said to the woman in the shop, well if she was going to make it for us she should at least do it with a smile because right now we thought she was rather a bitch.  Well of course I was willing to wait because I had already anticipated the best chicken parm and since we skipped lunch we were going to have it for Lupper, as I hear the new dinner hour is 5 pm and we are giving it a shot, as now we just eat all the time and dinner is 7:30 so enough time for snacks. I was sitting on a bench outside waiting for this most anticipated dinner, I got to thinking about a most delicious sandwich Shoppe we used to frequent in Cambridge, High rise bakery it was fantastic and probably still is but they had the worst customer service and they were downright nasty at times.  I kept going back because the food was so dammed good that I could stand the abuse if I could just get that number 4 sandwich. Funny I am not a big yelper in fact probably have never posted just feel it is a place to complain but then one day looking for High Rise number the yelp reviews popped up and it was hilarious how bad they rated the service but how incredible the food was and for that we can overlook the rudeness. So that was what I was thinking on that bench waiting for my dinner tonight when she came out with my order and said that she gave me an extra helping as they were out of pasta, didn’t know it was included, her employee that chef was rough around the edges but really a good person inside.   Well, I can relate because sometimes I go on tirades and hope no one is listening.  The reason I am going to give her a pass is because that dinner tonight was beyond delicious. First, there was an amazing huge piece of Focaccia that was dripping in oil and rosemary that took the edge off the hunger till I could reheat the dinner, and all I have to say that I will be ready, willing, and able to take the abuse if you can deliver this scrumptious a dinner.  Funny how this shutdown all comes down to food and toilet paper.

Just saying……….