Pandemic life

Well, it's September. Yep. Uh huh. Hell.

Traffic has certainly picked up though. Schools are still closed. I'm still parking on the 1st level in the parking garage at work. That's nice. It's still taking less time to get to work and go home, also nice. Out of 1100 people in our office, I would say that about 15% are working here. Everyone else is still working from home. I guess it will probably remain that way until next year some time. Ho hum. I'm still trying to work from home on Thursdays and Fridays. For the most part, it's working. I like my schedule. Other pros and cons as far as office life goes; Pros = the bathrooms are always clean - there's always coffee in the coffee maker - it's quiet - there's never any waiting for the microwaves at lunch. Cons = the vending machine are empty, no place to go for lunch, the snack shop is still closed, it doesn't feel safe to walk around downtown anymore, (I actually carry pepper spray with me!) and masks masks masks. Is it possible for grouchy people to get grouchier? If you're already sad, can you get sadder?

In our regular lives, we've started trying to return to our tradition of going out to eat every other Friday. It's weird. There's no salt and pepper shakers on the tables anymore. You have to ask and then they bring you little paper packets. Every other table is tapped off so you can maintain social distancing. Most stores seem to be busier but I don't think people browse anymore. Just get in and get out. And so much is still not fully open. We've taken a few drives for the day. But we don't really stop anywhere. Still, it's nice to get out of the house. I have 28 days of vacation stacked up. I guess because I was already home for a couple months, it didn't seem necessary to take vacation time?  I guess I just need to start taking a day here and a day there. I don't want to be one of those people that end up 6 months of vacation on the book when they retire!!

My annual Thanksgiving email is going to be a lot different this year. Maybe I'll skip it.

Did I mention that I applied to participate in a Holiday craft fair this year?!?!? It was a big step for me. Last week I found out I was accepted!!!! I was pretty excited about that. But they had to let us know that they will be holding it online this year and we can participate if we want. Regardless though, we're automatically invited to be in next years show. I'm still trying to decide about the online thing. But for sure next year, I'll be there, in my very own booth/space!