My Personal Covid-versary

The media has been making a big deal about this being our "covid-versary". It's been ONE YEAR of a world-wide lock-down. And who would've ever predicted that? An invisible germ brought the whole world to its knees...and it's really hard to find any light in the dark cloud of this Coronavirus...which has cast a shadow on every single minute of our lives for over a year...

But, in my little corner of the world -- between the 2020 pandemic and John's dementia -- the silver lining is that my house has never been in better shape.

The surprise benefit of this last year is that I've had the time to seriously deep-clean my house. I also Frankensewed every damn thing -- I cut up t-shirts and old towels -- I made quilts, sheet sets, modified swimsuits....

In the beginning, there was a lot of cooking. When I realized I couldn't buy yeast -- I was determined to bake bread! For months, I followed Michael Symon's daily Facebook recipes. Although I enjoyed experimenting with new recipes, and I loved getting the Every Plate meal kits delivered to the house -- John was not a fan of trying new food. So I was actually EATING MORE...

(But I learned that I can buy an excellent Thai Sweet Chili Sauce in a big bottle at HyVee.)

After the intense sewing and cooking -- I spent weeks refinishing a vintage buffet. I wanted to have something permanent and tangible from 2020. For the rest of my life, every time I open a drawer to get a napkin, I will remember...or, at least, I hope I do....

While waiting for the varnish to dry between coats -- I started to clean out every drawer in our bedroom. I hauled scores of garbage bags to the Goodwill. I donated all the clothes we will never wear again. Don't ask me why John had three suits -- but they are all gone. And, as it turns out, I don't need 11 winter coats or 17 bath robes. Ugh. I actually donated a dozen pairs of perfectly good dress pants that fit me. BECAUSE I DECIDED I HAD TOO MANY CLOTHES FOR ONE PERSON...

THEN, I started to burn through the 40 year accumulation of paper that lived in file cabinets, desk drawers, and boxes in the basement. WHAT WERE WE THINKING?? Decades of electric bills and manuals for appliances that died years ago...thousands of pages went up in smoke...

Then, too, the really big thing? The TELEVISION WATCHING has been intense -- and has changed forever. Besides my usual crappy BRAVO shows, the Law and Order marathons and HGTV, I discovered Netflix!! OMG....WHO KNEW? I might be a little late to the party -- but streaming has changed my life... (my favorite binge series is Last Tango In Halifax)...

If my 2020 life was a television show, it would be a cross between Sewing with Nancy, Chopped, Swedish Death Cleaning and Survivor.