Positives of All this Time at Home

I just thought I'd take a minute to mention some of the positive things that have come out of us staying at home.

1. Butch has become downright chatty. I'm listing that as a positive, but it wasn't that long ago that Connie and I discussed that we were pretty lucky that we had "quiet" guys. You would think that with all this time at home, we'd run out of things to talk about---and we have. But now, it's a lot of conversation about the news and the shows we're watching. He can get worked up about the news. We've become pretty critical about it. Like the stories about the nurses who left their homes and families to go to NYC to help. Well, it looks so self-sacrificing, but what they don't mention is that these out-of-town nurses are being paid $10,000 a WEEK!

Now don't get me wrong, we love nurses and know that many of them are making lots of sacrifices for the rest of us. Heck, we have our own little nurse in the family. Even she was tempted to go to NYC with a couple of her friends.

Hats off to ALL the regular people out there that continue to work for no additional pay and even for some who are still working for reduced pay. We have that in the family too.

When it comes to the shows we watch, this is a common for Butch. "Wait, pause it." Then he proceeds to tell me something about what just happened on the show. Sometimes it's an interesting fact. Sometimes it's a comment like, "that would never happen"--and then the reason why. Or most likely, "wait, go back"---because he/we missed something that seems important.

2. Butch and I have had a lot more time together. A couple years ago, we started our "Butch and Barb Days"--B&B Days. We've done more puzzles---7 and counting---in the past 8 weeks than we have in the last almost 49 years. We've walked, geo-cached, planted our flower pots, cooked, had too many happy hours to count and cleaned. A lot. Okay, maybe not that much, but we don't love it, so once a week seems like a whole lot! And we've only done the areas we're actually using---4 rooms and 2-4 bathrooms. More time spent together is definitely a positive.

3. We started off getting the garage cleaned out. We didn't finish it. I'm hoping that we still will. We'll have to see about that. We both hate that. But, it has to be done. Yeah, I need to get us back to that. If we actually finish it, that will be a positive.

4. Zoom happy hours. That's been a positive because we've included Sandy and family. We're looking forward to getting back to our regular Friday night happy hours here.

5. With NO sports on television, we're watching more things together---which has lead to more conversation (see point #1). It's been positive because Butch has been more willing to try some new series. He's even said he'd like to watch a couple movies---but that hasn't happened yet.

6. We realize how set in our ways we are. I've always called it living on a timeline. But then I noticed that we both do---and maybe it's more about being "old." We get up early, have our coffee/tea while checking our computers and watching the news. By 8 a.m. or so, we go our separate ways and each do our own thing. We might plan something. If not, we meet up again around 4---for an hour of puzzle time. Then it's dinner and some tv shows. I'm listing this as a positive because we've added the puzzle togetherness to our schedule.

7. Procrastination is at an all time high around here. With all this time on our hands, we're not getting as much done as I would have liked. It's too easy to procrastinate. I'm still saying it's a positive because I have actually accomplished several things.

8. I'm getting a bit fitter with all this walking. At least I think I am. I don't really know, nor can I tell anything about myself. I'm still huffing and puffing on that long, slow hill at the end of my walks. Also, I'm enjoying spending more time outside paying attention to nature. Definitely a positive.

9. Even though I've cooked a lot more, Butch still doesn't care about that. So I'll not need to feel guilty when I stop. Actually, I never really did. Another positive, learning I don't have to feel guilty about only cooking 2 or 3 times a week. Every day is too much for Butch!

10. How will our lives change when the stay at home order ends? Hmmm. Probably not much. This has pretty much already been our life. We've already added the masks. That's a positive.

We're definitely ready to start spending time with our family and friends and that's definitely a positive! What positive things have you noticed due to this unusual time?