Holiday Greetings for 2020

 

It’s hard to know what to say about a year so dominated by “pivoting” and toilet paper.  Two normal 

months and bam,  I can’t stop touching my face, we all learned we weren’t washing our hands

 correctly, and suddenly the hot tip of the day is which store currently has supplies of cleaning 

products,  rice, and flour.  I had a “source” for hand sanitizer when it could not be obtained, but not one

 for thin elastic for sewing masks for healthcare workers.  We went from, “ OMG, THAT WAS AN 

EARTHQUAKE” at the end of March to “eh, I don’t think that aftershock was even a 4.2” later in the 

 summer.  And it really felt like a FAST change--in mid-March I accepted a new job and bought a new

 pair of shoes to celebrate, and by the time I started just two weeks later, pants were pretty much 

optional, let alone shoes.  

 

We have been very lucky this year:  Andy is still working for a health information company and the 

demand for accurate, peer-reviewed health information increased as did how frequently the information 

had to be updated, so while he logged some long hours, his company continues going strong, which is 

pretty exciting in 2020.  In March I was offered a job with an internet company that has expanded to our

 area to build a new fiber-to-the-home internet system, as their field marketing manager, combining 

everything I’ve done in my career--marketing, events, telecom, sales, public relations, and customer 

service.  Of course, as part of my job is to arrange to have the sales team out and about at events, it’s 

been pretty challenging and sometimes frustrating, but one definitely has job security when internet 

demand has skyrocketed and one’s company is bringing in the fastest speeds in the valley.  Of course,

 the irony has been that I’ve been doing this while working at home struggling with the limitations of our 

competitor’s internet service while ours is being built.  Such is 2020.  

 

We still have 4 cats, who have loved our new work-from-home situations.  They’ve crashed  interviews 

and video conferences, and we finally had to buy extra cat trees so there was one by each human’s 

workspace in order to distract our little helpers.  Charlie, the adventurous little stray we found last year, 

discovered a way to climb onto the shelf above one of the doorways, which she only did during work 

hours so we would have to stop, get the ladder out, and rescue her, which went on until we finally 

figured out how she was doing it and rearranged the furniture.  She could probably still climb the stone 

fireplace, but thankfully, she hasn’t figured that out yet, and is not too busy playing in the 9-foot 

Christmas tree to try it.

I’ve been quarantined twice for coronavirus exposures at work and once for a community exposure, but 

so far, we are staying healthy and safe, and we’re looking forward to being able to see all of you again 

when it’s safe to do so.  In the meantime, wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season.

 

This year we have learned... 

➔When global emergencies strike, have toilet paper one can use for barter 

➔30 days hath September, but COVID months have at least a year and a half 

➔Both parties need a great deal of trust when it comes to cutting one’s spouse’s hair. 

 Being unlikely to be seen by anyone else until it grows out also helps. 

➔Many people complain about them, but masks are great for walking on the Greenbelt 

during Cottonwood season.

 ➔It’s possible to miss commuting, or at least driving between meetings 

➔It took a surprisingly short amount of time to start checking the schedule while getting 

 ready in the morning to see if one was going to be visible or not 

➔Life is better for everyone when there are regular “kitten breaks”

 ➔We should have bought stock in Zoom 

➔Bumping elbows doesn’t get less weird, even after 9 months

 ➔It’s going to be hard to go back to wearing shoes to work 

➔I know we used to do it before the pandemic, but it seems like three meals a day are a 

 LOT when one is under “stay at home” orders. 

➔I’m one quarantine away from becoming an agoraphobe

 ➔I used to watch funny cat videos for entertainment. Now I watch them to see if there’s 

 anything Charlie hasn’t thought of yet.. 

➔Shooting the messenger is a fantastic way to stop communication 

➔A global pandemic is certainly one way to deal with the problem of how to handle 

 business luncheons while wearing braces

 ➔Since we’re home a LOT, I revived my “new recipe of the week” project, which has been 

closely followed by “thank heavens we have leftovers and don’t have to cook” week 

➔Because I work long and sometimes unusual hours, Andy bought me a daily pill container 

and filled it with M&Ms to help me keep track of what day of the week it is.This is absolutely 

the best thing that happened in 2020 

➔I don’t know what to do in December without 10 or so Christmas parties to attend.

 ➔When the pandemic first hit and everyone else was buying up the flour and toilet paper, I 

stocked up on wine and chocolate. We all have our priorities.

 ➔Charlie has an “I am doing something bad and I want you to see” cry, and it’s REALLY 

 best to respond before she escalates things

 ➔RIGHT before the pandemic hit, I actually scheduled a “nothing” weekend on our calendar

 so we could have an entire weekend where we didn’t go anywhere or see anyone. SO over that by now.

 ➔Knitting isn’t quite the pandemic coping-skill one would think as one’s gauge tightens or 

loosens by how stressed one is. Between the pandemic and the new job, I think I’ve made 

bullet-proof socks.

 ➔We finally caved this year and bought a robotic vacuum cleaner, which keeps locking 

 itself in the bathroom. I don’t think it’s emotionally stable enough for a home with 4 cats

 ➔Employees can overlook problems, but not the consistent failure to fix problems

 ➔We had no idea how much visitors influenced our house cleaning routine

 ➔There’s a lot to be said for working from home, but there’s a lot to be said for being able 

to leave the office

 ➔Somehow the “walk to the kitchen table” commute didn’t lead to more free time.

 ➔Out of everything that happened this year--the pandemic, the earthquake and 

aftershocks--the thing that actually frightened me the most was finding a large spiderweb in 

my car. We all have our limits. I’m just lucky I was at a stoplight at the time.

 ➔At least we’re going to REALLY appreciate the little things when this is all over