All right, we are rounding the corner this week into November. Obviously the blog is going to be focusing mostly on the election for the next week, but I wanted to do something we haven't done since May, and that's do a personal update, particularly in relation to Covid & quarantine. I know that part of getting through this is by being open about how we're feeling & what we're going through, and since I haven't shared this in a while, I'm going to take an opportunity today to do so.
I know for some people, quarantine looks a lot different right now than it did six months ago, but for me-it's basically the same. I am still working from home, and still spending the vast majority of my time in my house or yard (though less so the yard with winter now upon us in Minnesota). I have not started to break quarantine. I've seen people who have started to expand their circles on Instagram, and that's not really the case for me (though I will say that if the only thing that's changed is now you wear a mask at Wal-Mart but when you hang out with a party of thirty people you're not...you aren't really quarantining). I see my parents on a monthly basis, and otherwise I spend most of my time alone. I have not had any in-person dates, and after a couple of fruitless attempts at in-person dating, I have kind of quit dating all-together in 2020 at this point. The one exception that I wasn't doing six months ago was going to the gym once-a-week, and meeting with my trainer. We wear masks the whole time, and we meet on Sunday afternoons (during NFL games, so the gym is generally a ghost town...first time in my life that I've been appreciative of football). I know this is atypical; most people seem to have expanded in the fall, and are taking a much more casual approach (which, let's be real, is likely why we're seeing another spike right now), but for me I'm still pretty much alone as we hit month eight of Covid life. One thing I will be doing in November is starting to get caught up on some appointments that I have put off (I buzzed my head on a whim this weekend so I don't need to hit a stylist for a while now, but I need to visit my dentist & get my tires changed, which normally would be a chore but right now feels fun since it's more human interaction).
This is probably true for everyone, but I think it might be especially true for me. The election has become a (possibly unhealthy) obsession. We'll have tons of predictions articles for the next seven days, so you'll be hearing a lot about it, but I've definitely crossed the line from "political junkie" to "annoyingly obsessive" about the election when it comes to my text messages. I'm going to be an elections judge for the first time ever, and I am devouring social media content about the election, and it's really all I talk about (it also has literally consumed my dreams, as I've had Trump-related nightmares for four nights in a row now, so not even sleep is a respite from the anxiety). I am positive I have become annoying about it with my friends & family, but luckily it's soon to be over. I am planning on doing an election night party (of one) though I'm not sure what it will entail quite yet. I always buy a bottle of champagne & a bottle of whiskey on election night and my drinking habits dictate how that will go (dear lord, let me have the champagne), but otherwise food choices are up-in-the-air. Sometimes I make dishes themed around the nominees (I've done shrimp in the past for Biden and I made a cheesecake if I remember correctly for Trump), but as I've been dieting a lot lately, I think I'm just going to make a plate of my favorite food (spaghetti with chocolate cake for dessert). I'm also going to have caffeine for the first time in months on Election Night, as I will be getting up at 5 AM to elections judge, and will surely be up until 1 AM watching the polls (I have already asked for work off).
The first month of Covid isolation I was kind of adrift, but I will admit-in the past three months, I've definitely made this work. It's not good, but I've been able to get back to goals & trying to accomplish something during quarantine. As of this morning, I have lost thirty pounds on quarantine (I have about 20-25 pounds to go before I'm done, but I'm definitely showing results & am making even more progress at the gym). I've been on a tear with movies, not just watching but reviewing them-I even am starting to make a dent in my DVR, the Holy Grail of projects I keep putting off. My house has never been cleaner, I walk every day during lunch, I eat better, I'm completing several media collections that I had gaps in...I'm aware this is a lot of straight-up bragging, and that I'm very fortunate to be in the position where I have good health & a consistent paycheck (knock on wood), but I will also admit that it feels good to see the fruits of working hard during this time frame. I have said constantly to myself in the past seven months that "2020 will not be a lost year" and while this isn't how I wished I'd be spending my spare time, I'm trying to make progress on long-term goals as much as I can so I do have something to show for 2020.
I miss movie theaters more than I can possibly say, perhaps more so because I don't know that they're coming back. With each major release being delayed, it hurts just a little more, and I will admit that Pixar moving Soul to an entirely streaming platform made me wonder if we're seeing the death of the movie theater, which breaks my soul (movie theaters are my favorite place in the world, and I can't fathom what my life would be like without these special places in them). I am debating heading into the fall whether or not I start going to (select) movie theaters again, at least for screenings of movies like Nomadland and Ammonite that don't appear to have a streaming option, but for now I am waiting on that (the recent release of A Rainy Day in New York, which I would have almost certainly gone to, coming-and-going without me taking that risk kind of answered my question over whether or not I was ready to go back). I also miss travel-I miss museums & seeing new things & getting things off of the largest portion of my bucket list...particularly I miss it because I don't know if 2021, at least the front half, will be much better & so the two trips I've planned in my heart during that time frame are surely going to be put on hold.
I don't know what the future will hold here. I think a lot of my hopes & fears about Covid I've put into the election. Electing Joe Biden and a Democratic Senate who will value bringing people back to work (even if they need to pass an expensive relief bill) and who will make a normalcy (that's safe) their top priority is crucial for me. I see hope in a Biden win and in a Democratic Senate in a way that I have never felt about an election-I always care about who is running, but I have never seen my future so firmly invested in a victory. Until that happens, it's hard for me to plan. I do think that the winter is going to be challenging-the few moments where I've been able to (outdoors, across a yard) talk to friends have been lovely, and will be gone in the next week as Minnesota is too cold for such things, and my daily walks will become much harder. I've started to stockpile not only To Do list items (writing projects, puzzles, the final 25 pounds on my weight loss journey), but also taken a more proactive approach to ensuring that I have plenty of "comfort items" left for the fall, especially with food not being an option. I am re-watching The Simpsons from front-to-back right now (though I'm still in the Golden Age-we'll see if I have tolerance for watching it constantly when I hit Season 20 & upwards), but have saved Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Gilmore Girls, and Desperate Housewives for the winter, and am also going to intersperse my classic movie viewing with some more modern favorites, particularly focusing on re-watching series (not just the Twilight Saga as I mentioned the other day, but I've also got Harry Potter, Middle Earth, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Pirates of the Caribbean all on tap for the next six months as I haven't hit any of them yet). But I will be honest-way too much of my happiness is riding on the election, and I'll know more about where it's headed on November 3rd (so, for the thousandth time, possibly today, make sure you go out and vote if you haven't!).
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