Tag / B

by LG

4.2.22

I didn’t take any pics during our dinner excursion, really. I have a picture of the restaurant sign because B took one and I borrowed it, and I have a pic of the sunset from the car window. What can I say, I was really in the moment.

We sort of informally landed on doing one thing a day and relaxing the rest of the time, and I really enjoy that cadence.

Yesterday our little excursion was to an incredible Japanese restaurant up the canyon. We had early reservations, but that ended up being a blessing because there was enough light in the canyon for us to see on the ride up. The canyon was much more densely wooded with tall conifers, the kind of landscape I’m most used to. It was nice to see the difference of that scenery from all the others we’ve seen so far while in New Mexico.

Our dinner was delicious and served on smallish plates family-style so we could all share: Ahi tuna tacos, kurobota pork belly tacos, grilled avocado, house-made skillet gyoza, and Wagyu beef ishiyaki. All of it was delicious and plated so beautifully. The ishiyaki experience – cooking the meat on a 500-degree stone set in the middle of our table – felt surprising and fun. All said, it was a fantastic dining experience. I truly can’t believe how much my palate has expanded over the years, and I have really had fun exploring.

After dinner, we drove a little further up the canyon to see more green trees and views. We headed back as the sun set, and it felt like a really lovely way to wrap up the outing.

We ended our night by watching Coda. It’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long while.

by LG

7.24.20

The last normal thing we did in The Before was one of our favorite things: a movie date night! We saw Portrait of a Lady on Fire in the theater, got an email on the way home that B could start working from home the next day, and that was it. 

Tonight we had another movie date night, but it felt oh so different than the last time because we went to a pop-up drive-in at RFK Stadium! I haven’t seen a drive-in movie since my friends and I went to see Obsessed (such an amazing choice) in Utah back in 2009, and I’ve missed it. We got tickets to see Friday tonight and Jurassic Park tomorrow night. We packed movie snacks, takeout for dinner, pillows, handheld fans, and maybe an adult beverage (shhhh). I couldn’t believe how good it felt to get out and do something fun and new/different to break up the monotony of being at home after all this time. 

by LG

Dispatches from self-isolation, vol. 3

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Today marks the end of my fourth week of working from home.

Normalcy, lol: I’m working to understand what my new “normal” looks like. I don’t want to make it something it’s not, and I don’t want to judge it – I just want to adapt as much as I can. Right now that looks like days without a lot of structure but with a lot of activity, including baking, cooking, yard work, reading, house work, maintaining our budget, running any necessary errands, and keeping up with my job on the side because it’s a bit erratic right now. B’s work is busier than ever, so I do what I can to keep our little isolated household going so she doesn’t have to worry about that when her work day ends. 

Mental health: One thing I feel extremely grateful for during this madness is my access to therapy. I do my sessions via video chat now, so I get to talk to her face to face each week. I know I’m lucky to have this access even when we’re not in a global crisis, so now I feel extra thankful. One thing she said to me recently was that this is a collective trauma we’re all experiencing right now, and it’s likely that many – if not most – of us are grieving. Grieving the loss of loved ones, plans, routines and normalcy, activities, in-person interactions, you name it. And though we may go through the steps of grief in different orders, it’s important to keep moving toward Acceptance. Acceptance could look like a lot of things, but even arriving at accepting the fact that I don’t know what will happen next or that there are a lot of things out of my control right now will help me in the long run. Finding comfort in discomfort, MY FAVORITE. 

Sleep: I’m not sleeping very well. I’m having horrific nightmares, just as vivid and maybe worse than my usual nightmares. And getting out of bed in the morning is a s t r u g g l e. From the looks of it on social media, I’m not the only one suffering from this right now. 

Hair: I started growing my hair out from its usual fade last fall, with no particular end goal in mind – I just wanted to do something different with it. When it’s short, I have to get my hair cut every 4 weeks or so for maintenance. Now that it’s longer, I can go 6 weeks or so without a trim and even when it’s time for a cut, it still looks pretty good. THAT BEING SAID, I got it cut last on February 27, so things are starting to get interesting. I guess isolating at home is the ideal way to grow it through the awkward stage, although I did briefly consider shaving it all off the other day.

More next week!

by LG

Dispatches from self-isolation, vol. 1

These past few weeks have been bumpy. I’m not planning to write a brief history of Coronavirus or anything like that, because there is plenty in the news already about where it came from and how it got here. I primarily want to capture this point in time and everything that comes along with it because it feels so unprecedented. 

B and I have talked about emergency preparations before, but the scenarios we always discuss fall along the lines of natural disasters or terrorist attacks (both of which have happened here, so). At no point did we consider planning for a pandemic in which we would just have to … stay home. It’s weird and slightly counterintuitive to me to be in this situation, but here we all are! 

Our house is now a co-working space. This begins B’s third and my second week of working from home. We have an office upstairs and the dining table downstairs. We have things like external keyboards and mice, a lap desk, and a laptop stand to try to make it a little easier to be productive. We’ve established house protocol and hacks for our respective conference calls or deadlines (the trick for me is just use one earbud on my calls or I’ll start talking very loudly). I also listen to music (which helps me write) in my earbuds so it doesn’t distract B, who does not find it helpful for writing. We benefit by having each other around, too; we’re both professional communicators, so it’s useful to have someone to listen to ideas or help play “What’s the word I’m looking for here?” 

(Our third co-worker, Henry, does nothing but adorably nap in his new floofy doughnut bed or complain that we haven’t fed him yet.)

What is work like these days? WEIRD. The number one challenge for me right now: overcoming my distraction. Turns out it’s awfully difficult to focus during a pandemic in which more and more people around the world are falling sick and dying, who knew?? So many people I know have jobs that are already or could be potentially affected by this. It feels nearly impossible to pretend it’s a normal work day when nothing is normal about our lives right now. The mayor of DC just extended all of the current business and school closures and restrictions until April 27, which is more than a month away. Who knows what things will be like at that point?  All of a sudden that email to Brenda in accounting just doesn’t feel that urgent anymore. 

I feel very lucky that we have the backyard and deck, since we’ve both taken turns out there when the weather has allowed. Our camellia tree is blooming, and our tulips in the backyard are on the verge of opening. Our redbud and kwanzan cherry trees are about to blossom. If we have to self-isolate somewhere, I’m grateful it’s here. And if we’re going to go through this scary time, I’m so glad we have some beauty around us.