WFH Advantages – I kinda don’t wanna go back?

Today is my 4 year blogiversary! It’s also been 13 months to the day since I started working from home. Somehow, I’ve never talked about it here on the blog. I talked about living with to-be-in-laws, and about being engaged and quarantined, but not the actual experience of working from home.

If you had asked me on March 16, 2020 how I felt about it, I would have said no. No way. Absolutely not. I’m a VERY social person and I love my coworkers and I love the feeling of having lunch with someone else. Also, I cannot even IMAGINE being in the same house as my fiancé 24 hours a day.

But now??? I’m not sure if I feel that way. As people get vaccinated slowly (more on that another day), workplaces are starting to talk about the transition back into in-person work and honestly? I’m not excited about it. I still miss my coworkers, but I kind of love working from home.

First of all, the commute. I love the subway. Really, I do. It’s quick, efficient, and it’s an inexpensive means of transportation. But when you put the experience of being sweaty and hurried, and pushed against 1000 other sweaty and hurried people in a cattle car versus the experience of literally rolling out of bed to the kitchen for coffee and a laptop?? I mean, I think we can all agree that the latter sounds more appealing. I mentioned the coffee, but also the breakfast. I think I have made eggs 95% of the days we have been home. To be honest, I also made eggs 95% of the days I commuted to work, but it usually involved being late, eating while standing up in the kitchen and packing a bag, and feeling like even putting my plate in the dishwasher was going to make me later. Now? I can wait to eat breakfast until after my 9 am meeting. Or after my 10 am meeting. Or whenever!! And the dishes can be put in the dishwasher while I’m on a call. No one can see me and I’m in my house!

Also, shoes. Don’t get me wrong, I love shoes. I have approximately 20 pairs of boots. But this year I discovered the joy of socks. And slippers. Or just no shoes at all. When all you do is pace around your bedroom on phone calls, real shoes are not necessary. In fact, I instituted a no-shoes-in-the-apartment policy. It’s easy because we leave so infrequently! Also, I mostly only wear sneakers so our shoe rack by the door can remain half full.

When you saw this blog title, you probably assumed I would talk about working out. You would have been correct. It’s the best part. Even before I got my Peloton, I was able to do workouts midday. Whether that was a step class during my lunch hour or a quick run when the sun was brightest and I could get the tannest, the fact that I could go home to shower before my next call made it lifechanging. Now, I sometimes do a 20-minute arm workout between calls. Or a 5-minute core workout before I make lunch. Sometimes, I go on a 30-minute run and I don’t even go home. I just continue to my next phone call and go on a low-impact walk. Which leads me to my next discovery – taking phone calls outside. I really hope that this continues even when they force me back to the office. Pre-covid, I spent hours of my day on the phone. When Covid began, all those calls shifted to zoom which was incredibly exhausting. Now, we are finally transitioning back to the age of phone calls, and the ability to go on walks while on work calls is amazing. I focus more on the conversation when my legs are moving, and I can breathe fresh air.

And finally, my sweet fiancé. I haven’t been without him for a full 24 hours in over a year. I used to travel without him for work and play, but now, it’s been 16 months since we have slept apart! I am going to go to my parents’ house for 5 days next month and it’ll be so strange not to have him there. That leads me to my last point – working from home means I can work from anywhere. Obviously, I took full advantage of that at the beginning of the pandemic when we moved temporarily (for 6 months) to Texas. And unfortunately, the challenge and lack of safety of travel has affected the real extent to which I have been able to take advantage of this. But I hope that in the future, our work environment is more flexible and we will have certain times in the office and certain times remote, so I can travel to different places, even if it means working for 8 hours and then exploring a new place in the evening. This flexibility of working without being strapped to a desk is an exciting new possibility.

How do you guys feel about working from home? Hate it? Love it? Scared to go back but also excited? Let me know in the comments.

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Covid Anniversary

It’s March! Happy Anniversary… to Covid! Of course, I am being facetious. It has been a horrific year and guess what? It’s not getting better. If you were expecting a fun and light blog, then you should close this and go to someone else’s blog because this post is going to be truthful and the truth is… THIS SUCKS Y’ALL.

Monday was the first day of March and I had myself a cute little breakdown. Anyone else? If you ask me, things are worse now than they were.

First of all, the burnout is REAL. Every additional day I live like this is exponentially worse. It’s like compound interest but way less fun because I am not getting rich.

Second of all, seeing people on social media still just going about their business like things are fine is THE ABSOLUTE WORST.

Third of all, the virus is, quite literally, worse! 6 months ago, the numbers were low, the virus “couldn’t pass through a mask” so we went about our business at the grocery store or on a walk, with a single mask. Just one! There were stories about full hair salons being spared from transmission by a measly fabric mask.

Now, with new strains of the virus every few weeks, to leave the house I suit up like a space man. I put on a huge coat (thanks SNOWPOCOLYSE 2021) and an N95, and a cotton mask on top of that. And boots. Because endless winter is also a thing, I guess. I feel like I should be wearing goggles, too, but I just can’t.

“BUT DON’T YOU HAVE HOPE?? Things have gotten better! Things are opening up! There’s a vaccine! Multiple!” – People with Hope

Let me tell you about the two groups of people who have hope:

  1. The vaccinated people. Yep, you. I’m not shaming you for having the vaccine. It is awesome. Am I jealous? Of course! But also, sir/ma’am, that is why you have hope. Because for YOU, it is better. You are “safe.” I am not. I also have very little hope of getting the vaccine soon. Sure, Biden says we will have enough supply by the end of May. But by the time they actually figure out supply chain issues and coordinated vaccinations, it will be months after that. Then wait another month for the second shot (or maybe we all get J&J), and then wait another two weeks until it actually becomes effective. We are looking at July at best. And I highly, highly doubt that. Not to mention how long it will be until things like Broadway shows open again.
  2. The people who have let their guard down. I see you. Going to running clubs “outside because it’s safe” in groups of 8+ people with NO MASKS. I see you going to Mexico and Antigua, because you “got tested first.” I see you traveling to see family members because you haven’t seen them in a long time. None of us have! I see you celebrating a coworker’s birthday with a “small group” of 7 people at a Hibachi table. I see you, and I’m judging you. But also, I have come to terms with the fact that not everyone is taking the virus as seriously as I have. It’s been that way from the jump. The thing I hate about this particular group, however, is the fact that they have hope. They say, “things are getting better!” and couple it with this behavior. Things are NOT in fact getting better, you are just getting more lackadaisical about protocol. I’m glad you aren’t burned out anymore, but it’s only because you’re not actually being safe anymore.

Here’s another reason why I’ve been much more depressed this month versus 2 months ago: people have started to make plans, or expect you to make plans. The people making these plans are the same ones in groups 1 and 2 above. The “things will definitely be better by June” crowd. Well guess what, they probably won’t. And I refuse to make plans for June because it’s too dang depressing.

Here’s a great example. My mom, love her, wanted to put a zoom event on the calendar for the last week of June. I had three options:

  1. Say no. I will probably be vaccinated then and the second I can travel safely again, I am OUT OF HERE.
  2. Say yes. This sh*t will be going on FOREVER so may as well just zoom until the end of time. But I already zoom 8 hours a day EVERY SINGLE DAY so that is VERY depressing.
  3. Not answer because I am pretty sure the real situation will be #2 and I just cannot wrap my head around doing this for many more months.

Guess which option I took?

Anyway, y’all, I miss my friends.

I have no hope.

The end.

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Lake Tyler Covid Getaway

Well guys, it’s been 6 months of quarantine/social distancing. SIX. MONTHS. HALF A YEAR. How is it possible that I feel SO TIRED from doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING?? I know I am coming in strong with the all-caps. I promise to calm down. I wanted a great way to express my frustration with 2020. Yelling via capital letters seemed fitting.

After 5 months of sitting in the house, my fiancé and I decided we needed a weekend away. Or rather, I decided I needed a weekend away, and he said he’d come with me. I promised to do all of the work as long as he split the cost. I know there are people out in Instagram-land who are now comfortable traveling by land or by plane, gathering with friends, renting houses together, going to the beach together etc., but the more I look at the science and facts about Covid, the less comfortable I am doing any of those things, which limited the scope of my “weekend away” plans. I had three goals in mind:

  1. Change of Pace/Change of Place
  2. Alone
  3. On the water.

For the past 6 months, we have been staying at my fiancé’s family’s house. Don’t get me wrong, we are thankful. It is beyond generous that they have allowed us to stay this long. But I have not lived with kids or parent-figures in 15 years. And I have lived ALONE with my boyfriend for more than 3 years. It is not the same to have kids running around asking if I’m working (yes, it’s Monday), or if I can play (no, I’m working). There are also (cough cough) certain parts of a relationship that are difficult when there are 6 other people constantly in the house.

And as for a change of place on the water… I really miss the beach. I am a Florida girl at heart, and despite not living by the beach for a decade in New York, I ALWAYS make at least 2 trips to the beach per year. Sometimes it’s the Jersey Shore, sometimes it’s Greece and Italy. Being land-locked in a state larger than most countries has felt a bit like being in jail. I missed the water. A lot.

I went on VRBO and started looking for waterfront properties within 5 hours driving distance of our house. I set a budget of $400/night. If there was a hammock, it got extra points. I whittled my list to 5 properties and sent it to Chris to pick. (This a strategic thing I always do, so that if the property ends up being bad I can blame him. But if it’s great then of course it’s because I put the list together!) On the list, I had a few lake-front properties in Texas and Louisiana, and one in Galveston on the Gulf of Mexico. We went with a place in Whitehouse, Texas, on Lake Tyler, which was only 2 hours from our home. It was $199/night and only slept 2 people – perfect! Our plans were almost ruined when the dueling hurricanes in the Gulf threatened to hit our place, and I felt very lucky that Chris picked a property in Texas, not Louisiana. Go Chris!

We drove to the house after work on Thursday, and thankfully Chris drove so I could snack. Sure, the drive was only 2 hours, but I packed enough road trip snacks for an approximately 24-hour drive. We hit a slight roadblock when Google Maps led us to a road where there was no house with the number on it. Thankfully, the property owner picked up his phone right away and explained there were TWO roads with the same name. After a 15-minute detour, we got the right place and unpacked our things.

If you are looking for a blog about all of the things we did on our vacation weekend, you won’t find one, because we did NOTHING and it was GLORIOUS. Most of the time was spent sitting outside on the covered deck. Eating meals. Reading books. Listening to music. Reading more. Listening to an audio book. Watching Love Island. Eating some more and lounging around. It was fabulous.

I am a HUGE Fitbit fan, and despite working from home, I have been trying to keep up with my 10,000/day step goal since social distancing began. The last day I had not met my 10K goal was April 6th. The first day at the lake I got 3.9K steps. And I was proud of that.

The second full day we were there, we did a few activities. We rented paddle boards from the owner of the house, I floated around in blow-up floats I bought from Amazon for the weekend while we listened to country music on our Sonos speaker, and then we played Corn Hole on the owner’s lawn. There were so many games in the house including mega-Jenga, Horseshoes, Poker, and cards. We played a few rounds of Phase 10 in between episodes of Love Island.

Not to be corny, but it felt like we were on our own love island! The house itself was AMAZING. We didn’t know at the time of booking, but it was set back behind the owner’s house, completely separate from his home, and surrounded on all four sides by water. It was fully renovated with a dishwasher and bathroom and water views from every room. Also, there was a covered and uncovered deck. The décor was adorable, with “Lake Life” and “Lake House” accents everywhere. Also, it was tricked out! They had a state-of-the-art dishwasher/fridge/ice machine/blender/convection stovetop, fully stocker Keurig, etc. They even had a wine cooler. There was an Apple TV (we brought our own, because duh), and a Bluetooth speaker we could bring onto the deck (we also brought our own because duh), and I wish I could have stayed there a whole week.

The only issue with Covid “vacationing” is the food. We had to BYO everything and we weren’t sure about the availability of delivery. Especially in Texas, we wanted to limit our time in grocery stores/anywhere in the sticks where people are less likely to wear masks. There were many trips back and forth from the car; 3 meals a day for two people is a lot of groceries! Not to mention a case of beer and pina colada mix. To make cooking easier than it is at home, I made Chris sit down and meal-plan with me before we left. We had options for each meal. Breakfast: eggs/cinnamon rolls/sausage. Lunch: Sandwiches/grilled cheese/tacos. Dinner: Burgers/Frozen Pizza/Chicken Parm. Cooking was easier with only 2 people’s dishes and a dishwasher. For some reason it felt WAY simpler than cooking at home.

The owner was available for any questions all the time, and we saw him a few times when he came down to take his boat out (not included in the house LOL), but he always texted first to warn us. Also, he gave us a better deal on the paddleboards than he advertised on his listing, and provided life jackets, which was nice of him. He was kind enough to mention to me that we just missed the Trump Boat Parade the weekend before. (Not the infamous one from last weekend. See pics below, there were still plenty of boats left with flags on them.). Chris lost his Goodr sunglasses in the lake and I left my flip flops on the grass (guess I had too many ciders playing corn hole) but besides those two losses, we had only wins and successes. My best friend had been telling me for months how important it was for mental health to get away and have a change of pace; I should have listened to her earlier.

We booked one more weekend trip for this upcoming weekend, our LAST weekend in Texas! This time, we got a BIG house, lakefront again, and we’re bringing the whole family as a last hoorah! I can’t wait to share more with you about it. And if you’re ever in the Lake Tyler area in Texas, I’ll send you the VRBO listing, I can’t recommend it enough!

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