Pandemic Projects

I've been a bit fascinated by all the projects people have been tackling during the COVID-19 pandemic. One neighbor has been working on a retaining wall, another erected a green house. A friend just built a massive desk from scratch. I have a friend that tackled tile work for the first time, another refinishing her stairs. The list goes on.

I feel like we've been slacking.

We had grand plans of replacing our deck this spring -- long before the pandemic created a frenzied rush to home improvement stores. Unfortunately for us, the pandemic sidelined those plans because we didn't get our materials order in early enough and now there is a nationwide shortage of supplies. My husband also hasn't been able to find decent enough wood for that shed he's been talking about building since last year, which means we can't organize the garage yet. We also have a greenhouse kit sitting in our garage, but we are still debating where it should go in our yard, so that's another unfinished project to add to the list.

Don't get me wrong, I know we're incredibly lucky to have remained employed -- at our full salaries -- throughout this crisis. Thankful doesn't even begin to describe how we feel. But a small part of me is jealous of my friends who were furloughed and found themselves with the time to tackle all the things they talked about doing but never before had the time to. We did get one project done over Labor Day -- painting the garage doors and installing new trim to prevent the chipmunks from finding their way in.

While we haven't had enough time to take on the big things I should celebrate the many little things I've found time for. While I only live about 25 miles from my office it takes me over an hour each way with traffic. Add to that the daily class at Orange Theory that I would typically take after work and I wouldn't get home until 7 p.m. But now I've gained three hours in time I would have spent outside the house. In addition to taking the dogs for a bonus mid-day walk when work allows, I've found a lot of time for crafting. I think I've finished more crochet projects in six months of quarantine than I did in all of last year. I finally turned (some of) my yarn into cakes to put in the organizer my husband built me months ago. I've had time to read books (outside of required reading for class!). I've also gotten plenty of use out of the Cricut I got last Christmas (wine glasses are great pandemic birthday gifts!). And instead of going to the gym my husband and I get to jog together 4 to 5 days a week.

And yes, I'm one of those people who jumped on the sourdough craze. While I've been making bread for years, I never mastered sourdough until the pandemic gave me plenty of time at home to monitor my starter.

I'm curious to hear how others have been using their time during the pandemic. Have you learned a new skill? Tackled a project? Or perhaps you're an essential employee who is just happy to get a weekend off. I've got a few of those in my circle of friends and family too and I'm incredibly grateful for them.

This blog post is an assignment for the Communication Media Design course at NJIT.