Greetings, folks! This post is to test something on the back end of the site.
I’m testing whether the spoiler text here on the site that hides behind this nifty pink bar translates to white-on-white text in the Daily SBTB Newsletter so email folks don’t get spoiled!
That was delightfully meta. I’m using the spoiler tag to test the spoiler tag and to tell you what I’m doing. Which isn’t a spoiler, now that I think about it. I’m being pretty clear about what’s up.
You may have noticed yesterday in the morning, eastern US time, that the site had, well, no content. Yeah, that was Not Fun. Databases stopped speaking to each other over a Big Misunderstanding, and sixteen years of content disappeared until relations could be restored after connectivity issues. (This is why, btw, the like hearts aren’t up, as they’re one of the culprits for the databases and server getting tetchy, but if things remain sanguine today, I’ll bring them back online.)
BUT! Since you’re here reading this post (thank you) and testing things out with me (thank you again), I would like to ask you to tell me a thing, please, so that I may test the comment sequence and notification protocols! (That sounded ludicrously formal. Go me!)
For my family, this week is the year marker of my kids’ schools closing for in-person learning, and my husband’s switch to teleworking from home. Now that we’re coming up on a full 365+ days of What the Hell Everything’s Cancelled, I’d like to know: what’s something that really helped you get through the Quarantimes in the past year?
This question was inspired by Anne Helen Petersen’s Culture Study newsletter group, which is one of the things that got me through, for sure. Another thing that helped: being increasingly kind and patient with myself and my body.
And cookies. Murder cookies for sure.
What about you? Knitting? Baking? Your dog? Someone else’s dog? Romance (ooh ooh which one)?
What got you through the past year? Tell us about it in the comments!
(And thank you for helping me test the nimble databases and plugins of the SBTB HQ!)
Hi I’m still awake because of Pacific time! I’ve fallen hard for Mary Balogh romances this year, particularly the Westcott books and the Simply quartet.
It’s morning here in England. I don’t know how I got through the last year (or the year before that for that matter) only that were here and somehow getting through the next year without having to move back in with my parents for longer than a week is somewhat of a victory. Maybe it’s because after two and a half months of lockdown (our third) I’ve run out of steam. There’s to be a slow easing over the next few months, at the moment we can go outside and do something recreational, rather than go out for shopping, medical appointments, exercise only, with one other person. So not a lot and both me and my daughter will likely spend our second birthdays in lockdown. A downer post I know, we had to spend some time in self isolating last week (daughter had been exposed to a positive case but didn’t get any symptoms) in our flat with no garden, so that didn’t help with our moods.
Glad to see that the site is working again and happy to be a test dummy 🙂
Books and reading really got me through the weirdness of the last year and plenty of reviews from this site made me add titles to my shopping cart. Books make it so easy to escape reality for a bit.
Then there have been the jigsaw puzzles. I found it so relaxing to have a podcast or some music on and puzzle my way through the evening.
Because working from home, then watching Netflix and being online for video chats with friends and family made me spent so much time with a screen in front of me, that I really needed some off-screen time for a bit of balance. I read off-screen as well but with reading your brain is still “on” and jigsaws don’t require that. And my brain (and blood pressure) really went into overdrive last year at times and it needed to calm down. (Drinking also helped but after two months I figured things were taking too long for that and it would no longer be a healthy option..)
I’m knitting! My current project is some Bernie mittens my mother-in-law requested.
TikTok and m/m romances.
New kittens! They turned up rather unexpectedly and have definitely made isolation more fun. Also reading (no slumps, just a shift to less serious plots) and a lot (!) of crocheting. I feel rather lucky to be an introvert, with the second year of restricted contacts coming Up.
Awake at 0350 seems my norm now. So what got me through the year were my knitting projects. Lots of slippers for friends and family. Plus I knit 3 massive afghans. One made it to South Korea with my daughter and the other 2 are used by me, my hubby and my 2 cats. And if my cats are using them , the humans don’t disturb them. I also discovered this site which has provided me with hours of entertainment. So thanks .. Plus I learned about kJ Charles. Amazing author.
as a community aged care worker & a union delegate, I’ve never been busier – or more stressed! There’s nothing that says living on the edge like – asking a person with dementia if they’ve had any visitors lately or if anyone they know has had cold or flu like symptoms (while dressed in scary PPE!) or being told by your office that they have no more gloves or masks for you – “you’ll have to find them yourself!” We are coming out the other side tho & I’ve become stronger & more vocal. Especially the vocal part according to my family!
The chickens! Soon after the lockdowns started to come along last year, we got chickens, and I’m the one who deals with them. Food, water, and the … byproducts. And the eggs. We were not as prepared as we should have been, so we had to play catch-up with a number of things.
I have some videos featuring the happy featherheads on my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSrGGAnmx50CQBduAWSsiKw/videos
My job kept things normal. I was able to keep working in my office as the only one in the building, and the commute was heaven – no one on the roads, no tourists, and lots of wildlife to enjoy (and avoid on the roads). I’m an introvert, so I really didn’t miss parties, crowds or tourist season. I did enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles, lots of reading and some needlepoint, which took the place of shopping/browsing and other more normal outside activities. I did miss visiting family and friends and anticipate lots of family visits in the hopefully near future.
Both my husband and I were on parenting leave one year ago, so when everything closed down and schooling was at home, we were available to steer our two oldest through it. We were very lucky. Our summer plans consisted of 6 weeks camping and outdoors activities and in the end that’s what we did… since nothing else was allowed! We loved it and kept on camping until october ^^
Back to work in autumn, and discovering the pleasure of working from home. 90 minutes gained per day makes a huge difference, especially on school night!
So, I guess the kids are what kept us “on” this year. We shamelessly fostered our hobbies on them – hiking, cooking, crafting and reading… Luckily, they were receptive ^^
Audiobooks, podcasts and smartTwitches streams have helped me feel less isolated – I work from home with no adults to talk to. Also the Big Fat Quiz and Taskmaster on YouTube, discovered this year thanks to SBTB comments.
A hammock on our front porch! We had one for years and I resisted putting it up because our front porch is small and I thought it would look goofy in our dense urban neighborhood. But the pandemic came and I decided I didn’t care any more.
It was very nice to have an “away” reading spot in our tiny house. Especially when the climbing rose bushes were at their peak and you were hidden from pedestrians/the street.
Soon hammocks were popping up all over the neighborhood.
It’s almost time to put it up again and I’m looking forward to it.
My best friend introduced me to Thai Boys Love dramas, which have served to keep me distracted and turn off my brain for much of this hell year. The plots are generally pretty light and frothy, the constant product placement is hysterical to me (I thought kdrama had prepared me for product placement. Oh boy was I wrong), and they crank these shows out like an assembly line, there are so many of them, so as soon as I finish one it’s on to the next.
I think I’m confused—are we supposed to be putting our comments behind a Spoiler tag? [As an aside, I would love a quick tutorial on how to code the Spoiler tag.] Anyhoo—I work in the public school system and we closed on March 13 of last year. We were out until late August when our schools re-opened, but with a hybrid schedule, masks, distancing, etc. Around April of last year, my husband started working from home. His “home office” is half of our dining room (we also had one of our daughters working from home during part of the shutdown—she took over the other half of the dining room). I read continuously during the time I was off work—thank you, Kindle Unlimited and Overdrive—I think I read almost 150 books during the five months I was home. I was spending so much time reading that my elbow (on the arm that propped my book) wore through the leather on the arm of the couch! This week, for the first time in almost a year, my husband has gone back to his workplace and it’s weird to come home to a silent house, to not hear him on his Zoom meetings or working on projects.
Much crocheting (Tunisien, mosaic, in the round, flat, self-designed) blankets, afghans, hats, shawls for loved ones in two countries while listening to audiobooks. It was both ADHD relief and a surprisingly meditative way to connect with others. Read during breaks (@D3, hooray for KU and Overdrive!) punctuated by bi-weekly trips to chemo, where I am no longer allowed to stay with my DH during infusions (boo C19 virus). BUT, as @Andrea2 suggests, this year has been introvert heaven, especially since I live on 50+ acres on the top of a mountain at the end of a road.
Noise cancelling headphones are basically the only thing between me and a complete emotional breakdown!
We live in a tiny apartment and are just constantly on top of one another – add to that neighbors above and below with their constant Zoom calls, the upstairs cat getting the zoomies, their children determining the volume at which Fortnite should be played (v loud) and someone down the street determined to learn the trumpet with all their windows open (he is VERY BAD AT IT) & unending construction noise from next door beginning at 8am every day and…my introvert soul just wants to be somewhere, anywhere QUIET.
I haven’t been able to read much at all this entire pandemic (anxiety and the aforementioned noise making it impossible to concentrate on anything while we’re trapped inside and not allowed to go out), but at least I have over-ear noise cancelling headphones in a pretty pastel pink to drown out some of it…
Spending whole days with my dogs. My sister and I have been working from home this whole year and, being home, we kept our dogs out of day care. That’s been a source of laughter, joy and comfort all year long. Also, reading some of the hundreds of romances I’ve bought for my Nook in the last decade. (Apparently, I think they need to mature the way wine does…)
I got a group of 4 friends to meet me every week for a long walk. We’ve picked new places all over the city to explore, which has been a lot of fun. I usually stick to the parks near me, so it’s been a good adventure to see parks and trails that I’ve never been to before. It’s also been good to have some (outdoor and quarantine-friendly) human contact that isn’t through a phone or screen. It’s been good for my physical and mental health.
Having my husband at home with me. I was already working remotely most of the week. Having him available for hugs throughout the work day really helped.
Just in case you are curious, the spoiler tags don’t show up at all using a newsreader. If I click over to the main article, there they are, but no sign at all through Newsy. (Doesn’t bother me much, though. My brain will forget things pretty fast! )
I may be one of the few that still uses news apps, though, and I imagine that’s not fixable on your end.
What helped? Finally going through the boxes of “when I have time I’ll get to it”, and throwing away tons of stuff. Hard on the municipal trash service since everyone was doing the same thing, but (mental and physical) elbow room helped me.
Volunteering at a riding therapy program has been a lifeline for me. I get to groom and tack the horses, and lead them for the therapy/lessons for disabled children and adults. Being with the horses centers me. Horses are prey animals and are all about living in the moment. Working with them forces you to focus on the now, and all the other worries, stresses and cares are pushed aside. For a blessed period of time it’s just me and the horse, making sure the horse is happy and settled and doing it’s job. My overactive brain stops and I feel peaceful. I also love to kiss their fuzzy noses.
Aside form that, I love walking my dog while listening to audiobooks, and in general listen to audiobooks about 3 to 5 hours a day, which is a great escape. My big finds for 2020 were all the books on audio by Stella Riley, plus getting introduced to KJ Charles.
My last “official” day in the office was March 12 (a Thursday, I took the next Friday as a vacation day, which was when they announced that the office was closing as of COB). I have been going in for certain projects about once a month (and enjoying the lack of traffic) but staying away from anyone else in the office. I was thinking this morning about the difference a year makes.
What got me through? Playing with my kitties (who loved having me home), snarking with my sister (who lives with me and already was WFH in the basement), planning my escape, and reading – or I should say, re-reading, since a good 80% of the books I read in 2020 were rereads, especially starting around April (made it easy to add to my Reading List though – select, copy and paste, over and over). Oh, and watching The Good Place on Netflix – repeated every 2 months or so.
I did try something new – started writing in October as prep for NaNoWriMo and found out that I really enjoy it (instead of thinking about whether I would like to write in my head all the time)!
I’ve been living at the dining room table for a long time. Can’t wait to get my shot!
When this is over (???) I will know better how we got through it, because right now we are all just putting one foot in front of the other. Re-reading has helped (Murderbot in the darkest of winter), kittens, and flowers. I bought a lot of flowers this year. Don’t know why.
Reading has saved my sanity this past year! I belong to three libraries so was able to get lots of content from them, or I would have spent a ton of money on books. I’ve always loved my kindles, but never have been more grateful for the technology than in this past year.
I sound like an amazon commercial, but I finally got a firestick so I am able to stream things on our second tv. My husband and I do not watch the same things, so this was also a lifesaver.
I adopted a kitty. She’s warm, affectionate and a little furry demon ! She has helped with my loneliness. Also, I listen to audio books, pretty much constantly. and, of course, baked A LOT of bread 🙂
As an “essential” worker, life did not change much for me except to get busier! Thank you to all the people picking up old hobbies or learning new ones, you have literally saved the craft industry, not to mention my Etsy shop. All the extra freelance work got me through the many nights when I had to talk my sister down from panic attacks. Most of my reading this year was rereading a lot of comfort reads; but I did get hooked on a bunch of new webtoons which were great mood boosters, including Gourmet Hound, Cursed Princess Club, Suitor Armor, Ghost on the Roof, and the ever popular Lore Olympus.
I have not seen my parents in a year (they are both 88) so we speak to them every evening on the phone, and as they tell me about their day, I can hear how well they are doing. Quarantimes were also helped by connecting with other readers online – I check in with SBTB every day, as well as checking posts from the Sharks of Awesome – readers who love Penny Reid’s work. It has help me feel connected to likeminded witty, intelligent women and there is always a laugh or a meme I share with my husband to keep things light. Thanks for being there SBTB.
Reading all the time, streaming as much TV as my eyes could handle. I love you, gentle English Netflix shows. Walks, masked, with a friend. Eating everything in sight. Here, contact with other readers. Last out of the box: Hope.
I am so honored by how many of you have said that the site and the community have kept you going and kept your company over the past year. That really means a lot. Thank you.
I’m in the UK and have been doing a lot of voluntary work. Over the past few years I have ridden a rickshaw for a charity taking out less mobile and lonely people, many of them living in care homes.
At lockdown we started collecting medicine from pharmacies and delivering it to people who were shielding. Sometimes we did a little shopping. We also used our cargo bike to transport donated food around the town eg from supermarkets to the foodbank. We had a fleet of riders, many using their own bikes to deliver medicine and at our peak delivered to 40 different addresses in a day. I helped man the phones and despatch the riders which I could do from the safety of my own home.
More recently we have been offering safe and green rides to vaccine appointments, and I have taken my turn on the riders’ rota. We are really looking forward to being able to offer rides to lonely people again around our lovely town. This project may have been put in place for the benefit of those unable to get out, but it has been a lifesaver for many of participating.
I have pictures, but don’t want to cause trouble for the website.
Endless cups of tea. Audiobooks while taking long walks with my dog. The Watcha Reading columns on SBTB, so I could add more books to my collection that I will never have time to read. (But it’s comforting to know that if the TRUE apocalypse comes, I’ll have both reading material and paper to burn in the fireplace.) How is it possible that it is March again?
What got me through the past year was chatting with good friends online, videos chats with my bestie, watching soccer games on TV, this community, cover snarks because laughter truly does help, meme sharing with friends (cats and baby yoda are the general choices), reading, wine and hoping that the next time I can hang with my friends will lead to happy memories.
I have got really into video games over the past year. My partner and I play together. I like to collect stuff and he has to do 95% of the shooting. Also wine. Wine has definitely got me through. Weirdly I’ve been reading less romance and more thriller/horror. I’m so glad that Sarah recommended the Murderbot Diaries as that has probably been my reading highlight. Hope the site issues resolve okay and don’t cause too much stress
I have got really into video games over the past year. My partner and I play together. I like to collect stuff and he has to do 95% of the shooting. Also wine. Wine has definitely got me through. Weirdly I’ve been reading less romance and more thriller/horror. I’m so glad that Sarah recommended the Murderbot Diaries as that has probably been my reading highlight. Oh and Junior Bake Off. Don’t know if it’s available outside the UK but it is a delight. Hope the site issues resolve okay and don’t cause too much stress
Being outdoors, hiking or walking, really kept me going. But today I’m sad, because if you haven’t already heard, Joanna Bourne has retired from writing and from blogging at Word Wenches.
Things that got (are getting) me through:
– Netflix (at this point I should just learn French,so many of my current favs are in that language)
– My exercise bike (walks outside are even better, but from mid-November til around now not really possible or at least not pleasant)
– Virtual events (doing the Boozy Book Broads has been like getting a night out with friend each month without leaving my house)
– And yes baking. Lots of baking. (How did I miss the post about Murder Cookies?!? OMG – also, I did not know that about Crisco changing their recipe, so I’ve learned something new!)
This site was a huge bright spot. Reading generally really helped, as did large helpings of Antiques Roadshow, and long walks, until it got to -20.
Books. Lots and Lots of books. That and the fact that my hubby and I both like and love each other and can therefore spend excessive amounts of time with one another without killing each other.