ABCs of 2020

A few years ago Suzy posted one of these and that inspired me to write my own and ever since this has been an annual tradition. The list will be a bit different this year. I've been to far fewer events than normal, so I'll have to come up with other things to write about.

A - Adrea, Adrien, Ali, Holly, Jenn, Kerri, and Mya - aka My Farmers' Market family. As a result of the pandemic, the market quickly built an online store that does pickups and deliveries. To make that possible, they hired a bunch of extra staff and because I still volunteer there, I now know them all. Having some sort of non-virtual social contact beyond my parents helps keep me sane and at the end of Saturday when I head home, it feels like I've actually done something which is a feeling I don't often get from my actual job.

B - Baking - Sourdough was all the rage this pandemic, but I had already been baking my own bread for at least a year before this started. I'm still baking a lot of tarts and the occasional batch of cookies and my market friends still want me to quit my job and bake for them instead.

C - Concerts - In total, I went to fifteen concerts in person. That would be more than many people see in a year, but is a pittance compared to previous years for me. The last one was the Slocan Ramblers at the Artesian in the second week of March. I arrived late and it was crowded, so I stood at the back nervously worrying about what I was touching and if anyone was coughing.

D - Dilaudid - It didn't save my life, but I'm really glad it exists. It provided immediate relief from the most intense pain I could imagine. I don't think I really got a high from it, but my mom was there when I got the first dose and she might tell a different story. What I do remember was feeling very dizzy and when I opened my eyes everything was moving up and down in a disconcerting way so I just kept my eyes closed.

E - Eaves - I noticed a weird drip from the eaves on the garage one day this spring and discovered that there was water accumulating in them. It appears that they were either never properly sloped or that the garage has shifted in the past ten years. My parents and I readjusted the slope and now they are draining properly.

F - Fifty - The other day, I was out for my lunch time walk and a woman stopped me and said "Are you a Grzesina?". My guess was that she was a friend of my parents, but it turns out she was actually a year younger than me and people my age now look old. I guess being fifty will do that.

G - Gas - Since I'm not driving to work anymore, I'm not driving nearly as much. I'm filling the car with gas about half as often these days.

H - Hospital - For the first time since I was born, I stayed overnight in a hospital. The nurses, doctors, and staff all treated me exceptionally well. The building itself could use work and the food was terrible, but I think that's about normal for health care.

I - Ice - With indoor options limited, people have cleared impromtu skating areas on the creek. Technically, the city doesn't recommend going on the ice, but I like seeing them when I walk past and I hope it is something that happens in future winters too.

J - Jigsaw - Completed a 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle in June. While huge, it didn't feel that difficult.

K - Kilograms - I've lost a lot of them recently. I'm hesitant to mention it because a lot of people struggle with their weight, but it lead to one funny story. When I told my doctor how much weight I've lost, he suggested that I could make a mint selling my diet plan. I'm not sure ending up in the ER with excrutiating stomach pain and doing whatever it takes to avoid that happening again is really a good diet plan for the masses though.

L - Lindsay and Ryan - My favourite Sunday activity now is walking over to Happy Hi and having a chat with Ryan and Lindsay while they close up the shop.

M - Masks - I now have quite the collection. They make it harder to hold a conversation, fog up my glasses, and get sucked into my mouth and nose if I'm breathing hard and I don't love wearing them, but they really aren't that bad.

N - Nuit Blanche - This year's Nuit Blanche was a drive through event held at the end of August. I also went to a couple of their pop-up preliminary events. I really liked the giant inflatable cloud when it was on Elphinstone. Honorable mention to Nocture by New Chamber Ballet. Things like this and a recent production of the Nutcracker that was filmed in a mansion in New York are particularly intriguing to me because they are small scale and site specific. They make me think about what could happen in Regina. 

O - Office - I haven't been in to work in the office since late March. Working from home is different but I think I prefer it. I miss the buzz of people sometimes and I find it hard to remember to take breaks or quit for the day, but not having to drive anywhere first thing in the morning is nice and there are fewer distractions.

P - Pancreatitis - The pain I had from my bout of pancreatitis was unimaginable. At this point, I don't even remember what it was like. I was talking to my mom and she reminded me that when she drove me to the hospital, every little bump we hit would be pure agony for me.

Q - Quill - I bought a quill from Paper Umbrella this year. Technically it is a fountain pen not a quill, but close enough for this list. It's pleasant to write with and makes taking notes for work more fun. I'm surprised by how much ink it uses though.

R - Rabbit - My co-worker in the fall was pretty cute, but not very hard working though. I'd see him sitting there after lunch and he'd still be sitting there hours later when I took my coffee break.

S - Single - Still. At the start of the year, while I didn't hold much hope of actually meeting someone special, it at least felt possible. Now, it feels impossible to meet someone in person and online dating continues to feel futile. At the same time, having the house to myself right now seems like an incredible blessing. I see other people's home offices hidden in the basement and hear the clamor of families in the background and feel lucky to have no distractions.

T - Takeout - With dine-in being unwise, I've been ordering more takeout food. I'm not really a fan of it. By the time it gets to my house, it is usually not as hot as I'd like and it never looks as nice as when they serve it to you in the restaurant. I think the best results are from the meal kits like the nacho kit from malinche or taco kit from El Tropezon. They are a bit more work, but I think the end result is worth it.

U - Unchanging - The weeks have becoming an unchanging sea of sameness. I suppose they always had a similar rhythm to them (Sundays I visit my parents, Monday to Friday I work, and Saturday is the market) but the only major milestones seem to be health related (3 months until my next doctors appointment).

V - Vacation - I booked a week of in February with thoughts of going to Chicago to see "The Times Are Racing" by the Joffrey, but my health had changed within the last three months, so I wouldn't have had insurance, so instead I stayed home. I had another week booked in April to go to San Francisco, but before I had even really thought about booking flights, California was closing. I had a week booked in May for the Cathedral Arts Festival, but that moved to be online. Other than that I've just used time to create extra long weekends. So, basically, I took time off to sit at home and binge TV.

W - Walking - According to an app on my phone, I've walked over 3000 km this year. No wonder my shoes keep wearing out.

X - eXotic - Early in the pandemic, everyone watched Tiger King on Netflix and talked about Joe Exotic and whether or not Carole Baskin killed her husband. That feels like such a long time ago when everyone felt like we were in this together.

Y - YouTube - Since there's no where to go, I've watch way too many streaming videos.

Z - Zoom - So many video meetings. I find Zoom meetings to be tiring and frustrating and it feels like I have more meetings than in the past. There was one week where I had thirteen of them. By the time work is done, I'm usually so tired of them that I have no interest in having video calls with friends or family. Phone calls and text messages are still fine though.

So, that's 26 things about 2020. Hopefully I wasn't too pandemic or pancreatitis heavy. Everytime I do these lists, I run into letters that are a challenge. I expect Q, X, and Z to be difficult, I, J, and K always surprise me and, this year, N and T were a struggle, but it's still fun. I'll be curious what makes it on 2021's list.