The double Jeremy Brett was a mistake but let’s pretend it was a joke. Also I had linked to the Elephant Love Song Medley which was SO ROMANTIC in high school and honestly still is.
I am feeling so very sad about Adam Schlesinger, whose name I didn't even know, really (in spite of seeing him with Rachel Bloom in concert once), but whose writing has wormed into my deepest subconscious. And also, Rachel Bloom *just* had a baby, and the thought of dealing with all those feelings at once--I'm just a fan, it IS very weird to be a fan, but she's first in my heart today.
I have been a backyard birder for a while but I am growing increasingly attached to all of my birbs, even the sparrows who loudly fuck in my bougainvillea every morning. They’re doing their best.
Once I was at the doctors office loitering in the blood draw area waiting for my turn and a man with an amazing voice started singing “on the street where you live”. I’m assuming it controlled his breathing and kept him calm and focused for the blood draw. It was magical and surreal and like a 30 second musical treat.
I feel like such a bad daughter right now. My mom is very needy right now and I’m just not giving it to her. Probably a daily text would be great, maybe I should do that to reassure her. She’s texting and calling and she’s a lovely person, but she’s also a bit of an emotional black hole. She is one of those people that is kind and sweet but constantly demands you tell her how much you like her and that she hasn’t done anything wrong or ever made anyone feel bad ever and requires so much validation it’s exhausting. She’s the kind of person that we all have agreements about. Like when my cousin visited and my mom forgot to put sheets on the bed and my cousin mentioned it and I went and found them for her and we agreed to never tell my mom. Or my sister in law and I have agreed to never tell her that she spells my SILs name wrong. 30 years from now my mom would still be apologizing for that. Once I Politely asked my mom to stop humming as she had been humming the same snippet for half an hour and she started crying. In January she was injured and I spent 6 weeks doing everything for her. (Then my dog had surgery, I got the flu, then a flat tire. 2020 is cursed). I just can’t, but I know I should. She’s freaked out and needs reassurance. She texts me and I don’t respond for 6 hours. Bad daughter. Thanks for letting me vent.
The bad news: for 2.5 days I have had the chest pressure/dry cough combo. The good news: I do not appear to be feverish (we lost our thermometer the last time we moved), I have not gotten worse, and I have seen no one but my spouse for three weeks (which raises the question where I got sick: laundromat?) also, the Mucinex cough suppressant/expectorant combo is super effective. So I ask you, what delightful and absorbing trash should I be reading during this time?
Morning newsletter peeps! We have another sunny day today. I think we have finally turned the corner into nice weather. We'll see if I have to eat my hat this weekend.
Been utterly useless at the work from home productivity the last couple of days and feeling quite down about it. Also feeling down about realising that it's Easter next week and we won't be going home to see my parents. I'm lucky to be safe with my partner but I do miss my folks quite a bit. Been trying to get them into the habit of a photo a day of what they're doing.
On a lighter note, I made a new online friend last week and it turns out she lives six blocks from me, so once we are allowed to see people again, we're going to go and get a beer and fangirl wildly about our mutual thirst over specific youtubers. I can't wait.
How did you know I've always wanted a song dedicated to me on the radio? How!?!
I wish my mother-in-law didn't have a phobia of cats. I miss having a cat. We live pretty close to MIL, but never see her. It's very tempting to get a secret cat! Everyone's on board, except for my husband. He, due to his mom's phobia, has a serious distrust of cats. Now's not the time to do anything drastic, but I keep hoping.
My 11 yo son has a tendency to become nocturnal (insomnia pretty bad due to ADHD). Yesterday, he made a real heroic effort to stay up until 7 pm and then crashed. But now I have to get all his homework in order and begin the homeschooling. He has not worked for the last two weeks on account of the nocturnal-ness. I'm a little stressed about it because getting him to work is like pulling teeth. Or labor. I usually feel completely exhausted after 1 1/2 hrs. I'm going to do my best, but the stress can be too much! I start yelling. Not what I want to do. I guess I'm asking, do I have to stress about this? I don't want him to fall behind. 6th grade (this whole past school year) has been a nightmare.
Phew, I said it. I worry they'll decide he hasn't done enough work or been in school enough (this is excluding his COVID absences. We get lots of letters about absences.) to go to 7th grade. IDK. Sometimes it's easier when he sleeps all day! I want to be a good parent, I'm just in over my head. He's incredibly smart, yet incredibly bull-headed and has zero patience. Even with ritalin (which I don't typically give him when he's not going to school - doesn't explain the insomnia at all), it is very trying to teach him. I love him so much and yet get overwhelmed by him frequently. Blerg.
Anyway, if anyone has any encouraging words, I'd appreciate it. Or, if someone wants to call into 100.3FM and dedicate a song to me (while having me somehow aware of the time it's going to be played), that would be nice. Thanks for the distractions and for this space, Nicole! xoxo
Hi, newsletter friends! Remote work! Kids! Anxiety! Fear! I don't know how to tell my friends everything in my head. I am trying and failing and keep trying! I love you all, thank you for writing, okay bye!
I gotta say I have gotten into ALL the 'quarantine has made me gay for my roommate now' posts featured on redditships. I want a rom com about each and EVERY one of these.
Nicole I am just here to say that I live for the over-the-top encouragement in the closing paragraph of your newsletters. Obviously I love and read the entirety of each newsletter, but I just can't wait to get to the end for my daily pep talk. You're the best!!
*sending a comfortable and loving gesture with all my bottled-up hugging energy*
Your poor friend! Video interviews should be spelled out in advance! I am job searching right now and that hit home so hard. I got very angry on his behalf!
I'm a college senior, and things are getting glum for me. VA's stay-at-home order means that a May graduation is 100% not going to happen. My school was in the middle of spring break when everything changed, so I didn't even get to give all of my friends a proper goodbye, AND I'm separated from about half of my worldly possessions (my spring wardrobe! my handmade 18th-century costumes! Rainboots!). But the friends thing is what's really sticking with me. I felt a really unprecedented warmth of friendship at college and now it's just been severed far too soon.
And I know it's silly, but I keep seeing articles and headlines about how hard high school seniors have it and thinking "what about meee?? All my friends are dispersed in different STATES and even COUNTRIES and who knows if I'll ever see them again?" and I keep thi. I wanted to go to a dance. Perhaps even go to a club or a bar with friends. I would've probably hated it, but it's part of the classic "college experience" that now I'll never get to reminisce about.
Is anyone else having the sudden realization of what being an extrovert MEANS? Like I've always known that I'm more on the outgoing end of the spectrum, enjoying being around lots of people and talking for hours on end, etc. But I think this is the first time where I'm starting to fully appreciate the whole "being an extrovert means being around people gives you ENERGY" in that I am completely exhausted and unsure of what to do with myself all day. This comment is an EVENT for me today. I am calling my parents constantly. I am refreshing my podcast library ALL THE TIME because I just want to feel like I'm part of a conversation again.
I recognize my exhaustion is also probably due to some low-level anxiety / boredom given this whole situation, but I've been really surprised by how much worse I feel not being able to be around people.
The double Jeremy Brett was a mistake but let’s pretend it was a joke. Also I had linked to the Elephant Love Song Medley which was SO ROMANTIC in high school and honestly still is.
I am feeling so very sad about Adam Schlesinger, whose name I didn't even know, really (in spite of seeing him with Rachel Bloom in concert once), but whose writing has wormed into my deepest subconscious. And also, Rachel Bloom *just* had a baby, and the thought of dealing with all those feelings at once--I'm just a fan, it IS very weird to be a fan, but she's first in my heart today.
I have been a backyard birder for a while but I am growing increasingly attached to all of my birbs, even the sparrows who loudly fuck in my bougainvillea every morning. They’re doing their best.
MATLOCK I LOVE YOU AND YOUR GIANT WHISKERS
Once I was at the doctors office loitering in the blood draw area waiting for my turn and a man with an amazing voice started singing “on the street where you live”. I’m assuming it controlled his breathing and kept him calm and focused for the blood draw. It was magical and surreal and like a 30 second musical treat.
I feel like such a bad daughter right now. My mom is very needy right now and I’m just not giving it to her. Probably a daily text would be great, maybe I should do that to reassure her. She’s texting and calling and she’s a lovely person, but she’s also a bit of an emotional black hole. She is one of those people that is kind and sweet but constantly demands you tell her how much you like her and that she hasn’t done anything wrong or ever made anyone feel bad ever and requires so much validation it’s exhausting. She’s the kind of person that we all have agreements about. Like when my cousin visited and my mom forgot to put sheets on the bed and my cousin mentioned it and I went and found them for her and we agreed to never tell my mom. Or my sister in law and I have agreed to never tell her that she spells my SILs name wrong. 30 years from now my mom would still be apologizing for that. Once I Politely asked my mom to stop humming as she had been humming the same snippet for half an hour and she started crying. In January she was injured and I spent 6 weeks doing everything for her. (Then my dog had surgery, I got the flu, then a flat tire. 2020 is cursed). I just can’t, but I know I should. She’s freaked out and needs reassurance. She texts me and I don’t respond for 6 hours. Bad daughter. Thanks for letting me vent.
The bad news: for 2.5 days I have had the chest pressure/dry cough combo. The good news: I do not appear to be feverish (we lost our thermometer the last time we moved), I have not gotten worse, and I have seen no one but my spouse for three weeks (which raises the question where I got sick: laundromat?) also, the Mucinex cough suppressant/expectorant combo is super effective. So I ask you, what delightful and absorbing trash should I be reading during this time?
Morning newsletter peeps! We have another sunny day today. I think we have finally turned the corner into nice weather. We'll see if I have to eat my hat this weekend.
Been utterly useless at the work from home productivity the last couple of days and feeling quite down about it. Also feeling down about realising that it's Easter next week and we won't be going home to see my parents. I'm lucky to be safe with my partner but I do miss my folks quite a bit. Been trying to get them into the habit of a photo a day of what they're doing.
On a lighter note, I made a new online friend last week and it turns out she lives six blocks from me, so once we are allowed to see people again, we're going to go and get a beer and fangirl wildly about our mutual thirst over specific youtubers. I can't wait.
How did you know I've always wanted a song dedicated to me on the radio? How!?!
I wish my mother-in-law didn't have a phobia of cats. I miss having a cat. We live pretty close to MIL, but never see her. It's very tempting to get a secret cat! Everyone's on board, except for my husband. He, due to his mom's phobia, has a serious distrust of cats. Now's not the time to do anything drastic, but I keep hoping.
My 11 yo son has a tendency to become nocturnal (insomnia pretty bad due to ADHD). Yesterday, he made a real heroic effort to stay up until 7 pm and then crashed. But now I have to get all his homework in order and begin the homeschooling. He has not worked for the last two weeks on account of the nocturnal-ness. I'm a little stressed about it because getting him to work is like pulling teeth. Or labor. I usually feel completely exhausted after 1 1/2 hrs. I'm going to do my best, but the stress can be too much! I start yelling. Not what I want to do. I guess I'm asking, do I have to stress about this? I don't want him to fall behind. 6th grade (this whole past school year) has been a nightmare.
Phew, I said it. I worry they'll decide he hasn't done enough work or been in school enough (this is excluding his COVID absences. We get lots of letters about absences.) to go to 7th grade. IDK. Sometimes it's easier when he sleeps all day! I want to be a good parent, I'm just in over my head. He's incredibly smart, yet incredibly bull-headed and has zero patience. Even with ritalin (which I don't typically give him when he's not going to school - doesn't explain the insomnia at all), it is very trying to teach him. I love him so much and yet get overwhelmed by him frequently. Blerg.
Anyway, if anyone has any encouraging words, I'd appreciate it. Or, if someone wants to call into 100.3FM and dedicate a song to me (while having me somehow aware of the time it's going to be played), that would be nice. Thanks for the distractions and for this space, Nicole! xoxo
Hi, newsletter friends! Remote work! Kids! Anxiety! Fear! I don't know how to tell my friends everything in my head. I am trying and failing and keep trying! I love you all, thank you for writing, okay bye!
God bless Matlock (being his best cat self) and kudos to Ina Garten, my new quarantine hero.
My son and I spent over an hour on the phone last night doing a close reading of the Bon Appétit making coffee video. This is our life now
I gotta say I have gotten into ALL the 'quarantine has made me gay for my roommate now' posts featured on redditships. I want a rom com about each and EVERY one of these.
Nicole I am just here to say that I live for the over-the-top encouragement in the closing paragraph of your newsletters. Obviously I love and read the entirety of each newsletter, but I just can't wait to get to the end for my daily pep talk. You're the best!!
*sending a comfortable and loving gesture with all my bottled-up hugging energy*
Your poor friend! Video interviews should be spelled out in advance! I am job searching right now and that hit home so hard. I got very angry on his behalf!
I'm a college senior, and things are getting glum for me. VA's stay-at-home order means that a May graduation is 100% not going to happen. My school was in the middle of spring break when everything changed, so I didn't even get to give all of my friends a proper goodbye, AND I'm separated from about half of my worldly possessions (my spring wardrobe! my handmade 18th-century costumes! Rainboots!). But the friends thing is what's really sticking with me. I felt a really unprecedented warmth of friendship at college and now it's just been severed far too soon.
And I know it's silly, but I keep seeing articles and headlines about how hard high school seniors have it and thinking "what about meee?? All my friends are dispersed in different STATES and even COUNTRIES and who knows if I'll ever see them again?" and I keep thi. I wanted to go to a dance. Perhaps even go to a club or a bar with friends. I would've probably hated it, but it's part of the classic "college experience" that now I'll never get to reminisce about.
Is anyone else having the sudden realization of what being an extrovert MEANS? Like I've always known that I'm more on the outgoing end of the spectrum, enjoying being around lots of people and talking for hours on end, etc. But I think this is the first time where I'm starting to fully appreciate the whole "being an extrovert means being around people gives you ENERGY" in that I am completely exhausted and unsure of what to do with myself all day. This comment is an EVENT for me today. I am calling my parents constantly. I am refreshing my podcast library ALL THE TIME because I just want to feel like I'm part of a conversation again.
I recognize my exhaustion is also probably due to some low-level anxiety / boredom given this whole situation, but I've been really surprised by how much worse I feel not being able to be around people.