The week gone by — May 9

Dear JetBlue,

I know you’ve been trying to reach me a lot lately, and that’s fine. I don’t mind.

And … yes, I know I should have gotten back to you sooner, but I honestly wasn’t really sure what to say.

But before I say more, I do want to tell you it was very nice to offer 60,000 bonus points on eligible purchases with the JetBlue Plus card, double points at restaurants and eligible grocery stores and single points on all other purchases.

And you know I love that free first checked bag.

It doesn’t even bother me that terms and conditions apply.

More importantly than that, though, when you read what I’m about to say, it’s important to realize that it’s not you, it’s me.

I’m just not ready yet.

If it makes you feel any better, we’re getting our second shots this week, which will help, although I’m still not sure when I’ll be ready to give it another go.

And I should probably let you know that whenever that time comes, we may not necessarily be exclusive. You know I’m a fan of your convenience from Boston and your excellent service, but there are other planes in the hangar like British Airways, Aer Lingus and Southwest.

All I can promise is that I won’t forget about you. I know it’s not much, but it’s the best I can do right now.

Photo by Nel Botha on Pixabay.

WHAT I WROTE

Unfortunately, ice cream does not solve every problem … but it’s always fun when it does.

I mentioned in the post that my recent ice cream consumption may cause some problems for my waistline, and then I got something addressed to me from a local weight-loss group. So, did they …

A. Read the post, know it’s me, know my address and send me materials?

B. See me walking around town, know my address and send me materials?

C. Randomly send it to me in a way that would stir my paranoia?

 SOME THOUGHTS ON ‘NORMAL’

You may recall that in this space a week ago, I asked people to share their feelings as things look like they’re heading toward “normal” … or not in the places where they aren’t.

I got a few replies, including this one from Giggles.

”I am excited! Honestly I am! I have been following the rules and getting stressed out over the idiots I live with not. They continue to invite people into our home and theres literally nothing I can do about it. Inform the landlord? She can’t stop them. Our lease says no over night guests but apparently that’s illegal to put it in. If I call and report them to our city bylaw, they never come cos it’s just one or two people and they are focused on huge parties of like 20-50. So it’s like, great thanks. I’ll just sit here and be in fear of touching shared surfaces because there’s nothing I can do.

I get my vaccine this week though! First dose. And I’m very happy to be on my way to being protected. To feeling safe in my home and at work. Our government says a vaccine passport of sorts will be used in the future for certain things. We will see how that goes haha.”

Jackie in Italy also weighed in.

“Yes, I am with you — getting back into the swing of things is going to take some time. But at the same time, I’m looking forward to more days out of the house. Here in Italy things are going really slowly anyway, but today we finally made it back into the mountains after months of travel restrictions. It felt good!”

Michelle isn’t feeling as good about things, but I can’t say I blame her. (After Giggles’ initial comment above, she and I had a discussion about the vaccine rollout in Canada.)

”Well if things here in Canada ever look like they’ll approach any kind of normal, I’ll be happy to take you up on your challenge. Until then, I’ll continue to stay home.”

And I definitely agree that sunny days — of which we’re getting about one a week, like a ration — make things a lot better.

The sun makes a huge difference in mood. My toddlers are finding bugs, jumping and putting worms in the compost bin. less bored. my family are vaccinated and I feel blessed. I'm curous what normal will look like. I hope we can reduce emissions and have a work/life balance.

— 🌈 raising2children💙 🏴‍☠️🇬🇧🇪🇺 (@raising2childr1) May 2, 2021

Beyond the responses to what I wrote, I also saw stuff like this from a friend and former coworker.

My two spiffy new handbags are the physical manifestation of my optimism about having a life again soon.

(This tweet translates to: I got my first vax today.)

— Mikaela Slaney (@MalaySl) May 5, 2021

Helen has been struggling with reopening, but is trying to keep “pulling that airplane.”

Alexia and her husband both got their second shots, and she makes an offer that I may take her up on the next time I’m in Utica, as long as she’s willing. (She and I are friends from college; it’s not like I’m some dude she doesn’t know who’s just going to show up in town, which would be really awkward.)

Becky also got her second shot.

I still encourage anyone who writes their thoughts — or who has written them and I forgot to mention them here — to let me know.

STUFF I READ

RJ enjoys absurd baseball.

Savannah is ready for summer. Me too.

Estrella wants to know how we really feel.

Renata tries to base her decisions on whether she’s “living her truth.”

Tangela’s mother is “something else” indeed.

Jackie is all that is left of her mother.

Rosie ponders comfort versus challenges.

Jeff is bad at gardening, but he keeps at it.

Pea Green is also trying to get her garden going.

Austin wonders where you can find “awesome sauce” … and then actually finds it.

For T.B.C., Catarina writes about her first time learning a language.

Vee had to deal with an idiot, but not just any idiot, an idiot who wouldn’t give up, no matter what you tell him.

Erin describes the pain words can cause.

Thomas tackles what it means to be “man enough.”

Ally got blocked for perhaps the most-ridiculous reason ever.

Jamie hopes to do her first 5K this year, and I hope to be there, even though I’ll be walking, not running.

Pamela had a bit of a mail mixup.

It was a “positive” week in Graham’s household, but for all the wrong reasons.

Zoe wants to look professional, but she also wants to be comfortable, and the two don’t seem to go together very well.

TWEETS I LIKED

Isn’t it fun when one of your oldest friends trolls you because she knows you hate this meme? (It’s OK. I was expecting it. Plus, I got even.)

Happy Star Wars Day! #maythefourthbewithyou #maythefourth #maythe4thbewithyou #maythe4th #positivelylisa #starwarsday2021 pic.twitter.com/Lli9lgnPKe

— Positively_Lisa (@positively_lisa) May 4, 2021

No doubt one of the great movies of all time.

Watching When Harry Met Sally for my movies class! I can never get enough of this movie. I believe it's my all-time favorite! ❤❤❤ pic.twitter.com/QgS28ScSWs

— Kristian Weigman 💚💚🌍💚💚 (@KristianWeigman) May 8, 2021

Pretty much.

The best thing to do when it’s raining? Nada 🙅🏻‍♀️🌧

— Lucy Taylor (@LucyMaryTaylor) May 8, 2021

It’s me: winter, spring, summer or fall.

I'm participating in dork guy Summer or whatever the next thing is.

— Tony Burgess (@tonyburgess1969) May 5, 2021

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