Watched as The Scientist cracked himself up after he saw a Pfizer commercial and pronounced their name as “FIZZ-ER.” He looked so entertained that I didn’t have to the heart to call him a goober. 

Finally got to meet The Scientist’s lab partner thanks to Brian remembering that she’s married to a mechanically inclined person willing to help our sorry a**ses fix Fred The Ginormous Diesel for a share in Brian’s garage beer stockpile. Also learned from a coworker that her husband ACTUALLY is a diesel mechanic and they purposefully don’t own a diesel because they suck in winter temps like ours. <adds this to lessons learned the hard way life file>

Played a game of Guess-How-Long-Ago-The-Condiment-Expired as I discovered a bottle of unopened buffalo sauce 5 years gone in our fridge. The dominate theory posited that it may have arrived with us from the condo when we moved to White Bird Station circa 2017. 

Overheard at The Eilers:

Me: Do you need help with that?

Brian: No.

Me: Oh, thank God. 

Brian: It’s a good thing you’re cute.

Me: Yep, sure is.

Signs that it’s time to retire the masks included: Accidentally dropping your mask in a puddle, your new mask breaking apart into pieces when you attempted to put it on, discovering a discarded mask on your lawn that had been covered by the now melting snow banks, your new boss commenting that they have no idea what you look like, and my personal favorite, offering to help a person that walked in the office who, naturally, turned out to be one of my newest colleagues that I didn’t recognize without her mask.

Counted the number of times people stood during the state of union address. After 40+ “stand-ups” (about 10x more than the number of masks worn) we gave up on our seltzer water drinking game and went back to watching Downton Abbey like the middle age adults that we are. After a much needed pee break of course.

Managed to find parking downtown and immediately recognized a donor on the sidewalk. Greeted him warmly by name only to have him look at me strangely, mumble hello, and quickly book it in the opposite direction. Realized that between the mask, the bangs, and brown hair he had ZERO clue who I was. Felt like an idiot briefly but calmed down when I realized it didn’t matter because he didn’t know who I was! 🤣

Began getting questions as to when Team Eilers would move away from mask wearing. Shared our plans to begin phasing them out in places like the office or lab. This was happily received with a friend going so far as to say, “Knowing that is better than any recommendation the CDC makes!” Here to be your bellwether any day.

Had a Zoom work from home fail when my computer died when attempting to log on for an important meeting with a potential new nationally based corporate partner. Quickly reached panic level while scrambling to get the Zoom app going on my phone so I could still host our chat. Thanked them for their patience causing them to quip, “Absolutely. I guess even after two years we’re all still learning how to deal with Zoom life.” TRUTH.

Had to verify for myself that our county is no longer in the high transmission rate according to the CDC’s newest guidelines. Cheered when it was confirmed because now maybe Team Eilers can move forward with their new endemic embracing lives.

Me? I’m just spacing out and accidentally eating my fiber gummies like they were their candy counterparts.