The other day, James came up from the basement smiling to himself, holding a new box of aluminum foil. "A fresh roll!" he marveled as he replaced the empty one in the drawer. "Yeah, life is good," I replied, raising an eyebrow at his overly enthusiastic foil announcement. I guess it's the little things these days.
I caught myself doing something (drink) similar last night as I was packing up the July 4th BBQ leftovers. Dishing the leftover pasta salad into a Tupperware container, I thought to myself, 'crap, not gonna fit.' I hate it when that happens because either you have to transfer to a larger container or fill a smaller sister container with the remaining leftovers. Either way, you're up another dish to clean. But I needn't have worried. The pasta salad JUST FIT and as I sealed (drink) the cap on, I thrust an unnecessary victory fist pump in the air. This time it was James's turn to raise an eyebrow. "What?" I defended myself, "it fit perfectly." We high-fived it out, James now understanding my triumph.
I am reminded of a time from my childhood - I was probably about 12 and my mom and aunt were driving my (drink) cousin and me to the mall. Along the way, they stopped for gas and upon pulling out of the station, my aunt said to my mom, "don't you just love when you have a full tank?" My mom adamantly agreed and my cousin and I burst out laughing. If there had been Instagram or hashtags back then, we would have composed a derogatory post including #losers to describe the sad state of our moms' lives.
But NOW that same cousin and I exchange texts all the time exchanging those very lame sentiments of satisfaction over trivial events only adults understand. We have acknowledged that we (drink) are now the #losers and pulling out of the gas station with a full tank, is indeed a rewarding moment. This goes for filling Blue Rhinos too. We discuss vacuums and blenders, we agonize over forts, and we compare brands of laundry detergent.
I'm pretty sure quarantine has compounded our need to celebrate the mundane details of life. Some of my faves:
Collecting an obscene amount (drink) of dust in the vacuum cleaner....satisfying!
Fresh sheets on the bed! Joy! Rapture!
That slurping sound when you've successfully plunged a toilet - like music to my ears.
Folding and putting away ALL the laundry and there's nothing in the hamper...this actually never happens at our house. But if did, it would warrant opening a bottle of bubbly.
Motivating enough to take all the shoes out of the closet, vacuum, and line them all back up even though they will all be a jumbled mess within minutes.
Actually remembering to take your Extra Bucks to CVS, using them, and scoring more.
Cleaning the refrigerator. With bleach and everything. And arranging the condiments and such on the door shelves in categories. Not that they'll stay that way.
Perhaps you're reading this (drink) thinking, 'note to self: do not invite this chick to a social gathering.' I get it. I don't sound very exciting. I can assure you I was cool once. And admit it - you can relate, right? I mean, come on - fresh sheets at the end of a long day? Who doesn't love that? Right? Am I alone here? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?