March 19, 2020 - Day 4: Social Media Distancing & Skewers

Skewers!  I have skewers!  This is a very exciting moment in our house today.  The recipe I selected for our dinner tonight relies on skewers - and before you go saying, (feel free to think it, but don't you dare say it to me) "Oh you can sub x-y-z for skewers.  You don't HAVE to have skewers..." you need to take into account my limited cooking skills.  I do not deviate from the recipe!  There will be no risk taking in my kitchen.  I like to play by the rules of cooking, so if the recipe says I need skewers, I need skewers.  The thing is, though, I just checked the recipe and it does not explicitly say I need skewers.  The pictures show skewers and there is a mention of putting the meat and veggies on the skewers, but it is not on the ingredient list.  I guess it's not technically an ingredient, but if it's going to be part of making the meal they really ought to say.  No one should be assuming people just have skewers laying around, after all...

Dinner victory is mine!

This, however, was not the only highlight of my day.  Yesterday, in a group thread I belong to with four friends from high school, it became clear to us that we could solve the social distancing problem with a virtual Google Hangout.  Once bedtime schedules were consulted, we decided on our evening time and place (haha!) and set up the meeting.  It was an absolute hoot!  Virtual Happy Hours are becoming a real thing.  This is how our Social Squad Soiree began:

"Does everyone have a drink?"
Me: "Well I thought I would, but I don't think I've actually had any water in like 48 hours..."
"OMG. You're totally pregnant."

False.  Not pregnant, but super dehydrated.  I've got all day to drink water tomorrow.  It felt SO good to laugh and just talk to a group of other people - not texting, not emailing, just talking - voice on voice.  I read once that women do this.  We have to talk to others, and through this, small amounts of oxytocin are released, which elevates mood and the feeling of being connected to others.  Perhaps this is one reason why you frequently overhear/see women talking to each other in the bathroom.  We're wired for this!  The group chat/virtual happy hour/hangout was a roaring success.  We even got a little productive by way of creating a spreadsheet with multiple tabs for entertainment categories (tv shows, podcasts, music, books, etc) to consolidate all of our recommendations in one place.  We are a lot of fun to hang out with!

So what I learned is this.  Social distancing does not have to mean social isolation.  Thanks to modern technologies and communications it is possible to stay connected.  That said, I am nearly on the verge of deleting my Facebook app...