Friday 5: Couples Therapy

Happy Friday! I am going to need therapy if it continues to snow once a week. It’s pretty and it wasn’t a lot but we are definitely in the deep of winter now and I’m feeling the misery. I’ve been cold since mid-January and when I’m cold like this I don’t really warm up until spring. At least my current ‘office’ allows space heaters.

Thirty-five days until spring. In the meantime, I’m receiving seeds in the mail and dreaming of decorating my patio tiki-style, since I don’t plan on going anywhere for a while.

1. Which celebrity couple, past or present, do you find particularly interesting?
   I used to be really into Brangelina (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) but I have a feeling Brad isn’t the mellow and kind dude I imagined him to be. I’d love to know if the Ryan Reynolds/Blake Lively marriage is a PR/studio arrangement. I recently read an article on the New York Times (paywall, open incognito browser if you have to) on Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody’s marriage and its social media fame. It’s a sweet read, especially for this weekend.
   
2. A couplet is a pair of rhyming lines of verse, one after another. Example:
   I think that I shall never see
   A poem lovely as a tree.*
   In the form of a couplet, how would you describe your hopes for the weekend?
   
   That Olliepeño’s cough and wheeze
   Are only from his allergies.
   
   Ollie’s off to the vet tomorrow because his cough kicked into high gear again. It’s a curbside visit, meaning the tech comes to the car and brings him in while we (tomorrow it’s WM) sit in the car and wait for the vet to call and tell us what’s up. It sounds cruel, but I really enjoy this much better than trying to keep the dog calm in a waiting room with other dogs and cats only to have the tech fat-shame him in front of us. Ollie loves to eat – it’s literally all he does beside sleep these days. He’s 13.5 and once a pet in my care passes 11 years, I’m not putting them on a diet.
   
3. With what (or whom) have you recently, consciously uncoupled?
   I am unfollowing celebrities who show off their vacations on Instagram. I know they’re rich and have their own planes and bubbles and can demand their staff be quarantined forever, but I can’t bear to see Harry Connick, Jr, Martha Stewart, or Chrissy Teigen/John Legend on beaches. I may refollow in the future, but in the meantime, I cannot tolerate photos of any celebrity’s bikini shots or ocean views.
   
   I also feel this is different from people who shame celebrities for sharing details of their rich lives. If you hate that Chrissy Teigen spent $13K on a bottle of wine, don’t follow someone who has the ability to spend $13K on a bottle of wine. Follow me! I eat Doritos and my wine is always sub-$20. I do complain about the snow though.
   
4. When did you last purchase something in a two-pack only because it doesn’t come in a one-pack?
   Middle-aged blogging at it’s best: Pepto Bismol. I was in need and two-packs was all the store had.
   
5. What were you doing a couple of hours ago, and what will you be doing in a couple of hours
   A few hours ago I was trying to take care of a week’s worth of pesky emailed tasks in 2 hours, because I kept putting them off. I was 100% off of my work game this week, in a pull up the spreadsheet and stare at it kind of way. Every day felt like a Tuesday.
   
   A few hours from now I’ll be fast asleep.

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Tomorrow is Mom’s birthday, and if the weather doesn’t stink, we’re participating in a Galentine’s workshop/event on Papersource.com. We *may* be having Primo’s for dinner, but again, if the weather doesn’t stink. It’s supposed to snow a few inches AGAIN. Sunday is Valentine’s Day but more importantly, I’ll be watching the final episode of Bridgerton, which I have successfully spread out over 8 weeks without being spoiled. (I suspect a happy ending, since it’s based on book 1 of an 8 book series.) I’ll need a new episodic series to watch that is not WandaVision. I don’t want to have to deep-dive into Marvel canon for two months just to understand what the hell’s going on. Any suggestions for me? Programs must not contain torture/extreme violence.

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