Happy Weird Week--and waiting for V-Day

 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Since we said goodbye to 2020 in a blog here last week--and I understand why that feels so urgent!--that means now we’re in this weird interregnum week.

 I always forget about these days, you know? December 26 through 30.  The five days of between. The weird week. 

On one hand, it’s great. I have to say weird week is when I finish doing holiday cards, and rationalize that this is still the holidays and NOT LATE and it’s only “late” on Jan 2. And there’s a lot of leeway with covid, right? 

Weird week is still holiday enough that the cookies and fudge are still covered by the holiday rules, meaning they have no calories and won’t until January 2.

And also, even though we are all on this bizarre enforced “vacation,” to use the term loosely, it does feel more vacationy. This week especially, since the real date of the holiday is over, and what didn’t get done for that day -well, too late now. There’s a relief in that. 

So maybe weird week is when we start counting toward V-day.  Vaccination day. I’m calculating about April for me, and maybe even March for Jonathan. Talk about weird.  

When do you think you and your family will get vaccinations? Have they already? There's a chart in the Times that lets you calculate:  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/03/opinion/covid-19-vaccine-timeline.html

(There was an article in the paper today about the polio vaccine--and how people cried with joy when it was finally available, and kids lined up at school to get it.  I have absolutely no memory of that. Do you?)

JENN MCKINLAY: I used to love this week as a gear up for the new and improved me that was going to emerge like a butterfly. I’d declutter, stock up on healthy food, get a new hair style, etc. This year I am chained to my keyboard trying to finish a book for a deadline that’s already been extended, which I’ve never needed before. For me, this is a fitting end to a year of chaos. I am hoping that if i can turn the book in on time-ish, then the new year can start off on the right foot. Wish me luck!

Oh, and I don’t remember the polio vaccine but am very grateful for it! I have a feeling I’m on the bottom of the list for the Covid vaccine and that’s okay. Get the higher risk people to safety first.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: You know I always love this weird in-between week. It sort of feels like a week out of time, where you might catch up on all the things you meant to do before Christmas and didn't get to, and you might actually manage to reflect a bit on the year past, and make some goals for the coming year. Or at least switch over to a new calendar…

As for the vaccinations, I'm just hoping sometime in the spring, maybe March or April. But the way this last year has gone, who knows? In the meantime, we'll just keep on trying to stay safe.

LUCY BURDETTE: This IS a weird week Hank. I finished the cards yesterday and we are still eating cookies. And I’m working on copyedits and maybe the beginning of another Key West mystery. (More on that later…)

And yes, we are thinking a lot about V-Day. It’s so complicated figuring out who should go ahead of whom. And how are we going to be notified that it’s our turn? And is it possible to get overlooked? Does the squeaky wheel get vaccinated first or should we shut up and wait?

Yay, Molly!

We are so so so thrilled that our daughter Molly (an ER doc) and our nephew David (ditto) both got their first doses last week. They are in LA where the hospitals are overrun and the staff exhausted. Oh I cannot wait for all this to be over...

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I always love this week, since I work from home anyway and, back in the day, Ross and the kids had the whole week off from school. It’s always been our Christmas week, when, as Hank says, everything has been done (or not, but you don’t have to think about it anymore) and holiday rules apply - leftovers, movies in the middle of the day, and bad breakfast choices (to paraphrase Jenn!)

As to V Day, I suspect I’m in the back of the pack along with Jenn, since I’m under 60 and have no comorbidities. Maybe I should try to pack on a few more pandemic pounds to change my status?

 I’m hoping the Maine Millennial will get the shot early on, however, as she’s now working at an oncology treatment center, which I think slots her in along with other health care workers. Obviously, she’s not a nurse or a technician, but she’s dealing with cancer patients, in person, every day.

The other people I’m waiting to see vaccinated are friend of the Reds Celia Wakefield and her husband Victor. They've been walled up like medieval anchorites since last February due to Victor’s age (he’s a WWII vet!) and it would be wonderful for them to be able to finally get out and about again.

HALLIE EPHRON: Yes, it’s always a weird week. Betwixt and between. 

V-DAY! I look forward to it. I’m guessing in the spring, too. My husband maybe a bit earlier since he’s a tad older than me. 

I do remember getting the polio vaccine. I was in elementary school, and I remember being lined up and herded through the nurse’s office. I was so humiliated because I’d worn a dress and they had to unbutton it and pull it down off one shoulder to administer the shot. HUMILIATING! I don’t think I had the slightest idea about polio. 

That vaccine came too late from one of my dearest college friends, Linda Laubenstein, who got polio when she was 6. In an iron lung for months. I can’t even imagine it. In a wheelchair until she died in her 40s, as so many who got polio have. She persevered, went to medical school and became a hematologist, widely credited as one of the first doctors to recognize AIDS and raise the alarm with Larry Kramer who wrote a play, The Normal Heart, in which one of the main characters is based on her.

RHYS BOWEN: This is usually the week when I take a deep breath, clean up the wrapping paper left by zillions of presents, strip six beds after family has departed, John makes huge turkey curry. But this year, after a Christmas day a deux and a simple meal for two there is not much to be done.

 We have played with the new espresso machine, learning how much milk to put in the frother before it spills over the top and scalds us. We have Zoomed with family and friends--so great. And I confess to feeling a glimmer of optimism for the first time in months.

My daughter and son in law received their first dose of vaccine. John should be soon in line with me soon after. 

 And I do remember the polio vaccine well. Polio was a big scare when I was about ten. I was forbidden to go to the swimming pool but I went over to my friend’s house and we snuck out to swim from there. Thank God my parents never knew! Anyway a nurse came to our school and we lined up for vaccine. I remember we had a netball match the next day and so many groans from sore arms. Let’s hope this new vaccine makes the same difference that that one did.

HANK: Yes, absolutely! And I have a pal whose uncle, a hospital doctor but not front line, was given the vaccine. He tried to defer, and give it to a younger person, but they said nope: You get it when it's your turn.

What do you think, Reds and readers? Is this a weird week for you? Anyone you know get the vaccine yet? Have you calculated your timing?