Todd’s Take: Why My Life is Better Since Coronavirus

Just like you, sometimes I just don't know what to make of this craziness that we have all had to learn how to adapt to over the last three-plus months since stay-at-home- orders were put into place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
I do know this, however, I have discovered some silver linings despite coming to grips with the "new normal".

First let me start by telling you how blessed and fortunate I am to still be working. I know many aren't -- including my wife. I'm thankful that 94.5 KATS and Townsquare Media (my employer) have retained all of us while many other media companies are firing and furloughing their employees. It is my honor to still be able to serve you every morning and, if things get any weirder, I'm all set to go to broadcast from a makeshift studio at my house!

The biggest "glass half-full" example I have is the amount of time I have been able to share with my lovely bride, Carrie Ann. She is a Cosmetologist and was one of the first industries to get shut down. Luckily, we've maintained thanks to stimulus and unemployment monies even though she hasn't worked at the job she truly loves in months.
Because she is home now (other than doing the grocery shopping) I have been able to see her on a daily basis much more than pre-COVID-19. Normally I'm up at 4:30 a.m. and off to work while she usually wouldn't get home until 7:00 p.m. Not a lot of time to have meaningful conversation outside of "How was your day?" and "What do you want for dinner?"  Since I've even been able to leave the radio station a bit earlier on many days, we have been able to have great conversations and I'm really thankful for that!

The next thing I'm appreciative of since "The 'Rona" is the amount of time I've been able to spend rocking out and horsing around with my "Little Buddy". My son, Drew, is a 15 year-old Freshman at East Valley High School and had just made the Junior Varsity Baseball team right before... curtains. A bummer, to be sure, but we have played a ton of Wiffle Ball in the back yard and have been going on a Rock-'N-Roll musical journey as he has been teaching himself to play guitar. No shortage of Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica coming out of his bedroom these days!

Another cool thing that has come about is that our two rescue kitties, Marmaduke ("Duke", "Shaquem", "Three-Wheeler") and Marmalade ("Marley", "Shaquill", "Four-Wheeler") have finally warmed-up to me. We got these brothers from a family friend that was moving away. They have known my wife for the first seven year's of their life but didn't know where in the hell I came from when we brought them into our home. Since I have been there more often and at abnormal hours of the day, they are finally getting used to me. Of course, I had to bribe them with "Temptations" cat treats but they no longer bolt under the bed or couch when I enter the room. Another win!

Definitely a byproduct of all the uncertainty we are all dealing with is the amount of introspection and self-analysis we are having to incur. I know, for me at least, I have tried to stop and "smell the roses" much more than when we were still living our lives day-to-day in the "rat race". Many evenings, now, I will stand on my back porch or sit in our hot tub and watch the sunset over Mt. Rainier. It helps to remember what's truly important and gives me peace and a sense of calm. Here's our view (sorry my camera sucks!)

Another blessing in disguise since "shelter-in-place" has been the amount of time to tackle those nagging projects around the house. We moved into a newly constructed home last April and, frankly, still haven't completely moved in. With the three of us being at home so much, we have really made some hay sprucing things up, interior/exterior decorating, etc.

To that point, I've been able to go through boxes of stuff that we moved that I haven't gone through in YEARS! I'm a bit of a pack rat that, because of my OCD, I'm close to being on the next episode of "Hoarders"! The other day, while going through some stuff, I stumbled across these mementos that I've been lugging around for years. It's been fun having so many memories of my life come flooding back all at once.

What silver linings have you discovered during the pandemic? Send me a message via the free 94.5 KATS mobile app!