What to Do with Time on Your Hands

Hello all - as more and more are teleworking/self quarantining/social distancing, you might need some fun stuff to keep you busy. Here are some ideas...

1.  Get into the kitchen and improve/dust off your skills. Forget what anyone says, carbs are the greatest defense against the blahs (science!). Try the pretzel rolls pictured above from Foodie with Family. I have followed this site for years, because her recipes are fabulous and totally attainable for the average cook, and include those tried and true helpers: bread machines and crock pots. If you just want to look at pretty food, look here, and here, and here.

2.  Have puzzles you've already done or gave up on, or board games you don't want any more? Get them on to Next Door ASAP! It's a win-win - you help another family pass the time and declutter at the same time. 

3. Pick a movie and have a Netflix Party. I just read about this and am dying to try it. It synchronizes video playback and adds group chat to your favorite Netflix shows (must use the Chrome browser). It sounds like movie studios are going to be streaming movies just now in theaters early, so there will be great new stuff to watch "together."

4. Pick a series of movies and take a deep dive...Star Wars, many iterations of Star Trek, Fast and Furious, Harry Potter, the Marvel Universe are all good ones. It's worth doing a little goggling to figure out the best order of movies in a series, date in theaters is not always the best order (this is an input from resident knower of nerd culture, my son) (the links I added will help)

5. Now is a great time to dive into a binge of something that passed you by. Right now I am in to The Good Fight. The Crown and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel are a few others worth checking out. Did you miss the Baby Yoda craze? Now's your chance to catch up. And since you need to subscribe to Disney+ to do that, you can also check out Encore! It's a show that invites people to come back and perform their high school musical -- utterly charming. If you are a reality TV fan, my daughter highly recommends Love is Blind.

6.  Go outside! Also Home Depot in my town is still open. If I plant everything I just bought seeds for, my summer garden will be lit!