Sentence:  Soon we <WSD>were</WSD> deep in a conversation that was interrupted many times by little things like Jennie 's holding her breath and pretending to black out , Miranda 's dumping the contents of the sugar bowl on the table , and various screeches , thuds , and giggles . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)