Tuesday May 12, 2020
730: Alarm. Ugh. I was in the middle of a dream and didn’t want to wake up. It wasn’t a good dream though – B got bit by another dog, so he was hurt, and I had to decide if I wanted to call the police to have the other dog put down – horrible, so I guess it’s fine to wake up.
Bathroom.
Brush my teeth.
Boys out.
Feed the beasts.
Coffee in bed. This is my favorite part of our new routine. Every day we spend the first hour of the day sitting in bed, playing with the boys, drinking coffee, and enjoying each other. It really is the best way to start a day. We’re hoping that we can continue after everything opens back up – we mostly set our own schedules, so it shouldn’t be a problem. We always ask each other what we have planned for the day … pointless, right now. M is always practicing. I am always having meetings. You’d think a global pandemic would require fewer meetings, but it doesn’t. (Just for reference, I counted the number of zoom meetings I’ve had since we went into quarantine on March 17: 46).
830: Change the sheets. Z peed on the bed again last night. She’s old for a cat – 20 – and has recently started having bladder control issues while she sleeps, which is super fun. Somehow, she managed to NOT pee on the elaborate system of blankets and pee-pads I had set up for her and, instead, peed directly on the bed. Last-week-Me is smarter that I gave her credit for, though, because she also put pee-pads under the sheets, so all we have to do is wash them, not the whole bloody bed. It’s gross and irritating, but she can’t help it. She’s a very old lady.
Shower.
Dress.
Walk the boys.
Get ready.
Eat breakfast.
All while listening to my newest audiobook: Lair of Dreams. It’s part of the Diviner series by Libba Bray. I’ve been listening to audiobooks like crazy since the whole stay-at-home, global-pandemic, it’s-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it hoopla. I’m liking this series a lot though – horror-esque set in the 1920s New York. It’s escapist. I don’t want to let my mind wander too much. I’m getting my routine and emotions back on track after the depression I experienced most of April.
10: Meeting. Surprise, surprise. I forgot what this meeting was supposed to be about and didn’t read the updated proposal that we’re supposed to talk about. Oops. M is sitting outside for the meeting and his neighbor dog is barking non-fucking-stop! It’s hard to hear him and incredibly distracting. I’m so fucking sick of zoom meetings. They’re the worst. I’m really not paying attention to this meeting – I’m a little grumpy and that damn dog is driving me nuts. I do some stuff to get ready for another meeting this afternoon, do a little online shopping (I MUST stop doing that!), and check Facebook. M’s internet goes out and a sweet, sweet silence fills the space. No more dog. Thank god. We try to muscle through his in-and-out internet for a little while longer, but it’s getting ridiculous, so I suggest that we end the meeting and try again next week, especially since B has to leave in 15 minutes. Everyone agrees. I can tell that T is irritated with M, both for the internet and for the dog, neither of which are really his fault, but they are technically making a proposal to us today, even if we’ve all worked together for a lot of projects, and today was a bit of a shitshow. M is going to hear about it, I’m sure – T is a nice guy, so it won’t be too bad, more like when your parent tells you, “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed” – that’s definitely how I imagine T handling this situation. Regardless, the meeting is, blissfully, over early. Time to make gluten-free, dairy-free banana bread with those crazy overripe bananas on the counter!
Walk the boys.
Do outside chores – I just totally filled the bird feeders on Sunday. They were already empty yesterday, but I didn’t get out to fill them until now. They go through the seed so quickly! I’m going to have to get more soon. While I’m out there I notice all the new sticks everywhere. I don’t know why this bothers me so much! I’m definitely losing the war on this one, but I pick them all up again. While I’m at it I might as well also pick up the trash that blows into our yard. Ugh. People are so gross sometimes. H dropped off some extra mulch left over from her yard. I put the bags in the garage – I’ll do it later.
Play with the boys.
Take the banana bread out.
Eat an apple.
Prep for another meeting.
1:45: This damn church board meeting still hasn’t started. It was supposed to start at 1:15. Very irritating. I texted C to see if we’re still meeting and we’re finally starting.
2:10: Well, at least it’s short. That’s a blessing. Time for some banana bread. Here’s hoping it doesn’t take like cardboard!
Not cardboard.
Menards run: I’m trying hard to not go out much, and generally am succeeding, but sometimes I just need to get out of the house. Luckily I actually needed some things, so I could go to the store! The last time I went to Menards almost no one was wearing masks. It was the first day they had required them, and that was a joke! Today, though, everyone was. I was happy to see that. I got bird food, cat food, TP, pee-pads, sparkle water, body wash, a shower floof … maybe something else? I can’t remember. Now that I mention it, need might be overstating it, but …
On the way back home, I was listening to my audiobook and one of the characters mentioned that their uncle wasn’t home because he’d gone to see family and wouldn’t be back for 2 weeks. I was so confused for a hot minute – you don’t just go see family!! This is actually something that I’ve been struggling with because two of my grandparents are ailing – one was just diagnosed with dementia and the other just finished radiation treatments for cancer (why in god’s name you have a 85 year old man go through radiation is beyond me) that really wracked his body and left him very weak and frail. They both live on the west coast, and if I don’t see them soon, I might never see them again. But I can’t really justify going to see them either – I’d have to be in quarantine for 2 weeks before I was okay being around them, and then I’d also be exposing my parents and brother and his family, and they couldn’t go see them either … it’s such a confusing time, and it’s hard to know what to do. Anyway, I was very taken aback when this character said he was visiting family like it’s no big deal! Then I remembered that it didn’t used to be a big deal, and probably won’t be again sometime in the future – it’s just the chaos and uncertainty of this particular moment in time.
GW dropped off some tonic water that Amazon keeps sending him by accident (and they don’t want back), which means some good gin and tonic later! Whoop whoop!
Lunch.
Banana bread, again.
4:00: Meeting with my graduate research assistant. He is SO much better than my last assistant! He actually comes with questions and curiosity! It’s great! I enjoy meeting with him – it’s not like pulling teeth like it was with D.
Take the boys for a walk.
Totes gin time!
Color time. When I’m really stressed out, I spend a lot of time coloring. I have some great color books – intricate and beautiful. Needless to say, I’ve almost gotten through one since the quarantine. I also listened to my audiobook while coloring – it’s so relaxing. I love seeing the pictures slowly making their way towards being completed; it’s so different than my typical work, which creeps along so slowly you don’t really see that it’s making progress until it’s over. I love the detail and that it forces me to slow down or I totally screw it up.
7:00: Dinner time. We’re watching the end of Justified while we eat dinner these days. I like it … it’s not my favorite, though. I actually went to Harlan County while I was in KY in March, just because of the show. Ha! I wonder how many people they get doing that. There wasn’t anything to do there – I got into Harlan … and nothing. I literally just turned around in the middle of a parking lot and drove back to my hotel. We haven’t increased our TV watching at all during the pandemic. I have a lot of friends who are binging like crazy, but we’re still just sticking to the 2-3 shows at night with dinner. Granted, I have increased my audiobook listening like, 1000x fold! A different kind of entertainment.
Justified.
Justified.
Play time with the boys.
Walk with the boys.
Get ready for bed.
10:45: Bedtime! This is seriously my favorite time of the day. I love going to bed. It’s the best.