EDLM October 22, 2021
I wake early today around 5:00 a.m. and am not ready to get up. I’m not fighting to go back to sleep which is wasted energy that leads to major disappointment. I’m just lying here. The 6:00 alarm goes off and my jealous dog sneaks some love and cuddles on the bed with me while my daughter’s well-behaved dog waits patiently on the floor.
I dress in shorts, t-shirt, and a sweatshirt and go to the bathroom. I brush and floss my teeth and remind myself that the extra teeth cleaning effort at night would be better for my teeth than in the morning. Whatever… it’s working fine.
I started doing pushups almost daily on August 22nd. I, Smiley Recruit, was ordered to do extra push-ups daily during bootcamp. It was like the drill instructors knew exactly what I needed, pushups to fight my kryptonite. Two of my favorite military life stories involve doing pushups. Both involve the 2nd Smiley Recruit and she was fighting her kryptonite with mountain climbers. The fun we had. A full hour of four count pushups one night and I reached 250 of them. Today, I’m doing modified pushups, from my knees. Haha.
I put on my flip flops, fill my water bottle, and go to our rec room to exercise. Today’s entertainment is “Maid” and I do six sets of 5 minutes on the bike and 25 pushups while watching. I have been surprised by my strength improvement especially my core, and it’s been motivating when motivation has been as elusive as my business suits. It took 45 minutes today, which is still too long, but I have found numerous chores that are easier or possible. I was able to easily move the window AC to storage. Forget that I moved it two days too early.
“Maid” I suspect is a pretty good portrayal of how difficult it is to be a single mom and I consider hanging out to finish the episode but don’t. I have to get to work. I ache as I watch the last scene. It reminds me of the heart wrenching sadness people endure as they do their very best in life. A lightning flash thought goes through my mind that somehow Covid-19 is going to shake the core of enough people that we are going to be able to save ourselves and our world. How optimistic? Let’s just cut that off and conclude the world and human life will meet their demise and it will be as bad as we can possibly imagine because we as humans just don’t care past our own immediate needs.
I spend as little time as possible thinking of human creatures and their destructive behavior while on my autopilot morning routine showering, dressing, and prepping meals for the day. This morning takes a little extra effort in packing a few clothes, and loading the items for the cleaners, along with grabbing my box of Chuhily cards to send a note to a friend. Maybe, today I will actually get that done rather than just carry the box of cards around for weeks.
The dogs are staying home with my in-laws and I remind my father-in-law of the food available for him to cook for dinner. They have moved back in to our home and hopefully we are able to make their lives more enjoyable.
I’ve done more by 8:00 a.m. than most do all day and I am calling this done. Ha! Just kidding. I am skipping through work, laundry stop, and my hair appointment, although my stylist is getting in the habit of bypassing the option to tip when using a card to pay, and I don’t always have cash or enough. I’m also skipping the moments of mask on, mask off.
I am feeling an urgency to get to my daughter’s house today. The guys are building walls for some living space in the pole barn and as much as we have spoken about it, we still don’t have a final design. My daughter texted that they are winging it and my reply was several funny construction GIFs, all of which could be real-life entertainment for the day. It’s also excitement that I feel as I drive towards my family. I know that we are safe and have all we need to endure life’s trials. Endure, no, thrive is better. We enjoy an evening meal, and share love and laughter before we part for bed.
I finish my day by adding journal notes and going to sleep around 10:00.
Covid-19 life updates: I am procrastinating in making plans to attend a “celebration of life”. A family member lost a mate to mental illness and of course there remains a young family who had hoped he would overcome it. It’s devastating. Some siblings have been holdouts for the vaccine and were recently vaccinated. A good friend and nurse recently received her booster, she was close to 10 months from vaccination. Multiple young adult family members and their families have had covid-19. My direct family has avoided as far as we know and all able to be vaccinated are now including parents and in-laws. There remains the concern for long-term effects. I don’t enjoy even the thought of what if and thus don’t. Numerous family members jobs are requiring the vaccination, and now a government mandate is trying to force employers to force the vaccine on employees. There are many not happy about this and including some of the vaccinated. People have lost their jobs rather than and more are hoping it doesn’t go into effect so they don’t have to choose. I imagine their agonizing over the decision and fear. At the same time, there are millions who took the chance in the effort to curb their fear and help us get back to normal. A normal forever changed. There is a labor shortage that seems to be getting worse or at least a disconnect with jobs going unfilled either because of the pay, or the risk, or the lack of childcare options, or a skill gap. I will end with the consumer purchasing habits that have changed which means we have had to put lots of extra effort into making sure we have the materials needed for the living space we are building. This discussion could easily turn into a dissertation and I will spare you.