MistyEB

I’m writing this on Monday because no matter how much I plan to do on the weekends, when the weekend hits and the lack of routine that I crave is gone, I can’t get things done. Oh I do things, but other things.

Even during this time of pandemic it is super important to have a routine. As the days merge and become one giant stream of waking up followed by the jolt that normal isn’t normal any more, routine and ritual become more important than ever. Because I’m lucky enough to have a job that can be done from home in an industry that is considered essential, I’m busier than ever. So I get up and shower and get on line every day. Except Saturday.

So this Saturday I did The NY Times crossword. Then R and I went to Issaquah to pick up masks that my wonderful friend M made for us. She left them on the porch and we picked them up and then talked from the bottom of the driveway. It’s the new way to keep in touch with our friends.

It was a beautiful sunny day today and I had a chance to get out because the cleaners came. I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since the last time they were here. I realized that having R living with me is making me more careful. He is diligent about not touching things and reminding me to not touch my face. I think that if I lived alone I would end up being more laissez faire about all this.

This beautiful spring day is making me wonder if this weekend will create a surge of new cases. The city is shutting down most parks because of the nice weather to try to keep people from congregating. It’s easy to think it’s not real when the cases in the local area are decreasing and I’m not surprised that areas that have little contagion are thinking we are over reacting. If I didn’t know several people who have had it, I would be skeptical myself. Luckily they all recovered but knowing what they went through makes me glad we are staying home.

I had a conversation with a colleague this morning that made me think about the unintended consequences that will come from the economic impacts of shut downs. How many deaths will we have because of that? Will the lives saved by shutting down so many businesses outweigh the lives lost to causes related to loss of income? Last I read at least 30,000 restaurants in the US are closing for good and they estimate 110,000 will close by this summer.

After this week I am finally learning how much I am dependent on good sleep, exercise and food. I slept really well last night – got a Fitbit sleep score of 90. Wow. Even with the raging pollen count I feel great. I walked for 4 miles before work and that also helped. Plus I’m trying a new thing – eating protein for breakfast. It seems to be keeping the horrible snacking urges after lunch at bay. I wasn’t as productive as I would have wanted because of too many meetings, but now in the late afternoon I’m still ready to keep going and not fighting the urge for couch and cocktail. Yay me!

Well the sleep thing is definitely a factor. I didn’t sleep well Tuesday night so Wednesday is a mess. I’m cranky and getting annoyed by all the nonsense. Even yelled at my boss. Sigh.

It’s Tuesday. It’s so hard to keep track of what day it is. But I did sleep well and feel much better today. I had some nightmares about half the company hearing the fire alarm to evacuate at the office and half that didn’t. It’s clearly a pandemic dream since half of us are at home and the essential people are still in the lab. I’m going to try to get R and A going on some projects. I hope they can keep busy!

Monday seemed extra tough. It was as if I’m living in two worlds; the world of normalcy that is my work and this dystopian pandemic world. R and I went out for an allowed health and well being walk. But it was stressful because too many people out running who didn’t stick to the 6′ rule. I went home and went to sleep early. But did make a fantastic salmon with spiced crust. So good!

I meant to do things today and I kind of did. But mostly I just read a book. Oddly I felt guilty doing it. Like I should be out doing something useful. Or in as the case may be these days. But I did manage to do a few small chores. And got up to 50 seconds on my plank challenge.

The best part of the day was getting on Zoom with my family and having a nice gathering. Everyone made it this time and it was great to connect for a while.

I think day 14 was actually Saturday. If this is going to be good log I need to keep documenting the days. I lazed around on Saturday. But I did make a nice lemon syrup that I then used to make Jelly Shots. This time it was an Aviation. And it was beautiful. But I did learn that even if it gels up quickly, you still need to give it overnight to get the right texture to remove from the pan and make nice blocks.

It’s getting harder and harder to keep track of the days. One blurs into another and the only difference is whether I have meetings or not. Friends and family cycle in and out of despair. Even the most even-keeled people such as A find themselves being a bit “off”. I think we figured out that so far we both have angst but not yet full blown despair. Though it does seem relatively worse because we are normally the optimistic cheerful ones in the crowd.

I cope by doing and arranging and planning. That allows me to feel some control. I went to Costco yesterday and now my freezer is full. Costco is doing a fantastic job managing people flow. Although I think that to get TP one has to get there early because by 11 there was none to be had.

As you arrive you must take a sanitized cart. That is your social distancing measure. Then you get in line and remain properly spaced. It’s was good to see that 2 out of 3 people were wearing masks and/or gloves. As you reach the entrance there is an aisle created using stacked pallets that opens up into three aisles. It’s like you are boarding the ferry. You are told which aisle to get into. Then all three groups are read a set of instructions – keep away from people, follow the posted maximums, here’s the list of things they are out of, get your Costco card ready to show etc…. Then one aisle at a time is released to walk past the speaker while showing the card – keeping 6 feet away. At checkout, one person at a time is allowed to unload on the conveyor. There are newly installed plastic “sneeze guards” between you and the cashiers. You can’t bring your own bags. They tape the receipt to the front of the cart so you don’t have to hand it to the door checker. Overall I give them an A for making shopping logistics functional.

p.s. I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of emergency prep’ing and I’m realizing that I will need to do more research and summarize it for you. In the meantime to carry you over – find an old back pack, put a change of clothes in it. Some snacks that keep for a long time, a flashlight, a pocket knife or multi tool, and a first aid kit. Keep it in your hall closet by the front door. It’s not even close to everything you need. But it’s better than nothing.

I’ve been feeling like a spring day in Seattle. Where in an hour we can cycle from sunshine, to wind, to hail, to snow, to rain, and back to sunshine. My emotions have been the same way. I started off cheery and optimistic, did some meditation, ready to face the day and be amazing. Then I got sad. Then determined to do things (that didn’t last long). Then discouraged. Then ate a bag of Dark Chocolate Milanos and made Whiskey Sours. So no, I didn’t get the list of emergency preparedness resources ready for you.