Day 52: IT’S MY BIRTHDAY! I woke groggily, in need of food and water, so I pulled myself out of bed for those two reasons. I made coffee and breakfast while starting the online celebrations of my birthday. I sat down to eat breakfast and found a card from my husband on top of my computer. I took it to the bedroom so I could open it near him and friends, it’s a good thing I was sitting down because HE GOT US HAMILTON TICKETS. Of course, it’s a cautious sort of excitement with a pandemic and everything. We’re hoping we’ll still get to go see it. It’s been a dream of mine for years and now that it’s actually in the works, we are in a global crisis.
So far, I’ve eaten breakfast, had coffee and water and sent out some Facebook greetings to all the friends who share my birthday. It’s funny because growing up I knew not one single person who shared my birthday and now there are close to a dozen people that I’ve actually met or know in person. Birthday buddies are fun!
I decide it was a good day to wear a dress. Who says you can’t be fancy in quarantine? Sometimes, wearing a dress makes me happy.
I took a call from my parents. We video chatted with Phil’s parents. I met with the kids about school work. I washed dishes, cleaning up the memories of last night’s dinner and dessert. Drank a lot of water and coffee. Surprisingly don’t feel awful after splitting a bottle of wine yesterday.
Phil and our daughter worked out while I washed dishes and started listening to the Hamilton soundtrack because it makes me happy. When my son logged on for his class meeting, I took a book out to the porch to read. I sort of decided today would be as little work as possible. No work reading. No workout. I kind of needed a day off from all the things I’ve been trying to keep up with. Plus, Facebook is like a job all by itself today managing birthday greetings and the little challenge I initiated. It’s been fun to see the creativity! I can’t wait to pick a winner later!
Kids are doing their schoolwork and other things. I’m unmotivated to keep them on track today. It’ll all be fine. We would be feeling this way if school was in session, too. Under normal circumstances, we’d be into the last month of school and everyone gets a little spring fever in those days. Phil went to work. I finished a book. I’m not sure what else the afternoon holds. Dinner is frozen pizzas because I’m also taking a break from cooking–two nights in a row!
I talked to my grandma on the phone. Got two more birthday cards in the mail. As I told my mom, I’m living my best life today. Trying to make the best of a cruddy situation.
I folded laundry. Spent some time reading birthday greetings on Facebook. Started another book. Phil came home. I searched the driveway for the needle to our air pump (for sports balls and the like). We offered our son a couple of options for active time and he chose to go for a walk with me. I decided we should wear masks, for practice, especially since he was going to ride his scooter.
That took some time to find one of the ones I’d made to fit him just right. He’s going to be a tricky one to please. Took a short walk. Saw some interesting construction on a house that’s been vacant for months, and a cat in the farm field.
Talked to my birthday buddy David and put the pizzas in the oven for dinner. We watched Some Good News’ graduation episode and I was crying in the first two minutes. Now we’re just hanging out. Daughter is finishing school work. Son is playing on the tablet. Phil is watching an old F1 race. It’s been a nice day.
I did some reading before putting the kids to bed. Then just took a few minutes to sit in quiet and write a few things about my birthday in my journal. I had an episode of Outlander to watch, but I knew it was going to be a rough one, so I delayed a little bit but finally watched it. Then went to bed to pretend it never happened. Drama, y’all. I know it’s not real and I know what’s coming because I’ve read the books, but still.
Day 53: The day after my birthday is always kind of a letdown. There are no more greetings (or not a lot), no more cards in the mail. I did get some belated wishes today, and I picked a winner for the challenge. But it was a mostly ordinary day with academics and workouts and food and work. I did help our friend David, via phone, clean his coffee pot and it’s working now, so that’s something fun. The kids got work done today. I cleaned the bathroom closet because I realized we have an excess of toothpaste — some from dentist’s visits, some from not realizing we had it in there in the first place. It’s much more accessible and better now. These small projects, like cleaning out drawers, etc. are giving me life.
It’s 4 in the afternoon and I can feel the chill in the air. I need to bring the garden plants in before dinner, I think. Phil just got home. I don’t know what all to say about this day.
We had pasta for dinner and watched a Bon Appetit video about how to cook hamburgers (almost every way). The kids went outside for a little bit, but it was one of those nights that felt kind of aimless between dinner and bedtime. We tuned in to the Gaffigan dinner for a few minutes. By 7, we asked the kids to put the screens away. Our son actually grabbed a book and read all curled up on the couch. I did some reading, too. Daughter did some coloring.
After the kids were in bed, Phil and I watched another episode of the travel documentary we’ve been enjoying: this one the first part of a trip to Italy. The couple visited Cinque Terre, a place I’ve never heard of but now insist on visiting. The wanderlust is strong right now. We turned it off before they went to Venice because I was starting to feel sleepy.
Day 54: Waking up was hard to do today. Fitful sleep is not a sustainable practice.
I’m not sure I have a lot to say about this day. Three-quarters of us worked out in the morning. We went about our business. I went to bed early.
Day 55: A night of sleep changes perspective on things. Yesterday, the afternoon especially, was just hard because of some miscommunication and an overload of feelings (that one is on me). I went to bed early which meant I was 1) wide awake at like 1 a.m. for no reason and then 2) awake before my alarm went off at 6:15. Planning to go for a run this morning anyway, though, so breakfast and coffee and water and then I’ll head out when it warms up a little bit.
It’s a day later when I’m writing this now. I’m having trouble checking in with words right now. Maybe because the days are starting to feel the same again. I ran for 3.33 miles, the farthest distance I’ve ever run, and I want to keep going, just for personal goals. The rest of the day went pretty much as usual.
After dinner, I played two Mastermind games, against each of the kids. And then we played Apples to Apples as a family. When Phil went to bed, I gave the kids some quiet options, one of them being that I would read aloud to them. My son actually took me up on that, so we started reading a series called Upside-Down Magic. I was reading to him, but eventually my daughter set her book down and listened as well. Even though we are a reading family, this is something we don’t do much of–read out loud. Would the book have been my first choice? No, but I’m willing if it means I get to read to my kids.
I watched a couple of episodes of When Calls the Heart and worked on cross-stitch before turning in.
Day 56: Friday again, in case you need to keep track. Sometimes I only know what day it is because of the container that keeps my medication. Do I sound like an old lady?
I took another rest day today from running and working out. I’m enjoying pushing my body to physical limits but don’t want to overdo it. I spent most of the morning in the kitchen washing dishes and prepping tonight’s dinner and tomorrow night’s dinner, both of which need to marinate for hours or overnight. I got through quite a few Outlander podcast episodes. It felt good to be done with housework early, including some laundry. Son had a light academic day, so he didn’t need as much help. It’s a rainy, overcast Friday, easy to just stay inside and do nothing.
I sort of missed the news yesterday that our county’s stay-at-home order has extended to June 4. Almost nothing surprises me right now, so I don’t feel any kind of wild emotions about it. It’s already the middle of May. (Okay, maybe it’s still early May, but it feels like the middle?)
We ate lunch and I did some more kitchen clean-up just to be sure it’s ready for actual dinner prep later. Then I retreated to the bedroom and cut T-shirt material for more masks. We’re slowly introducing our kids to the idea of having to wear them when we go out because even when our stay-at-home order is lifted, I’m not sure we’ll be able to go places without masks. I listened to more Outlander podcast episodes and ended up sewing two entire masks. I think I’m getting a little better at it with practice. We have numerous ones to choose from now, and I’m going to go back and redo one of the first ones I made so it’s a little more reinforced.
I feel good about what I accomplished today, which means I will feel good about relaxing tonight and taking writing time tomorrow morning. I know I don’t have to be productive in these days, but there is still stuff to be done. I finished another book for contest. Maybe I’ll reward myself with a book for fun!
Life feels really small right now. And in some ways that’s hard, but I think it’s also good. This narrow focus on the people and the work literally right in front of us is different and can still be meaningful.
Dinner. Television. List making for the weekly produce grab. A digital book was ready for me from the library, so I read that. I wouldn’t say it’s a “fun” read, but it is interesting. Two more episodes of When Calls the Heart after the kids went to bed. This is an easily binge-able show.
Day 57: The people are restless. Two nearby counties are moving themselves out of the red phase to the yellow phase, without the governor’s permission. On the one hand, I admire the “you can’t tell me what to do” sentiment. It is, in many ways, what our country was founded on. On the other hand, I worry that a desire to “get back to normal” will cause more harm than good. Our county is run by Republicans, I think. I fear we might be next. I send my husband out there in the public three days a week. These cavalier attitudes cause me to think his safety–and the safety of others working on the front lines–means nothing. The World War 2 generation would be ashamed of us. And probably are, those who are left.
Those are fun thoughts for first thing in the morning. I’m not even to the bottom of my first cup of coffee yet. Happy Saturday!
Saturday passed without a lot of excitement. I made tea with the tea ball for the second afternoon in a row.
It felt like March 9 today instead of May 9, so hot drinks in the afternoon are a thing. Phil went to the grocery store after work. We finished the travel documentary episode we were watching. The couple went to Venice, so I pulled out my pictures and travel journal. My memories of Venice are sketchy. It was the last adventure of my college semester in Europe.
Day 58: It’s Mother’s Day, and my daughter has been up since 6:10 to make me pink pancakes for breakfast. The plan is that everyone in the family takes a meal to make today so I don’t have to cook. The dishes, though. Maybe I’ll think about that tomorrow!
The pink pancakes were delicious and pretty, topped with homemade whipped cream. Yum! After letting that sit for a bit, I got ready to do my workout while Phil and our daughter got ready to do theirs. Our son is the odd man out right now when it comes to these things and I want to find a way to include him more. He loves video games and YouTube and riding his bike. I might have to do those things with him.
My workout was good, and I wanted to do an extra credit, so I ran a mile for time. I thought it was 11:05 at the end of it but my app had stalled, and it now looks like I ran the mile in 10:33. What?!? It hurt to keep that pace and I know I can’t do it long-term but that’s a fast mile for me.
Short turnaround until we had live church, so we gathered what we needed for that and spent the next couple of hours with church folks online. As that wrapped up, the kids collaborated on lunch: french toast sticks and eggs. Lunch, also known as second breakfast.
They were still working on it when we finished our meetings, so we sat in the kitchen. Phil started prepping for dinner and I put away some of the clean dishes to make more room. The dirty ones were going to have to wait.
Instead of syrup, I ate my French toast sticks with thawed frozen fruit and some of the whipped cream. It was a nice balance. We started watching The Last Dance documentary about the Chicago Bulls and the road to the sixth championship. Our son, surprisingly, isn’t interested, but the rest of us are hooked. We watched a little less than half of it and then went back to the kitchen. I washed dishes while Phil continued working on the dinner prep. When I got to a stopping point with the dishes, I asked the kids if they wanted to video chat with my parents, so we did that.
Just before we got on the call with them, I learned that our county is planning to “reopen” without the governor’s approval on Friday. I have so many feelings about this, and I don’t like it, not one bit. I may have to write a separate blog post about it. We had a nice chat with my parents. Phil had more dinner prep to do, so he and I went back to the kitchen. I ate a snack and we talked while he worked on food stuff.
I decided to take a book outside to read for a little while. Yesterday felt like winter again. Today feels more like spring. I came back in to start looking ahead at the week, making a plan for the things I need and want to do. I have training for work to squeeze in. I’m still reading books for judging. I’m still planning to run and work out. And write. Maybe that sounds busy but these are some of the things that fill my days and I want to be sure I have time for them. I emailed my son’s counselor, as well, because there was some confusion about the timing of his last appointment. She cleared it up but now I have to call to get some dates rescheduled because of limited hours the office is open, even for telehealth.
All the carbs were catching up with me, so I had to lie down for a while. I watched an episode of When Calls the Heart, then I folded some laundry before dinner was ready. The shrimp and grits was SO tasty.
Three breakfasts in one day was the exact way for my family to love me on Mother’s Day.
Three of us finished the first episode of The Last Dance after dinner, which took us right up to bedtime, basically. Then Phil and I watched a couple of episodes of The Office. I had a Zoom meeting at 9 with the launch team of a book I’m helping to promote. Then it was bed time.
