Shelter in Place: Day 37

Today is bad.

I was very anxious yesterday and that seems to have bled into today. I read a description of what it’s like to die of COVID-19, which was probably unhelpful. I also saw a bunch of news stories about the morons who are protesting shelter-in-place because they can’t stand being inconvenienced and don’t care who dies as long as they can get their hair cut. Out there spreading the virus around even further, trying to kill everyone.

I got up sometime after 8 and sorted my pills for the week. I didn’t bother getting dressed. I warmed up the leftover sweet and sour chicken and rice from last night and ate it over the next few hours as a combined breakfast and lunch. My day started at the dining table, but I got really upset and started crying, so I decided to go back to bed. I took my laptop and watched some Haikyuu!! and tried not to get any more anxious.

I’m afraid Sean was exposed to the virus when he went into the Kroger and he brought it back to me and I’m going to get sick. It’s not really an irrational fear, but it’s certainly an unhelpful one.

My chest feels congested and I’ve been coughing the past couple days, but this could be related to pollen. I’m really trying not to overreact to everything.

I’m just a giant ball of fear and anxiety and despair today. It’s not pleasant.

Shelter in Place: Day 36

This is the update for Saturday, April 18, 2020.

I was up about an hour later than usual last night, and I let myself sleep in, so I got up sometime around 10:30am. My standard morning routine these days is:

  • Get out of bed, leaving bed unmade
  • Go into the bathroom
  • Take morning meds and set out midday meds
  • Brush my hair, if it looks ridiculous
  • Sit on the porcelain throne for a while and:
    • Check my personal email
    • Play Words with Friends
    • Play The Arcana
    • Read Twitter
    • Scroll Instagram
  • Take a shower if necessary (I shower every other day, unless I have gone outside or worked out, and in those cases I may end up showering twice in one day)
  • Get dressed, brush hair, and put on makeup
  • Treat my gross toe (that is all the detail you’re getting about that)
  • Collect midday meds and carry them and my phone out of the bathroom
  • Make bed now that it has cooled down (this is an anti-bed bug precaution, not that I have ever had bed bugs)
  • Put midday meds in my beautiful English rose pill box (thanks Mom!!)
  • Have breakfast

This is all basically the same whether it’s a workday or not. Today’s Saturday, so instead of yogurt and a boiled egg made by Sean, breakfast was sunny-side-up eggs and toast made by me. I tidied the kitchen a bit while I cooked, emptying most of the contents of the sink into the dishwasher, and then I cleaned my dining table cover of cookie crumbs, and then I sat at the table with breakfast and my laptop and goofed off all morning and into the early afternoon.

In between shitposting/having Deep Thoughts on Twitter, I finished loading the dishwasher and started it running, then started two loads of laundry. I wanted to get my jeans washed since I wore them out yesterday (even though I didn’t get out of the car, lol). I also wanted to wash Sean’s jeans since I’m not sure they were cleaned after our last grocery run (which I believe is the last time he wore them). The virus would totally be dead by now, but still. And I wanted to do whites even though it wasn’t that big a load, just to do it. (I seemed to be in Chore Mode.)

Around 2 o’clock I fixed myself a lunch of leftovers: the rest of the casserole I made last week, some mashed potatoes, and some mixed veggies.

My therapist has been out on medical leave, but she’s coming back, virtually, in May. She emailed last night to let everyone know (all patients BCCed) and to ask if we wanted appointments. I definitely do, so I replied right away.

Sean woke up around 4 and I started cooking dinner around 5:30, but we ended up not having time to eat before going to pick up our grocery order from Kroger. During the drive I felt extremely anxious. I had put on long pants, a long sleeved shirt, a mask, a scarf, and gloves, but I still felt really vulnerable. The knowledge of what COVID-19 could do to me has been sinking in more and more.

When we got there Sean went into the store to see if they had any toilet paper. I wish he hadn’t. They didn’t have any, anyway.

The store associate brought our stuff out on a cart, handed us the eggs, and put the rest in the trunk. We drove home and put the stuff away; I kept my outside outfit on while touching the bags but then once everything was mostly sorted I washed up and switched to night clothes. I finished putting things away (including breaking up meat and bread and putting it in the freezer) and then scoured the kitchen with 409 and took a shower. The whole day I had been feeling paranoid about my hair not being clean.

We finally ate our meal, which was grilled chicken breasts topped with some leftover sweet and sour sauce, steamed white rice, and microwave edamame. It was actually pretty good, though the chicken was a little tough from sitting for so long. While eating we watched a few episodes of NCIS. The grocery store had ice cream sandwiches this time, which made me very happy, and I had one for dessert.

I have been playing Words with Friends with Mom for a while now, and it’s really fun. I check in throughout the day and right before bed. So I did that and went to sleep a bit before midnight.

Shelter in Place: Day 29

This is the update for Saturday, April 11, 2020.

It was cold when I got up in the morning; when I checked my weather app it said the temperature was 40°. I decided to take a walk, expecting that there wouldn’t be too many people out. And there weren’t, at first, but as the day warmed up plenty of maskless people who didn’t seem to feel like properly distancing appeared on the neighborhood walking trail. (I passed one couple who were jogging abreast of each other, taking up the whole damn walkway, and they didn’t even bother going single file to pass me. I stepped as far off the path as I could and turned away so I wouldn’t breathe their air through my balaclava; one of them said “Good morning! Thank you!” and I wanted to throw something at them, lol.)

Anyway, I had a good walk, and once I was off that main path I didn’t see too many other people. Afterwards I showered and ordered Shane’s for lunch. Mom had sent me some medical face masks, so I put one on for my trip to pick up the food, and I also stopped into CVS briefly to get some allergy medicine for Sean. At least in there, proper safety precautions were happening. Most of the other customers and all the employees had masks on, and the prescriptions area had marks on the floor so people would wait the right distance away. At Shane’s, I had them drop my food in through the passenger window again, and yet again I shifted it to a plate immediately when I got home, threw out all the packaging, and scoured the countertops and my hands.

While I ate lunch I got some writing done on a story I hadn’t messed with in awhile, and then I watched a few episodes of Kim’s Convenience, and then I decided to sign up for Disney+ and watch Frozen 2. I didn’t watch it completely uninterrupted; Sean and I submitted our tax return about half an hour in, and then I stopped again to order dinner, and again to shuffle all the food into different containers when it arrived. By the time we finished the movie (which I enjoyed quite a bit!), it was time for bed.

All in all, it was a nice day. I continue to be unhappy with other people’s lack of caution about the pandemic, but at least I am able to be cautious myself.

Shelter in Place: Day 28

Today was nice.

First of all, while I woke up a little after 7, I decided to go back to bed and didn’t get up again until after noon. I had a fun adventure dream that I don’t really remember and I felt happy and rested when I got up.

Sean had packed me a lunch as though I were working today. I had considered getting Shane’s, but since he’d already done that work I just ate what he’d made: a tuna fish sandwich and some Cheetos. I also ate part of the breakfast, the Greek yogurt, and added blueberries like I did yesterday. While eating I sat at the kotatsu on my writing laptop and played music on the TV. I didn’t write much for most of the day, just sort of goofed off and had conversations and read things, but I did end up writing a short one-shot about Salacious B. Crumb being in one-sided love with C-3PO. (I am a very serious author. In my defense, a friend gave me the prompt. But I am the one who actually wrote it.)

Dinner was crab Alfredo and peas. I cleaned up the kitchen while cooking, since I’d left Sean a mess yesterday. Sean and I watched two episodes of NCIS, and then I went back to goofing off on Twitter for a few hours.

Having the day off was just what I needed. I felt unhurried and unstressed and just enjoyed myself all day. I did go outside once, to check the mailbox, and it was in the 50s and everything was very green. Beautiful day.

I am going to try to take a walk at some point this weekend. I’m also going to get some Shane’s. :)

Shelter in Place: Day 27

This is the update for Thursday, April 9, 2020.

For breakfast I had Greek yogurt and a boiled egg. We’ve been out of bananas for a while. I remembered that I had gotten some frozen blueberries, so I put some of those in the yogurt, and it was really good.

I ate my Hillshire Farms Bistro Board early, at around 10am. I didn’t really have time for a lunch break due to a bunch of meetings, so I sort of turned in my chair and got on my photo-editing computer and goofed off for about half an hour when I had a free moment. I wrapped up everything I could since I was taking the next day off, and I logged off at 5.

Knowing that I was done working for the week was a relief. I felt very free. Sean was sleeping in the bedroom, so I took the opportunity to bake cookies. (Normally I try not to make a bunch of noise in the main living area if he’s asleep on the couch.) I made a regular batch of Nestle Tollhouse, using the dining table as my staging area. While I did clean up the table afterwards, I did not really clean up the kitchen, so Sean took care of that for me later.

After baking the cookies, I started on dinner, which was pork roast, scalloped potatoes from a box, and mixed veggies. I was able to cook the roast and the potatoes at the same time, and it worked out perfectly. We ate and watched NCIS until bedtime. It was a pretty decent day.

Damn it, Gibbs

I’m mad at Gibbs Gardens.

They keep sending me emails about how they’re still open, and what all is blooming now, and how they are in compliance with Gov. Kemp’s shelter-in-place order. Right now there is a lot in bloom, and I really want to go.

BUT I CANNOT.

They say:

PLEASE NOTE:
IN COMPLIANCE / STATE

  • Exercise in our 300 acre Gardens with miles of multilevel walkways.
  • Easy to maintain 6ft. of social distance.
  • All visitors will use outside express gate to enter/exit Gardens. (Members included)
  • Members’ current guest passes not accessible because computer not available at outside gate.
  • Cash currently not accepted in ticketing.
  • NO tram service.
  • Arbor Café – Pre-packaged snack items and drinks ONLY.
  • NO outside food.
  • Restrooms available.

And they link to the governor’s 2020 executive orders, as if to say, see? Everything is fine!

Everything is not fine.

“Easy to maintain 6ft. of social distance” is an irresponsible thing to say. The virus is airborne. If you walk through a spot where someone just walked, even if there is six feet between you, you’re still breathing in air that they just exhaled. In a garden, all you are doing is walking along trails where a bunch of people have walked ahead of you.

The virus can also live on surfaces for hours all the way up to days, depending on the surface material. “Restrooms available” does not tell me what precautions you are taking. I highly doubt that you are only letting one person in at a time and that you are scouring your facilities after each person.

These constant emails telling me that everything is fine and that I should come see the pretty flowers are basically torture, because ever since this began I have wanted to go there SO BADLY. It is KILLING ME that I am missing all the spring blooms. Apparently right now the cherry trees, azaleas, pansies, Spanish bluebells, and snowball viburnum are at peak, and I AM MISSING IT.

I HATE THIS.

Shelter in Place: Day 26

This is the update for Wednesday, April 8.

I decided I didn’t want to eat yogurt for breakfast, so I made myself eggs and toast instead. The pan was a little too hot, but I didn’t overcook the yolks, so yay. Lunch was a sandwich and chips, and I had apple slices and chocolate chips for a mid-afternoon snack. For dinner I had thawed some ground beef, but instead of making meatloaves I decided to make a casserole. I found a recipe on AllRecipes for a casserole using minute rice, cream of chicken soup, chicken noodle soup, and an onion, so I made that, and it was delicious! We had mixed veggies on the side.

I didn’t go on a walk or anything, and work was too busy for me to even take a real lunch break, but I did have a movie date with Lee after dinner! She streamed TRON: Legacy for us, which I hadn’t seen before, and I really enjoyed it. I’ve been listening to the soundtrack since the movie came out (I love Daft Punk) and I was glad to actually see the movie that incredible music was written for. The story was good and the characters were fun and I loved Quorra! I also didn’t know Bruce Boxleitner was in the film, so that was a pleasant surprise. (I love him.)

After the movie was over it was bedtime. I went to bed feeling very cheerful. I need to do more group watches of TV and movies I think!

Shelter in Place: Day 25

This is the update for Tuesday, April 7.

It wasn’t a great day. I didn’t go on a walk…I’ve been avoiding it ever since my walk at the river where there were five billion people around me. I also only took two pictures, and they were both of my dinner.

At lunch, I wrote:

I just want this to be over.

This morning I let myself sleep in for 20 minutes. When my timer went off I didn’t get up and I didn’t reset it. Fortunately I was awake enough to finally force myself to get out of bed. It helped that I had to pee.

Today has been the worst in terms of focusing on stuff. I feel like my brain doesn’t work. I’m taking Friday off, but I don’t know how much that will help.

Today’s food:

  • Cottage cheese
  • Boiled egg
  • Chocolate chips
  • Hillshire Snacking Bistro Board
  • Sweet tea

Around mid-afternoon I started to spiral into depression, but I was able to talk myself back out.

Continue reading Shelter in Place: Day 25

Shelter in Place: Days 22-24

Okay so I missed some daily updates there. Let’s catch up.

Saturday, April 4, 2020 (Day 22)

This was a pretty good day. I slept in a bit, then banished Sean from the living room so I could have the TV. I sat at the dining table with a breakfast of a banana and some cottage cheese (in one of my newest cherry blossom pattern rice bowls) and poked around on my writing laptop for a bit, but I felt like was just goofing off. After whining about feeling directionless and unproductive on Twitter a little, I moved to the couch, made the last of the popcorn, and put on Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Wow, that was a good choice. Absolutely gorgeous film. I cried a lot.

After that, I heated up leftovers for lunch (mini meatloaves, Julienne potatoes, mixed veggies) and worked on some writing. I made some progress on several small stories and officially posted two of them. It felt great to actually accomplish something.

When dinnertime rolled around I asked Sean if he wanted to get Shane’s, but he was uninterested. He suggested Thai and I was uninterested. We compromised on Mexican, and we placed an order online and went and picked it up. All safety protocols were followed: we put everything in different containers when we got home and washed our hands and the countertops.

I had beef fajitas. They were delicious. And I have leftovers.

Sunday, April 5, 2020 (Day 23)

I let myself sleep in a lot. I actually woke up for the first time around 5 in the morning, but I just went and gave Sean a hug and then went back to bed. When I got up again a little before 11, I went out for a walk.

I was thinking I wouldn’t go down to the river trail, because it was sure to be crowded, but then the apartment complex turned out to be crowded too, so I said what the hell and hiked down to the river. I saw a ton of pretty flowers, and the river was rushing in a way that felt vibrant and free, and the air temperature was great. Unfortunately, there were about fifty billion people down there. It wasn’t too hard to avoid them to begin with, but once I got near the parking lot at the other end, it was almost like a festival. I ducked off onto a side path for a bit, then gave up and just turned around. I did not come within six feet of anyone, but I did worry about walking behind people who might be breathing out particulate that I was then walking through. I was wearing my balaclava, which I disinfected rigorously when I got home, but I think I will just stop going to the damn river, for real this time.

When I got home I hopped in the shower and scoured myself. Then I spent some time with Sean (there’s that code again, tee hee). He wasn’t feeling real well due to allergies, so he decided to take a long hot shower of his own and try to clear his sinuses. I ordered Shane’s for lunch for myself, since Sean would usually still be asleep at that time, and got curbside pickup. When the server brought it out I rolled down my passenger window so they could set it in the seat without having to get too close. It worked out pretty well. Of course, I shifted it all to a plate when I got home, disinfected the gallon of tea, etc.

I sat at the coffee table/kotatsu and ate my Shane’s and worked on some more writing. Sean stayed up, using the blow dryer to try and dry out his sinuses, and eventually he came and lay down behind me on the couch. After awhile I couldn’t concentrate on writing anymore, so I closed all that down. I was extremely grumpy by this point, so we ordered Jimmy John’s for dinner and had it delivered. (The delivery person sent me a picture by text message of the order sitting by our door and said “Hope that felt like amazon” which cheered me up some, haha.) The food made me feel better, fortunately. Sean was very snuggly around bedtime and I didn’t want to get up from where he was lying in my lap, so I put off going to bed by about 45 minutes, whoops. Fortunately I still slept pretty well.

Monday, April 6, 2020 (Day 24)

I slept in a bit but got started at 8 as usual. Had an egg and cottage cheese for breakfast while working. On my lunch break I ate a turkey sandwich and some cheesy popcorn and got on my writing laptop and worked on stories. I finished out my workday eating apple slices, cheese, and a Slim Jim. (And the rest of my Jimmy John’s sandwich from last night.)

After work I got on my writing computer in bed and worked on stories some more. Around 6:30 I finally started cooking dinner. I had thawed some chicken so I cut it up and stir-fried it with two bags of stir-fry starter. It turned out to be just enough food. Sean and I ate and watched NCIS and had ice cream. Around 9:30 I tried getting back in bed with my laptop to write some more, but I was tired and irritable, so nothing productive happened.

That’s it for those three days. It’s getting harder and harder to…I don’t know, live? I feel trapped and helpless and worried, and also angry, and I can’t focus on things. I’m just…tired.

Shelter in Place: Day 21

Yet again I did not want to get out of bed this morning, but somehow I managed it. Since I took a shower last night after my walk I didn’t take another one…my hair is a little ridiculous but eh.

Work went pretty well. I had lots of video conferences as usual; my team has a daily standup meeting, plus I am doing a lot of training. But they were all fine. During one meeting I shared the work I’ve been doing to compile/add to some research for the new tool we’re building, and everyone seemed to be pretty impressed with it, so yay.

Yet again I didn’t really have time for a break, so I stayed sitting at my desks and just turned to the other computer (my personal one) to goof off a bit between my 11-noon and 1-2pm meetings. I actually started eating my lunch at 11, so my coworkers got to see me take a bite of turkey sandwich ^^;;

After work we had a “virtual happy hour,” which was just the larger team chatting casually. There are two managers and one senior manager on my new team, and then people under each manager. Day to day we work with our own manager/team, but we also work together on broader projects. It was nice to just kind of hang out. I already knew everyone in the other branch just from sitting near them; I really haven’t had a hard time fitting in with my team. I think maybe sometimes I am a bit too serious about how pleased I am with our company’s response to coronavirus, but honestly, it is super impressive that we are prioritizing people over profit, unlike certain other companies.

Anyway, it was a fun half-hour chat and I got to see some of my coworkers’ cute kids.

After that was over, I decided to clean up the patio and lounge around outside while cooking dinner. This was some impressive multitasking, but I managed it. First I cleaned the kitchen, then I started the roast, then I peeled and started the potatoes, and then I cleaned the patio (sweeping billowing clouds of pollen off the furniture and concrete slab and washing the tabletops with Formula 409), and then I settled in with my laptop, running back in here and there to turn things down. Once dinner was actually ready, I just stayed out there until Sean was out of the shower, enjoying the perfect temperature and the beautiful green trees around me. (And the sound of my neighbor and her kids through the open deck door right above me ;D)

Breakfast today was a banana, cottage cheese, and a boiled egg. Lunch was a turkey sandwich and Cheetos. Afternoon snack was apple slices, a cheddar cheese stick, and a small Slim Jim. Dinner was a teriyaki pork roast, mashed potatoes, and peas. Yum!

Shelter in Place: Day 20

Purple azaleas, April 2, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

Oof.

I did not want to get up this morning. When my alarm went off at 6:30, I set a timer for 20 minutes and went back to sleep, and when that went off, I did it again. I only ended up dragging myself out of bed because I really had to pee.

Green trees, April 2, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

Work was good. I ate

  • a banana,
  • Greek yogurt, and
  • a boiled egg

as I worked and attended meetings, finishing that breakfast around 11. I meant to take my lunch break from 11:30 to 12:30, but I got super involved editing an Excel spreadsheet (sometimes I just really enjoy doing that sort of thing) and ended up working on it until after noon. Since I had a meeting at 1 and another one at 2, I didn’t take a break until 3, when I finally stepped away from the computer to relax in bed with my writing laptop.

I’ve been doing that all week, and it’s very cozy to be all snuggled up in bed with my new giant pillow. It’s especially nice today, as the temperature dropped precipitously overnight. It was 40° out when I got up this morning. It eventually got up to 68°, but the apartment was chilly the whole day.

I didn’t end up writing anything, but I did a tiny bit of editing on the story I’ve been working on, so that was good.

Me in my balaclava, April 2, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

After work I took an hour-long walk. This time, I wore a balaclava.

I bought the balaclava way back in November of 2018. I was thinking it would be good to have for walking/jogging in the cold. However, I threw it in my pile of workout clothes and never actually used it.

It’s obviously meant to help you keep warm, so it was perhaps a poor choice for 70° weather, but it made me feel better to wear it while being outside. There were lots of neighbors out, and only three of them (a family) were wearing masks. For the most part, everyone did decent social distancing, though one woman and her dog walked kind of close to me twice. (I turned my face away.)

Pink azaleas, April 2, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.
Stairs and a Japanese maple, April 2, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

I didn’t get super uncomfortable in the balaclava. I was able to drink water by pulling the bottom hem out and sticking the straw of my Camelbak inside. At one point either a bug or some sort of plant detritus flew inside the mask and kept tickling my nose. And it did get warm; my ears actually got sweaty. But it wasn’t terrible, and I felt a lot less anxious about being outside. I know the balaclava wouldn’t protect me from someone coughing or sneezing in front of me, but maybe it would help with particles still left in the air from someone who coughed earlier. And at the very least, it made most people want to keep their distance.

There were lots of blooms to take pictures of today: azaleas, dogwood trees, redbud trees, and trees with pink flowers that I’m having trouble identifying.

Large flowering dogwood, April 2, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

Someday I’ll get back to uploading to my photo site, but for now the blog will do.

When I got back from my walk, I took a quick shower and then started on dinner. I forgot to take meat out to thaw yesterday, so I cooked frozen fish fillets and made Alfredo noodles and mixed veggies to go with. Tomorrow we’ll have one of the Kroger teriyaki pork roasts we love.

The walk cleared my head and made me feel really good. I’m so glad we live in such a beautiful area, and that I’m able to walk through the neighborhood while safely practicing social distancing. If I couldn’t be outside at all, getting through this pandemic would be a lot harder.

Me in my balaclava on a bridge, April 2, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

Shelter in Place: Day 19

I’m starting this update a little earlier today, so hopefully it won’t take a lot of my time to finish this evening.

So far today I have eaten:

  • Greek yogurt
  • a banana
  • a boiled egg
  • a bowl of maple and brown sugar oatmeal
  • a turkey sandwich (on wheat bread, yay!)
  • Cheetos
  • sliced apples

The first three items were the breakfast Sean packed, and then I was still hungry and the apartment was cold so I made the oatmeal. Now I’m on my break, sitting in bed like I did yesterday, and I just finished eating the lunch Sean made.

Had another brain-melting morning of meetings, so I’m just kind of relaxing and recovering from that before jumping back in. I wanted to do some writing during this time, but eh. Maybe after work, or maybe tomorrow.

I have several works-in-progress that I need to get back to, including one with an actual deadline, but I’ve really been enjoying the story I started recently. I hope I can wrap it up pretty quickly and actually post it; it’s been awhile since I posted something.

~

The rest of the workday went well. We had a big meeting to discuss the whole coronavirus situation and what the company is doing, and I got a little teary-eyed. I love where I work, y’all.

It’s just below 60° out. The apartment is chilly. I’m gonna take a walk. I’ll try for an hour since I skipped the walk yesterday. (Unofficially I’ve been thinking it would be best to get at least 30 minutes of exercise per day, so that’s where that came from.) I hope something new is blooming!

~

I was out for an hour, but I stopped a lot so it wasn’t like I was walking the whole time. I went down to the river, then out under the bridge to the community walking path, then back up the street and back into the other side of the apartment complex, and finally home. I saw pretty flowering trees and bushes, and I also saw some foxgloves in bloom, which I think I hadn’t seen before. They were right in front of a self-storage sign, but in a tasteful way ;D

Tonight’s dinner will be mini meatloaves, Julienne potatoes from a box, and peas. I made the potatoes first because they had to cook at 450° for 20 minutes, then put the meatloaves in at 350° for 45 minutes. Halfway through that I started the peas. I like timing the meal to all be done at the same time, but given the different oven temperatures and times, this was the best solution I could think of.

While cooking I did a little housekeeping on my social media accounts, and now I’m about ready to settle in and eat. I’m gonna sign off here and enjoy the rest of my evening.

Shelter in Place: Day 18

Here’s the update for today, March 31.

Rainy and green spring afternoon, March 31, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

I was already pretty much awake when my alarm went off, but that didn’t mean I wanted to get up, lol. I did anyway, since I needed to take a shower today. Shaved in the shower which took up most of my time; I went to boot up my work computer before I was done getting ready so all my programs would be loaded for my 8 am start.

Today was filled with meetings. Some of them were just for my edification and not anything I needed to contribute to. One was for me to explain a marketing process that I am intimately familiar with due to my previous role. All of them were fun; I really like my new team and I feel like we get along well.

At lunch I went into the bedroom and sat under the covers leaning back against the big pillow Mom sent me, which is now all fluffed up and very comfortable. I ended up writing a nice big update to that story I’ve been working on. It felt great to get some creative writing done! I also folded some laundry I had started that morning.

A nice place for lunch, March 31, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.
Me and my new pillow, March 31, 2020.
Refrigerator calendar, March 31, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

I ended up working a little late. When I was finally done I put the laundry away, then debated going for a walk. Another package had arrived, but it was rainy and cold, so I decided not to walk over to get it. I drove over instead, and it turned out to be my new blank magnetic whiteboard for the fridge (I had decided I wanted more room to write notes) plus a bunch of markers in different colors. This was a nice surprise, as I had expected this non-urgent order to arrive on April 19.

Refrigerator whiteboard, March 31, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

I took some time to put the blank whiteboard up and to rewrite some notes on the whiteboard calendar in color instead of black marker. Then I started the rice cooker. While that was going I changed into night clothes and sat down at the dining table to work on yesterday’s update. When the rice cooker beeped, I stir-fried some more of that pre-seasoned turkey along with some veggies, then made a plate and sat back down at my little laptop to finish the update. Sean got out of the shower a little later, and he’s been sitting on the couch eating dinner while I’ve been in the dining room. (I drew a heart with “H+S” in it on the fridge which he liked a lot.)

Today was productive and good. I’m going to try not to stay up too late so I can keep this momentum tomorrow!

Stir-fry turkey and veggies with rice, March 31, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

(As a side note, I love WordPress’ new 2020 theme, and how the blocks work and everything. It’s so easy to make a post look nice!)

Shelter in Place: Day 17

Pink azaleas, March 30, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

Ugh.

I was up too late and I’m tired today.

…and the above was all I wrote yesterday, so here’s the update for March 30.

As yesterday-morning-me mentioned, I was up too late due to the whole grocery situation. Since I’ve been working from home, I’ve set my alarm a half-hour later than usual, so it went off at 6:30. I don’t remember if I snoozed or not but it’s very possible, especially since I didn’t shower that day. (I shower every other day, typically. More if I have been out in coronavirus.)

Flowering tree, March 30, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

I was a bit early when I got to my desk, so I swiveled over to the photo-editing laptop and tried to start this blog post. I didn’t make it very far, and I ended up switching to playing games on my phone (Words with Friends with Mom and The Arcana). Then it was 8 o’clock and time to start work.

It was my first official day at my new job. I have transitioned from a copywriter to a marketing analyst. I’d done a little bit of training already and attended several meetings, but this was my first real day on the job. I had two morning meetings, after which my brain was basically Velveeta. I have so much to learn! I tried to switch gears and write on that story at lunch, but I apparently needed time to mentally recover, so no writing occurred. I also tried to think about what I would need to do for dinner that night and what I needed in order to go for a walk after work, but I simply could not seem to figure anything out, lol.

Deer amid green leaves, March 30, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

After lunch I had a one-on-one with my new boss, and we talked about what resources I need to get caught up. She told me it would take awhile and that nobody on the team knows absolutely everything, so I shouldn’t stress about it. That was nice to hear.

The rest of the day went pretty well, but I was thoroughly exhausted by the time I finished work. I went for a short walk, around the apartment complex a bit and then over to the parcel lockers to pick up a package that had arrived. (It was The Rise of Skywalker, which…deserves its own post.) On my way there I saw a deer! I heard all this rustling in the forest below the bridge I was walking over. Thinking it was too loud to be a squirrel, I wondered if a dog was down there, but when I looked it was a pretty doe! She didn’t run away even when I stupidly said “Well, hi there!” to her. I managed to get a digital-zoom picture of her looking up at me. Can you see her?

COVID-19 social distancing sign from the US Postal Service, March 30, 2020. Copyright Heather Meadows.

When I got home I opened the package and threw it away, then washed up like crazy in the bathtub. Then I made dinner, which last night was butterfly shrimp (from frozen), creamy garlic shells, and peas. Someone on Twitter had mentioned a show on YouTube called The Great Pottery Throw-Down, so we watched an episode of that before switching to NCIS. It was really nice; I enjoyed it a lot! The format is very similar to Great British Bake Off, and I learned a lot about ceramics. Someday (when coronavirus is over, I guess) I want to take a pottery class.

At around 9:40 or so started getting super emotional, apparently due to exhaustion. I stayed up a little longer for no good reason, then finally went to bed and slept like the dead. All in all, not a bad day, but I probably should have gone to bed a little earlier.