I woke up early this morning to participate in my personal trainer sister from Ontario‘s fitness class. She has resorted to zoom training in light of the situation. I actually did most of what she asked us to do in spite of the fact that she could not see us. I was planning on doing nothing and letting her think I was participating but in the end, I knew it was in my best interest to work out because at the rate we’re going we’re gonna need a crane to get us out of here when this things all over.
Lexie has implored me to stop baking so I will cease to bake today. I can’t make any promises for tomorrow. A twenty pound bag of flour is a dangerous thing in my hands or pantry. Of course if I left it in the pantry it wouldn’t be that dangerous.
Don’t forget candles. I usually light two to create ambiance. Make sure you don’t start your hair on fire if you have one on either end of the tub. In the past I use this ‘me time’ to contemplate life or plan or give myself lectures, but this time I decided to just let my mind wander and not force any thoughts. I always put on my favorite music. Smooth jazz. I listen to the notes and play close attention to the instruments. A Bluetooth speaker is critical for lockdown. You can order one off of Amazon, if you don’t already have one. However, nothing is gonna come from Amazon until April 21, even if you have Prime. I was bored so I was cruising what was available on Amazon and realized that pretty much nothing is coming before April 21st.
Of course, I brought along my favorite beverage, on ice, in an acrylic goblet, in case it falls in the tub.
Prior to easing myself into the scalding bath, I looked outside. Everything looks totally normal. It would be very easy to tell yourself, its all normal. Its all as normal as it ever was. But it isn’t, so one has to find ways to calm and amuse yourself when you are abnormally holed up at home. Thus, the luxurious tub soak.
Not being in a constant rush to get places and do things is very refreshing. I’m quite liking it. The house is my oyster. I am also enjoying not having to get dressed up and put on a good face constantly. As I sat watching the flames on the candles dance in time to the music I thought of our cancelled trip to Mexico. I’m OK with it. Really I am. I am actually realizing the benefits of staying home. No packing. No miserable airport security. No having to wear a bathing suit. I also contemplated why I didn’t have the black and white tiles on our bathroom floor installed on the diagonal. And how I am going to get rid of those dried roses covered in dust. And reminded myself to paint the stipple on the ceiling around the fan that has discolored because of frost leakage.
I must be careful not to nap, lest I slide in and drown. It’s only 12:42 and I feel like I’m in a drunken stupor. Not that I’ve ever actually been drunk… well there was that one time in grade 11. It’s ok, mom never reads these little pourings out of my heart anyway.
I feel the need to move around around a bit to feel the soothing warmth of the water. Always stay in until your toes start to prune up or until your drink is gone, which ever happens first, but if you exercise self control you can make them both happen at the same time.
I need to get out as I have to relieve myself. And I’m not keen on soaking in my own…. well, you know. That’s the closest you’ll get to smut from me. Apple said my screen time was up 9% last week… well, hello? These smart phones are a little too smart. Smartass phones is what they should be called. Always sending me little reminders about things like that and my personal favorite, my bank account balance is low. Like I didn’t know that??
Welp, playlist just ended. One hour and 41 minutes. In my BC (Before Covid) life I never had time for this. I guess an hour and 41 minutes is enough time for the hot water tank to replenish itself so I can move on to having my shower, since I can’t really wash my hair in all those suds, bath bombs and bath crystals.
Ah…Mike has some Radiant Brunette Shampoo here in the shower. I’m not sure why, because his hair was always a dark sandy blonde and the only other color it has changed to is whiteish grey – it has never been brunette. Maybe he was hoping it would act like hair dye? Or possibly it was on sale at Value Village or Dollarama for a buck. In any case, he won’t be able to go back to either of those places for quite a while so I better not use it up… I’ll go get my own. I guess I’ll venture out to Shoppers Drug Mart. I mean, I must be allowed to go there or why would they be open? So I am going on a mission for Shampoo and cheezies. Why not? I’ll be out and I am trying to limit my outings. I haven’t been out since Wednesday’s walk. And while I’m out I may as well drive thru Starbucks. Make them feel needed since they are open. On my way out, I’ll check and see how the garage remodel is going. The hubs may have 3-4 weeks off work. He has to do something to keep us from killing each other off.
I managed to get a toothbrush and paste for Andrew, Shampoo and Cheezies for me and a Starbucks and get home without getting arrested for being out.
We started a 1000 piece 3 foot long puzzle of the ceiling of Sistine chapel. To help out, volunteered to gather all the naked body parts into one pile. I’ve already found eleven P’s. Ok, I guess that’s as close to smut as I’ll get.
I proceeded to make some supper. Something with vegetables to make up for the bread. Zoomed with all my siblings from around the globe. Everybody talking over top of each other. I have no idea what was said, but it was good to see their faces and see what they were having for Sunday night dinner.
Once I was done my 2nd round of dishes (I had to make two suppers – the guys didn’t like what the girls were having) I came down stairs to work on the puzzle while I watched “Father of the Bride 11”. And here I am at midnight, contemplating bed. And rest. I have to get up at 6:30 am to do another Zoom workout.
My parting words: Be good to yourself. As good as you can in your particular circumstances. Practice self care. If you practice enough, you’ll get good at it. What we are being asked to do seems ridiculously easy but its actually very hard. We want to get together with people. Our friends and families. We want to go to concerts and the gym. We want to go shopping. We want to eat out. We are social beings. We want to go to the movies. We even want to work. Some of us don’t know who we are apart from our work. We’ve gotten used to a certain ‘status quo’ and now we are being asked to go against all of that and stay holed up at home. And disconnect. That is a tough thing to do, even for an introvert like myself. Home, for some people, is not as nice as it is for me. So do whatever you can to stay sane. Take care of yourself so you can take care of others. There are a lot of jokes and memes about no makeup and wearing your pj’s all day and watching Netflix 24/7 and eating and snacking around the clock but it’s really not that funny or fun. Because its not normal and we like normal, whatever that is for us. This too shall pass, but in the meantime, take care of yourself and others. Be grateful and look for joy in little things.
The Red Plaid Apron 