Hi. For those of you who find your way to this very hidden, not-algorithmic-friendly corner of the internet, I bring you my daily updates on how MTM and I are dealing with isolation in a world of the plague known as Covid19.
9am – Wake up
What? Don’t look at me like that. I have worked from home since 2004. If I want to lounge in bed until 9am, who are you to judge?
MTM: She was actually in bed until I hauled her out at 9:30. I wrenched the phone from her freaking-out claws and kissed her.
Okay. So. That’s true. Whatever.
10am – Cursing and swearing on Peloton bike
First, can I just say HOW MUCH I HATE THE FREAKING PELOTON? No? You don’t want to hear my first world entitled whining?
MTM: I sure don’t.
TOO BAD, DEAR. *Cue maniacal laughter from the end of Thriller.*
10:45am – Online power yoga class with Kristin McGee
Because I am going to be SO SVELTE AND HOT when this is all over.
If I survive.
11:30am – Online meditation with Kristin McGee
And I’m not just following a coronavirus trend. I started meditating months ago. Ha. AFTER LIVING WITH THE PROSPECT OF DROPPING DEAD AT ANY MOMENT FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS, MEDITATION HELPS.
11:45am – Eat pancakes and bacon with MTM
And undo every calorie I burned with exercise.
MTM: I ate part of your fourth pancake because you couldn’t finish it.
12:15pm – Clean up kitchen and set table for dinner
BECAUSE I AM GOING TO BE SO FAT WHEN THIS IS OVER. SIGH.
12:30pm – Tackle social media post for the day for the .2 people who will see it
Here’s what I posted.
12:45pm – Shower and dress in actual-I-might-see-people-besides-MTM-today-clothes
Confession: I never left the condo.
1:15pm – Talk to my dad on the phone
Here’s an extract of my conversation with my southern evangelical Christian father.
Dad: I’m fixing to go to the dentist to get this front tooth pulled.
Me: OKAY DAD. BUT DO YOU THINK YOU SHOULD GO OUT RIGHT NOW?
Dad: I went to a men’s bbq at the church gym last Thursday. Did I tell you that? The entire gym was full of men from all over the place. The speaker – that Ralph S – remember him? – he came all the way from Lexington.
Me: THE FIRST SC DEATH FROM CORONAVIRUS WAS IN LEXINGTON, DAD.
Dad: Huh? Well, we ain’t going to church until March 31. They told us to stay home and watch the services on TV.
Me: ONLY UNTIL MARCH 31?!? YOU KNOW YOU WILL PROBABLY DIE IF YOU GET THIS, RIGHT DAD? SO MAYBE YOU SHOULD STAY HOME?
Dad: Yeah, your brother is working in all these different towns over the next week, repairing equipment in real businesses with actual people not practicing that social distancing stuff, and then he’s coming here.
Me: HE CANNOT STAY WITH YOU. PLEASE TELL ME HE’S NOT STAYING WITH YOU.
Dad: He got one of them hotels. But I’m sure he’ll bring Linda his laundry.
Me: …………. (does an internet search for incidences of covid19 death from rapid spikes in blood pressure)
Dad: Yep. Jesus is coming. This is the end times. Jesus is telling this old world to get right. Now, I got to get off the phone and go to the dentist. Got to get this tooth pulled today. It’s one of the front ones. I’m going to be all snuggle-toothed hahahahaha.
1:45pm – MAKE COCKTAIL
Okay. Not really. I went through final updates from my publicist before she goes on maternity leave, filed bunches of paperwork, rescheduled my Ireland residency to next April, reached out to an editor regarding my current novel-in-process and reorganized my calendar. BUT AFTER THE CONVO WITH DAD I WANTED A COCKTAIL. DESPERATELY.
2:45pm – Write daily encouragement postcard to reader in greater Seattle and mail.
Want one? Shoot me a message. They look like this.
3pm – Text chat with a friend to schedule a weekend joint viewing of the movie Emma
I spent time trying to figure out how we could stream the movie online and watch together at the same time. BECAUSE WHAT IS THE POINT OF OGLING MR KNIGHTLEY’S NAKED ASS WITH MTM? He can’t appreciate it. Not like a girlfriend can. I *think* I succeeded, but I’ll provide an update after Sunday.
3:30pm – Check today’s news
4pm – Make cocktail
See how I did that?
4:30pm – Catch up with friends from Portugal residency who are dealing with Covid19 in Europe and the UK
Which led to this inside-joke-none-of-you-will-get-because-you-weren’t-there. (Times are approximate as this conversation went back and forth over several hours.)
In more somber news, our European friends are fine. So far. We have dear friends on lockdown in Milan and northern Italy, the epicenter of the Italian outbreak. (For anyone reading who thinks this virus is the flu or a hoax or nothing, I beg you to pay attention to reports from Italy. We are not seeing the extent of the decimation on the news. It is ravaging the populace like war. Please please please please please stay home to prevent the spread.) A friend in Naples is working from home. Barcelona friends are teaching and designing from home. A Portuguese friend got the last possible plane home and is hunkered down in Lisbon. English friends are preparing to shelter in place and care for a loved one who was exposed (should she fall ill.)
4:45pm – Critique MTM’s self-designed blackbird repeller for our outdoor bird feeder
Because we want more birds like this:
5pm – Prep and eat dinner
Our plague feast: Sautéed shrimp and green peppers over squid ink pasta, blackened green beans, marcona almonds and St Patricks Day king cake.
6pm – Share dinner photos with two different groups of friends by text
6:15pm – Play two rounds of Triple Yahtzee
I WON I WON I WON I WON!
MTM: Only by five points.
7pm – Clean the kitchen
Which included another big round of disinfection after MTM took out the trash. We live in a condo. I have a compromised immune system. We can’t be too careful.
8pm – Check on a friend in Mexico and schedule weekend FaceTime
Seriously, FaceTime and chat groups are my lifeline now.
8:15pm – Open birthday month present that came today
Because this is one year I’m truly thankful for being alive. I’m eating ALL the chocolate.
Sigh. My next update will be I rode the Peloton eight hours straight for a week and still gained weight.
8:30pm – Send email to beta readers with question regarding one of my characters and how to portray certain behavior on the page
See? I worked on my book today!
8:45pm – Finagle this post
10pm – Read a book
Currently reading Little A Novel by Edward Carey.
12 Comments
Ha! Fun post. We’re staying close to home, but watching sunsets from the beach. On Saturday, the milestone birthday, we’ll build a fire and other humans will be properly distanced around it. After sunset, we’ll all go home. My new mantra: be well; be safe; be kind.
I shall FaceTime you on your big birthday. It’s the only way I can come to the party, covid19 or no.
I worked on my novel yesterday about as much as you worked on yours. I have kids at home now, too, though. No school for them means little work for me. I am also married to a healthcare worker, so even though we are not under quarantine yet, we’re social distancing pretty strictly and kind of expecting that at any point we could be put under legit quarantine. Strange times.
Please keep in touch and let me know how you and your family fare. Strange times, you’re right.
Oh my…quite the day. We hold off on a cocktail until 7pm, because we have two and stay up later than you. Also, we did not grow up in households that thought likker was evil.
K’s side found it a necessity – Wasps – my side believed in G&Ts three times a week and a wee dram of something stronger (this would have been different and more fun if my Irish-American dad had lived)
I digress.
I am amazed you don’t have 3 hours down a google rabbit hole that began with looking for a washer repairman!
Stay safe! Be well! Keep spreading your word!
What is your cocktail of choice? Is it a Manhattan? I seem to recall seeing that somewhere.
I hope you all stay safe and inside. New Yorkers are a hearty bunch, but this can be heart-pummeling. Don’t eat too much of the rage baking at once. ??
We both love G&Ts but my favorite is a Perfect Manhattan. Katherine loves a good martini (with Aviation Gin when we can find it, otherwise Tanqueray.
I don’t like looking at the curve that shows NYC mirroring northern Italy from 2 weeks ago. We thought about going to Wellfleet but it moved too quickly here and we don’t see a reason to bring it with us, nor to go through the last three weeks again in another community we love.
Also the big house is in construction and while I love the cottage, 500 sq ft for two indefinitely sounds like a recipe for disaster or prison.
I knew I saw your Manhattan love somewhere! G&T is also our go-to (though white port and tonic, pictured, is a close second.) I brought back 3 bottles of McClintock Distiller’s Gardener’s Gin from MD and doubt it will be enough to get us through. ? I don’t know whether you can get it in the city, but it’s worth seeking once you can go out.
While I hope the prognostications are wrong, I believe we’ll see a huge spike nationwide, not just in places like NY. You have NO IDEA how little most of SC take this seriously. My parents’ church literally just canceled services and activities yesterday, and only because the mouthpieces they listen to (potus and VP, Fox News) have changed their tune somewhat. But they have listened to end times apocalyptic teaching for almost 50 years. This is a prelude to the rapture. They will be fine because Jesus is coming, so why abide by the hysterical claims of godless liberals? I can’t even talk to them about the danger they are in, because I am poo-pooed as backslidden and brainwashed by the liberal media. I truly believe it will take martial law to keep people at home, and I shudder at what that means in the hands of this regime. I sincerely hope you can stay home as much as possible and don’t get this.
If I can call Dick, let me know. He may not remember me, tho. ?
Thanks, as always, for your “realness.” I love your transparency and appreciate the connections you are making. The world needs more you!
I need more world. Ha. Being grounded is for the birds! ? stay well and please keep in touch.
Hi Andra…. we’re all well here, got lots of great music and coffee and company. I’m still working (for now) but that looks like it may change any day now. Hope you and M stay well.
Good to hear from you, Ken. For a hot minute, we were coming to Toronto in May. ? Not so now. We have been taking precautions for weeks and are both healthy. I hope we all stay that way. Especially Sarah, who deserves to keep fighting. xo
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