It was a busy week—a busy week of stuff. Travel here to meet these people, travel there to help with an event. Don’t forget to answer those thousands of emails and return the hundreds of phone calls. Don’t forget to get the 25 miles of running/walking in because I spent $70.00 for a t-shirt, and I better earn that crap. As this week was a whirlwind of pre-COVID-19 events, I realized that I am not prepared for a post-COVID-19 world. I am exhausted. There is not enough time in the day to get everything done.
I had not realized how easy I fell into a routine of 10-12 Zoom/Team meetings a week and sending emails in place of human interactions. Human interactions require work. Taking a shower, doing my hair, putting on pants that are not my pj’s, driving somewhere, and actually having to ‘talk.’ Emails and phone calls allow us to take out the pleasantries of life and just focus on work. Smiling hurts my face now, which is strange because I have a mask on- why am I smiling?
And the Lord knows, when you have a busy week- that is when things go wrong….
Tuesday- needed to be out of the house by 7:00 a.m. to travel down south a visit some service members who are stationed 80 miles away. I woke up at 4:00 a.m. like always. Made my coffee, took puppy Polar outside, feed the dogs…. doing my customary morning ritual. Went to take a sip- hummmmm, my coffee is not as hot as usual. That’s strange. But I have a lot to do, so I put it to the back burner of things to worry about later. I get into the shower, time tight- but doable. I get a phone call; I had helped to sell a friend’s car, and the buyer was coming today to pick it up. But I had not cleaned it out yet, and it was covered in snow. Shit! I am going to be gone all day. Does my hair really need to be blowed dried in -11-degree weather? Are messy wet buns still a look? I think that they are…we are going with it! That’s 20 minutes saved. Do I need to wear makeup? I look in the mirror- YES! Yes, that is a must. I call my son to see if he can run by and help me out….no answer- of course! I run around and get ready, not in a calm and steady manner, but more like what puppy Polar looks like when his tail is chasing him. Running in circles but never really getting anything accomplished.
I auto-start the car, run outside with a trash bag, and quickly clean it out, realizing that the snow is falling pretty steady. Crap—I got to travel through the mountains of despair. These are the mountains that the artist of Frozen used as inspiration for the frozen tundra…. cold, dark, filled with knuckle-biting curves and a sheet of glassy ice. Let’s add a snowstorm! That sounds like fun. Need to add stopping to get 2 more packs of smokes of things to do before I hit the road! The car is clean; it is running to get all warm and toasty for the new owner. I throw the keys into the cup holder and leave on my adventure. I get through the day, and I only smoked 1 pack during the 80 miles drive down…I am feeling pretty good about myself. I am a true Alaskan! This proves it! I made it through the mountains…I am damn near an ice road trucker now!
Get home. Make dinner…. or actually, I think I ordered pizza for dinner because the mountains of despair had exhausted me. Nick and his friend are coming over to pick up the car; pizza is on its way…. life is working out. Then Nick asks me where the keys are. Well, they are still in the car. He goes to go get them and comes back in the house looking a little angry. I quickly realize why he is not looking pleased with me. For my friends that have never experienced auto-start…. the car automatically locks when it sits on so that no one steals it. It locks even if the keys are in the car. Damn safety technology! The only set of keys are locked in the car, and it is -12-degrees and snowing. No one is thrilled with me at this moment. Especially since it is so cold that the locksmith breaks his only set of ”break-in” tools while trying to get the door open. I was going to have to call another locksmith in the morning. My pizza was cold by the time we got done, and when I went to make a cup of coffee to warm up-, I realize that my coffee is not as warm as it should be. But I was freezing- so I didn’t put much thought into it.
Thursday- Another early morning, rushing to get everything done. Once again- my coffee is not as warm as I usually like it. But I was rushing, so I popped my cup into the microwave and kept moving forward. I was at the hospital by 7:30 a.m., the second time in one week, I was out and about at a ‘normal adult’ time- very strange. It had to be around 8:30 a.m. that I get a text from my son…. ‘Mom- did you take my mask that was on the counter?’ Shit! I did. It looked clean, so I had grabbed it. ‘Yes, son. Was that yours?’ Of course, it was his because that is where I told him that he had to put on his school mask at the end of the day. Next text… ‘Mom, I can’t go to school because you took my mask.’ I went outside for a smoke break because this was a first. My son couldn’t go to school because I took his mask?
I look down in the passenger seat of my car- yup, that is where I had put all the extra mask. I was traveling with 7 different masks and left my son with none. This was new. I really didn’t know how to react. I can’t get mad at the kid; I took the mask. But I really didn’t want to call his school and tell them…. that would be embarrassing! Wait! There is a clean mask in my sock drawer! I remember seeing it that morning…. crisis diverted! Why do I have masks in my sock drawer? I don’t have time to think this through…. Kekoa- get on that bus and go to school!
Friday- another busy day of emails and hospital visits. 9:30 a.m. zoom meeting, but I have to be out of the house by 10:00 a.m. to get all my stuff done. The puppies are mad at me because I haven’t been home all week and are letting me know their disapproval by eating my end table and favorite couch blanket. I grab my coffee…why the hell is my coffee luke-warm? I don’t have time to worry about it; I have to get going. I need to pick up smokes, birthday cards, and distilled water. I should try to figure out something for dinner; it’s been a couple of days since I have made an authentic dinner. I need gas also, but I am really good at that game of figuring out the shortest route between point A and point B so that I don’t have to stop. I stop at Starbucks, though, for a hot cup of coffee. Happy Days! I like Starbucks!
They hand me an iced coffee!
That is not what I ordered! They made a mistake, but I don’t have time to wait for another coffee to be made, so I take the iced coffee in the -17-degree weather because that makes sense!
By 3:00p.m. I am done and headed home with a migraine from hell. I need real coffee! I get in the house and make myself a pot- and as it is doing its magical thing, I start putting away the dishes. I am trying to beat the coffee pot. Suppose I can get the dishes put away and the dishwasher loaded before the coffee is made. In that case, I can reward myself with an episode of Gilmore Girls before Kekoa gets home. I was moving fast, but the pans were not…. they were not working with me. I need coffee! Damn it, dishes, get out! So, I pull. The pan does not move. It is a tug of war, and the pan is winning. I pull harder. It flies out! Yea me! I look down and realize that inside the pan is part of my dishwasher. I broke off the thing that spins around and sprays the water. Kind of an important part of the dishwasher that now sat in my hand. That. Is. It. I am done. I am done with life. I am done with dishes. I am over it all. I make a coffee and head to the couch where my favorite couch blanket now sat in three different pieces and drank lukewarm coffee.
It is Saturday morning. My coffee pot is broken. My dishwasher is broken. My favorite couch blanket is still in three pieces- each of the dogs has made a personal bed out of it. I have 4 loads of laundry to do. I need to get to the grocery store because I think Kekoa is getting scurvy from a lack of healthy food in the house. I haven’t vacuumed all week, so there is a pound of puppy Polar hair hiding in the corners of the house. I have to get 10 miles of running/walking in this weekend to stay on track with my 100-mile February challenge. This almost post-COVID-19 world is exhausting.
Do you think Wal-Mart will deliver a new coffee pot?