MINUTE TO MINUTE

5:52 am -  My eyes open and I spend some time trying to guess what time it is.  With the sun getting up just a little earlier every day this is a bit of a challenge.  Challenge is good; might be the only one that happens all day.  I also take a minute to ponder why my jaw is sore.  Well, actually, I know it’s sore because I clench my teeth in my sleep.  The puzzle is why?  Was it the dream I was having about shopping for curtains, the fact that it isn’t warm or dry enough to garden yet, or that I made the mistake of watching Donald Trump on the news before I went to bed?

Oh well, whatever it was, coffee will fix it.  Coffee fixes nearly everything first thing in the morning.

7:02 am -  Breakfast is eaten,I have a second mug of brain juice on the go, and Facebook presents me with my memories of this day for as far back as I’ve been a member of their club.  For this past month of Covid-19 isolation almost all of my memories have been of somewhere else.  Apparently this is when we travel.  Two trips to Australia, a stay in China, Mexican beaches, grandkids in North Bay and Wainwright, family in Calgary and a really fun time in Sedona, Arizona.  Sigh.  

8:16 am -  I wrestle with the decision of whether to stay in my pyjamas or change into my sweatpants and t-shirt ensemble.  The daytime clothes win out as I will likely take the dog for a walk in the afternoon.  The chances of anyone seeing me are pretty low during this time of low traffic, but who wants to be known as ‘that crazy lady who wears pjs to walk her dog’?

10:12 am -  Should I pencil in a phone call so that I ‘stay connected’ or vacuum dog hair?  Decisions, decisions.

11:11 am -  Menu planning!  My favourite!  But it does occupy a fair bit of time, and time is something I have a lot of these days.  Maybe I should get all fancy and try out new recipes?  I do a brief consult with my Creativity and Ambition Department ...  Nope.  Apparently I haven’t reached that level of crazy yet.  Got to save something for next week.

1:06 pm -  Lunch is over.  We’ve caught up on the local news.  No new cases of ‘the Covid’ in the province; this presents the double edged sword of “Yay! We’re doing great!” and “It’s imperative that we continue to isolate.”  Good news and bad news in the same breath.

Now, what to do with the rest of the day?  The dog has me under intense surveillance.  Does he actually think I would go for a walk without him?  He’s the only reason I go for walks!  I have also promised to make someone a batch of raisin oatmeal cookies ... pretty heavy schedule for a Wednesday!

3:47 pm -  A two mile walk takes 38 minutes when I put some effort into it.  These days it takes more like 51 minutes.  And then we spent some togetherness time on the deck trying to get ahead on this shedding thing the dog is into these days.  He is probably 2 pounds lighter, all the little birds for miles around have ample soft, fluffy material for nest building, and he still leaves a trail of husky fluff everywhere he goes.  Vacuum session #2 is scheduled in while the potatoes are boiling for supper – proof I haven’t lost my ability for multi-tasking, thank goodness.  It may come in handy again some day.

6:56 pm -  The evening meal is behind us once more.  There was even dessert.  That’s getting to be standard these days.  Lord help us when they finally open the gates and let us all out again.  Also, the chips and popcorn are not helping.  I finish the dishes and almost instantly find myself rummaging through the snack cupboard.  There is a serious possibility that they will have to widen the gate or we will never make it out of this pasture we’re in.

8:22 pm -  A good evening is spent texting with a friend and swapping the funniest memes we’ve seen all day.  I’m also a puzzle addict so I regularly run my iPad battery down doing puzzles.  And then there’s always my self-destructive penchant for trying to keep up with world affairs.  Typically I do all three at once. 

On Fridays I allow myself a glass of wine to celebrate having made it through another week.

9:43 pm -  The day is officially over, although it’s a tricky thing to convince my brain of this.  In an effort to steer it toward dreamland I go over what I did today, or what I plan for tomorrow; it’s pretty hard to tell the difference these days. 

Maybe I’ll end up back in that dream about shopping for curtains.  I wonder: do I really need curtains?  Or is it that I just want to go shopping ....