There were too many people in the laundry for my comfort, but we were spaced out enough that I think it’s okay. Early Tuesday is definitely better than early Monday, though, so that will be my laundry night.
I took the morning off from work so I could recover from late-night laundry. A five-hour workday is much better than an eight-hour workday at home, and I have quite a bit of vacation to burn. I may make this a weekly thing. My boss has encouraged me to take as much time off as I want.
Work was productive. More revisions on that PSA, then edits to a digital version of our quarterly publication, then some talk about the letters I wrote on behalf of our CEO. A little bit of conversation about edits to a proposal I worked on. I like the variety.
The daily conference call was looooong, going more than an hour, but I think it was productive too. A lot of it just didn’t really concern me, which is the problem with larger meetings.
I got a text from my former department chair at HBA, asking how I’m doing. We traded a few. HBA ends an extended spring break Wednesday with the first day of all online classes. I’m kind of envious of my former colleagues, as they get to rethink their classrooms in a completely new way. I know some teachers find this kind of thing discouraging, but I think my friends would be kind of amped for the challenge.
I’m envious. I would love to try and teach ninth-grade English this way. I wonder if George, who’s the middle-school principal now, is also envious. I think I’ll ask. It must make him yearn to be in his classroom again; it does me.
Also sent a text to a former coworker Ali who’s on the mainland now. The time difference makes it rough for us to have conversations. Other text exchanges were with one of my coworkers and with Crush Girl. She sent me a photo of a grownup coloring book with some parts colored in — with the colored pencils I gave her for Christmas. That made me feel pretty good.
I did my census, but not my taxes. Will do those Wednesday.
Breakfast was a Big Mac combo, enjoyed with great pleasure while I worked at the laundry. For lunch, I went to a teahouse in my neighborhood. They’re doing drive-up takeout in their sizable parking lot (it’s a very popular party room). I’ve never had their food, ‘though I’ve heard it’s very good, and Mochi Girl sold her business to them. $10 for a tonkatsu plate, and it was *chef kiss*. I kind of want to go back again tomorrow. I kind of skipped dinner because I had tortilla chips and spinach artichoke dip for a late snack.
If I had started walking fifteen minutes earlier, I’d have hit my goal. I was nine hundred steps shy of my 13,000 target when the clock struck twelve. Ah well. Still a pretty nice walk.
It’s coming up on 2:00 in the morning and I plan to have a productive day, so off to bed.
My spirits are pretty good. I think my mood is tied to a productive workday and a nice walk, plus a little bit of interaction with people I love. This journaling probably helps a little too, just to stimulate the creativity a little. I think the essentials are the work and the fresh air.
I hope you’re finding whatever it is that does it for you. If you’re going through this alone, please reach out. We can talk each other through all this craziness.