One month of "shelter-in-place"

I thought it was about time to write an update to my last blog post.

It has been one month since my last post and one month since I/we have been in quarantine/shelter-in-place. The day that I wrote that March post was the last day I was actually AT work.

I have somewhat settled into life in our current dystopia. Instead of feeling panicky and paranoid, I'm just slightly nervous. Sort of a perpetual sense of unease under the surface. Not panic, not fear, but just a bit on edge.

Now, I am trying to find pleasure in the little things, and take life one day at a time. I know "find pleasure in little things" and "one day at a time" are cliches, but how else can we live our lives right now? There's not much to "look forward to," since any semblance of normalcy is likely many months away in a best case scenario. I just try to live in the moment as much as possible and not be bothered by stupid annoyances.

I get up in the morning--every day feeling like the movie Groundhog Day--take a shower, change into my "everyday clothes" (jeans, t-shirt, zip-up sweatshirt is the standard uniform) and after checking my phone, which always seems like a mistake because the news is almost always depressing, I get on with the day. I make a cup of coffee ("taking pleasure in little things"), plug away on library work on my borrowed laptop (the same laptop I am using to write this blog post. I hope the library doesn't mind). The night almost always concludes with me drinking a glass of wine, reading a book, or watching some escapist program on television. (This has generally been an old baseball game on the MLB Network, Schitt's Creek, Better Call Saul, and most recently The Boys and Good Omens on Amazon Prime).

I am well aware that I have it much better than many. I have a nice home, an employer that has guaranteed our jobs are safe for the duration, a good family, lovable (though occasionally annoying) companion animals, and no shortage of food. There are so many who aren't as fortunate.

Right now, I finished my day of library work and the ultimate mind-numbing escapism of Wheel of Fortune is on the television. So I'll take my leave for now and check in sometime in the near future.