A purposeful day

I got all the Interspecific Competition and Predator-Prey Dynamics lectures recorded and posted to both Zoom and the class webpage. I'm ready for the start of next week. My plan is to kind of "flip" things - during what would ordinarily be office hours or prep time, I will be recording and seeking online things that the students can learn from and writing the eventual tests, and then will do virtual office hours during class time.

I will be busy. I am okay with this. Being extremely busy is better than being idle during the day and panicking as I consult the news for "are there any updates?"

All I can do now is aggressively stay home to keep myself safe (I plan on weekly trips out either to do Wal-mart pickup - if I can grab a slot in time and if they have enough of what I need - or to the Pruett's and then shower and change clothes immediately after).

I would *like* some tomato plants but am considering mail ordering them. Though maybe a trip to Lowe's garden center (open air) very early in the day would be safe enough. (It is too late to start from seed)

I have to remind myself there is "enough" different food I can make, things I can do:

- quiche (I have plenty eggs, some of which I should use up, and spinach and cheese and even bacon I could open up and freeze the rest of)
- baked beans from scratch, using the rest of the bacon
- bean patties, I have both garbanzos (would require using the blender to mash those up) or lots of black beans
- soup, I have some celery-free stock and I've been considering modifying the cream of peanut butter soup recipe I have to be cream of almond butter and see how that works. And I have the makings of tomato soup and even IF I run out of broth that could be made with water
- pancakes, I have eggs and flour. Or other bready things, I even have a jar of yeast and the sachets I bought in a panic when I forgot about the unopened jar (this was two weeks before stuff really hit here) and I am mailing them to a friend who is yeastless
- refried bean things, I have a couple cans yet (maybe more than just two....) and I have corn tortillas or could make flour ones, and if the sour cream runs low I have plain yogurt

I also have some dried emergency food that an LDS friend of my dad encouraged us all to get a couple years back (the thought then was ice storms, ha ha). I have LOTS of dry beans and in extremis I could just do them with water and freeze dried onion and whatever spices I have, and not even put meat in them. Or make soup with the dried green beans and corn and even the dried broccoli (I am not a broccoli fan but would eat it in a real emergency) and I think I have some sachets of cheese powder that could disguise the taste a little. And I think I have a big can of dried potato flakes? Which could be used for a lot of things.

(And anyway: Eventually groceries will stock back up and it's probably FAIRLY safe to go out to the grocery, especially if I can do the pick-up-at-the-curb thing).

And I have some oddball bits of canned goods - some salmon (could make salmon patties) and a couple cans of cheese ravioli (and more on the way from Amazon, to come next week). So I will be okay. It won't necessarily be "I can have WHATEVER I WANT" like I once did, but I will be okay. I have lots of canned fruit and some canned corn and some frozen green beans, and a few cans of sweet potato puree left....all the stuff I stocked up on over the past few months, thinking "I'll be busy come spring and won't have as much time to get out" and WOW am I glad I did that now before people panic bought. (And yes: I have plenty of TP)

I suspect one way this will change me though is I will push to make SURE I have three cans or more of my favorite canned things ahead at all times.

So anyway. I did a lot of schoolwork today, I am ahead for Monday. I have enough good food. (I have leftover chicken thighs I made the other day; one will be dinner). Need to do a bit more piano practice for the day (I want to keep up with that, it feeds my soul and I AM getting better) and also go out and cut some brush and then wash my hair to get the pollen out.

I am less sad and frantic than I was last weekend. Yes, I miss being able to go IN to work, and I will have to make sure to (a) start the workday at a reasonable hour instead of sleeping in and dragging my feed and also (b) not let the workday drag into the evening; I need clear boundaries of "this is the eight hours you are getting paid for" so I don't waste time but also don't wind up working too late and then feeling bad I don't have more free time...

Also gonna look to see if I still have one opened mask hanging around in the garage for wearing when out shopping. Now that they're saying "oh yeah, masks are actually helpful" after weeks of them being pooh-poohed. (If I had a totally unopened package I'd donate them to the hospital, but if I have one I've used once....well, no medico would want that but it still might protect me. And yes, I know, you can sew cloth ones but I would really rather not? I don't know why my brain rejects it but it does. I think it feels a little too "desperate WWII Blitz-like measure" and I feel like it's a line I don't want to cross for myself. I did briefly think of doing one out of My Little Pony fabric, but....yeah....if I am just aggressively staying home, no need.)