Striving for normalcy

No, goshdarnit, I WON'T call it "the new normal." That feels too much like a surrender and an acceptance that "this is how it's going to be from now on" and I am telling myself this is a stupid blip. It might last weeks, it might last months. But at the end of it, it will be over, we will be out in the world again, there will be powdered milk and flour and tp and whatever else on store shelves again. And maybe, I pray - that we will be back in the fall, with students, teaching face to face.

I think the way I keep my sanity through this is to adhere to a strict schedule. As part of that, when I woke up this morning (I let myself sleep 'til 6:30), I got dressed right away. In real clothes - a dress and make up* and proper underwear (No hose, no shoes, but I think hose might be hard to replace, and it's going to be hot anyway)

(*And DAMMIT I dropped the container of blush and it shattered. My most recent Ulta order has not shipped, which concerns me, but I guess I try making another one? I can use this one for a while yet. I am not up to trying to go to one of the drugstores - still open as "essential businesses" - to try to find a color that would work (I use a Clinique product). But I might have to, maybe Ulta isn't even shipping now)

This is very much like what I've read about the WWII era, where breaking any item was horrifying because you didn't know if or when you'd get another. I may eventually have to just try to pick a color from what they have at the walgreen's, or else see if I can guess-order through WalMart.

Because, yeah, I did my first to-be-picked-up order. I realized I would need a whiteboard and markers if I am teaching at home so I ordered a small one. And another jar of red cabbage, and if they actually have it in stock, some horrifically expensive Kerrygold butter (other butter came up out of stock). And more legal pads for taking notes on. I was lucky to be able to get a time tomorrow afternoon.

ETA: and more printer paper. I realized I was nearly out and I can't wait the month it would take Amazon to deliver.

But anyway. I think the way to keep myself sane is to have a strict schedule:
Wake up sometime around 6 am
Dress right away
Eat breakfast, do Duolingo, maybe some piano practice
Spend 1/2 hour cleaning house
Spend an hour working on teaching stuff
Do virtual office hours
Do more teaching stuff
Take a break
Spend an hour looking for links/figuring out how to do virtual labs
Maybe lunch?
Spend an hour recording more lectures
Stop for the day around 4, do a workout
Do more piano practice
Cook dinner
Relax, starting around 7 pm
Go to bed at a decent hour.

I will work on teaching stuff on Saturdays if that feels advisable; recording lectures takes about twice as long as actually lecturing does. Sunday I am going to keep strictly free. My mom's church is doing video devotionals, watching those will help me feel connected to her as well as have some minimal participation in my faith. And everyone needs a Sabbath. I think even if you aren't a believer you do.


ETA: a tweet I saw and had to mash the RT button on, this is from Joe Keenan: "The hard part is feeling that no one outside of an emergency room has a right to complain about anything, while still wanting to complain about Everything. You constantly feel both the most and the least lucky you’ve ever been."

Yes. I have to remind myself that I am safe at home, I have sufficient food if it's unexciting food, I am healthy, right now all the people I love are healthy, I will have meaningful work to do in the teaching stuff, I have savings that will carry me if the worst happens and if it does I will probably be able to get some kind of new job given that I can write intelligibly and show up places on time and stuff like that. And that maybe, just maybe, come fall, our enrollment will hold steady or even go up a little? I hope? 

Edited to add: and here is the first bit of cleaning. I took the books off one of the small bedroom shelves and moved the shelf into my living room to hold my teaching books. Not all of those are ones I use for teaching, just to fill out that top shelf I grabbed some mostly science-related books from shelves here, and also my copy of "German, Quickly" (maybe I try to re-start trying to learn other than with just Duolingo) and the book of Mary Oliver poems I bought (probably the last Amazon book that I will get for a while; I know they're up to a month delivery time for things not deemed essential and yes, it feels much like we're in a war). I put some of the things I carried home from my real office there to make me feel better, and added the unicorgi and the arctic fox that kind of go with the little owl. 

It makes me feel better, a little bit.