Day 10 - Governor Newsom reinstates the mask mandate for California

12/24/21. Friday – Xmas Eve 

10:45-11:15 – I’m up so I go downstairs to greet the animal. She’s awake and running around so we go outside.  It’s not raining today, but the backyard is flooded. The dog heads straight to the red rock and goes potty. Return inside and I unload the dishwasher. Then, coffee for me; cheese for her. I go upstairs.

11:15-1:00 – Blog post.

-L. leaves for Portos in Burbank because she is going to serve mini-mango cakes for dessert after Xmas dinner.

1:00-1:30 – bullet journal

1:30-2:00 – I wash my face and put in my contacts. Light make-up. Covid 19 uniform.

I call Wayfair Customer Service again and the associate said that Fed-Ex generated a shipping label for the second table on 12/17/21, but then never put the table in transit. The table is NOT going to arrive. The Wayfair employee is very kind and suggests that I report the table as missing and generate a new order for Table No. 2.  He says the table (workbench) will arrive on 1/14/22. Spoiler Alert: The table does not arrive on 1/14/22. When I check the status, on 1/15/22, I will find that Wayfair arbitrarily changed the delivery date for Table No. 2 to June 2022 without explanation or notification. 

-In a last ditch effort to procure a table, I ask B. if I can use the portable table (seats 8) that is perpetually placed alongside the wall in his kitchen, complete with a table cloth. This portable table is in addition to his dining room table which seats 10 when the leaf is placed, along with the huge island that is the centerpiece of his kitchen. It is unclear why the portable table remains in B.’s kitchen 24/7 as the only item on the table is typically a 24-Keurig-cup holder, but the important point is that he has a rarely used portable table in his kitchen.  

When I ask B. if I can borrow the table for 4 hours, he says no.  

Tomorrow, I am forced to cram 8 people around a dining table that seats four. There is no room for the food…I’m not sure what I’m going to do…  

2:00-5:00 – I have two chocolate-covered marshmallows, then start on yard work. The backyard is fully waterlogged and covered in leaves so I need to perform some labor-intensive gardening before it starts raining again. I add potting soil to a few pots and also pick up dog poop.

-L. returns from Portos with ruined mango mini-cakes.  Unfortunately, L. had to brake suddenly when she was driving home and the cakes were smashed into the lid; only two are salvageable which L. and I eat.  L. opens the box and the lid is smeared with what looks like baby food carrots. There is a bright side to the story, however. L. returns with a potato ball and an empanada for me.  Much appreciated! I take a quick break to eat the empanada at my patio table and share with the dog, as usual.

-L. leaves for 85 Degrees and returns with a mango “cake” for dessert that looks amazing.  I can’t believe she was able to purchase the cake at this 11th hour.

L. leaves to spend Xmas Eve dinner with her boyfriend at his Mom’s house.

5:00-5:40 – I take the dog for a walk and see several people arriving at various houses in my community with presents, everybody wearing masks.  It suddenly dons on me that it’s Xmas Eve.  I’ve been so busy today that I forgot.  As the dog and I walk around the “compound”, I see families laughing and talking – most of them masked - through the windows.  Nobody else is walking their dog right now at a time when I routinely see my neighbors and their dogs. Of course they’re not out…it’s Xmas Eve and they’re spending time with family.

5:40-6:00 – We finish our walk and I turn on all the Xmas lights, inside and out. I guess it’s just me and the dog this Xmas Eve.

6000-7:15 – I report to my office and peruse news headlines and a few articles. The news cycle is nonexistent. Then, I upload a blog post while listening and intermittently watching Organized Money videos.

7:30-10:30 – I stupidly bought ingredients to make a white chicken chili recipe the other day and now I need to cook the dish before the ingredients turn, so I make the recipe.  This is a labor intensive dish and there are lots of dishes as a result.  I clean the kitchen and listen to The Productive Woman.

-In between meal prepping and actually cooking the chili, I wash the couch slipcovers again, one at a time.

10:30-11:30 – I make my homemade cranberry sauce, straighten the kitchen (again), and ready my coffee. I pull out my bread maker because I’m going to make bread tomorrow.

11:30-1:00 – L. and T. arrive home and go upstairs.

11:30-1:00 – I vacuum the downstairs yet again, then mop the kitchen and dining room on my hands and knees, put all the cleaning supplies away, turn off the Xmas lights, and take the dog out. It’s raining again.

-T. leaves around 12:00 a.m.

1:00-2:30 – I take the briefest of naps.

2:45-3:00 – I have to get a workout in because I don’t plan on working out for Xmas. L. is awake and feeling nauseous because she ate sooo much food at T.’s, mother’s house.

3:00-3:45 – I do a 30-minute Insanity Max-Sweat workout.  This is the hardest workout in the series and I always dread doing it.  I’m having a terrible time but I see it through. I have to follow the “Modifier” a few times, but I do my best to finish the workout.

4:00-4:45 – Nighttime routine. Bed.