Day 13 - California Reopening Plan - Phase 3

Food prep day…

The following was written in my HOA newsletter [June 6, 2020 - distributed monthly]:

When Will The Pool Open?

Many residents are wondering when the pool will be open? Yes, the LA County Department of Public Health said that HOA pools may open, however, the County also issued four pages of very detailed and onerous protocols that have to be met as minimum standards in order for a pool to be reopened. An example of a condition of the protocol is to require staffing to ensure only 10 residents are using the pool at one time and staffing to wipe down frequently touched surfaces. These are just a few of the standards and these are unbudgeted expenses (the HOA bolded this part). For now, the pool/spa remains closed as the Board of Directors works closely with the Association’s legal counsel.

Sunday:

I had all these grandiose dreams about going to the Carpenteria Bluffs today, but as the day slipped away I gave up.

8:00 – The dog is barking so I take her out.  I go back to bed.

10:00 – 12:00 - I read a UK Money Diary and drink my Hydroflask. I’m sore from yesterday’s workout and I feel like I’m underwater, barely moving  – today’s a slog. Downstairs to get my coffee and back up to shower and get dressed. I drink my coffee in the shower.  I start a load of towels and vacuum my room, closet, the upstairs landing, and the laundry room.  We had an earthquake on Wed. and some of the pictures on the landing are askew, so I right them.  I’ve never been someone who’s high energy – I describe myself as a “slow burn” or a plodder in that I keep going, sometimes slowly, no matter how tired I am.  But, doing these basic activities takes forever and I’m starting to wonder if it’s depression-related…??  Not sure.

12:00-4:00 - Towels in the drier and downstairs.  I read another UK Money Diary and heat up my coffee. I didn’t clean the kitchen yesterday so I put dishes away and do the dishes in the sink..  I get started on food prep for the week. I used to do this religiously, every Sunday, but stepped away from it slightly, once the quarantine started, as food prep is no longer so important since I rarely leave the house.  If I’m hungry – which I never am – I simply eat something from my pantry or refrigerator. 

You should have seen what it was like BC.  I had the week’s meals prepared and breakfast, lunch, AND dinner packed in insulated bags, at the ready, in the refrigerator, for the days I taught morning and night classes [Mon, Tues, and Thurs].  When working at my state job, I packed a big lunch the night before. During the week, I never ate out – it takes too much mental bandwidth to figure out where to eat, then go to the location – parking is terrible in Glendale, where I work – wait for service, which took forever on account of the lunch crowd, then drive back to work.  It’s a waste of time – the faster I completed my work, the faster I could go home. I always ate at my desk.

But now…I guess old habits die hard so I launch into the Sunday food prep like I’ve done for L. and I for the past 18 years.  Food in our refrigerator is getting ready to turn and must be cooked or prepped immediately as I HATE wasting food.  I sauté a package of fresh mushrooms, then cut up some of the mushrooms to put in a tuna (it’s really canned salmon) salad that I’m making on the side. I boil eggs for the spinach salads that I eat regularly and cut up cheese for the dog, in preparation for the week ahead.

I’m down to one bottle of EVOO so put that on the grocery list. I have green bell pepper left over from a dish I made last week so I dice it and add to the tuna salad. L. bought a ‘celery bunch’, so I wash the stalks and cut them down to bite-sized pieces for snacks so I can dip them in almond butter. I add a diced stalk to the tuna salad.  L. picked up two zucchini her last grocery trip and they are close to going bad, so I peel and ‘spiralize’ them into noodles, then steam everything in the microwave so L. and I can eat them as a side dish.  As I work, part of me wonders, “Why am I responsible for all the food prep?”  It’s a good question.  Since we were quarantined in March, L. has made one meal – a stuffed sweet potato dish that was really good. That’s it.

I start another load of laundry.

We have two blocks of cheddar cheese, but one went bad, so much so that I don’t feel comfortable  even giving it to the dog, although she’s a legit trash can.  The other block is good, so I shred a large portion of it and add it to the tuna salad. B. gave me a small bottle of ranch dressing so I substitute that for mayo in the tuna salad. I find a breaded fish taco in the fridge, from Fish Tales a couple days ago, and I have that for breakfast/lunch??  Not hungry today. I also dice onion and add it to the tuna salad. 

The recipe is called Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps, but we are out of lettuce.  L. has been great about going to the store, but she appears to have lost interest.  An ongoing grocery list that I add to on the counter has been sitting there for a long time – I may have to start doing the grocery shopping again (sigh). A cucumber that L purchased is close to turning, so I chop it up and add it to L.’s special pitcher, along with her  bottled water, so she can have cucumber-infused water for the week. I purge expired food from the fridge and pantry – I typically do this on Sundays, too, because trash day is Monday – then I take the trash out.

The kitchen is a disaster so I put the dishes that are in the dishwasher away and fill the dishwasher again.  Recall, that my dishwasher has been broken for five years so I wash everything by hand. I try to sweep  downstairs, but the dog keeps attacking the broom, so I finally put her in the garage, and finish. I listen to The Global News Podcast; The BBC World News; Market Place; Air Talk; America Interrupted; the Pop Culture Happy Hour; NPR Politics; and PBS News Hour segments.

I go outside to bring in some books from the trunk of my car, which is parked in the driveway. A couple walk by on the sidewalk with their dog, no masks, and they don’t bother to cross the street and social distance from me.  They are so close, they almost touch my legs as I am bending into the trunk. I can’t believe how rude they are!

I hang most of my clothes to dry and put a few items in the drier.

4:00-6:00 – I read online news and check emails from Colleges #1 and #2 – there is nothing from the high school liaison, even after I went out of my way to post grades last night at 11:00 pm. so I could send them to her. I start another load of laundry – L.’s special towels that she purchased for herself when the quarantine started.

6:00-8:00 – My new solar lights arrived for the garden, so I assemble them and install in strategic areas in the back yard – at dusk, the LED lights came on and the top of the lights change from red to blue to green.  They look great! I add a new green wire trellis at the north end of the yard and “train” all vines at their respective stations throughout the entire back yard – this takes some time.  I water all of the plants and pick up the dog poop.

8:00-9:00 – I talk to B. and we decide to go to the Carpenteria Bluffs together, on Tuesday.

9:00-11:00 – I prepare a herbal, EVOO sauce for 4 chicken breasts and bake them at 400 degrees.  I learned, just today, that the higher the temp when you bake chicken, the juicer it will be.  Lets see. I put the dishes away and load the dishwasher again.  L. comes downstairs to eat, but doesn’t know how to plate the food and asks me what she should do.  Yes, she really is 18.  I tell her to take a chicken breast and add either the spiralized zucchini or the sautéed mushrooms as a side, along with a piece of the bread I made a couple of days ago.

11:00-12:30 – we watch Jeffrey Epstein – Filthy Rich and scream at the TV.

12:30 – 1:30 - I braid my hair and listen to Up and Vanished – 4 episodes. Nighttime routine and bed.  Where did the day go?