Day 16 - Los Angeles lifts its vaccine mandate. A vax card is no longer required.

Errand day…

4/15/22. Friday. Errand Day

6:30-7:00-My alarm goes off but I lie in bed for the next half hour. The contractor is coming to give me a bid on the water damage my kitchen ceiling sustained. This has been an ongoing problem for years and rather than repair the ceiling, I just kept painting over it (don’t judge me). The contractor will be here between 8:30-9:00.

7:00-7:30-Downstairs and I say good morning to the animal and rub her tummy three times. Unfortunately, she pooped in front of the door (sigh). Return inside and I make coffee, do the dishes, and unload the dishwasher because the contractor is coming and I don’t want him to think we live in squalor.

7:30-8:30-Shower. I sit in the shower, drink my coffee, and ice my eyes. Lotion. I put on “Athletic Housewife” attire - yoga pants and a teal, short-sleeved blouse with a bedazzled butterfly on the front. Light make-up. I look out my bedroom window and see a work truck parked across the street, although nobody rang the doorbell. I go downstairs and open the garage. It’s the contractor and he meets me in the driveway. Vendors don’t mask anymore, but neither do I. I’ve already had Omicron and the chances of contracting it again are virtually non-existent.

8:30-9:00-I ordered a jumbo-size photo album for L. where she can store her smaller, miniature projects and it arrived, so I unpack it for her. L. ordered three small easels for her private students so I unpack those as well.

9:00-9:30-The contractor assesses the damage within minutes and says he’ll email me a bid. I gather my things and leave for the dreaded DMV.

9:30-10:15-Driving. I eat the scrambled eggs I made yesterday along the way. As usual, there is no parking at the DMV so I drive aimlessly through the neighborhoods looking for a space. I finally find one but it’s several blocks away. I mask before I enter the building - nobody else does, except the DMV employees. It. is. packed.

10:15-11:45-It’s the same scenario, the same refugee camp. I stand in the ‘No Appointments” line forever only to receive a number on a scrap of paper and am told to sit in another section of the DMV while I wait for said number to be called. I read Women in the Picture and eat some apple slices while I’m waiting. Finally, my number is called, the DMV employee deems my paperwork sound, and after I write a $15 check, TITLE IS TRANSFERRED. I actually transfer title! I did it!!

“Thank you, thank you…I’d like to thank my Mother for this Oscar and for paying off L.’s car. She made this award possible.” Seriously people, this is one of my greatest accomplishments….Right up there with obtaining my AA Degree in French. I shed a few tears when two AA Degrees arrived in the mail for me last month: one in Humanities and one in French. I worked very hard to get that French degree…blood, sweat, and tears, matched only by the time, effort, and car accident I sustained while trying to transfer title at the DMV. L. now owns HER car - the original title will arrive in the mail. The madness is over.

11:45-12:15-I drive to Home Depot. Nobody masks except the rare employee.

12:15-1:00-L. asked for potted plants in her art studio so I buy two tropical plants and a mini-tree that I’m going to place in front of the hot-water heater. I also buy batteries in the event our power goes out due to some unforeseen energy supply chain problem.

1:00-2:30-Home and I pot the tropical plants in one of the yellow pots that I spray-painted last week and re-pot an overgrown succulent in a special planter that I ordered online. I place the overgrown succulent on my patio table. B. gave me a large pot that he didn’t want anymore, so I set the mini-tree in that and move everything into the garage.

-I bought a wavy, red, tomato vine spike that I thought looked interesting and asked B. to cut it to size, which he did the other day. I mount the red, metal spike horizontally above L.’s portable sink and, using clothes pens, attach the cards and notes that L. has received from her favorite students over the years.

-L. placed an “abnormal food” order the other day so I eat some Dijon pretzels from her stash.

-I’m exhausted. L. rises from the dead - she’s been asleep this entire time - and I ask her if she’ll buy me a coffee.

2:30-3:30-L. and I have a conversation about college. She spoke to her school counselor about fulfilling some of her junior requirements over the summer in an attempt to graduate early, but none of the classes she needs are offered. Her school schedule is overwhelming and next semester she will have to commute FOUR days a week. Otis increased the tuition for the 2022/2023 school year by 30% so I told L. to ask her counselor if they will increase her merit award by the same amount. It looks like this won’t happen. The worst part is that L. is still a Sophomore, even though she transferred to Otis as a Sophomore. It’s almost as if she repeated an extra year of school, although I think she has learned a lot at Otis. It’s all very frustrating.

-L leaves and returns with a coffee for me.

3:30-4:30 - N. arrives (L.’s friend, whom I jokingly refer to as my son) from UC-San Francisco. It is so great to see N. and listen to his stories about his living situation (dorm - 4 guys living under one roof) college life, his barista job (Starbucks), etc. L and N are going to play Guitar Hero so I take my coffee upstairs.

4:30-6:00-I take a nap.

-L. Leaves for her shift at The Club.

6:30-7:30- I have some of L’s swiss cheese and crackers then take the dog for a walk. We try the paseo this time which works out much better although it’s a bit more isolated. I have some chocolate-covered pretzels from L.’s “abnormal food” order.

7:30-8:00-I forgot that I spilled fertilizer all over my floor mats transporting the mini-tree from Home Depot to my house so I pull out the vacuum cleaner and vacuum the back seat of my car and the floor mats.

-It smells like potting soil in L.’s art studio since I potted and moved new plants in here so I light a scented candle.

8:00-9:00-I didn’t get very far with yesterday’s Insanity workout so I do a 15-minute Insanity Ab workout and a 30-minute Insanity Max - Sweat workout. I complete both successfully.

9:00-10:30-Bullet journal.

L. surfaces and leaves immediately with N. for their 10:45 dinner reservation at Bacari.

10:30-11:30-Blog post.

11:30-12:30-Oops-I accidentally fell asleep.

12:30-1:00-L. returns and we talk about her day. An event at The Club that was scheduled for 40 people turned into 100 people - it was very stressful. L. is able to read a book per shift at this job - management doesn’t care if she reads on duty. She and N. received a discount on their meal at Bacari’s. I give L. the temporary title to her car and tell her the original is on it’s way. She goes to bed.

1:00-1:30-Nighttime routine. Bed.