Day 20 - the WHO names Omicron a “variant of interest”

At the Enchanted Forest of Light this evening…

I finished this book today…

12/14/21. Tuesday 

There’s a torrential rain today. 

6:00 – Although L. asked me to follow her to the mechanic at 7:30 this morning, I am relatively certain that L. will not wake up at 7:30.  I go back to sleep. 

9:00-9:30 – I go downstairs to greet the animal.  Rainy days are always problematic for the dog and today is more than just a light drizzle – my entire backyard is flooded. This means the dog will be s—ting in the house until it stops raining. Getting her to come outside with me to go potty is extremely difficult because she’s a prima donna and hates getting her feet wet. We go outside and the dog quickly goes potty on the red rock. Return inside – coffee for me; cheese for her. I go upstairs. 

L. is exiting her bedroom, fully dressed and ready to go.  She tells me that N. (friend) is going to help her with the car. Uh…when was she going to tell me this? L. and N. leave. 

9:30-10:30 – Shower. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform. Light make-up. I listen to The Daily. 

10:30-11:00 – I finish Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. I recently finished Digital Minimalism and I fully recommend reading them together, as a pair. Here’s a quote from Goodreads:  “Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive 21st century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep, instead spending their days in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not realizing there’s a better way.” 

Cal Newport (author) divides the book into two parts:

Part I highlights various figures throughout history who have engaged in isolation, sequestering themselves so they can complete projects. For example, Carl Jung built a stone tower in the woods to help him focus on the important essays he was writing and a social media influencer bought a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo so he could write distraction-free while the plane was in flight [12 hours].  He remained on the plane, once it landed, so he could continue writing when the same plane returned to the US. 

Part II notes that most people can’t sustain more than four deep work hours per day. Cal cites the  four rules of deep work and then presents “scheduling philosophies” that will help you achieve deep work:

1)  Work deeply

2)  Embrace boredom

3)  Quit social media

4)  Drain the shallows [shallow work is non-cognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted, like checking email or social media]. 

I loved this book. If you read my blog, then you know I’m behind on my entries and I’ve been trying to catch up since October, when poor planning and ineffective time management caused me to go  completely off the rails last semester, after I was assigned 4 classes, had to teach in person two days per week at College No. 1 [the very act of teaching in a brick-and-mortar classroom resulted in a 12-hour loss per week], and was simultaneously engaged in a garage renovation.  I mean, these are largely excuses…a more efficient person would have remained on track. Anyway… 

Incorporating some of Cal’s suggestions for creating a deep work climate and schedule has helped me increase my word count and write prolifically as I slowly but surely close the gap between present day entries [my bullet journal] and past entries. His suggestions work and my deep work stamina is improving. 

11:00-12:00 – I eat the extra Caesar salad that the waitress inadvertently brought to my Mom at Marios Place on Friday. I stand at the counter and take bites while I clean the kitchen.   

12:00-1:00 – I finish a blog post, then complete a bullet journal. 

1:00-1:30 – L. and N. return, but L. doesn’t have her keys. The wind is so bad I can hear them outside, shouting and laughing that they are being blown about by a “tornado.” They knock on the door and I let them in, then I have a conversation with N. about school and how it’s going. N. is at UC San Francisco but is home for the holidays. 

1:30-2:30 – I upload a blog post and watch The Organized Money. While editing the post, I check email at both Colleges. 

2:30-3:30 – The rain finally stops. L. asks me to walk around the neighborhood with her so she can take photos of the “wash” from the bridge near our home for her Final Photography Project, which is due tomorrow.  Recall that L. thought she finished her project after our Mission Inn stay, but discovered in the darkroom at Otis that she had no film in the camera when she was taking pictures. It’s crunch time, now. I put the dog on leash and take her with us. 

L. and I walk around the neighborhood and I suggest to L. that she take photos of the varied Xmas-themed doorways in our neighborhood. I propose that she name the project, “A Very Merry Covid Xmas,” but she draws the line at the title. 

Home and the dog and I go inside.  L. takes my car and drives across the street to the lake so she can take more pictures of Xmas doorways. L. proposes we trim the tree at 4:00.  We’ve been trying to trim the tree together for some time now, but we’re unable to coordinate our schedules. 

3:30-4:30 – I have some leftover sauce from my angel hair Cheka [Mario’s Place] so I boil some egg noodles and add the leftover sauce and butter. Very tasty!  I eat it standing in the kitchen and listen to True Crime Garage. 

-I book the Baby Goat Waterfall Hike for L. and I for January. 

4:30-5:30 – L. returns from her Xmas doorway project, adds fresh basil to the pasta [good idea], and finishes it off. 

5:30-6:00 – L. and I leave, but stop by the lighthouse in our neighborhood so she can take more pictures for her Final Project. 

6:00-7:00 – Driving 

7:00-9:00 – We arrive at Descanso Gardens for the Enchanted: Forest of Light and we meet up with S & M and my Mom at the entrance.  I buy a glass of champagne and then we tour the park. There are Xmas niches with beautiful lights/themes scattered throughout the park and it looks amazing!  Words can’t describe the beauty of Enchanted so I’ll add a “link to the show notes.” Please watch [clasped hands emoji here]. I leave with a spiked hot chocolate. L. has a Digital Photography Final Project due and she takes lots of video as we walk through the park.

https://www.descansogardens.org/programs-events/enchanted/

 9:00-10:00 – Driving 

10:30-11:15 –L. goes to bed and I do a 30-minute Insanity Max-Sweat workout.  

12:00-2:00 – I compile all of my expenditures for September and October and watch more Organized Money videos in the background while I update my budget. 

2:00-3:30 – Kitchen duty and I ready my coffee. Another of L.’s rugs arrived, so I unroll it and place it under the sawhorse/glass table in the garage, where the stereo sits. I also unpack a box that came from Amazon and listen to Happier. 

3:30-4:00 – Nighttime routine. Bed.