Day 41-Governor Newsom reinstates the mask mandate in California

My first day with this hiking group…

L. and I went to Tomuko Spa today…

1/25/22. Tuesday 

This just in…Pfizer has begun testing an Omicron vaccine in adults.  Are you serious?  This variant just burned it’s way through our country in two months, caused 2500 deaths a day, and is on its way out. And now Pfizer is moving forward with an Omicron vaccine?   On behalf of my fellow Americans, I say, “Who cares?” 

6:00 – 6:30-I have a new morning routine that emerged after I contracted Omicron. If I have an appointment or some sort of time constraint the next day, I need to wake up at least ONE hour before I start my day because I find that in the mornings, I’m simply too sick to get out of bed straight away. Since I contracted Omicron, I sleep elevated (sitting up) to help with post-nasal drip and coughing. I wake up with a headache and throbbing pain behind my eyes. In the morning, my entire body aches, whether or not I’ve done a work out the day before - I typically feel as if I’ve been run over by a truck – and it’s extremely difficult to get out of bed. Taking Advil is usually my first task every morning. Once the Advil takes effect, I sit in the shower with my coffee and ice my eyes. All of these steps have to occur before I can resemble a human being.

6:30-6:45 – I go downstairs and walk past the dog to the microwave, where I heat the coffee I made last night for 2 minutes. I tiptoe past the dog because I don’t want to wake her up.  She doesn’t move until she hears me start the microwave; then she runs over so she and I can start our routine.  We go outside and she goes potty. Return inside – coffee for me; turkey for her. I put ice in a plastic bag and go upstairs.

6:45-7:45. Shower. I sit in the shower, lean my head against the tiles, drink my coffee and ice my eyes. Lotion. Hiking uniform.

7:45-8:45 – Driving. I eat a piece of almond butter toast that I made yesterday. I have difficulty finding the location so I text Renee and she calls me and gives directions.

8:30-10:00 – Hiking starts at 8:45 a.m. and I arrive at Placerita Valley Golden Ranch - Open Space with time to spare for my first day hiking with this group. Renee is the last one to arrive and leads us through some stretches before we start hiking. There are approximately 18-20 people here, between the ages of 50 and 60?? We hit the trail and within minutes I’m hiking an almost straight up-and-down incline. People start falling out immediately and at certain points I feel like I might faint - OMG. I’m mostly at the front of the pack but the climb/hike is. tough. Later, I tell L., “I’ll pass out, before I tap out.” The views are wonderful. 

When I’m in a new social situation I mostly observe how the group operates. “Group hiking” appears very fluid…individuals might hike with one partner, only to glom onto another partner when their original partner falls behind, and so on. At some point, I end up hiking with a soccer Mom and having a conversation about her daughter who rides horses competitively. Nobody gets upset over being left behind. I listen to some of the conversations and it sounds like everyone has had Covid. I have a few apple slices on the hike. 

10:00-1:00 – The hike ends and I drive to Starbucks. I sit in the parking lot, drink my coffee, and update my bullet journal. 

1:00-2:00 – Return home and I discover that, for some reason, L. has decided to run the dishwasher even though it hasn’t been used in 5 years. The kitchen is flooded and I step into ankle-deep water when I enter the kitchen from the garage. I turn off the dishwasher, but it continues leaking and beeping. I call for L., but she’s on Zoom for one of her classes and can’t hear me so I run upstairs and tell her the kitchen is flooding. We run downstairs, L. unplugs the dishwasher, and we end up using 10 towels to soak up the water. L. has to siphon out a large pool of water left inside the dishwasher, one scoop at a time, into a bucket. I hang the sopping wet towels outside, over my patio wall, then go upstairs. 

While I’m upstairs, L. cleans the dishwasher and the cabinet under the sink and does the dishes. 

2:00-2:30 – I eat a sliced boiled egg and some cheese and listen to True Crime Garage.

2:30-3:30 – L. and I have a spa appointment at 6:00 p.m. and a foot massage is included in the price so I spend the next hour trimming and filing my toes and exfoliating my heels.  I paint my toenails red.

3:30-3:45 – I freshen my make-up.

4:00-4:45 – I fall asleep in my chair and L. wakes me up.

4:45-6:00 – L. and I drive to Tomoko Spa, in Beverly Hills, in honor of her birthday.

6:00-9:00 – L. and I have the best body massages we have ever had.  I like a soft touch, but L. told her masseuse that she wanted a hard massage to loosen the knots in her neck.  As a result, L. told me that while she was lying on her stomach, her masseuse leaped on the table like a cat, then straddled L.’s back, with her knees on either side of L.’s butt, and dug into L.’s knots with her knuckles, hard!, for the next 90 minutes.

-When our massages are over, we have a 2-person sushi dinner served in our spa room that I really enjoy. My Mom paid for all of it. Thanks Mom!

9:00-10:00 – Driving

10:00-1:00 – I bring in the towels from my patio wall and put them in the washing machine, then work on some blog posts.

1:00-2:00 – I upload my blog posts to the website.

2:00-2:30 – Nighttime routine. Bed.