Originally posted on Facebook.

 12 days since Carantine began. Bethantine is on Day 5.

This is the first day I’ve haven’t been online to do work or getting the house ready for the long haul.

🎹😑Wish I had a child that can sing or that Rowena lived closer to me so Beth would stop prevailing upon me for concerts to all the new piano arrangements she’s perfecting. I got in trouble at 9pm last night for refusing to sing “For Good” (Wicked) and “Breathe Again” (Sara Bareilles). I am not very good, people, and I’m not being modest– humility confuses me.

Today on deck, we have “Tightrope” (Sara Bareilles version), “All is Found” (Frozen II) and “Part of Your World” (The Little Mermaid.

Send help or send Sara Bareilles. DM me for the address.

💻😎Lessons from WFH last week, modified for my own needs from all those articles about productivity.

1. Protip – Start your day by getting dressed for work. Modification: Start your day by staying in your comfy, bedtime clothes, and DO NOT LOOK AT YOUR PHONE. I give myself at least 3 minutes to stare out the window and pretend the email doesn’t exist. Then and only then, once I’ve had this 1-on-1 with myself and my anxiety, I dress up.

And sometimes after a particularly difficult conference / video call, I change my outfits. So far no one has noticed…

2. Protip – Develop self-discipline, strict routines, your own home office. (Basically, do everything you can to mimic the office.) Modification: 😒 WHATEVER. Just like dieting, you know yourself best. Sometimes these articles make it feel like we’ve failed if we can’t perfectly adapt quickly and make ourselves the same work style online as we had offline. The reality is that we’re all going to have to build fairly unique, fairly tailored schedules, routines and spaces, and deal with the fact other people made theirs bespoke to what they need, not what you need.

Anyways, our country lot of workplaces have annoying-to-toxic corporate cultures. Why replicate that at the home office if you can help it? You are more than your job. 🙂

So cut yourself some slack, especially if you don’t feel anyone else is. Even if you think other people are handling it better. Even if you think you’re handling it better than everyone else. You’re doing you, and you’re doing great. We can compare notes later.

🛍🛒🧻Supplies. Mom. We’re good. Mom, it’s okay. Papa, yes, I have hand sanitizer in the car. We have canned goods to last two weeks, dried / frozen goods to last 30 days, we go shopping once a week for perishables, we are getting no-contact delivery for dinner, we have TP/paper towels to last 3 months, we have cat & dog food for 1-2 months, we’ve got soap and Clorox for 6 months, and new air filters on the way. Et cetera. I used to carry around three bags (a backpack, a tote and a small purse/plastic bag) around high school, I’m built for this. But thank you for worrying 💕

I haven’t taken a serious look yet about what we can do to help our community in a separate thread. Oakland County/Detroit have been hit really hard. 😦

📝Tell me how you’re doing? It can be super long or super short. Send me an email or DM, even if we haven’t talked in a while?

I’ve been coping by making lists of all the things I could use this quarantine time to do — brush up on Spanish or the Japanese alphabet, teach myself the ukelele, watch that Masterclass on writing, write a short story, edit my book I wrote in 2010, pick up scrapbooking again, start a Tiktok, make an interior design plan for my whole house. After I make this list, I play Stardew Valley while ignoring my texts until I fall asleep.

I’m really grateful for technology, my job, my family & friends that I don’t text but really love, and all of the privileges my life has afforded me so far.

P.S. what the hell is everyone watching on Netflix?

/end blog