I wish this damn virus was unemployed

I applied for unemployment today, and I have to tell you that it was a quick and painless process. Granted, it was all online, and the entire thing is expedited by the COVID-19 situation that everyone is dealing with, but it was way less confusing, irritating or frustrating as I had thought it would be. I mean, I very well could have done it totally wrong, but for now, I'm feeling pretty confident in how I handled it.

Also, my carpets are now cleaned, and once I get the area rugs back in the house, there will be no shoes allowed past the dining room. The traffic areas and dirt on my living room rug has managed to gross me out a whole lot, and I am realizing that I'll probably be better off just replacing the thing in two years, once the wear has evened out on the opposite side. It wasn't too terribly expensive, and for something so integral in the home, a replacement when the time comes would be a good thing.

My carpets continue to be the littlest bit damp though, and I'm not interested in putting anything back until they're drier still, so I may be camping somewhat in my bedroom tonight with no nightstands or a bedside lamp.

I'm pretty excited to note that there are only two episodes left of "Altered Carbon" on my Netflix, and that I'll definitely be moving on to something else tomorrow, or maybe tonight, since it's only 9 right now. This show's second season is not at all as interesting as the first, and I was pretty well done with it on the first or second episode, but was stubborn and had to finish the damn thing. Time to roll the dice on what to watch next...

I wonder what random thing I'll find to do tomorrow

This is a weird feeling. I've never been fired/laid off/furloughed or anything like that. I mean, I quit jobs. Jobs don't quit me. And today I found out that my services won't be needed on a regular basis, but instead on a, you know, less than regular basis. So now I'm living the life of the unemployed during a pandemic, and isn't that just going to be a trip.
I don't even know what else to tell you about my day today. Sydney and I had our first birthday drive-by for her friend this afternoon. Brian and I had some terrible Chipotle for lunch, after which I sent a strongly worded letter to corporate. The carpet cleaners are coming tomorrow, and Brian and I had to move the large area rug into the garage for cleaning, as well as the runner. As well as those two rugs, I'm having the stairs, and mine and Sydney's bedroom carpets cleaned. I am very excited about this, you guys. I hate that my carpets make my feet dirty when I walk around barefoot. After tomorrow afternoon, that shouldn't be a problem anymore.

Fuchsia, fuchsia, bo- buchsia ...

And another stay-at-home weekend comes to an end. Once again, little to nothing of interest was accomplished. The big outing yesterday was a bust on two counts, and all I can say is that we successfully donated three bags of clothes, picked up a prescription, and got some overpriced Chinese food for lunch. Today, even less was done. Sydney and I bought a big bag of popcorn, and got some lunch at Sonic. And then we were home.
What I did get done today was the big outdoor plant shift of spring. You see, when someone lives in the desert and has outdoor plants, one must be more than vigilant when protecting them from the summer sun. That means moving them from all-day winter sun to part-day summer sun. Very few plants, even those that say "full sun" in their preferences, can really handle the full sun of the Arizona summer. So those that can (cactus, and mostly just cactus) are shifted into the full-sun spots of the patio, while the others (lavender, rosemary, mint, jasmine) are moved into the patio-covered, partial-sun, and/or closer-to-the-house places.
The fuchsia, most importantly, was moved inside the slider into the dining room. This was done with the hopes that it'll survive the summer in the cooler confines of the house. This is this year's experiment, of course, as last year's fuchsia experiment was just keeping it nearer the house and shaded, and spritzed whenever I remembered. It died in a quick week once the temperatures really started to rise, and I do not want such a thing to happen to this little love.
Also, duly noted that mint, rosemary and lavender are natural mosquito repellants. I'm counting on that to make my summer better, too.

Who wouldn't love to be like Luca right now

I've had my laptop open for the last two hours, and I've been watching Netflix, and now it's too late for me to really create anything here. Except to tell you that this dancing cow is named Luca, and she's happy and enjoying the fact that she can't catch COVID-19, and that she spends the whole day in the sun and pastures being a happy, happy cow.

How do I keep finding these whacked out shows?

I did some more cleaning today. Currently, my entire downstairs is clean and livable, but the upstairs needs some work. I did score ... kinda ... one little victory today, which is that I can get a quote on carpet cleaning for my house. There's a company that Brian likes that is having a special right now, and I'm going to check that out. I need mine and Sydney's room done; the stairs, for sure; and the area rug in my living room. Once it's clean, I can spin my area rug to even the wear on it, and all will be well for a while. And no more shoes in the house.
As for entertainment, I didn't watch anything amazing or new today, excepting that I am currently watching an episode of "Altered Carbon" on Netflix (so weird, this show), and I'm vacillating on what I want to watch next. I was told by Jeremy today that I absolutely did not have to watch "Tiger King," and I feel so much better having made my decision to bypass that show entirely. I am thinking perhaps "Parks and Rec," or "Dracula," or maybe even "Wynonna Earp." Sydney wants me to watch "Umbrella Academy," and that looked interesting, so maybe that, too.

MCU is quarantine time well spent

Holiday decorations are exhausting. Sure, they're great when they're out and looking cool, but the effort that I put into setting them out and then wrapping them back up again is a lot. And because of that, I really enjoy the aftermath of putting Easter away because it means that there's a five- or six-month stretch before more decorations go out again (October for Halloween). So here I sit, with Easter back in its bins but still sitting in the dining room, with that perfect sense of completion for the season's holidays. Now it's time to rest for a while.
For some reason, Epix has been marathoning three movies on rotation today: "Thor," "Captain America: The First Avenger," and "The Avengers." I've watched "Thor" and "Captain America" at various points throughout the afternoon/evening, as well as "The Winter Soldier" on Disney+ because it's awesome, and I'm currently watching "The Avengers" while I decompress from my day. There is no better way to spend a day than watching some Marvel movies.
I cleaned my living room, and now it's the only room I want to be in. I dusted, wiped, vacuumed and freshened everything, and it's lovely, and now I want the whole house to just be like that without any effort or cleaning done by me. Where the hell are my house cleaning gnomes?

Not feeling a clever headline, so Monday's post

Blame "Penny Dreadful." I've successfully binged and finished "Penny Dreadful" over the last few days, and I'm a better person for it. The episodes though are an hour long each, and watching this show was no small time commitment. Also, there's a lot going on every hour, so I didn't want to blog while I was watching so I wouldn't miss anything. It was an enjoyable experience, and I actually find myself eager to watch the spin-off, "Penny Dreadful: City of Angels," that starts in a week or two. No characters repeat, of course, and it's an entirely different story, but the basic conceit is the same, so I'll give it a shot.
Sydney negotiated the cancellation of one of her monthly game subscriptions to join Hulu, and with our Disney+ subscription already, we were able to bundle our Hulu and Disney+ with ESPN+ and now we have a boatload more streaming services to watch during our quarantine for only a few more dollars per month. And what's on Hulu? "Designing Women," "The Golden Girls," "South Park," "Archer," and one of the best shows in the whole, wide world, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Sydney's excited to sit and watch "Buffy" with me, and that makes me very happy. No idea when we'll start, but it's definitely on our to-watch list.

If I'm not there, I'm not there; but now it's here

So here's something weird. I'm working at home now; I'm putting in my four hours. But I have this consistent nervousness in my stomach about missing something, or about my bosses thinking that I'm not working enough, or that something weird will happen and it'll be my fault. This is never, ever the case with the job normally. I have a very serious case of disconnect once I leave the actual office until I return to the office the next business day. I don't think about the job when I'm not at the job, besides some random thoughts here and there, but it's not anything I worry or stress about in general. So this feeling of constant and vague unease is totally weird and foreign and unwanted.
I started another show that I hadn't had the chance to sit and watch until our friendly neighborhood beer plague came along: "Penny Dreadful" (above). That show is totally in my wheelhouse, but it's super odd and more than a little scary with all the horror movie characters, and I'm six episodes deep into the first season after one day. Only two episodes left in this season, and only two seasons after this one. It's pretty awesome, but it's giving me a little fright, too.

Finally, I'm an at-home worker bee

I worked from home today! And it was a really cool and weird thing to do. It was a trip to be able to sit at my laptop at my dining room and have my actual work computer in front of me. Technology is CRAZY! I spent my allotted time at the computer, but it's an odd feeling when you're usually looking over your shoulder to see who can see your screen, to not have to care about who can see the screen, because no one can. So everything is in good shape and I'm now working from home during the stay-at-home order.
Having said that, I was super stressed out today that something emergency-like was going to happen and I wouldn't be around for it, or that they would know every time I got up to do something not work during my usual work hours. And that was some bizarre big-brother guilt that I think I'll get over pretty quickly, but for today, super distracting.
My set-up is pretty sweet though. I'm down in the dining room so Sydney can do her online classroom upstairs with no distraction from me, with my spiral notebook and notepad, my mousepad and old-lady ergonomic mouse, and my glasses, hot tea, and water bottle. It was remarkably comfortable. But the laptop screen is smaller than the iMac at work, and the resolution on the screen isn't as crystal clear, so I had a hard time reading a couple things here and there. With my glasses on, even. Without the glasses it was a fuzzy mess. I'm totally ready to do this all again tomorrow.

We celebrate the Easter Bunny in this house

A couple things ~
First of all, my daughter actually said to me this afternoon, "We're doing Easter? I thought we weren't going to do Easter this year..." because of the quarantine and stay-at-home orders. I had just come home from Target with sundry groceries, but also with an egg dying kit. It is because of the kit that she said this. I said to her, "Do you even know who I am? Skip Easter? Because of this?" as I waved my arms indicating the entirety of the planet. "Of course we're doing Easter!" I got a hug for that, and no doubt she's excited to see what the Bunny puts in her basket.
Secondly, I finally got my work computer set up for remote working, but the IT guy still hasn't sent me the instructions for how to log in. I emailed him a while ago and he said that he'd get them to me soon. They still haven't arrived. I'm kinda eager to try this work-from-home thing, so it would be awesome if he would follow up.
Thirdly, our quarantine entertainment for today was a viewing of Pixar's "Onward." I won't lie to you, I was not eager to see this one. I have no basis for that opinion, I just wasn't feeling it. But when your kid steps away from the computer and says, "Hey; let's watch a movie together," you stop what you're doing and watch a movie. Anyway, it was really good! Of course, as it's Pixar, it made me cry at the end, but I genuinely laughed out loud several times, and yes, I recommend it.
Fourthly, it's supposed to be cooler the rest of this week and over the weekend, and of course it will because I refolded all the sweatshirts and sweaters in the closet for their summer hibernation. And now we just might be able to wear them again this season.

It's time to become my own aesthetician

Sydney came into my room tonight to complain about how her hair is growing out from its cute, short cut, and I explained that there's no one around to fix it, and that if I have to live with my gray roots, she can live with her longer hair. I am very concerned for what our hairs look like at the end of April, going into May. The real question is, which of us gets Jessica's attention first once we can get into the salon.
I had to trim my own bangs the other night, which is something that I usually do regularly, but still, I'd rather a professional do it. And my eyebrows are going to demand some attention here in the next couple days, too. It has legit been years since I had to clean up my own brows. I know I'm not the only one, but I'm feeling very bearish.
After 10 minutes in the backyard, I came into the house with a mosquito bite on one wrist, and a cut on my thumb. No idea when/how they happened, but the bite itches terribly and the cut is right on my knuckle, so it's pulling open every time I move my thumb. So stupid to go outside for mere minutes and come back inside with mystery wounds.
I finished up the fifth season of "Luther" today, so I'm done with that one. What's next? Maybe more "Altered Carbon," or maybe I'll cave and watch "Tiger King," or maybe I'll go on a Disney binge. All this hanging out and not getting to do anything is certainly catching me up on ALL the television and movies. But my big takeaway from "Luther" is that I'd never be able to drive in England. Having to do all that stuff with my left hand instead of my right would be so weird! Shifting with my left hand? MADNESS.

Be gone, dystonia; I smite you

The neurologist who diagnosed my hand and finger issue as being handwriting dystonia had a couple different options for treating it. One option was injections of a Botox-adjacent muscle relaxer, which I decided would be the first thing I would try. So I got three injections in my right forearm. The treatment did not go as expected. It totally deadened the ring finger and pinky, and mostly killed my middle finger. So I basically had a claw for three straight months, because I couldn't move or lift those fingers. I did not enjoy that experience, and decided that I wouldn't do that again.
Today, I started option two of the treatment: muscle relaxing pills. The downside is, of course, all the side effects of the drug, so the doctor asked that I start them on a weekend so I could figure out how they would affect me in a safe space. No safer space than at home during a quarantine, I say! He prescribed me three pills a day, but told me to start with one pill a day, and I could increase them as I chose. So this morning, I took one pill. Tonight, I feel a little bit better movement in my hand, and I'm actually looking forward to progressing this week to see how this goes over the course of several days. I'm going to be beyond giddy if this little pill makes it easier to type and write.
I don't remember much of what the doctor said were the side effects, so I'll take a picture of the bottle in the morning and google the side effects tomorrow at work. Believe it or not, I'm super excited to get to my computer in the morning and see if this is working for real.

It wasn't our weekend, but it was still fun

I know that I missed last night's post, but I decided to get hammered on a Zoom call with all my soul sisters instead. We were all supposed to be in Palm Springs for a girl's weekend this weekend, but plans get f*cked with there's a pandemic. So rather than hang out and drink together all weekend, we settled for a four-hour Zoom where we all looked at each other's faces and drank together from our respective homes. At least no one had to Uber or drive anywhere, and we social distanced, so it was a safety win all around.
I didn't sleep too well last night after that, what with the margaritas rolling around in my stomach, and I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight. I didn't drink enough water today though, so I'll have to be a good kid tomorrow and hydrate like crazy.

Keyboard crumbs are the devil's droppings

The goal this month is, I think, to post to the blog here every day. If only because it'll be my version of quarantining. A quarantine of my thoughts, if you will. A month-long mental quarantine. Sounds good.
I let Brian use my laptop for his online dental convention lectures today, and tonight when I opened the laptop and began typing, I FOUND A FOOD CRUMB IN MY KEYBOARD. This will not be tolerated, and he'll get a stern talking-to in the morning in regards to respecting my cool shit. Using the laptop is a privilege, and I'm not at all about finding f*ckin' crumbs when I'm typing.
I returned my work email notifications to what they were before this whole stay-at-home thing started, and removed all badges. We've kinda figured our way through this, and with the Slack app, we're staying in better contact now, and there's no reason why I need to know when I'm getting work emails again. I still have access to the email, it's just not telling me when I get them anymore, and that's perfect. I'm going to try my best to revert back to part-time Kimmie, who doesn't care about the office AT ALL before 9 a.m. and after 1 p.m.
This image is from the LEGO artwork exhibit, currently at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. If you can make it there, after the quarantine of course, you really should! It was so awesome, and inspiring, and humbling and just so cool. And his face is how I feel when I come across crumbs in my keyboard.

Sadly, not at all a joking month

Happy April, you guys, and I wish I could tell you that this month is a bad joke, but it's absolutely not. My girls' weekend was canceled, and our Disneyland trip was canceled. I know it pales in comparison to all the other stuff going on right now, but if I can whine for a moment, I'm super bummed that this pandemic ruined my April. April and May were going to be awesome, and now they won't. Now they'll be all inside and Netflix and Prime Video. Okay; selfish whine session over.
My avatar is quarantined. In pajamas. With her only window to the outside being a window to the outside. Socks and pigtails. All that's missing is a television behind her, too. And a cup of tea in her hand. I am her.
I finished the second season of "Luther" downstairs today, and was all ready to watch more, but again, the technology in my room upstairs was uncooperative. And I really don't like watching shows like that on my phone. So, more "Luther" hopefully tomorrow, or I just suck it up and watch it on the phone.
I've decided to suspend the Instagram account I have to post the drawings I did on Sydney's lunchbags. My drawings were not particularly detailed ... or ... good, but I enjoyed doing them and they were funny, I thought. I have 80 followers, of which a surprising amount were people who just found me. And the Lunchbag-Decorating Parents Community on Instagram was insanely complimentary and encouraging and supportive, and it was a treat to be a part of it. I had planned on stopping at the end of her school year, as she finished middle school and headed to high school, but the stay-at-home and closed schools situation moved up my timeline. I'm pretty okay with it, because honestly, the drawings were a creative outlet, and now that I'm blogging again, my outlet preference has shifted. I'd rather write than draw any day. Having said that, I'd actually really like to turn my not-good drawings into a line of greeting cards. I'm not even kidding about that. I think that's a great idea.