The View From Here – Dear Diary

By: Carrie Buchanan

2/12/2020

I want to write, “Dear Diary,  hey!  Still here.  AT home.  ALL THE TIME.  Nothing has changed.  Nothing new to report.”

Because there’s absolutely nothing else to report.  At the beginning of this I was documenting so much.  The plexi glass.  The masks.  Standing in line six feet apart.   The fear, the worry.  The smell of sanitizer everywhere.  Dry hands.  NO toilet paper to be found.

It once seemed so strange for me to be working from home.  In my scrapbook room.  Now it’s strange to think of going TO work.

I got dressed for work today.  Like, really dressed.  With a shirt and jacket from a HANGER.  I mean, I should at least put some sort of effort in sometimes to look like I still care, right?

It’s been seven months that I have been working from home.  Seven months I’ve avoided “nice” clothes.  Mostly out of fear they still fit, if I’m being honest.

I look around at my scrapbook room, with my pictures and stickers.  Books still waiting to be read.  Seems so strange, that this is reality.  I’m working out of my craft room.  I am broadcasting to you every day from my home.

Odd isn’t it? How we’ve adjusted to things that seemed so strange back in April.
I know I’m one of the lucky ones.  I’m at home with my kids.  And my fur baby Sheldon.  I can throw in a load of laundry between songs, or head to the kitchen and throw something in the crock pot for dinner.  I can stay in my pj’s all day if I wanted to.  As long as there were no Google Meet work meetings, who would know? (smile).  I took advantage of the new at home dress code when I started working from home.  Extra coffee breaks. (smile).
Strange to remember life at the office now.  My desk is just as I left it.  My calendar stuck on March.  So long ago now.
There’s so much we’ve adjusted to.
I watch my youngest go off to school with her mask.  Like it’s something she’s always done.   I remember in the beginning how strange it seemed to have to wear a mask.   Now it’s like remembering your keys and sunglasses.   It’s just something you do.
My planner stays pretty empty.  Aside from a weekly music meeting with Sarah and a reminder to watch This Is Us – my calendar is pretty clear.  Ha ha.  Nothing to share with “Dear Diary”.  Other than a reminder that we are still in the big fight against this virus.  A vaccine getting closer.   We’re still distancing and keeping to our social bubbles and wearing masks and washing our hands.
I miss hugs and friends and I really miss my family. I so desperately want to see my dad again and sit with him at his kitchen table and drink coffee and eat cookies and share life.
So, Dear Diary, nothing new.   But we’re staying hopeful and as positive as we can be that someday soon, this will be a memory.
Hope you are staying safe, and smiling.
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