Plague Diary
[b]111 - Monday - 23 November 2020[/b]
For some reason, today has seemed like anything but a Monday. It has been a perfectly pleasant day, not that Mondays can't be pleasant. It has been unremarkable. And Mondays are frequently unremarkable. Things that would normally happen on a Monday happened today. But I could not find a feeling of Monday anywhere in the day.
I was, as usual for a weekday, up, showered and dressed before Oksana got her lips round her first slurp of coffee. I gave her another ten minutes, then went into the bedroom and pulled the duvet off the bed. I like to vary my approach to Oksana's rising ritual. Keep her on her toes.
She screamed a little bit, more at the day than at me, I chose to believe. I told her to get ready and I would make breakfast.
While Oksana was showering, I took yesterday's chilli from the fridge and made up eight portions for freezing in plastic pots. I take these from the supermarket, where they leave them out for people buying olives, salads, coleslaw, hummus, stuff like that. The pots are a good size for a portion and easy to stack in the freezer. I left two portions in the fridge for us for supper tonight. I will cook some rice to go with the chilli.
When Oksana, all spruced up and shiny for the day, finally reached the kitchen, I quickly made us both some scrambled eggs with toast. She made fresh coffee and we had a nice domestic breakfast.
I worry sometimes that I am turning into a housewife. No insult to housewives, I am sure it is a noble occupation. But it is simply a long way from my image of myself. Now, when I am not studying, I am cooking or cleaning, shopping in supermarkets rather than in boutiques. Worrying about how other people are feeling. Not me at all.
Next thing, my hormones will take over and I will want to make a baby.
No, I draw the line there. Two lines. Hundreds of fat lines!
Today has not been like a Monday. Nor like any other day, as far as I am concerned.
When breakfast was cleared away, I logged in to my faculty site to pick up the morning lecture. And so the day's studies began. We broke for exercise around 12:45. I stayed logged in, just in case my return to the laptop was delayed.
I was back by 15:00 and worked through to 19:00, with just a break to make a coffee.
I checked the news media. President Zelenskiy and his chief of staff Yermak have both now tested negative for COVID-19 and returned to their offices.
US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook has entered the Black Sea as part of a NATO patrol deployment.
Among all the international news of the coronavirus vaccines, it seems we are unlikely to receive any here before May 2021. In the meantime, we will continue with our restrictions to slow the spread and protect our hospitals from overload. I will not be surprised by another national lockdown in December.
For supper, I boiled some rice and heated up the chilli portions. It was very good, I thought, rich, with a surprising depth of flavour. I let Oksana clear up and stack the dishwasher, while I did some reading. We decided that we would try to go to the Lesia Maruschak exhibition on Thursday.
And after all that, we showered and went to bed.
For some reason, today has seemed like anything but a Monday. It has been a perfectly pleasant day, not that Mondays can't be pleasant. It has been unremarkable. And Mondays are frequently unremarkable. Things that would normally happen on a Monday happened today. But I could not find a feeling of Monday anywhere in the day.
I was, as usual for a weekday, up, showered and dressed before Oksana got her lips round her first slurp of coffee. I gave her another ten minutes, then went into the bedroom and pulled the duvet off the bed. I like to vary my approach to Oksana's rising ritual. Keep her on her toes.
She screamed a little bit, more at the day than at me, I chose to believe. I told her to get ready and I would make breakfast.
While Oksana was showering, I took yesterday's chilli from the fridge and made up eight portions for freezing in plastic pots. I take these from the supermarket, where they leave them out for people buying olives, salads, coleslaw, hummus, stuff like that. The pots are a good size for a portion and easy to stack in the freezer. I left two portions in the fridge for us for supper tonight. I will cook some rice to go with the chilli.
When Oksana, all spruced up and shiny for the day, finally reached the kitchen, I quickly made us both some scrambled eggs with toast. She made fresh coffee and we had a nice domestic breakfast.
I worry sometimes that I am turning into a housewife. No insult to housewives, I am sure it is a noble occupation. But it is simply a long way from my image of myself. Now, when I am not studying, I am cooking or cleaning, shopping in supermarkets rather than in boutiques. Worrying about how other people are feeling. Not me at all.
Next thing, my hormones will take over and I will want to make a baby.
No, I draw the line there. Two lines. Hundreds of fat lines!
Today has not been like a Monday. Nor like any other day, as far as I am concerned.
When breakfast was cleared away, I logged in to my faculty site to pick up the morning lecture. And so the day's studies began. We broke for exercise around 12:45. I stayed logged in, just in case my return to the laptop was delayed.
I was back by 15:00 and worked through to 19:00, with just a break to make a coffee.
I checked the news media. President Zelenskiy and his chief of staff Yermak have both now tested negative for COVID-19 and returned to their offices.
US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook has entered the Black Sea as part of a NATO patrol deployment.
Among all the international news of the coronavirus vaccines, it seems we are unlikely to receive any here before May 2021. In the meantime, we will continue with our restrictions to slow the spread and protect our hospitals from overload. I will not be surprised by another national lockdown in December.
For supper, I boiled some rice and heated up the chilli portions. It was very good, I thought, rich, with a surprising depth of flavour. I let Oksana clear up and stack the dishwasher, while I did some reading. We decided that we would try to go to the Lesia Maruschak exhibition on Thursday.
And after all that, we showered and went to bed.
