REFLECTIONS IN THE TIME OF CORONA (2)…a day in the life of..

7am: Wow slept in. Its late. Must jump out of bed…ouch that hurt the back. Ok slowly wash up and say prayers. Read the usual one page of Quran making marking in pencil stuff that needs more reflection or discussion. Realize hubbly is catching up fast so decide to fast forward a few extra pages.
7:30 Daily conversation with God. Look outside and see the weather. “Dear Allah..I know you are really really busy with the Corona stuff but if you have time, could you please make the weather a bit better? Someone recently quoted you as saying natural sun is good inhibiter of the virus so we could all use some sun. No pressure. Whenever you can as we have months to go. Thank you so much”
7:35 Hubby is asking for breakfast. I run to the kitchen (well ‘run’ would be an exaggeration so let’s say I breeze into the kitchen) where OCD has already started to clean. Before he can ask for eggs benedict, I boil the kettle and make his regular peanut butter on toast. I mean he knows too many eggs are bad for cholesterol. Put two Tapal teabags and Earl Grey loose tea in a teapot and set to brew while I fry an egg for me. Still at breakfast and he’s asking “what’s for lunch? “. I leave him to clean and go to the other end of the house which is only a few yards away but I can hear him.
8am Is it evening yet? OCD is busy disinfecting the house so I sneak away to the computer pretending to work from home, but as soon he sees me he says “ I have something really important to do so vamoose”. I slink away not letting on that was just a ruse. Now I can peacefully read the newspaper in the bedroom. But he’s looking for a way to respond to the first piece I wrote exposing his OCD. So, he sits at the computer and yells “How do you spell ‘responsibility’? What do you call “bekaar” (useless) in English? How do you spell ‘cleanliness?’ etc. etc. I get the message.
8:30 Can’t concentrate on the news as its mostly negative. Look at my whatsapp messages to figure out which conspiracy theory is the best. It’s the Chinese! No, it’s the Russians! Actually, it’s the Israelis but could be Iranians. Not to forget that it’s all done by Trump and Pharmaceutical companies.
Pick up pad and paper. (There’s pads of paper and pens everywhere because what’s not written is soon forgotten). Try to make a list of what I should do today. Not much comes to mind. So, start thinking of lunch. The freezer is fully stocked but I decided to cook something fresh. Bad move as it creates a mess in the kitchen and OCD is hovering
9:00 Start calling everyone I know in Pakistan. Sister-in-law complains that I always call when it’s her prayer time so apologize and make mental note (written note) to not call for a few days. Call brother-in-law in London who is coughing and hacking but won’t go to the doctor. Give him a piece of mind – I guess he won’t be calling back. Exchange recipes with niece and call my sister who is suffering from major anxiety so do my therapy practice on her. Then get tired already.
10 Take a shower and put on red lipstick (it’s down to its last but hurray found another one stashed away in a drawer I had not cleaned before) OCD makes special note of this fact and reminds me to clean the drawer. I gently suggest that if it bothers him so much, he should do it. He takes this personally and goes to the solarium to pout
Full Disclosure: Hubby is a Cancerian who wears his heart on his sleeve and is prone to being over-sensitive and pouts when told off. There’s a lot of that going on these days. Cancerians also love to hug, cuddle and demand lots of expression of love but social distancing is the excuse I use to keep him at arm’s length. Anyhooo……
11 Lunch is ready but I don’t want to eat so early so munch on some snacks which become a lot of snacks. Snacks need a drink so have a Fresca while OCD counts how many are left in the stash of dozens.
12-1 Lunch while being forced to watch a mindless, thoughtless game show – not my choice obviously. Gently suggest he take a walk. He agrees and goes outside while I walk in the corridor outside the condo – Okay its short but sweet and I feel great so in a gesture of goodwill I decide to do the dishes. No point. OCD does them again mumbling something to the effect of “wish your mother could see you”.
1pm Lie down for a nap. I try read for a while. Hubby asks “what are you reading?” I show him the book. “What’s it about?” I smile and say “you read it when I’m done” at which he turns over and in 5 minutes he’s snoring. Takes me a while to nod off.
2-3 We wake up according to our body clocks. Mental note to fix the radio clock that automatically comes on to loud music because when the time changed and clocks were being reset, somehow this one got on an automatic timer. Mental (written) note to ask my son about this and all the other technical issues we face
3-4 Evening tea. This time no teapot brew but straight in teacups. He wants a snack and lists a lot of things. Cookies do the trick. I had a go at making corn muffins which are just okay. Baking is not my forte
4 Write a few lines of my script (yes, I’m working on a script for a play) and reply to the 3 emails I’ve received. Learnt a new word “ikigai” (Japanese word meaning a reason for being”) and wonder how to use it in my writing. Facetime my grandkids and talk to them for a while. Am teaching my six-year old granddaughter one Urdu word everyday while her Dad tries to intervene with naughty words. Those are the only ones he knows.
Is it night yet? I’m yawning
5 Time for another snack. Looking for an excuse to go out but can’t find one because everything we need and more is already here. Watch one episode of a Pakistani drama but it’s depressing so decide not to watch anymore. Thinking of who else to call. Work on my book but am stuck
6-7 Putter around kitchen to make dinner. Mental block on recipes. Manage to put something together. Prayer times are great markers in the day. After Maghrib (sunset) prayers we have dinner while hubby consumes ….. he is so grateful that LCBO is considered essential service. Then we argue over which one movie to watch and who gets to sit in the recliner. Thank God for Netflix. So far, we’ve seen five Hindi and five Hollywood movies. The Indian ones were sweet arty films but after that hubby needs to get his undercover agent, FBI, Law and Order fix so I leave him to it.
Another month of this and the forensic experts who will come to investigate will be amazed that the “motive” was the TV remote!!!!!
9 Walk again and ingest medicines and try putting off going to bed early. Ipad comes in handy while hubby watches non-stop TV.
11 I’m in la-la land. Tomorrow is another day but will be a repeat of the same day.