Quarantined-ish Day 1
Wednesday March 18, 2020 - OKC, OK

2:12am (I think)
I woke up in the middle of the night and laid there for half an hour before allowing myself to check the time. The half an hour is a guess, as time is indiscernible in the dark. It was 2:42am when I finally picked up my phone and confirmed that, yes, at least something is still normal. I’ve never actually felt relief about insomnia before now, but I’m clamping down on anything that remains routine - even if said routine causes brain fog, a loosened grasp of the English language, and my body to be 60% coffee, rather than water. Save the lectures on caffeine’s effect on sleep. I already know. I already decaffed (is that a word?) for four months. And I already successfully didn’t end up on the news during that time for being deprived of life’s greatest joys and sleep for 120 days. After a quick scroll through the latest COVID-19 updates, I tossed my phone down, closed my eyes again, and mentally chased my old 3am daydreams. That is a race I did not win. Thanks, COVID.

5:30am
I forced myself to wait until 5:30 to make coffee before heading to the downtown parking garage stairs to burn out my legs. Out of habit, I gave Wendy the last bit of my coffee and it wasn’t until this moment that I considered the implications of sharing a mug with someone. Oh well. I suppose we are all in this together, whether it’s the misery of isolation or the misery of infection. Kidding about that. Mental note: don’t share your coffee, no matter how much someone needs it.

6:15am
Donning weighted vests, we run stairs until her legs said “no more,” and then cooled down with a mini urban hike around downtown. In an effort to continue supporting local businesses, as well as my caffeine addiction, we popped into Clarity for some to-go coffees - “to-go” as our only option now, since the city has shut down all dining areas. I was meeting a friend at his staycation hotel to not write, so I showered in the bathroom with baby wipes (gyms are all closed, too), and washed my already clean hands to the tune of Humpty Dance. Don’t ask. I don’t have an answer for that one.

10:47am
Three hours later, we grabbed our unopened laptop bags and parted ways. I walked out of the hotel lobby realizing that I had no plan. Or, at least, I had no focus on my predetermined plan, as outlined in my - you guessed it - planner on Sunday. I threw my stuff in my car and drove to my normal Wednesday spots, pulled into the parking lot, and then left each one of them - the entire time questioning my sanity. Finally, I parked my car, put on my wet running clothes from earlier this morning, and killed an hour on foot. It’s not as if I don’t have eleventy-seven bajillion things to do. I just couldn’t pick one. I sent Wendy a ridiculous text that I’m already going insane, and we’ve been on shut down less than half a day.

3:00pm
Two hours later, we’re at the lake with ten other people taking up 60 square feet and actually excited about running a 5K. For the record, I hate 5Ks. Give me 100 miles and let me enjoy them. Don’t make me go balls to the wall and risk losing a lung for 22 minutes of work. Since I still have neither focus nor free time, really, I head to the car wash. I’m putting money in the machine knowing that it will rain again tonight, but apparently I’m doing anything to not sit in front of my laptop. Whatever. I’ll enjoy a few hours of a shiny car - something that I’ve literally never cared about until today.

4:34pm
I’m home now and have decided to organize my trunk and my closet and my desk and my bathroom cabinet, because efficiency and, you know, maniac behavior, when a friend of mine text me to come over. She’s 23 minutes away, and normally I’d have said that I was probably in for the day, but, despite having been with people ALL DAY LONG, I’m feeling the isolation. Oh… did I mention that I’m a definitive introvert? And that too much social contact drains me? After an archeological type dig through the volcano of unorganized crap for my keys, I’m making the trek back near downtown. She greets me with a hug that I willingly accept, pandemic be damned (kidding about that - just forgot, but I will do better), and a glass of wine. There are six of us on the patio sipping wine and doing random yoga poses before raindrops the size of quarters start peppering our heads. Thank god I washed my car earlier.

10:17pm
A second glass of wine and about 427 crackers later (you know how people stress eat? I stress don’t-eat, and I at least had the wherewithal to not only consume wine today and throw an inordinate number of crackers into the mix), I head home and navigate a path to my bed like I would a land mine. Must finish cleaning tomorrow.