Day 18 – Monday, 13 April
It’s the beginning of another working week in quarantine. It would have been the last days in confinement – were it not for the extended lockdown announcement. Urgh. I don’t have any issue staying at home; in fact, I love spending time at home with a great book and some writing inspiration. It’s the inability of choosing to go out when and where I want to that I’m worried about; this lack of freedom, in general, knowing that I treasure my freedom rights above any amount of money and the many acquisitions and happenings that come and go in one’s life.
It’s another beautiful day I spend in bed on my laptop, coffee mug steaming on the nightstand. I feel good enough to deal with light admin and some quick client work, although I would have preferred to delay the moment as long as possible. My mind pushes on, willing to get active, but my body insists on taking its well-deserved rest. Sunbeams fall in bright patches on the duvet cover where the cat – Snowflake – keeps me company, dozing on and off, while I hit the keyboards with a loud bang. In truth, I want to join her so badly.
I publish some belated Easter graphics (there’s the Orthodox Easter still coming up, so I feel less guilty) and update my PayPal account to receive international payments. The lockdown has accentuated the local currency’s weakness (ZAR), resulting in a more favourable global foreign exchange rate at the moment. Curiously, I find some long-forgotten funds in my e-wallet. I move along to my personal budget, which doesn’t take long to update. Aside from new e-books purchases and groceries runs, there is little to add. Living under quarantine has some benefits, after all – less discretionary spendings on things one may regret later.
During the day, I take small breaks in-between to make forays into the five hundred-page mammoth thriller, Stephen King’s The Shining, which I started mere days ago (no nightmares so far). I sneak into the kitchen to bother my husband (hard at work) and taste more Easter delights – hot cross buns, of course. We must thank the British for those delicious raisin-covered buns. I don’t worry about cooking at all, defaulting to the plentiful beef stew reheated on the stove, grateful to have hubby joining me for a meal and a long chat.
And so, watching another episode in the Netflix’s Outlander series, my little furry children curled around us on the couch, the night finally steals the light of the day, and another quarantine day is gone. Tomorrow I will get out of the house. It’s a promise.