I know I’m not alone in saying that this is, by far, the weirdest, trippiest, scariest part of history I’ve yet to play witness to. And regardless of how bad my general anxiety gets, one of the biggest, most important facts that’s keeping me grounded is knowing we’re all literally in this together as long as that “togetherness” involves standing at least 6 feet apart and in groups smaller than 10 people. I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve had an anxiety/stress headache since Friday that hasn’t gone away. In fact, it’s pounding right now as I write this. I have General Anxiety Disorder, and if you don’t think it’s flared the fuck up the last 5 days, you are dumb. I’m on about a .5mg of Ativan daily right now to curb the overwhelming noise in my head and quiet my urge to basically scream bloody murder into abyss once every hour on the hour. But I digress.

Today was, for many of us, the first out of who knows how many mandatory Work From Home days. This new normal is something bizarre that we’re all having to navigate right now (on top of literally everything else) and, although we’ve probably all wished at one point or another for the opportunity to WFH, it takes a minute to figure out. In an effort to give you and myself a break from the real news, fake news, rumors, chain emails, and constant Instagram stories about flattening the curve (WE GET IT, SHARON. WE HAVE TO FLATTEN IT. WE ARE. IT’S HAPPENING. PLEASE FIND YOUR NEXT SOAPBOX), I figured keeping a captain’s log of sorts about this entire experience could be entertaining. If not for you, then definitely for me. I’m not going to give you advice on the virus itself, how to avoid it, what to do about it, the news I hear about it—fuck that. I’m not a doctor or reporter or anything of the like. I’m here to entertain and make you laugh, smile, or at least think “OMG SAME.”

Captain’s Log, Day 1:

As I sit here writing this, it was just announced that all Dallas restaurants, bars, gyms, and theatres are closed until further notice. I’m not surprised by this. In fact, I made three total grocery trips Thursday-Sunday to prepare for this. I also emailed my trainer this morning, Meg, and asked for at-home workouts because I foresaw this being the case. About to get my sweat on in my living room. Cece isn’t even ready.

To start my WFH experience, I set up my little makeshift office this morning. I have a very random nook in the middle of my house that, so far, I’ve pretended to use as a dining room. Spoiler alert: I think I’ve used it is as a dining room one time since moving in? It’s attached to the laundry room, so it’s been this very random area I walk through 20 times a day to get from my bedroom to the kitchen and back again. However, this morning I made some adjustments and created a pretty cute office space for myself that I feel will only get better with the passing days. Imma get a rug up in here, an extra monitor, maybe even a desk lamp! Ugh—I love a project.

Also something I did today and will be doing every WFH day—made my bed. I already felt weird enough rolling out of bed and directly to my computer to work, so I made a point to tidy up my bedroom and living room for the day before getting to work and believe me when I say, it made a difference.

Being alone during this crisis isn’t fun. I know I’m not actually alone—how could I be with such an amazing audience, my best friends who are constantly texting, and my parents down the road? But the feeling of isolation is very real and will probably only get worse, so I’m leaning very heavily into FaceTime. I’ve already FaceTimed my sister, mom, best friend, and other best friend today. Maybe I should do a live IG video? Do people even do those, though? Y’all tell me.

I had coffee for breakfast, a turkey sandwich and an apple for lunch, some pretzels as a snack, and am about to decide on dinner. Definitely haven’t eaten enough today but that’s due in part to my anxiety. I think as the days go on, I’ll get more settled and get more of my appetite back.

Truth be told, I didn’t get to workout today or walk my dog. I was too bogged down with my own anxiety and trying to navigate WFH life. I’m ending the day with this fucking headache, but am going to log off after I post this to make dinner, drink water, pet my dog, and hit RESET tomorrow. I’m very bad at compartmentalizing in general. I think that piece of my brain is missing, honestly. The switch that makes you do that. However, now’s the time to practice if any.

That’s all from this little awkward nook in Oak Cliff, Dallas. Stay tuned in the following days for more captain’s logs.

xox,