ONE AND A HALF YEARS OF COVID-19

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It’s funny. I was lying in bed last night, contemplating my current life. And it’s weird how one day resembles the other. No matter whether it’s a home office day or weekend.

Week days: I get up at 6 am, take care of my kitty cat, get dressed and ready, prepare a cup of cocoa and switch on my laptop at 6:30. Until 11:30. With short breaks for tea (twice) and one cup of coffee. Throwing Diego’s toy mouse around occasionally. Cooking starts at 11:30 am, lunch break for an hour, then another two hours of office work. The rest of the afternoon I spend reading and watching Netflix series, enjoying a cup of tea and a slice of cake or some cookies. Feeding and playing with my cat in between. Half an hour on the home trainer from 6:00 pm on, then a nice hot shower and reading in bed.Gee, that sure is exciting! But you know what? I don’t care … I love it! I still enjoy home office, I enjoy having space and quiet to work – after all, one does chat with colleagues a lot and has online meetings. I enjoy being able to cook lunch in my own kitchen instead of heating up something in mostly disgusting office kitchen microwaves. I enjoy havingmy fridge cooled ice tea on hand – which is another thing I wouldn’t use at the office. The fridges are even more disgusting than the microwaves. I enjoybeing able to quickly do my shopping during lunch break or get fresh produce from the farmer’s market a stone’s throw away. Or just head out after work for coffee or ice cream (in summer) to enjoy the sun and watching other people. Not to mention that I’m in a much better mood compared to office days when I can’t help getting annoyed by basically everything. Starting with those stupid car drivers …

Once a week I do some grocery shopping, but apart from that I mostly stay at home. With the occasional coffee / tea / dinner outing with a friend. Or even alone. Which is not unusual for me. But apart from that, I enjoy my beautiful home and balcony, because … well, let’s just face it. Shopping is still not much fun with the constant mask wearing. And I try to wear them as little as possible.

Of course, I could also drive somewhere to take a walk in the woods or a park or whatever. But that’s just not me! Walking without a purpose doesn’t make sense to me at all. Unless I am somewhere on a beach or the British coast or any town. But hiking through the woods or – heaven forbid – up a mountain … I’ve had plenty of that as a child and teenager and just started to hate it in the later years. 

Weekends: I sleep in, at least I try to. Saturdays, I get the most important housework done. And then it’s either off to my “private” desk for doing paperwork and some writing, with a cup of Latte Macchiato sweetening my work or going out to a café to do the same (as in the writing and coffee drinking part). Saturday or Sunday lunch is always special. I try one new recipe from my large collection of recipes, planning ahead for at least a couple of weeks of what I’m going to cook. (Which to me is half the fun!)

Some reading in the afternoon and the obligatory cupof tea with cake. Trying out new recipes as well, since I have discovered baking as a nice addition to my cooking. Nothing too complicated, of course … scratch sidelong instructions with dozens of ingredients, scratch stuff like “melting chocolate over simmering water”, scratch pretty decorations … and scratch German style whipped cream fillings. Simple, quick cakes, experimenting with additions of shredded apples, different kinds of ground nuts, fruit, jams …

Oh, reading what I have written right now, it’s true. My life right now is pretty boring. One and a halfyears of basically the same old same old. But … I like it that way. And I dread the day when I have to return to the office, the 45-minute-drive to work with those horribly annoying and bad drivers, the noise in the open-plan office, the drive back … hoping I will be allowed within the new regulations to work from home as much as possible. Because, to be frank, I don’t need anything else. And I don’t miss anything.Just do my work in peace and quiet in beautiful surroundings – which my home office is. That’s quality of life.

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