“Remoted” – Day 469 (Monday)

Monday morning started slow and gooey and it was perfect. Moose barked the house awake at the new usual 5:00 so he could be taken outside, and it sure beats the old earlier awakenings. After he did his thing, it was back to bed for another 45 minutes. Once up for real, it was the breakfast shift at the Canine Café, but the pre-measured portions set up on Sunday made it a breeze.

Still working from home, dressing for the day is a mindless joy. The “going to the office” criteria included considerations like “Do I have meetings today?” and “Did I already wear this item within the past few days?” The neighbor nearest my back door has seen me in my pajamas and bathrobe while letting the dogs out and isn’t usually around to notice what I wear during work hours. There is rarely any other in-person human interaction at the home office.

There is very litle considered for the work from home wardrobe. It's a snap, usually involving the same pants every day for a week, dug out of a drawer on Monday and then left handy the rest of the week. The shirts vary and are usually a smidge nicer on video meeting days. This is quite a departure from my first career position when three solid months passed before an outfit was repeated. The stuff that seemed important at age 23, or even 18 months ago sure seems trivial now.

Once dressed (camo patterned cargo capris with a plain heather gray vee neck tee shirt), it was time to take the dog beds downstairs for the day. Trash and recycling were taken to the curb, and email and social media were checked. A few strawberries were removed from the freezer to accompany my own breakfast of vanilla Greek yogurt with “five active cultures” as recommended by my dentist to help maintain the “good gut bacteria” that is/will be annihilated by the Amoxicillin for my problem tooth.  Of course, I keep forgetting to take it at least once of the prescribed three times daily. It’s enough keeping up with Moose’s morning Vetoryl for Cushing’s and Winton’s twice daily insulin, now I have my own meds in the mix. Oy.

So many hints ... 673

There was a brief visit to Ancestry-dot-com to be overwhelmed by the 673 “hints” about ancestors and mark some of them as “ignore” before fleeing the site because it is just too much. All that, and it was only 7:30, with a solid 60 minutes before needing to log in for work, but more likely 30 minutes, because I usually run out of small-scale morning amusements by 8:00. 

When it’s time to return to the office in September, the end of the relaxed start to the day may be the biggest loss felt. Instead of sitting with a cup of coffee and a dog on each side, it will back to sips of coffee while dressing, sips while applying makeup, sips while styling the hair, each one colder than the last and often interrupted by the game of “Where did I leave my coffee?” Instead of reading email, it will be diapering the dogs and setting gates to contain them in the kitchen for the day and saying goodbye to travel downtown.

These easy mornings will be enjoyed while I can because working from home full time won’t last forever and neither will the old and infirm dogs. As their health declines, I am so glad to be able to be here with them instead of at the office worrying about them.