Life in a house (weekly recap)

So much can change in a week, and now here we are, all plunging together into another week (month? year? decade?) of uncertainty.

I’m going to try and keep up with my weekly recaps even though I’m well aware of how trivial they are and I know nobody but me reads them. I’ve found them helpful for recalling what I’ve spent my time on and keeping me on track(ish) with my goals.

I ran my endocrinology clinics over the telephone on Monday and Wednesday. This seemed to work well for everyone. This week, I’m going to look into options for delivering more formal telemedicine consults — Alberta has been slow to adopt this concept (currently there isn’t a billing code specifically devoted to telemedicine), but COVID-19 is forcing this forward, and I think it will be a good thing for patient care, if done properly.

I’d like to tell you that I finished writing my novel (ha!) and had lots of time for finally starting a show on Netflix or watching a couple of movies I’ve had my eye on (the Long Shot, Parasite, BookSmart), but I did none of those things. Instead, I went grocery shopping about a billion times (and then felt guilty about it) and spent way too many moments worrying about how I’m going to cope with working on the ‘frontlines’ if/when my time comes (and then felt guilty about that).

This week, I’m going to focus on some simple stuff: keeping up with exercise (even if it’s not my usual routine), being nice to my husband, and making sure my patients are looked after. Beyond that, I’m going to try to be okay with taking breaks for things that aren’t necessarily productive, like TV, to create some mental space. Also, it would be really nice to finish the current round of edits on my novel, but whether that actually happens is dependent on so many variables that I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself to get it done.

Three things I’m thinking about this week:

1. A list of 25 ‘rules’ for writing a novel from author Matt Haig. Number 8: ‘It isn’t the words you choose to use. It’s the words you choose not to use.’
2. The first lines of 10 literary classics, rewritten for the COVID-19 era. The Hobbit: ‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. He planned to stay there indefinitely in order not to make the lives of essential healthcare personnel more perilous.” (PS- Please take recommendations for social distancing/shelter in place/self isolation seriously).
3. Mark Bittman’s list of substitutions for cooking, to avoid running out to the grocery store for the eleventy billionth time because you forgot one ingredient.

Wishing everyone a safe and healthy week.