Friday, 6:30 p.m.

Scene: Open bag of Juanita’s tortilla chips next to me, hand mindlessly reaching for chip after chip after chip. No salsa.

Jeremy is out covering a sailboat race this week, so it’s just been me at the house since 6 a.m. Monday morning. He doesn’t get back until sometime Sunday.

Leading up to this week, I was looking forward eating in and eating healthy, going to bed early, getting quality sleep and having the WHOLE bed to myself. I was going to have dedicated quiet time to write for the maritime project. I was going to watch the scale go down. I had very few scheduled responsibilities outside of work. I told myself I’d clean the fridge of junk food, and dive into the delicious garden vegetables and greens from our farm share that I am overloaded with at the moment. I was going to treat the quiet time like a writing retreat. You hear of people who embrace this kind of quiet as a time for reflection and deep thinking and “getting good work done” and I was going to try and do the same. Then, reward myself at the end of the week with visits to Bremerton and Seattle to see friends I hadn’t seen in forever. I even made two quiches to eat over the course of several dinners and lunches so I didn’t have to cook too much.

Yeeaaahhh. You know where this is going. I can hear you laughing. 

By Tuesday evening, I’d devolved into that teenager whose parents left her at home for a week by herself with no rules. 

Let’s cover the responsible things that I have done while by myself:

  • I let the property management people into the house for the annual inspection. Passed with flying colors. 
  • I ate at the house for almost three days straight.
  • I did my paying job. 
  • I gave someone a ride home from the Hood Canal Bridge. 
  • I did some landlordy-things with one of my tenants.
  • I put on real pants.
  • I took out the garbage and recycling. 
  • I supported a few friends’ businesses.
  • I showered.

Now, let’s talk about devolved me: 

  • Instead of throwing out the junk food or hiding it, I ate it all. 
  • I left the house maximum once a day. I did not do the 10-minute walk to most of my destinations like I could have; Instead, I definitely drove down the hill and spent 10 minutes looking for parking.
  • Instead of writing or editing for the maritime project, I found myself on the couch, surfing the Roku, finishing up “Rutherford Falls” and watching the entire “season” (if you can call 6 episodes a season) of “We Are Lady Parts.” I also fully intend to continue watching “Emily In Paris.”
  • I have dug my hands, more than once, into the Adventure Food Bin, full of nothing but junk food for running, biking and skiing adventures ONLY, when I was absolutely not hungry.
  • I have talked outloud to myself more than once (which actually isn’t too odd for a writer).
  • I have wandered aimlessly around the already tidy house, wondering what I did with myself when I lived alone in Bremerton.
  • I have had zero desire to run, practice yoga, or do any of my physical therapy that I should be doing.
  • I have gone to bed no earlier than 11:30 every night (which is super late for me).
  • I have totally aimlessly scrolled on my phone in bed.
  • I attempted to weed whack the yard, but given I’ve only used a weed whacker, like, three times in my life, I kept busting the line, so now I have a weed whacker with no line. Have forgotten to go to the hardware store (and told Jeremy he needs to give me tips). 
  • I ate gelato, THEN dinner one night.
  • I Tracker-Junkied the sail race all week, way more than I should have, across various platforms.
  • I slept in the guest room of a friend’s house in the town I used to live in up until 3 months ago (this just felt weird not being able to go to my little house but ever grateful for Maria’s hospitality).
  • I ran an experiment with Reddi-Whip and Strawberries: Question: Do local farm berries or store-bought berries taste better when popped into a mouth full of whipped cream that is sprayed directly from the can? Answer: farm berries (burst of sugar happens sooner).
  • I took a bathroom selfie of the second time I dressed up this week.
  • I’m still eating that bag of tortilla chips, and currently am overcooking the chicken that’s in the oven right now because I’m too busy writing and can’t be bothered to eat something real.