Lockdown Diary - Sunday 6th December 2020

Gentle start to the day, though I had an idea overnight that will result in a lot of work today, if son #2 goes for the idea. More on this later.

As is customary on a Sunday, despite getting up later,  I am the first one up and am joined by son #3 some time between 9:30 and 10:00, give or take.  It seems that despite a term away from home at uni, he still gets up at a reasonable time.  I think he takes after me, in that respect, at least.

Today could end up even busier than yesterday, as we have to put up the trees and start decorating them and the house, in line with the seasonal festivities(!)  If my idea comes into being - and I'm now feeling frustrated that son #2 is still not up so I can see if the idea will work, in principle at least - there are a lot of practical challenges to overcome, if he thinks the idea will work.

Sometime around 11 son #2 emerges and by now I am bursting to tell him my idea, but since he seems very bleary-eyed I have to contain myself a while longer.

The background to my idea: son #2 started work whilst son #3 was away at uni and, as he's likely to work from home until at least February, he's been using son #3's bedroom as his office.  Since Saturday, this is no longer an option. Son #2 has suggested he'll find a way to make it work, but I don't believe it's practical - every room he might work in temporarily will be used during the day, so he'd never get to settle or the necessary privacy to work.  My idea is a short term solution to this problem that means he won't have to move or be interrupted.

We do have a plan to turn the spare bedroom - which is just full of stuff, with no empty floor space - into an office / his office.  In order to do this we have to do two major things - clear space in the garage and reorganise the spare room and put much of the stuff in the garage.  Sounds simple, except there are challenges: the stuff in the garage/spare room includes things from my mum and my dad's respective houses (photos, furniture, china, glass, papers etc) which must be sorted; and there a vast number of children's toys which should either be sold, given away to charity or given to friends who have children of the appropriate age. Both my sisters have an interest in the items from our parent's houses, so I cannot just dispose of it.  On top of that, there is stuff that needs to go to the tip.  Trouble is it's all jumbled up and needs sorting, which will take a lot of time.  I'm happy top do it, but I need help.

Son #2 is ready and receptive to communication.  I explain my idea:  there is a printer table in the garage which could double as a makeshift table for a laptop and monitor. If he thinks he could work from that and, assuming we can reorganise the contents of the garage to make enough space, then we could clear enough items from the spare room to make it into a temporary office. The other advantage is that it takes us one step closer to making it a full office, and, from a personal perspective, it means my bookcases become accessible.

He is thinking about it but hasn't yet decided if he thinks it'll work and suggests we prioritise getting the Christmas trees in and decorating those.  I agree we must get the trees in, up and watered today, but suggest that the priority is to get them in and lit, decorations to follow as time permits, because if we are to shift the stuff, it'll be better if we do that in the daylight, given we've already lost about 3 hours.

During the tree process - the trees are currently in the garage - he takes a look at the table and says it might be suitable. After the trees are in, the table also comes in.  After a bit of dusting and cleaning he agrees it's worth having a go.

The first stage is getting rid of loads of empty boxes from the garage, by now we've enlisted son #3 and son #1 is finishing his lunch before helping.

I have decided the best approach is to get everything out of the spare bedroom until we reach the point where there is enough space.  Some reorganisation is also required, but once we've moved a very old, sprung, rocking chair into the garage it starts to look possible.  The challenge is finding a home for everything we've moved out.

A few hours later we have a temporary office, with access to some of the remainder of my library, a very full garage, piles and piles of rubbish for the bin men (they will love us this week) and two fully lit, but partially decorated, trees. I am also beginning to see a path to a completely reorganised spare bedroom / office. Son #2's employers have already bought him a desk which will go into the room, it's waiting to be assembled.

It's been such a busy weekend I have had no time to meditate today or read any of the papers, though I think the results have been worth it.

Son #2 has dinner under way whilst I finish finding homes for spare duvets (well, the summer ones) - vacuum bags are a great storage aid - and then join him to clear up and get the kitchen organised.

Time to start watching something new: the boys vote for 'The Haunting of Hill House', which seems appropriate for the season.

Someone shared this video online recently and I've watched it several times, so it was the natural choice for today. I love the song - always have - and, unusually for me, I like the video, which is an insight into the making of the song. I find the video strangely addictive. It's 'Want of a Nail' by Todd Rundgren from the album, 'Nearly Human' and features Bobby Womack on guest vocals. 

[[]]