Corona- Not all of it is bad.

So...Poor Abu Dhabi still not getting its' turn in my blog.

I was going to write about it...and now this corona thing took over my attention completely, understandably.

So...Corona. Well, you already know everything there is to know about it. But I am going to tell you about this strange funny feeling I have from the situation. I cannot quite explain it, can't quite find the right word...it is almost relaxing this not being able to control anything but washing my hands and not going out much.

It reminds me of the time when I was pregnant. You see, when you are pregnant, other things sort of step back and pregnancy takes over completely. You turn into this machine which cannot worry about some things, like for example exercising enough or whether you go on expensive holiday or not, and some other things in life; you just worry about your baby, and delivering it properly and safely.

So, this whole corona situation now is a little like that. You see, I had plans. I was going to Baku for a week, husband was not too pleased about that, as he would then have to stay with the kids over Easter.... Also, when it came to summer plans, we as a family could not quite decide or agree on where to go.  One child preferred England, another somewhere more exotic...I wanted to go everywhere... plus maybe Paris, as someone offered us a cool place to stay for free... all of a sudden, we no longer discussing summer vacation. We just don't know what will happen.

Suddenly, I can't have the big housewarming party I have been planning....and yes, I am disappointed but also relieved as I had 45 people on the invite list and it required a lot of careful planning and work, not to mention all that expensive booze!

My job announced that we could not travel or take any leave until further notice, so suddenly my dilemma when and whether to go to Baku is no longer a dilemma. I am not going anywhere at all.

My children, away from most of their friends and school, are forced to be nicer to each other and spend more time together. I caught them painting and playing Wii games together, something rarely seen in our house.

And I am learning to just relax. It isn't something that comes to me naturally.

I sit in my garden and watch the plants grow. There is action there, too. The other day I saw a falcon attempting to snatch some eggs away from a pigeon nest. That was pretty cool.

Today I had time to use three!!! face masks I had bought ages ago and didn't even remember I had them.

I have been to the gym more! And maybe will even finish some of those Netflix series we had started but never finished. Fck it, I might even start that book I have been promising to start for years. Might even get to finish it, depending on how badly corona gets me and when.

I am thinking of all those brunches I wasn't sure whether to go to, or save the money...Shopping... expenses...dinners....Imagine, I said to a friend the other day, I may end up saving money!! Something I could never master however hard (I thought) I tried.

Of course, I worry. I worry about my mother being alone there, in Baku. Especially since according to Azeri reports, they only have 15 cases so far.

I worry about my cardiovascular issue which, according to all the death percentage charts, is the ultimate winner.

But somehow still...it is what it is, you know? It is completely out of my sterilized hands. I can't change anything, I can't make any plans other than trying to survive as long as possible, and I can't go anywhere. This uncertainty, bizarrely, can be quite relaxing. Until now, this couple I know has been agonizing whether it was safe enough for them to go on their planned holiday to Thailand. But not anymore! Now Thailand is out of the question for us from Qatar, so the stress of making that dangerous call has been removed from their lives. See what I mean?

Corona can also be used as a fantastic excuse. Anything you don't want to do you can excuse yourself from doing because of Corona. Don't fancy going for milk? Sorry, corona! Don't want to attend meeting? Corona! Don't want to invite someone for dinner, even though it has been your turn for like a year? Corona.

Even my teenager daughter tried it today when I asked her for a favor. Please, I said as I was already upstairs and about to jump in the shower after gym... please can you go to the gym and fetch my watch that I had left behind?
But mama, she said, I don't want to go! I don't want to get Corona!

Ha, I said. Nice try! Get off that butt and go get my watch NOW. I will decide what is safe and what is not, and I reckon, you can take that little risk.

So you see...it isn't all that bad.

As this Russian joke said.... This time next year, you will be laughing at all this Corona craziness. Well, not all of you will.

Stay safe, guys. And remember to flatten than curve.