Living on Lockdown

It’s been a little while since I’ve written. But, as we all are experiencing, life as we know it has drastically changed. The things going on in the world are unprecedented. We’ve never experienced anything like it. I don’t want to focus on the bad things though. What I want to know, is what have you learned about yourself? What have you noticed that has been a good change? What challenges have you faced that you surprised yourself?

I’m off work this week, and since I’m in healthcare, I’ve taken it upon myself to self-isolate as I do not know that I was not in contact with someone contaminated. Staying home has not been too much of a stretch for me though as when I have not been working, being home is mostly the only place I ever spend time. I’ve just never had SO MUCH TIME AT HOME! However, I have had to alter a few things.

Company: {Or lack thereof } It seems as though everyone has selected their group of friends, family members, or significant other and hunkered down to weather the storm. Some of us are alone. Yes, French Charming is, shockingly, in France. He was about to attempt to come for a visit but the way things were ramping up we decided it best for him to stay put. Thank goodness because during that time is when France went on lockdown and the US closed its borders to European flights. So, I’m home alone. We FaceTime several times a day though and are hopeful for a speedy end to this.

Structure: Since I’m not working I could totally treat it as a vacation by staying up late and sleeping in late. I have not done that. I have still gone to bed at a decent time and I’ve made myself get up, shower, and get dressed. Dressed for a day in my apartment, as if the couch cares what I wear. I have actually had FaceTime appointments with friends, French Charming, and taking French lessons so I didn’t want to be in my pjs for those.

Cooking: I’ve never dirtied so many dishes in my life! And it’s just me! Dishes for breakfast, for lunch, for snacks, for dinner. I’ve run my dishwasher three times this week! Why is it when we (I) try to ration groceries to last a good two weeks we (I) want to eat everything I have in two days? On the flip side, I have gotten creative with some recipes.

Exercise: After the first two days of self isolating, I decided if I don’t get up and start moving I’m going to need a whole new wardrobe after this is all over. So, I logged into that exercise program that I subscribed to about six months ago and only used twice. It has a 90 day workout program. Day #1 (Day #3 of isolation) I turned on the program. It’s a 20 minute workout. Pfffft who can’t do 20 minutes? 3 circuits, 3 sets in each. Not too bad. I probably finished 18 minutes of the 20, and promptly laid down and took an hour and a half nap. This was not looking good for me. Today was Day #4 (Day #6 of isolation) and I have finished each workout in its entirety without naps afterwards, and even added some of my own exercises afterwards. Progress!

Social Media: Initially I was glued to my Facebook. I was losing hours reading articles people posted, jokes, complaints, rants. I lost my temper with a childhood friend who posted something to the effect that all of this was media hype and can we just get back to normal life. I’m in healthcare so I did not handle that statement well. At least I expressed my feelings to her privately. That was when I decided to take a vacation from Facebook. It’s been good for me. I’ve not spent hours reading things that will neither make a difference in my daily life stuck in my apartment nor the evolution of this crisis anyway.

Allocation of Time: I’ve been able to take more French lessons again. I rarely had time for anything but work. Now, I have so much more time (literally all day long) to do things that I’ve neglected. I’ve been able to read a book. I have time to just think.

Cleaning: Okay, I haven’t gone completely crazy on the cleaning binge. I’m saving that for next week!

How are you guys handling lockdown? Have any of you done the TikTok challenges? I don’t even know how you record it! What other interesting things are you doing? If you have some new ideas, please share!

Most importantly: STAY HOME!!! Be part of the solution not the problem. Spread the word not the virus.

XOXO

Kkatch